Cover Page: Oni Child Yamato's Golden Harvest Surrogate Pilgrimage, Vol. 25: "We captured a rebellious duo"

While traveling to the throne room, Luffy's group encounters a Magic Circle. A voice is then heard by everyone, causing Road to believe it is a ghost, causing him to drop everyone. It turns out to be Gaban, a former member of the Roger Pirates, as well as Ripley's partner and Colon's father. Gaban then learns about the group's mission, including that Luffy plans to defeat Loki if he got out of control, stating only Shanks could previously do it. As other members of the Straw Hat Pirates learn of Gaban's strength, Luffy's group succeeds in finding the key to Loki's chains, to which Gaban decides to challenge Luffy to a fight for possession of the key.

The Straw Hats have so far been unable to find the key to Loki's chains. Road says the only people likely to know the key's location would be Jarul or some of the other elders. Luffy considers asking Jarul but Road warns him it would be a terrible crime, and Zoro says they have not fully decided to free him. The four then see the throne room, but when they enter they notice a magic circle on the floor, which Nami says was used in rituals for summoning demons, which freaks Road out. Luffy, however, says it looks familiar to him.

The four then hear a voice calling out to Luffy, saying they had been waiting to meet him. Road freaks out thinking it is a spirit and makes a run for it, only for a large axe to be thrown at him, cutting him off and causing him to drop everyone. Luffy and Zoro land safely while the latter catches Nami, and Luffy sees someone on the throne. Road recognizes the person as "Ya-san", a former pirate, and asks him what he is doing here. Ya says he sensed some abnormal Haki coming from the room but it is gone, and instead he meets the Straw Hats. Ya tells Luffy he heard about his victory over Kaidou and how he would like to visit Wano again, while Road explains to Luffy that Ya is Ripley's husband, and therefore Colon's father. Ya comments on how much giant blood Colon inherited so he was never really able to hold him in his arms, and right now Colon is twenty years old while Ripley is eighty, yet they are still young. Ultimately, Ya admits marrying a Giant is not worth it if his partner and child will outlive him.

Nami is surprised to meet someone who would actually marry a giant, but Ya jumps down to the group and explains that love is free, and there are tons of mixed races in the world, and even though they do not tend to last long, there are several people who are open to the idea. Zoro asks Ya who he really is, but he simply refers to himself as a "Preacher of Love". Luffy asks Ya if he knows where the key to Loki's chains is, but Road scolds him for just asking point blank. Ya, however, says he enjoys seeing other people cause trouble. He does asks Luffy if he knows what kind of person Loki is, as well as what he would do should the worst thing happen if he is freed. Luffy simply says he will beat Loki up and chain him back up, but Ya says the only person who was able to capture Loki was Shanks, and if Luffy goes in without knowing what Loki can do, it will spell trouble for him. Luffy, though, just starts walking away, having gotten bored of listening to Ya. Road tries to apologize to Ya for the disrespect, but Ya just smiles and thinks back to his time with Roger and how he tried to get him to be more aware of potential risks. Ya tells Road to push over the throne, which he does.

Back in the village, the giants tell Usopp that in the Roger Pirates, there were two people who were just as strong as Roger himself. Usopp figures one of those people is Rayleigh, but he does not know the other. Oimo reveals that one day, Roger needed to rest and he and another went up to a hospital in the mountains, but they were surrounded by enemy pirates. Roger's companion, however, defeated all of them by himself with nothing but two axes, and in doing so he cut down every tree on the mountain, which earned him the epithet "Mountain-Eater". This man is considered by many to have been Roger's "left-hand man".

In the castle, the group discover a hidden room filled with treasure behind the throne, which Ya discovered in his free time. Nami was initially thrilled to see it is a treasure room, but to her displeasure, when they arrive they find everything is gone, no doubt everything having been looted years ago. However, the key to Loki's chains are still there, which Ya says not even the thieves were willing to steal. Just as Luffy moves to get it, Ya gets to it first and tells Luffy that if he wants the key, he will have to take it from him by force. Usopp is then told that man they were telling him about has lived in Elbaph for almost twenty years, and it is none other than Ya himself, who is actually Scopper Gaban.

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