Ayr had only just set out to sea, his plan was simple, drift across the ocean, find a Devil Fruit that could unlock the Nine Tails, and quietly level up through the system.
But this era's New World was too dangerous. Even though he had no hostility toward anyone, whenever he crossed paths with pirates, they treated him like an enemy. So he fought back. Again and again. Before long, the body count piled up, and it wasn't just pirates taking notice, he caught the attention of the Marines too.
Once the bounty was slapped on his head, the choice was out of his hands. He had to become a pirate.
That was how Ayr spent his first year in this world. He wasn't especially good at explaining this to Rocks, though. When the captain asked him why he'd chosen piracy, Ayr didn't have much to say.
Thankfully Rocks didn't press him. Instead, he looked out at the sea, the breeze teasing the edge of his coat as he muttered, "The reason I became a pirate… is to conquer this sea. But not just this one. My aim is the entire world."
That was Rocks D. Xebec, one of the strongest and boldest men ever to live. He had the strength to overwhelm an era, the ambition to tear down the order of the world itself.
He stood alongside legends: Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, Roger, Red Earl, Garp, Sengoku, Kong. Titans who suffocated the skies just by existing. If only Rocks hadn't let his arrogance get in the way, maybe if he'd managed his crew better, then maybe the tragedy at the Valley of the Gods wouldn't have happened. Maybe he really would've shattered the World Government and taken the throne of the world.
"So, Captain Rocks," Ayr said, raising an eyebrow, "you called me here just to tell me all that?"
Ambitions that stretched beyond the sea, beyond logic, beyond reason. But… what did that have to do with him? He'd only just joined the crew today. Was this standard onboarding procedure? A private one-on-one with Rocks himself, where the captain poured out his dreams?
Ayr had no grand vision. No ambitions. All he cared about was messing around and checking the progress on the system.
"I've seen a lot of monsters rise since I became a pirate," Rocks said. "But none of them caught my eye. Not really. They were all weaker than me. All of them."
He turned his gaze toward Ayr, sharp as a blade drawn halfway from its sheath. "But you… the moment I saw you, I knew. My Observation Haki isn't normal. I can see into the heart and origin of a person. That's why I called you. That's why I want you."
Ayr said nothing.
"You're different," Rocks went on. "There's a power inside your body, something that feel out of this world. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it. You have the potential to be an overlord, Ayr."
It wasn't just talk. Rocks was truly one of the strongest beings alive if not the strongest, his Observation Haki had reached a point where he could sense the root of a person's strength. That's why he'd gathered monsters like Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, and eventually even Kaido, all future emperors of the sea.
And now he was looking at Ayr the same way.
Ayr frowned slightly. So that was it. Rocks must've sensed the effects of the Sage Body through his haki, he probably didn't understand it. He just noticed that Ayr was different.
"You're above even Edward and Golden Lion," Rocks said. "If you grow right, you might surpass them all."
"Is that so?" Ayr answered with a casual nod, without any excitement. After all, he had the [Sage of Six Paths System ]. He knew where his path led.
Everyone else was just a stepping stone.
Rocks chuckled. "You already know what kind of power you hold, don't you?"
"So then," Ayr asked, "why'd you call me out here tonight?"
"Work for me, Ayr."
Ayr raised an eyebrow, then chuckled as he spread his hands. "Aren't I already a member of the Rocks Pirates? Working for Captain Rocks?"
"No. Not really." Rocks' voice was firm. "I don't know exactly why you joined this crew, but I don't want just lip service from you."
Ayr tilted his head. "What do you mean by that, Captain?"
"You have great potential. And from what I've seen, you've got some kind of hidden strength. But right now… you're still weak. I can help you become stronger, but I need your promise, until the day this crew disbands, you won't betray me."
Rocks wasn't naïve. He knew the truth.
Everyone on this ship had their own motives, secret ambitions tucked behind their grins and silence. Even now, some of them had already begun quietly building their own factions. Recruiting people and plotting his demise.
Rocks was no different. He'd been trying to sway certain people to his side too, but he also knew that it was already too late for most of them.
The Golden Lion, Big Mom, Whitebeard… they were beasts. Wild and untamable. He could beat them into submission if he wanted to, but he'd get any real obedience or True loyalty.
But Ayr was different.
The kid couldn't be older than sixteen or seventeen. Still young and moldable. Still within reach.
And that was all Rocks needed.
If he could raise him up, guide him, gain his trust, then he could control him. Not just through power… but through debt. Through loyalty and gratitude.
That's what Rocks was aiming for.
"What do you say, Ayr?" he asked quietly, voice serious now.
Ayr smiled, eyes calm. "As a member of the Rocks Pirates, I won't betray Captain Rocks."
He wasn't lying.
He had the system. He had talent most people in this world could never touch, but even Ayr knew, right now, he was still too weak.
This wasn't like serving under someone like the Golden Lion. That would've been different, it would've been submission.
But all Rocks wanted was a promise not to betray him. And in exchange… he was offered one-on-one training from one of the strongest men alive.
No matter how you looked at it, Ayr was getting the better deal.
Besides, he already knew how this would end.
Rocks would die in the Valley of the Gods. That was the fate waiting for him, and after that… Ayr would leave the Rocks Pirates anyway.
So he agreed easily.
Brainwashed? Please he knew how this went after all he had the perspective of a god.
Maybe he'd change fate, maybe everything was predetermined, but right now none of it it mattered.