Chapter 7: Rocks, Your Conqueror's Coating Still Isn't Strong Enough
A few days later, in a certain sea region of Paradise on the Grand Line.
"Akane, your physique is truly trash. The eight-year-olds in my village are stronger than you!"
"Hmph! Stop running your mouth. So what if you've got bloodline advantages? Sooner or later I'll become stronger. Give me a few more years and I'll undergo a qualitative breakthrough!"
Akane trained like a madman, but the body still couldn't meet Rocks' minimum standards.
It was the weakest student Rocks had ever seen.
Even little brats from the Davy clan were stronger than Akane.
With Rocks and Akane bickering every day, the sailors and laborers on the ship had long gotten used to it.
They never expected Rocks D. Xebec, who could kill a Navy admiral, to be this kind of person.[1]
"Captain Rocks, we're about to reach the Sabaody Archipelago?"
One sailor was a bit panicked. This sea area was very close to Navy Headquarters, and they were truly afraid of suddenly being surrounded by the Navy.
"Then lower the black flag and enter Sabaody quietly."
Rocks was already prepared. He wasn't a brainless brute. When it was time to keep a low profile, he would.
He even prepared cloaks for himself and Akane.
And this Heavenly Tribute warship had already been modified heavily by them and had completely become a pirate ship.
The World Government had kept some critical opinions about Rocks repeatedly attacking pirate crews during this period...
According to intelligence, Rocks seemed to be constantly playing Davy Back Fight with those Paradise pirate crews, but he didn't take those pirates away.
He didn't even snatch away a newly risen supernova with a bounty over one hundred million.
The World Government was even somewhat happy to see Rocks helping wipe out pirate crews.
...
This time, coating the ship at the Sabaody Archipelago went unexpectedly smoothly, with no incidents at all.
The Xebec Sword then headed for Fish-Man Island without trouble.
"Hmph. The World Government is deliberately letting pirates and ambitious people from the Four Blues and Paradise enter the New World!"
"And all those pirates bring a constant stream of slaves and treasure to Sabaody. The Celestial Dragons deliberately keep a lawless zone there for their own amusement."
"Now the Sabaody Archipelago has become the Celestial Dragons' backyard."
"A prosperous yet twisted island. Unless they absolutely have no choice, the Celestial Dragons won't allow the Navy and pirates to erupt into a full-scale war there."
Rocks snorted. He had already seen the darkness of Sabaody's lawless area.
Human auction houses and slave shops were everywhere.
It was hell for commoners, heaven for nobles, a playground for the Celestial Dragons...
"By the way, Rocks, you want to become the King of the World. After you become king, will you change all of this?"
Akane looked at the disdain on Rocks' face and spoke calmly.
Even if this brute could topple Imu and become the King of the World, he probably wouldn't actually rule the world.
"..."
Rocks froze. He really hadn't thought that far.
Just dealing with a terrifying King of the World already took everything he had, and he still wasn't sure he could win.
According to the Davy clan's inherited knowledge and intelligence, to defeat a King of the World with an immortal body,
at minimum you needed two of the strongest Devil Fruits.
One was the strongest Mythical Zoan: the Sun God Nika ability.
The other was the most wicked Logia: the Dark-Dark Fruit ability.
The Sun God Nika ability possessed incomparable combat power and even seemed to have some special power that countered that old monster.
And the Dark-Dark Fruit had the bizarre power to suppress all Devil Fruit abilities.
But right now, he had no information on either of those fruits.
He could only place his hopes on Akane.
"We'll think about it after we defeat that old monster!"
"Besides, aren't you here?"
"Right now I only want to defeat the King of the World!"
Rocks laughed freely, not troubled by things that hadn't happened yet.
"If you ever face that old monster head-on, don't piss yourself."
Rocks tried to slap Akane again, but Akane flew away and dodged.
"However, your ancestor Davy D. Jones seems to have made a contract with the King of the World, Nerona Imu."
Akane looked at Rocks. Honestly, Akane also wanted to know what the contract between Imu and Jones was.
"So you really do know my true family name!"
Rocks stared at Akane grimly. Akane even knew about the Davy clan.
That probably meant Akane also knew about God Valley where they were hiding.
"I also know Imu keeps a portrait of Queen Lily in the Holy Land and looks at it every day. I know It can descend into and possess the Five Elders and the God's Knights."
"And every single member of the Five Elders and the God's Knights has an immortal body."
"Only the highest level of Conqueror's Haki coating can break their immortality."
"Rocks, your Conqueror's Haki coating still isn't enough, is it?"
"In a fragment of the future, I saw you couldn't even kill the captain of the God's Knights."
"Your coating only slowed down that captain's immortal regeneration!"
Akane looked just as serious. It made no sense—how could even Rocks' Conqueror's coating fail to kill a God's Knight?
That made things troublesome.
"What? Immortal bodies? Even I can't cut them down?"
Rocks' face darkened further. His fear of the King of the World, and of the Five Elders and the God's Knights, deepened again.
Against such a terrifying enemy, could he really pull off toppling Imu?
"That's why you need to cultivate even stronger Conqueror's Haki coating!"
"Work hard."
Akane encouraged the somewhat shaken Rocks.
As a captain, how could he be lazier than his crew?
From now on, when Akane trained, Rocks would have to train even harder too.
Don't think that being able to solo a Navy admiral means training is no longer needed.
To topple Imu, it still wasn't enough.
"Stronger Conqueror's Haki coating..."
Rocks had originally felt his strength had reached its peak. He had already planned to shift his focus to recruiting powerful subordinates and searching for two legendary Devil Fruits.
He believed only Devil Fruit abilities could push him further to reach Imu's level.
But now Akane was telling him his Conqueror's coating still wasn't at the summit and could improve.
"Joy Boy's god-tier Conqueror's Haki can scare Imu into screaming, and can force an awakened Mythical Zoan user back into human form."
"You've still got a long road ahead. Keep it up!"
Akane actually patted Rocks on the shoulder like an old veteran, lecturing him.
Rocks was about to nod seriously, but when he saw Akane's young face right in front of him, he immediately flew into a rage.
"Get lost! I don't need you telling me how to do things!"
Rocks lashed out in embarrassment and fury, using a Conqueror's-coated punch to blast the fleeing Akane straight into the ship's interior.
"Captain Rocks, be careful, we're still underwater!"
A dozen sailors and laborers trembled in fear, terrified the coating would rupture and they'd all be buried in the deep.
"Rocks, if you don't listen to elders, you'll suffer right in front of your eyes!"
Akane's scream and furious cursing rang out.
"Tch, you call yourself an elder? You little brat, I'm going to teach you a proper lesson!"
"Don't think seeing a bit of the future means you can lecture me."
"You said it yourself— the future can change!"
"Now you go ahead and predict whether you'll get the crap beaten out of you today."
"Guess right and there's a reward!"
Rocks grinned wide, cracked his knuckles, and walked into the hold. He was going to beat Akane senseless for being so arrogant.
"I'm already injured. You can't hit me..."
"Looks like your prediction was wrong. Take my Supreme Elbow Strike!"
"Ah!! I predict you're going to keep hitting me next... I want my reward!"
"Wororororo! Congratulations, you predicted correctly! I really am going to keep beating you—reward: Supreme Sole Smash!"
"Ah!! Rocks, you'd better remember this!!"
...