Giant event

After spotting the treasure island, Fred commanded the Underwold towards the surface, from which they could see that Perona hadn't played a trick on them to avoid doing her housework chores.

There really was something huge in the center of the small and usually flat desert island!

Something huge that wasn't there at the time Fred buried his treasure and that certainly looked like a small mountain, although a bit strange.

However, as they approached, went around the island and, above all, disembarked and saw it from few meters away, the mystery was solved.

"Does this... look like a mountain to you?" Fred asked in an extremely sarcastic manner towards her lookout.

A small lookout trying to excuse her excusable mistake "I was far away and at a bad angle... I saw a huge mass and I thought it was a small mountain...."

"Kyahhh…" Hawky said, defending Perona, after all, no one was certain until they got close enough.

"I'm not a geologist, but I think it's not a mountain…" Stephen responded, extremely surprised. "In my humble opinion I think this is…"

"Wait…" Fred interrupted Stephen while looking at Perona and Hawky. "Can we all say it at the same time?

I need to do a quick idiot test."

In front of them was a human being who looked quite young, as if he were 18 years old, with long blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin even though it was now quite dark due to continuous exposure to the sun's rays. Statistically uncommon traits that didn't make much of an impact on the [FreedSteel] members, since that boy's size completely stole the spotlight from any other existing trait

"A GIANT!!!!

KYAHH!!!"

In the world of One Piece there were quite a few humans with super-human height... a group to which Fred belonged with great pride. A lot of known characters belonged to that group such as Donquixote Doflamingo, with a great height of 3.05 meters, Edward Newgate with a disproportionate height of 6 .66 meters or Charlotte Linlin, crowned as the tallest human being officially known with a height of 8.80 meters

Some could be mistaken for giants, but only if you have never seen a real giant. An average adult true giant averages 15 or 18 meters, while the tallest ones exceeded 20 meters, with Dorry being the tallest normal giant known so far at 22.60 meters.

However, the giant in front of them surpassed that record by far!

That giant in front of them was twice or even more Dorry height, although it was difficult to tell since he was lying in a fetal position, with his clothes torn and, above all, because...

He was so extremely dehydrated and malnourished that he seemed to be composed only of skin and bones!

He was closer to becoming a raisin than a living being, regardless of his race and size. He had probably gone days without eating or drinking anything, to the point that he didn't have the strength to move and although he seemed to be conscious right now he couldn't even speak because his throat was completely dry.

It was unknown how much longer he would survive, so Dr. Fred tried to act quickly.

"Don't worry Mr. dehydrated and hungry giant, here I'm to solve the problem" Fred said as he ran towards the beach, soaked his hair and turned the water into trunks of the largest tree he had seen until now "Stephen, build a giant custom-made bowl in record time with the wood I'm creating

I'll turn the sea water into food for him… if I turn parts of the island in the end there will be no island to stand on and my patient will risk swallowing sand."

"Normally I would refuse that request...

But not if a life depends on it" Stephen sighed as he brandished his multipurpose war hammer in ax mode and cut the trees at high speed "First I'll make a super giant cup and while you hydrate him I'll continue with a deep plate"

Fred constantly created giant logs and threw them at Stephen, who cut them at lightning speed and masterfully as if they were pieces of a giant, complicated three-dimensional puzzle that fit together solidly without the need for any type of glue or metal nail.

A surreal productive process that was being witnessed by the dying giant, unable to externalize how amazed he was due to the lack of energy in his titanic body.

'A guy creating trees from seawater?' The giant thought before closing his eyes for his own safety 'I'm delirious... again...'

To avoid falling into madness, the enormous giant closed his eyes and went back to sleep, the best strategy to conserve energy in that situation and hopefully live another day... a survival strategy that was misunderstood by Fred.

"Perona! Cheer him up and keep him awake" Fred shouted as he helped put the puzzle pieces together with Stephen to create the glass "We can't let him give up now that we're about to save him"

"YES BOSS!" Perona answered performing the military salute "Right now!"

