"Cheating, you're cheating!"
Because of Mungo's reminder, Hajrudin had lost the match, leaving the old Giant Eorl red in the face with anger, ready to step up and duel Mungo himself.
"Hahaha, I just told Rocks not to hold back. Going all out is the ultimate respect for your opponent, isn't it?"
Mungo laughed heartily. He admitted that without his reminder, it would have been much harder for Rocks to win the fight.
Yet this was ultimately Rocks's own ability; it was only a matter of time before Rocks discovered it himself.
Of this, Mungo had no doubt.
"I'm sorry, Lord Eorl, I lost!"
The young Giant pouted, biting his teeth together with an expression as if he were about to burst into tears.
"Don't be discouraged, Hajrudin."
Eorl patted Hajrudin's shoulder and comforted him: "You're still young. Once you reach adulthood, you'll surely become countless times stronger than you are now."
"Yeah!"
Hajrudin nodded heavily.
"Well?"
Rocks walked up to Mungo. "Can you teach me now?"
Through two months of spending time together, Rocks had learned many things from Mungo.
Among them was knowledge regarding the Six Powers.
There was Soru, which involved continuously kicking the ground at high speeds to burst into rapid movement; Tekkai, which accelerated blood flow to make the body as hard as steel; Kami-e, which allowed the user to freely control their body; Geppo, which enabled walking through the air; Tempest Kick, the kicking technique that compressed air to form slashes; and Finger Pistol, which concentrated all strength into a finger to attack enemies like a bullet.
Even Mungo had to admit that the person who invented the Six Powers was a genius. Mastering the Six Powers meant one's physical capabilities had been developed to the limit, granting the qualification to master Haki.
"A promise is a promise, I won't go back on my word. Ripley, you come too. Although it's very difficult for a Giant to learn the complete Six Powers, further developing your body will easily help you master Haki."
That's right, even though she was much stronger than Rocks, Ripley—who had only recently reached adulthood—had not yet mastered Haki.
In fact, most Giants could not learn Haki.
Their massive size granted them tremendous strength, but it also increased the difficulty of developing their inner potential. Putting everything else aside, just the amount of Haki required to coat a single arm was astonishing.
"A bet is a bet, and since your little crewmate won, we will honor our promise. As long as His Majesty Harald agrees, we'll use the Adam Wood stored in our warehouse to help you build a large ship."
After comforting Hajrudin, Eorl stroked his fluffy beard and walked over.
Mungo's original pirate ship, the Black Pearl, was a large vessel nearly sixty meters long and forty meters wide, with more than enough room for dozens of people to live inside.
However, if Ripley was going to join, the size of the Black Pearl would fall somewhat short.
Because Ripley alone stood twenty meters tall; on an ordinary pirate ship, the moment she lay down on the deck, not a single bit of space would be left.
Therefore, any new ship needed to be at least a hundred meters long.
Mungo thought of the cargo ships he had seen in his past life.
They were easily hundreds of meters long, with deadweights effortlessly exceeding hundreds of thousands of tons.
The problem now was this:
While the Giant race could help him build a massive ship over a hundred meters long, whether he would actually be able to pilot it was another matter entirely. Controlling the sails alone was not something that could be managed by simply giving the helm a casual spin.Their pirate crew still had far too few members.
Mungo glanced at Charlotte Linlin. Although she was a future Emperor of the Sea, right now she was just a five-year-old little girl who couldn't tear her eyes away from delicious food.
The bonfire party lasted from sunset until the moon rose, stretching on for several hours, and Charlotte Linlin stubbornly spent every single one of those hours eating sweets.
"Delicious!"
A blissful smile bloomed across Charlotte Linlin's face.
"Grandpa Mungo, do you want some?"
Seeing Mungo look over, Charlotte Linlin used her grubby hand to offer him a piece of cake.
"Then I won't hold back."
Mungo chuckled. The current Charlotte Linlin was still at her most innocent and carefree age—a stark contrast to the cruel and merciless Emperor of the Sea she would become in the future.
[Charlotte Linlin's favorability -10.]
[Current favorability: 30 (Friendly).]
[Charlotte Linlin: Even though the old grandpa ate my cake, he must still be a good person, right?]
The smile on Mungo's face instantly froze.
Wasn't it just a piece of cake? So you were only being polite?!
Was the clown really me all along?
Mungo sighed. Although the present Charlotte Linlin wasn't as brutally savage as she would be in the future, refusing to share her food was a bad trait.
"Linlin, do you know what ice cream is?"
"Ice cream?"
"That's right. Just like cake, it's a kind of cake that you only eat during the summer."
Mungo crushed a biscuit and pressed it into a cylindrical shape. Wielding the power of his Mythical Zoan fruit, he quickly caused a large mass of crushed ice to form atop the cylinder.
Combining the cake and the crushed ice, a simple ice cream was complete.
June in Elbaf was scorchingly hot.
And this era wasn't like the one in Mungo's memories, where every household could install air conditioning.
Under such conditions, the appeal of ice cream became unimaginably immense.
"Linlin, do you want to eat some?"
"I want some!"
The chubby little girl nodded eagerly.
"I have plenty more here, but you have to share them with everyone and eat them together."
Mungo produced a large batch of ice cream in the same manner.
By now, the Giants had finished their dinner, making it a good time for some dessert.
"So cold!"
A Giant race girl took a serving of ice cream from Linlin, cautiously licked it, and immediately wore a look of sheer bliss.
"It's practically the 'semla' of summer!"
"Haha, I just made it on a whim. If you like it, I can make more next time."
Mungo said with a beaming smile.
That was because he noticed Charlotte Linlin wearing that same blissful expression after eating her ice cream.
"So good!"
"Grandpa Mungo, I want more!"
"No. Eating too much ice cream in a short time will give you a headache."
Although giving in to Charlotte Linlin's demand might boost her favorability further, Mungo knew very well that spoiling a child was as good as harming them.
Mungo certainly didn't want Charlotte Linlin to walk down the same disastrous path as in the other world.
When a refusal was warranted, he had to refuse.
With Mungo's strength, suppressing a five-year-old Charlotte Linlin couldn't be easier.
The night passed quickly.
Ever since his cellular activity had increased, even Mungo's sleep had become much sounder.
Waking up from a deep sleep, he felt entirely refreshed.
At the same time, the elderly Giant Eorl brought news.
"Kid Mungo, come with me to Olso Castle."
"His Majesty wants to see you."