Chapter 5: "Murder and Arson" Akane, and the Seven-Star Demon Sword
Amid the rolling smoke over the Cang Kingdom's royal capital,
the Heavenly Tribute warship departed in style, and Rocks even looted the Cang royal treasury on the way out, seizing countless treasures.
On the ruined island that had once been Gu Yue Village's homeland, Rocks drove all those prisoner-soldiers off the ship.
Even the dozen or so young soldiers who had initially stayed on as sailors and laborers chose to disembark and return home.
In the end, only six orphaned soldiers with no family and nowhere to go remained aboard as sailors and laborers.
Rocks tore down and destroyed the World Government flag that had flown on the Heavenly Tribute warship, replacing it with a black flag bearing the name Rocks D. Xebec.
He renamed the Heavenly Tribute warship the Xebec Sword.
But due to a lack of officers and a lack of true powerhouses, Rocks did not want to raise the Rocks Pirates' skull flag just yet.
He wanted to witness the founding of the Rocks Pirates together with the powerful subordinates he would gather in the future.
Even so, the World Government had already classified Rocks as a pirate, and not just any pirate, the most evil pirate.
The wanted posters had long been issued.
A few days later,
"Wororororo! Akane, your wanted poster is out too!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You personally executed the general and the king of the allied nation Cang Kingdom. What a vicious temperament."
"Back when I kidnapped those five kings in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, I didn't even kill a single one of them."
Rocks laughed with a wide grin, teasing Akane, while completely failing to mention how vicious it was that he had killed a Navy admiral.
"What a garbage epithet!"
Akane was frantically developing these two Devil Fruit abilities, searching for ways to train and strengthen the soul insects.
Only during a break did Akane spare a glance at the wanted poster.
"Murder and Arson" Gu Yue Akane, bounty 80,000,000 Beli! Only Alive!
Damn it. The fire in the Cang royal capital was obviously set by Rocks, so why was it pinned on Akane?
"Wororororo! 'Murder' Akane, that infamy isn't bad!"
"But with strength and a bounty this small, you still can't become one of my officers. You'd better work hard!"
Rocks looked Akane over. He knew this special mutant really did have the potential to become an unmatched powerhouse.
A future nine-fruit user. Just imagining it was terrifying.
And on Rocks' wanted poster was a long string of zeros.
"World's Evil Pirate" Rocks D. Xebec, bounty 3,811,540,000 Beli
In this era, that bounty far surpassed the great pirates of the New World.
It showed how seriously the World Government viewed Rocks.
Right now, the famous great pirates of the New World generally had bounties around 1,000,000,000 Beli.
Charlotte Linlin, who had gone to sea a few years ago, had a first bounty of 50,000,000 Beli at age six, and in five years it rose to 500,000,000 Beli.
Now twelve years old, Charlotte Linlin already carried enormous fame in the New World.
By the time of the God Valley Incident, the Rocks Pirates officer Gil Basda had a bounty of 970,000,000 Beli.
Captain John, Silver Axe, Ganji, and the others on that level were probably around 1,000,000,000 Beli as well.
Stronger ones like Whitebeard, Shiki, and Linlin should be a tier higher, somewhere between 1,000,000,000 and 2,000,000,000 Beli.
After all, inflation in that era had not yet become so extreme.
Only after those great pirates split off one by one, formed their own crews, became overlords in their own right, and entered the later legendary eras and the Four Emperors structure did bounties soar into the 4,000,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 range.
...
"Akane, didn't you say we should go straight after strong people? Why are we still lingering in Paradise on the Grand Line?"
Rocks was already desperate to gather his future elite subordinates under his banner, then launch an assault on the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
"Because some people still haven't grown yet."
"For example, Charlotte Linlin. She has an iron-balloon physique and the Paramecia Soul-Soul Fruit. She's a future Four Emperors-level powerhouse, and one of your highest officers."
"But she's only twelve this year."
"Meanwhile, the West Blue mafia boss Marlon has already matured. We can go subjugate him."
"Shiki the Underworld Boss, a Paramecia Float-Float Fruit user, is already rising to fame in the New World. We can bring him aboard, but he's extremely arrogant and self-important."
"Pirate Edward Newgate, a Tremor-Tremor Fruit user. He's currently a combatant on someone else's ship, and we absolutely have to win him over. He's very strong."
"The smuggling great pirate Ganji, a Paramecia Bomb-Bomb Fruit user, is already very famous. We can forcibly subjugate him."
"The pirate cult leader Wang Zhi. He'll betray you later. Do you still want to recruit him?"
"Captain John, a Paramecia Magnet-Magnet Fruit user. He'll betray you too. I've set my sights on his Magnet-Magnet Fruit ability."