To carry out the orders perfectly, Perona flew in front of one of the enormous eyes and summoned a squad of ghosts next to her to make more noise.

"Cheer up, Mr. Giant! Soon you will be able to eat and drink all you want!" She shouted Perona as an introduction before starting her usual song and dance "CHE-ER UP! CHE-ER UP! CHE-ER UP!"

A happy and hopeful song performed by a girl with depressive abilities accompanied by a band of dancing ghosts with quite a sense of rhythm that... didn't have the expected effects...

'And now a little girl who flies? And dancing ghosts?' The giant thought, with more reasons than ever to go back to sleep. 'I've gone totally crazy from hunger and dehydration.'

Perona's efforts didn't seem to be yielding much results. That forced the wood creator and the temporary carpenter to accelerate their production speed even more, until they finally obtained a giant wooden cup filled with seawater.

"Hawky, transform yourself into a castle and help move this giant bag of bones and skin so he can drink" Said Fred, transforming the seawater inside the cup into orange juice and brought it closer with his incredible physical strength towards the giant's mouth "Try to keep his mouth open."

"KIAHH!!!" Answered Hawky, giving a military salute with his wing before beginning his transformation into a giant flying castle.

A giant seventy meter flying castle that after some technical difficulties managed to put the enormous giant in an optimal position to be able to eat food with the help of third parties... and collaterally also wake up the poor giant once again

'A bird has transformed into a giant robot?' The giant thought, so screwed and impressed that he didn't even realize that they were moving him. 'Coooool but...

These very realistic hallucinations aren't normal... I'm sure I'm about to die...'

However, when the delicious, fresh orange juice flooded his dry palate, those negative thoughts disappeared. Now he was beginning to be aware that he wasn't hallucinating and that someone was really helping him and that's why he did everything possible to collaborate in his own rescue, using every scrap of energy that was in his body to regain more vitality.

Hours passed, but the giant continued to drink and eat, and with little help from our heroes all the uncooked food that Fred created from seawater practically unchewed practically without chewing

With each ton of drink and food that entered his body the giant regained his vitality in a clearly visible way. That was clinically impossible in Fred's original world, where it would take weeks or months to recover from all the consequences caused by such severe malnutrition and dehydration.

But not in the One Piece world!

Progressively, the bag of bones and skin began to gain flesh and defined muscles, going from being a giant raisin with a humanoid shape to a perfectly healthy humanoid giant that was even capable of moving and speaking with normality.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU AND... INFINITE THANK YOU!!!" The giant shouted through tears as he knelt in front of his new heroes "I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE WITHOUT HONOR ON THIS ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!

I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO REPAY THIS GIANT DEBT!"

Due to his absurdly large size his gratitude shouts reverberated in the bodies of our heroes as if they were in front of a powerful sound amplifier and they were also forced to dodge his giant tears to avoid getting their clothes wet, or at least that was the case for Fred and Stephen.

Reasons other than their usual modesty to stop such a dangerous act of gratitude

"Yes, we're also glad to have saved you, but don't cry too much or you will become dehydrated again" Fred said as he turned the tears that fell near him into rose petals to avoid getting stained "What's a giant so… giant and young like you doing here?"

"It's a long story that I'll try to summarize, but first of all here comes my introduction" The giant responded, stretched out completely on the ground so he could talk more easily with humans "My name is David, son of Goliath and I'm 55 years old... the equivalent of 17 years for humans.

As you can see, I'm three times taller than an average giant.

I'm 55 meters tall, I'm the tallest in the entire village of Valhalthar and... my beard doesn't grow and it seems that it will never grow...

The other children call me [Beardless] for that reason... they're very cruel..."

"Why did they pick on you for that?" Asked Perona so confused that asked for a male opinion. "I don't understand."

"Giants place a lot of importance on having a good beard or mustache," Stephen responded as he stroked with some pride the four adolescent hairs that were beginning to grow on his chin and mustache "Very macho men stuff, you wouldn't understand it, Peronita."

