Chapter 1137

Reaching Aurust Castle, Road notes that fourteen years have passed without a soul entering since Harald died, and the shattered gate and absent sentries trouble him. Zoro points out that the barrier was broken from the inside rather than by raiders, yet Luffy storms in regardless. The trio is staggered by the place's sheer scale, and once Nami despairs of ever crossing it on foot, Road simply scoops the three up. Wreckage along the corridors, he explains, was left by the duel between Harald and Loki, a clash whose devastation he calls unavoidable. Reaching mounds of giant bones, Road tells them Loki cut down more than a hundred soldiers, sparing only himself and Jarul, after which the halls were sealed off.

A horned skull catches Luffy's eye and reminds him of Oars; Road answers that some giants once carried the blood of the Ancient Giants, though no purebreds survive. A portrait then reveals King Harald, whom Road hails as their greatest ruler for his wish to bind Elbaph to the outside world. Harald too bore that ancient lineage, Road adds, but tore his own horns away, regarding the Ancient Giants as a leftover of the age of wars. Road also names Hajrudin as the late king's other son and the man who loathes Loki most for the killing. Learning the two are half-brothers, Nami hears that Hajrudin's mother was a giant from a foreign realm denied the crown, since Elbaph treats outside blood as a stain, which she finds plainly bigoted. Road recalls befriending the lonely Hajrudin over his map-making and how the scorned prince vowed to unite every giant tribe and reign as their king.

Underground, Gunko, now confirmed to wield the Aro Aro no Mi, peppers the pinned Loki with arrows spun from her garments. Loki works out that the drifting arrows mark where her blows will strike, yet still spurns the offer and absorbs the hits exactly as foreseen until he loses consciousness. Her companion lowers his hood at last. The man is revealed as Figarland Shamrock, who commands a unit of the Knights of God and whose father is Garling, and his resemblance to Shanks is striking. He directs Gunko to reach Mary Geoise, their scheme being to drag Elbaph's giants under World Government rule by whatever means it takes.

Road escorts Luffy, Zoro, and Nami to the dead king's castle, untouched since the battle in which Loki slew over a hundred guards whose remains still litter the halls. Pure-blooded Ancient Giants such as Oars are said to be gone, yet both Harald and Loki carried their blood. Hajrudin is unveiled as Loki's outcast half-brother by a foreign-born giant woman. Gunko's hooded partner is exposed as Figarland Shamrock, a Knights of God commander and Garling's son, and Gunko is shown to belong to the Manmayer Family.

Shamrock's marked likeness to Shanks, set beside his Figarland name and Knights of God rank, seeds a major mystery. The chapter locks in the Government's plan to subjugate the island. The cover advances the Yamato pilgrimage serial with an infiltration of a shady hideout.