...
"Besides, the main reason we're still sailing in Paradise is because I'm going to take a demon sword I want. That's fine, right?"
Akane rattled off a long list of strong names to Rocks.
Akane had already checked the intelligence and confirmed their recent situations.
They had all already obtained their Devil Fruit abilities, so Akane wasn't worried about interfering with the future where they gained them.
As for Stussy, the scientific bandit, there was currently no news at all, as if she had gone into hiding.
"Wororororo! Just hearing about these Devil Fruit abilities tells you they're strong."
"As for betrayal, we'll see when we get there."
"But Akane, are you really only interested in the Magnet-Magnet ability?"
"The Soul-Soul ability, Float-Float ability, Tremor-Tremor ability, Bomb-Bomb ability… these are all powerful abilities. You're not tempted?"
Rocks laughed broadly at how precise the names were, then suddenly licked his lips and spoke to Akane with a chilling tone.
He didn't believe Akane could resist giving up so many powerful Devil Fruit abilities.
"Whoever betrays, I kill. That's fine, right, Captain?"
Akane met Rocks' gaze without fear. This special talent could never be hidden from Rocks anyway.
So it was better to lay it out directly.
Rocks, a member of the Clan of D, seemed to have a type of Observation Haki similar to hearing the voice of all things. His thoughts could directly appear in Roger's and Garp's awareness.
"Wororororo! That's fine!"
"As long as you're strong enough to help me defeat the King of the World, kill whoever you want. None of them are even on the ship yet!"
Rocks released an overwhelming burst of Conqueror's Haki, confident he could keep Akane, this little monster, under control.
"I'm not interested in the King of the World's seat."
"My goal is the sea of stars beyond this world."
"This world, you can go play with Imu and that Sun God Nika."
Akane spread both hands and spoke flatly.
Whether Rocks believed it or not, Akane believed it.
Rocks stared at Akane for a long time, as if trying to see through Akane's true thoughts.
In the end, he laughed boldly and did not refuse Akane's request to keep sailing in Paradise and search for the demon sword.
It also let him follow his original plan and have some fun with the pirate crews of Paradise on the Grand Line first.
Maybe he could even find strong people who didn't match the future Akane described.
After all, the future Akane saw was not a complete future.
...
Several weeks later,
the Xebec Sword sailed onward, beating every pirate crew it encountered into the ground.
Akane also took action many times, practicing and developing Moonlight and Gravity.
At last, they arrived at Akane's destination: Asuka Island.[1]
Akane and Rocks charged in headlong and quickly found the ancient village that guarded the Seven-Star Sword.[2]
Akane did not waste time arguing with the guardian priestess, directly opened the altar stone platform, and seized the Seven-Star demon sword.
"Wororororo! Looks like this demon sword isn't much worse than my blade!"
Rocks watched as Akane erupted with powerful soul force and forcibly subdued that eerie double-bladed demon sword, then burst into laughter.
His little brother was getting stronger and stronger.
But only the strong were qualified to become his subordinate.
"He actually subdued the Seven-Star demon sword…"
The priestess stared in disbelief as Akane took the sword away without showing any sign of being controlled.
That meant the destiny of her priestess clan to guard the Seven-Star Sword had vanished.
They no longer had to fear the demon sword breaking its seal.
...
After obtaining the Seven-Star Sword, Akane slashed out a terrifying strike across the sea and felt deeply satisfied.
Having a monster like Rocks as an escort was truly exhilarating.
From now on, Akane would do everything possible to help Rocks change his fate, repaying the protection Rocks had given.
Akane made a scabbard for the Seven-Star Sword, then suddenly looked toward the East Blue.
Akane considered whether to tell Rocks about Roger, and whether, with Rocks' charisma, there might be a chance to recruit Roger and Rayleigh.
But right now, Roger and Rayleigh seemed to still be in Loguetown and had not gone to sea. Their strength probably wasn't enough yet.
While collecting wanted posters and intelligence, Akane had not found any wanted notice for Roger.
In the original timeline, fifty-two years ago, when Brook was sailing in Paradise on the Grand Line near the Florian Triangle, Roger was still a newcomer who had only just entered the Grand Line.
From Loguetown into the Grand Line, it shouldn't take four years. Roger should still be in Loguetown and not yet at sea.
Akane did find information on the Rumbar Pirates sailing the Grand Line. Brook had already left the kingdom's guard force and boarded as a pirate for music, or for some other reason.
When Gunko was a child, Brook spent some time with her.
Now Gunko had become a young woman, serving at Imu's side.
When Rocks invaded the Room of Flowers to meet Imu, Gunko was there as well.