"Well, I partly understand the nickname…" Fred said, seconding the motion while also stroking the four hairs that were beginning to grow on his chin as well. "The children give everyone nicknames and despite being the tallest one calling you [The Giant] being all of you giant would be strange... I think..."

In the same way that there're humans three, five or even seven times taller than the average, it was also not ruled out that there could be normal giants three or even four times taller than the average like David.

However, even if it was comparably understandable his size was certainly outrageous!

Although he was less bulky and with a 100% human appearance, he was practically as big as a powerful Ancestral Giant like Oar, Oars Jr!

"My special condition has always made me slightly different from the rest of the giants of Valhalthar and that partly also contributed to other levels" Said David, beginning to relate his tragic past in an entertaining way. "According to what I have been told in Elbaf things are easier because everything, even the animals, are huge.... which is why almost all the giants live there... but that's not the case in our village...

Although there aren't many of us, due to how big we are, how relatively small everything else is and therefore the few resources that there're in our village it's quite difficult to feed, clothe and shelter a giant.

Especially me, the biggest and most glutton of all! And especially being an orphan...

...This isn't the first time I have been hungry you know..."

And although to Fred's disappointment they weren't able to see those sad past events through a multi-chapter flashback, this didn't prevent the listeners from greatly empathizing with his story.

"Well…" Fred said, scratching his head and hardening his heart. "I… I don't know what to say in this kind of situation…"

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Stephen said, wiping away some of her tears with his metal sleeve. "You must have had a very difficult childhood."

"How sad!" Perona said crying her eyes out… before returning to her extremely positive cheerleader mode "But good things will happen to you someday! 

Fight!"

Even Hawky rubbed his head on David's big cheek to encourage him "Kyah...!!"

"Come on!

Cheer up those faces, now comes the most entertaining part" David said, enormously hurt for causing sadness and concern in the people who had saved him. "Things weren't easy and I had little interaction with the few kids my age... but since I'm so big, I attracted a lot of attention from the tourists who came to our island

They would give me some money and talk about the outside world in exchange for climbing on top of my head and giving them a ride around the island.

They told me many interesting things, the stories that I liked the most were the seas where sweets rain and the plant-shaped islands in which tons of food were generated daily...

I wanted to travel to those places and live there forever!"

These were fantastic stories that made big little David's innocent eyes shine years ago... and he continued to do so even now, so much so that it worried the youngest and most innocent human of the group.

"This...

Do such islands and seas exist? Perona whispered with some concern in Fred's ear "They really exist?"

"Yes, they exist," Fred said, touching the intangible head of his intern secretary. "They didn't fool him, you can rest assured."

However, David didn't listen to that conversation that perhaps he needed to hear, he was too focused on briefly recounting the most decisive stage of his life. "I got along well with the humans, specifically with a cook named Jef who a few decades ago opened a restaurant on the island for small-sized tourists like you

He felt a little compassion for my situation, so from time to time he gave me desserts, which didn't fill me up, but tasted delicious...

But I wanted to know how to make them, so after a lot of insistence he taught me how to cook in his free time!

It wasn't easy, since I cooked mostly in human proportions and to do that I needed a lot of precision and very long pincers...

But it was a necessary step to be able to eat like the gods on the islands of my dreams one day."

'So he's a cook?' Perona thought, quite interested in this detail for some reason. 'Maybe...'

"By being a cook I improved my situation a little in the village.

I cooked for others in exchange for some food and I don't want to brag, but I was quite successful." David said, unable to hide his desire to show off his skills. "And when I was finally old enough and had the opportunity to fish for whales and sea monsters, my existential problems were resolved a little more, but…

That relative prosperity didn't make me abandon my dream!"

"YEEEES!!" Shouted the entrepreneurs Fred and Stephen, who felt somewhat identified, "That's my boy!"

"I had a dream to fulfill!

