Chapter 110: The Giant Race of Elbaf
The surrender of the two Giant Race members made Charlotte Linlin, who received the news, green with envy.
Hades, with his vast financial resources, promised to forge a set of armor for the two Giant Race warriors.
This promise directly led the two Giants to agree to join his ranks.
For Giant Race warriors, armor was undoubtedly a luxury.
Most Giants only needed a weapon, and a few would be equipped with a helmet, shield, or wristguard.
Possessing armor could greatly enhance their strength and protect their vulnerable parts.
Although the strength of Giant Race warriors was formidable, it wasn't much in a place like the Rocks Pirates, a place filled with monsters.
There were simply too many powerhouses capable of defeating Giant Race warriors.
The most crucial factor was the formidable strength Hades himself displayed.
With two Giant Race warriors, would more Giant Race members be far behind?
Compared to the strength of the two Giants, Hades valued the significance they represented even more.
The Giant Race was a powerful race, but also a divided one.
Besides the strongest Giant Kingdom, Elbaf also had Giant tribes of varying sizes.
To compete for resources, the various tribes engaged in mutual competition and war.
Elbaf's resources were abundant; Treasure Tree Adam alone was a priceless treasure.
Branches that drifted out to The Great Sea could be sold for a high price exceeding one hundred million Beli in the Black Market.
Weapons crafted from it possessed the hardness of steel and the toughness of wood.
The sap flowing from the Treasure Tree was the best raw material for cosmetics in the World; adding just a little could greatly improve the quality of cosmetics.
It also had extremely high medicinal value.
Paper made from the bark could last for a thousand years without decaying.
The leaves also had healing effects.
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Countless industries across the entire World revolved around Elbaf and Treasure Tree Adam.
Solely based on Treasure Tree Adam, Elbaf was one of the wealthiest Kingdoms on this Great Sea.
No matter how sturdy a tree was, being developed endlessly like this should have withered long ago, right?
On the contrary, Treasure Tree Adam's recovery ability was beyond imagination.
Under normal circumstances, the Giant Race would only utilize branches, bark, and sap that naturally fell off the Treasure Tree.
Actions like cutting branches from the Treasure Tree, which could harm the tree's foundation, were extremely dangerous.
Once discovered, it meant becoming an enemy of the Giant Race.
Every year, a group of greedy, short-sighted people died because of this.
For hundreds of years, wanting to gain a foothold under the Treasure Tree depended on whether one's fighting ability was strong enough to defeat the Giant Race.
Wars surrounding the Treasure Tree had never stopped.
Elbaf was known as the "Strongest Combat Race," not just because they were Giants, nor solely because of the harsh natural environment and wild beasts.
It was also due to the numerous external Factions coveting Treasure Tree Adam.
Superior resources were always accompanied by chaos.
The resources of the Treasure Tree were limited, so competition was naturally fierce.
Only powerhouses were worthy of possessing them.
Only a portion of the Giant Race's elite warriors could be allocated armor crafted from Treasure Tree branches.
The arrival of outsiders made Elbaf even more chaotic.
Without powerful strength, it was impossible to gain a foothold in Elbaf.
The wars between the Giant Race's internal tribes also provided opportunities for some Factions, who gained rewards from the Elbaf Giants by helping tribes achieve victory.
Elbaf had never closed its borders.
The Factions and trade involved ranked among the top in the entire World.
Currently, the strongest external Faction in Elbaf was the Rocks Pirates.
Even Elbaf needed to cooperate with the Rocks Pirates.
At the same time, under the overbearing deterrence of the Rocks Pirates, the strength of the Elbaf Giants was unified, maintaining a certain level of peaceful conflict.
Apart from what the Elbaf Giants themselves needed, most of the remaining resources were taken by the Rocks Pirates.
All of the Rocks Pirates' warships, including their main vessel, were crafted from Treasure Tree Adam branches.
Since they were enemies, how could the Rocks Pirates allow the tentacles of the Marines and the World Government to continue extending into Elbaf, a place containing immense interests?
Therefore, all their strength was expelled from Elbaf.
To this day, the World Government and the Marines have no base in Elbaf.
Over more than ten years, they didn't know how many losses they had suffered in interests.
Besides Treasure Tree Adam, Elbaf also possessed abundant produce.
It had a huge mineral deposit called "White Lead."
This was discovered three hundred years ago.
After research, this ore was found to have astonishing value.
It could not only be used as fuel, to manufacture tableware and daily necessities, used as paint, but even adding a little could increase the sharpness of weapons.
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Its uses were diverse and extremely widespread, truly a panacea.
Initially, it was kept very secret, but as time passed, the news inevitably leaked out.
The World Government and various Factions on the Great Sea swarmed in.
They began reselling and researching this resource.
Ordinary merchants were not even qualified to set foot on Elbaf.
This was destined to be a feast only for major Factions.
Even the Elbaf Giants were unable to resist the numerous Factions on the Great Sea and had to give up a portion.
Even though it was divided among various Factions, the Giant Race obtained astonishingly vast wealth.
However, how similar was this "White Lead" to a certain mineral deposit that caused a Kingdom to flourish decades ago?
"White Town" Flevance, a wealthy Kingdom that rose due to the "Platinum Lead Industry."
It wasn't just similar; the two were the same type of ore.
Platinum Lead was toxic.
Long-term use of products made from Platinum Lead and living in such an environment.
Lead poisoning would continuously accumulate and hide in the blood, shortening people's lifespan and even being inherited by descendants.
The future demise of "White Town" was because the toxin had accumulated to a certain degree and began to erupt on a large scale, making it impossible to conceal the news.
The World Government had researched Platinum Lead very early on and knew its dangers, but they didn't say anything.
How could a few human lives compare to the interests brought by Platinum Lead?
By fabricating the news that "Platinum Lead Disease" was contagious, the entire Kingdom of Flevance was destroyed.
The Royal Family of Flevance, who knew the truth early on, was taken away by the World Government and relocated to the Red Line.
This was the danger of Platinum Lead.
The World Government had known this for a long time.
To prevent Elbaf from noticing, while blocking the news, they named Flevance's White Lead "Platinum Lead" to differentiate them.
However, the Giant Race had large physiques and strong vitality, coupled with their civilization factors.
Although they utilized White Lead, they didn't do so as frantically as Flevance, which developed a Platinum Lead Industry that spread throughout the entire Kingdom.
White Lead was not very harmful to most of the Giant Race, but the Giant Race members who dug the White Lead mines, without any protective measures, were deeply affected by "Platinum Lead Disease." Every so often, Giants died in the mines.
The World Government hid the news but continuously sought White Lead, using Giant Race members to dig the White Lead mines for them.
Knowing the truth but not reporting it was malicious intent, aiming to weaken the strength of the Giant Race through this.
Once this news was exposed, it would definitely cause a huge blow to the World Government, and the Giant Race would completely become hostile towards the World Government.
Of course, the World Government wasn't the only one who knew the truth.
The Kronos Kingdom knew, and the Eternal Kingdom knew, but their numbers were very small.
They were undoubtedly Kingdoms with powerful research capability.
Most people on the Great Sea were kept in the dark.
And the Factions that knew the truth tacitly remained silent because it concerned their interests.
This was a trump card for Hades, a way to stab the World Government in the back in secret.
As for why the World Government? Besides the World Government, was there a better scapegoat?
However, for now, the Rocks Pirates were still present, and the strength of the World Government and the Marines could not return to Elbaf, preventing the impact from being maximized.
Hades could gain the strength of the Giant Race.
These two Giants were just the beginning.
In fact, the treatment of Andre and Kali had already made other Giants envious.
(end of chapter)