Reach these islands and bathe with their infinite and giant food and also cook it to perfection for myself without having to use pincers!" David said with extreme euphoria, so much so that he stood up suddenly, creating a moderate gust of wind with his movements. "For that and many other reasons I made a raft... since I'm so big there were no boats suitable for me and I didn't have the money to order one... I said goodbye to the village, I paid my respects to the Jef's grave, I started my adventure and..."

"You shipwrecked."

"I was pathetically shipwrecked the next night!" David said, affirming and maximizing his failure in front of everyone, "When I woke up I was at the bottom of the sea with no trace of my homemade raft

And I still don't know what happened, the weather was good that night, at least when I managed to reach the surface..."

"I'm not an expert on wooden rafts, but I suspect that…" Stephen said without any doubt. "It dismantled itself because it was poorly built."

"Yes... it's the most convincing theory...

Lesson learned...

The fact is that I was in the middle of the ocean with only what you see on me, without knowing where I was and where I should go to return to the village or to another island...

That's why I swam aimlessly for... I think it was two weeks... looking for land.

I didn't know how far I would be from the next island, but I was confident in my swimming and fishing abilities…" David said with the optimism that he surely felt at that moment, only to immediately replace it with desperation "But blessed was my luck, I barely found any big fish that could satisfy my hunger and the worst of all was the thirst..."

"Extremely thirsty but submerged and surrounded solely and exclusively by water that seems to have no end.

A cursed water that only accelerates the dehydration process whether is drunk or not

A horrible torture for the body and the mind" Fred said, clarifying for everyone how horrible a shipwreck could be apart from the danger of death. "I know what I'm talking about, I've tortured a lot of people."

A rather terrible description that perfectly summed up the horror that David suffered for weeks, who could do nothing but nod and continue with his unfortunate story.

"That's how it is...

I was hungry and very thirsty...

I almost had no strength left to continue, but just as I had done throughout my life I continued swimming until I fainted in search of an island

Something I accomplished, but…" David continued with the story, becoming increasingly depressed an thus making the story more immersive. "As you can see, there's nothing, no water or food, it's a desert island...

Totally deserted… there aren't even insects…"

"Wow…" Perona exclaimed, amazed by the unfortunate story. "You have to be the unluckiest guy in the world…"

"Nah...he's alive..." Stephen assisted, giving a second opinion "Do you remember the gangsters from a few months ago?"

"I take back what I said," Perona responded, unable to deny that logic. "I don't want to remember that…"

"I still had no food or drink, but at least I was on dry land!

I no longer had to constantly fight to stay afloat, watch out for drowning or get depressed about not seeing fish...

Finally a stroke of luck…" David said with an excess of irony "But I no longer had the energy to swim again and seek luck with another island, not even to move a little….

So I stayed here... waiting for someone to rescue me... despite knowing that the chances were practically nil even if they found me in time.

At a certain point I was just waiting for death…"

"It's true…" Perona said after realizing how truly devastating David's situation had been. "Even if a ship found you, there's almost no way they would have been able to do anything for you."

Without mentioning the plate or the giant glass. In order to resurrect David, President Fred had needed to create nearly 500 tons of food. That was an absurd amount that few, if any, ships in this world possessed, much less would spend on a stranger if they still had to travel the sea. 

David came to that conclusion days ago and for that reason he had practically resigned himself to dying... not to mention abandoning this small island, it was statistically impossible for a ship capable of housing his gigantic body to appear.

But as it turned out, his great bad luck was finally compensated by equal or greater good luck, something he didn't even dare to dream of at one point.

"That's why I'll be eternally grateful to you!

If it hadn't been precisely for your statistically improbable help I would have died 

BUA!!! BUAA!!!! BUAAAA!!!!" David said, crying his eyes out and kneeling again in front of his four saviors before realizing a curious detail "But that reminds me...

I still don't know the name of my saviors."

"Oops, sorry!

"I'm Stephen Steel, the vice-president and engineer of the company and also the one who built that incredible hybrid submarine." Stephen said, introducing himself before introducing the others "This cute girl is Perona, the intern secretary and lookout

The metallic falcon is called Hawky, a mascot, a warehouse, a factory, a weapons center... and a vacation home, among many things.

And he is..."

"Hello!

I'm President Frederick Freed" Fred said, not accepting that others introduced him, especially when he imitated the voice of one of the best characters in terms of self-introductions "Maybe you know me by other names like [Demon Hunter], [Pirate Butcher], [Dr. Doom] or…"

"FREDERICK FREED!!?? THE LEGENDARY BOUNTY HUNTER!!??"

As soon as David heard that name and the first of the nicknames, the giant screamed like he had never before that day and rushed towards Fred to get a better look at the small face of his red-haired saviour, almost creating an earthquake in the process. 

Seconds passed and David giant eyes never left Fred's for a second, he didn't blink and he barely breathed as he looked at him. If it weren't for the fact that he was trembling slightly and that his smile was getting bigger by the moment everyone would have believed that David had been petrified.

And it didn't look like he would get out of that state anytime soon, so everyone but Fred was forced to ask "Do you know him?"

"Of course! The newspaper also comes to our village... although we have to read it with a magnifying glass..." Answered David after waking up from the trance, although after waking up he spoke like a true fanboy. "You were a very recurring topic of conversation in the village since your first appearance defeating those evil pirates when you were a child.

Opinions were divided. 

Some argued that you're a great warrior for defeating so much evil people... however some argued that you're a coward who always resorts to dirty tricks to win without honor.

But I have always supported you! To you and your ninja methods!

Can you tell me some of your surely fascinating stories please?"

One of the facts that had always fascinated Fred was how people had popular culture notions about elements that were unlikely to be known within the complex world-building of One Pice, such as ninjas and other elements of Japanese culture that ethnically have Wano as origin.

Ninjas are assassins who know strange techniques that came from Wano and didn't exist in other places, but were still known and even admired… specially for dudes… in all the seas of the world.

Even among the giants as Fred recently discovered!

The same could be said of Wano's architecture, which was present throughout the world, even in Marineford. There were also the katanas, certain types of typical Yakuza tattoos like the one Sakazuki has and… many other elements that could hardly be explained with the cultural exchange of some immigrants from Wanno, as is the case of Zoro and Kuina's family.

There must be something more, something related to ancient Wanno from 800 years ago before it closed its borders. This was one of the many intriguing theories that Fred used to think about in his previous life and even more so now that he was in the world of One Piece.

'Oops... I've scattered again...'

But despite his initial surprise at that anecdotal detail, Fred felt the need to return to his now real world to reciprocate the great admiration that someone had for him as soon as possible

"Well...

I can't refuse the requests of a BIG fan

Hehehehe..." Answered Fred, who as always was quite weak to the sincere flattery that came from good people. "Although I'm not a ninja... I think... or at least I never pretended to be one...

Do you want me to tell you about my famous Onohawa mixed bath adventure? Uncensored, obviously! It's usually the most requested story" 

"YES PLEASE!" David exclaimed with the same excitement that a small child would have. "And then can you tell me what happened a few months ago with Lerna the Hydra? Not too many details of the battle were published…"

Despite his innocence and limited knowledge of the outside world, David was perceptive enough to know that for various reasons the newspapers didn't always tell everything his interviewer had told them or in the way it had originally been expressed. Not even the interviewee used to tell all the details in case there overly compromised parts in his story or to hide their methods to prevent the general public and especially enemies or competitors from knowing them.

But now he was right in front of the direct source of those stories that had so excited, fascinated, entertained and even inspired him to leave his island!

He couldn't wait to hear Fred's adventures in great detail, especially the legendary and hilarious Onohawa mixed bath incident!

But before that...

"Guys...

Before telling stories that Perona shouldn't hear, we have to talk about another matter...

"What do you want to do David?" Stephen asked, bringing a bit of sanity in this desert island "What're your plans after the shipwreck?"

Five hours had passed since they arrived on this small island and began rescuing David. They still hadn't recovered the treasure hidden under David's belly. They had a very tight schedule to fulfill... and it was more than obvious that David couldn't stay here forever, much less listening to Fred's +18 stories.

Everyone had to leave that place sooner rather than later.

"Do you want us to take you back to Valhalthar?" Perona asked with the best intention in the world. "In fact, we were going there to…"

"Perona," Fred interrupted her surreptitiously whispering in her ear "Read the room"

From what David had said so far and Fred and Stephen had been able to understand, his new friend didn't have very good memories of his hometown, one of the reasons why he had decided to leave. It was evident from his current facial expression that he wasn't very happy to return to that place, much less return in a few days as a loser who failed miserably in the first and most ambitious project of his life.

However, he didn't have many other options right now either...

"It's no big deal...

Maybe this is destiny...a sign from the gods that are telling me that I'm not made for the outside world..."David said, much less happy than a few seconds ago, although he tried to hide it so as not to make Perona feel guilty. "Besides...

I have to repair this irreparable debt somehow!

Starting to act as a guide in my hometown is nothing.

However..."

However, even if he wanted to help them, his great size once again became a problem for him and for everyone...

No matter how many times he looked at his saviour's long submarine, it was mathematically impossible for him to be able to enter its interior and sail towards Valhalthar alongside his youthful idol.

In his mind he tried to find some less impossible formula, but they all had serious flaws if he wanted to reach Valhalthar without causing problems.

He could swim alongside the submarine until he reached the island... but there was no guarantee that he could keep up with their speed, thus making the journey difficult for his rescuers... who might have to save him again.

Riding on top of the huge submarine was also an option... but he couldn't risk damaging his idol's submarine.

Be that as it may, not to mention that they would have to create tons of food and drink for him again if they didn't want to deal with a giant raisin again in case the trip was long, his presence would only complicate things for his saviours.

And that made David even sadder...

"Don't worry about transportation" Said Stephen, who sensed what David was thinking from the way he looked at his submarine. "The guy you admire can create unlimited amounts of impure wood with the powers of his Akuma No Mi... and even though I hate it, with some time I can build you a functional boat of your size.

One that doesn't sink this time."

"And you don't have to come with us there if you don't want to" Said Perona, who was quite nervous and feeling somewhat guilty was trying to make up for her previous mistake. "We can help you get to reach another island... although I don't know where the island with giant food is..."

They had saved his life by feeding him and drinking until he could no longer eat or drink. They had helped him without asking for anything in return. They wanted to continue helping him reach civilization for free, even if it means changing their busy schedule. They were willing to grant him the whim of not taking him to his hometown, even if that was their next destination.

Even the steel-clad boy broke his moral code of not working with wood to help him more than one time!

"Mnnfff... Mmmfff"

David couldn't help but cry with happiness as he felt like the luckiest oversized giant in the world! Not even Jef, his sensei and more or less father figure who died of old age a few months ago had been so disinterested towards him!

"Mmffff... mmffff...

Thank you.... mmfff... thank you very much...

You're very kind...

Mmmmfff..." David sobbed while wiping his tears, trying to calmhimself down to have a minimally understandable conversation. "You're trying to help me, but... I'm just giving you additional problems... and...

Sniff...

I can't do anything significant to make up for what you have done... and want to do for me...

It seems that I'm destined to be a burden for the rest of my life…"

It seemed like the members of [FreedSteel] were about to deviate from their set route to help David begin his adventure in a dignified manner and without any payment for their services.

However, there was still someone who hadn't expressed his opinion!

"I don't like idiots who talk about destiny as if their past, present and future were written on a stone chiseled by the tip of the penis of some motherfucker god."

And that person was precisely the one with the greatest decision-making power!

The coldest being, with a higher level of psychopathy, obsession with obtaining financial remuneration and who hated more than anyone here to deviate from the plans drawn up by himself unless they meant an improvement for the company

President Frederick Freed!

And now he seemed disgusted by the crestfallen and defeatist attitude of one of his fans, who was breathing heavily at the thought that he might have disappointed his idol by mentioning some taboo!

"But...

I'm starting to believe that... sometimes... there aren't coincidences in this world" Fred said, putting an end to that fake anger "And one of those things that don't happen by coincidence is probably our meeting."

For quite a few minutes now, Fred hasn't interacted with the rest of the temporary inhabitants of his treasure island. As usual, Fred's mind had traveled to his inner world where he used to debate with himself transcendental, important, stupid or irrelevant matters without much order or meaning 

And on that relatively brief but intense trip Fred came to certain conclusions, perhaps hasty, with little certainty or even forced, but he still opted for them.

"David, you said you're a cook right?" Fred asked as he got as close as possible to the legs of the giant sitting in front of him. "Are you good?"

"OF COURSE! The people of the village and the tourists always praised my food" David said very nervously as he knelt formally before Fred, who seemed to be speaking to him with great seriousness. "My specialty is meat dishes and desserts.

If I get some pincers I could…"

"Forget the pincers for the moment," Fred interrupted to continue his round of questions. "Are you strong and know how to fight... or are you just an easy target with average human physical strength but on a somewhat larger scale?"

This was a somewhat more difficult question to answer than the previous one, especially considering who asked the question. Fred had been in hundreds of death battles with thousands of diverse enemies so far... while David had only performed training matches against a limited number of known adversaries of his own race.

David didn't have the same standards as Fred and therefore didn't know how to perfectly answer that question with the information he had. Still, he tried to respond as best he could without being too boastful, but also without discrediting himself.

"There're some adults in the village who have beaten me in combat, but not too many, not by much, not always and that was some time ago" Answered David as he got up from the ground and walked towards the beach "But of course in physical strength no one surpassed me, observe"

Without giving further explanations David dipped his big feet in the water until his knees were covered... approximately 15 meters deep... he looked down, raised his arm and...

He threw a punch into the water!

PLOOOOFFFF!!!!

A punch that didn't even touch the water, but that wasn't necessary to demonstrate his superhuman power on the sea surface. The colossal power of David's punch deformed the water around him for a few seconds, opening a hole with the size of his fist in the water that allowed everyone here to see the bottom of the sea and his feet.

Quite an incredible feat!

Having such power placed you in the category of superhuman! Not everyone was capable or doing something similar, not even on a small scale!

"Awesome

KYAHHH!!" Said Stephen, Fred and Hawky as they jumped and flew to escape the small tsunami that David had caused. "I have to try too"

"Ups, I'm sorry

Have I wet you?" David asked, especially to Perona, who received the wave fully.

"No" Answered Perona without flinching. "Luckily I haven't come physically."

From Fred's satisfied expression, David understood that he passed this strength test, something that made him extremely proud...

However, those thoughts distracted and negatively affected him when it came to answering Fred's next... question... "You hit hard, but...

Are you a glass cannon or not?"

But before David could answer

Fiu!

Fred jumped towards the giant's knee and with his right fist wrapped in his own hair he hit the giant with all his strength.

PLOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

But contrary to what Fred intended, he was unable to hit the back of David's knee to make him lose his balance. David was able to anticipate that blow and stop it with his hand, although his hand suffered some recoil after receiving the most powerful punch Fred had ever trown in his life.

"How can you hit so hard when you're so small?" David said as he examined the sore palm of his hand, where there was now a bruise in the shape of a fist. "You didn't fight with weapons?"

"Good reflexes!" Fred said dignifiedly as he examined his numb fist after that failed experimental attack. "I was hoping that my failed attempt at [Overloaded fist] would hurt you, but that you could still endure it

But I never imagined that you could anticipate it and block it with your arm

I thought that giants had little reaction speed to small attacks, like most humans with mosquitoes."

The great advantage of the giants was the great power that their large size gave them when it came to creating massive damage, especially against other large targets... however this advantage became a drawback when defending against small attacks. Despite being very resistant to regular attacks, they're also an easy target for both normal attacks and extraordinary attacks from extraordinary people… and they usually weren't agile enough to avoid them all

The One Piece serie was full of examples of attacks concentrated in a relatively small space but that contained great power capable of knocking down or harming big and powerful giants with ease. Like when Doflamingo cut off Oars Jr's leg, when Moria pierced Oars Jr or when Luffy knocked out Hajrudin with a single haki punch in the face

Fred wanted to see if this happened with all the giants and although he managed to hurt him, he wasn't at all dissatisfied.

"I've been a little lucky if I'm honest.

And the truth is that I'm used to fighting with people smaller than me, they always go for my knees.

It's almost a reflex action" David said soberly, even though inside he was jumping with joy 'What a thrill, I have exchanged blows with the best bounty hunter in West Blue.

What a joy to be alive!'

However, despite being euphoric as before, he learned from his past mistakes and didn't lose sight of Fred even for a second in case he wanted to ask another question.

A smart precaution, but unnecessary for the next question.

"You have already answered my previous unanswered question, so I'll move on to the next and final one" Fred said as he gathered around his partner, pet and employee to make an official statement "Would you like to work for me David, son of Goliath and possible future [FreedSteel] chef?"

One last question...

"The What?"

That stumped David, who still wasn't able to process it.

Although Stephen and Perona began to suspect something during the test, David never thought he would receive an invitation. And while he was still in shock, Fred continued to expand his job offer.

"Yes, it's an important decision and you need to think about it, but I can only tell you that the pay is good, there're multiple additional extra benefits such as vacations, existential expenses paid... and I know where those islands you mention are

It's called Boing Archipelago and one of my goals is to take a trip there" Fred said as he hugged his team as a group and asked for some… positive… feedback on his latest addition "Also, at [FreedSteel] we're all a big family happy, right Perona?"

"Yes... we... we are" Answered Perona somewhat forcefully, trying to erase from her head, even temporarily, the hard training, study sessions and additional work she had been doing since she started working for Fred. "Of course we are.

Yeah...

Horohorohoro!"

However, due to his excitement David didn't even notice Perona's contradictory non-verbal language that seemed to warn him of some kind of danger. He was too elated to pay attention to any minimally negative details about this proposal.

"I…I would love to!

And not just because it would be wonderful!

So I could have the opportunity one day to minimally pay this great debt that I have contracted with you" Said David, almost on the verge of crying with happiness again… before considering crying with sadness "But…

There's a problem… a pretty big problem…"

David's size had been a drawback to living with giants in a giant village and things would only get worse living with humans in a city or boat of humans.

In addition to the impossibility of traveling with them on the same boat, he was aware that his presence would cause great problems for his four rescuers. Problems that David didn't believe he could adequately compensate for with his cooking and combat capabilities and pleasant personality.

After some thought, he began to consider not accepting that offer for the sake of his offeror. He thought that Fred was rushing to accept him into his group maybe because he felt responsible after saving him, maybe because his tragic story would have generated sympathy in him and his group or another reason…

However, he feared that Fred hadn't properly thought about how much trouble it meant to include him in his adventure. David just didn't want to cause problems for anyone else...

"Centuries ago... and unfortunately in some places today... a simple diarrhea or a simple cold was considered a big problem because it could cause a certain death 

But nowadays they're minor problems that don't even require a prescription..." Fred said while giving instructions to Hawky to bring something. "A problem is only big if you don't have the right tools to solve it.

And it just so happens that I may have a tool to solve your little problem."

At the right moment, as Fred indicated, Hawky took out a small chest through his trap door. The chest was Fred grabbed on the fly and without further ado opened it, revealing a small cherry tomato inside.

A cherry tomato with weird circular marks

"Have you heard anything about the Mini Mini No Mi?"

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371