Chapter 8: Fish-Man Babel and Sanbel[1]
Ten thousand meters below—Fish-Man Island!
In the dim Fish-Man District.
On the rundown streets, Rocks dropped one fish-man with each punch, smashing down quite a few powerful fish-men.
The Fish-Man District boss of this era was the catfish fish-man, Babel.
His hair steamed upward like flames.
Under Rocks' overwhelming force, Babel was completely beaten into submission and was forced to join the Rocks Pirates.
At this moment, Akane floated outside the battlefield, while all the other soul insects returned into Akane's soul.
The Moonlight Gu turned back into the pale-blue crescent mark on Akane's forehead.
The Gravity Gu turned back into the purple tiger-shaped tattoo on Akane's arm.
And under the Moonlight Fruit's power, Akane's black hair could even turn into silver hair.
With that silver hair and the crescent mark, Akane had a cold, killing aura.
Floating in midair, Akane watched Rocks show off his might, then looked toward a young fish-man figure.
Why did he look a bit like Sanbel from the Roger Pirates?
If he could become an elite crewman of the Roger Pirates, his strength should be decent.
Babel, Sanbel—interesting, interesting.
Poaching starts now!
"Hey, are you Sanbel? Interested in living on the surface like your boss Babel, bathing in real sunlight?"
"See that guy? He's the most evil pirate with a bounty of 3,811,540,000 Beli, the world's strongest pirate, and he even killed a Navy admiral before!"
Akane pulled out Rocks' wanted poster and used it directly as the ultimate recruitment sign.
"What! 3,811,540,000 Beli?"
"Killed a Navy admiral?"
With Akane shouting like that, Fish-Man District immediately erupted into noisy debate.
In the Ryugu Kingdom, after hearing that the most evil pirate Rocks had entered Fish-Man Island, the king and Prince Neptune were blocked by the Left and Right Ministers inside the palace and forbidden from going out.
Raising Rocks' banner had an instant effect.
A considerable number of fish-man powerhouses who longed for sunlight and freedom wanted to join the Rocks Pirates.
However, aside from Babel, Rocks didn't take a liking to those weak fish-men.
Even Sanbel, whom Akane personally recruited, looked a bit weak in Rocks' eyes, not qualified to board.
But in the end, with Akane insisting, Rocks allowed Sanbel to join.
Just like that, Babel and Sanbel of Fish-Man District officially became members under Rocks.
Led by the two of them, Akane and Rocks arrived at the Sea Forest and saw two Poneglyphs, one red and one gray.
"Akane, do we really have to take this Red Poneglyph away? Isn't making rubbings enough?"
Hearing that Akane wanted to take the Red Poneglyph, Rocks felt it was a nuisance.
He didn't want a huge stone block sitting on the Xebec Sword.
"..."
"Fine, fine. If we're not taking it, then make a few more rubbings."
Since the captain refused to take it, Akane had no choice but to drop the idea for now.
After Akane gained a fruit power that could store things securely, Akane would come back and take it.
Rocks and Akane, who lacked for nothing, brought Babel and Sanbel—two Fish-Man District poor punks—and lived it up on Fish-Man Island for several days, throwing money around.
Only then did they leave Fish-Man Island reluctantly.
Escorted by countless fish-man thugs from Fish-Man District, the Rocks Pirates left the deep sea and headed for the New World.
Not long after, as the Xebec Sword burst out onto the surface—
The first to cheer was Sanbel. It was truly his first time leaving Fish-Man Island.
As for Babel, the Fish-Man District boss, he had once secretly gone up to the Sabaody Archipelago to take a look.
"I'll definitely make a name for myself one day and become a great pirate who makes the World Government tremble!"
Babel shouted excitedly. He wanted to become a big figure like Rocks.
If not able to kill a Navy admiral, then at least be able to exchange dozens of moves with one!
"Wororororo! That's a good start!"
"Akane, where are we going next!!"
"Let's see which guy we should subjugate first, whichever is closer!"
Rocks began flipping through a thick stack of wanted posters, checking which fated officers were still scraping by in the early New World.
"Can Vice-Captain Akane really see the future?"
Under Akane's misleading influence, Sanbel actually called Akane vice-captain.
"Sanbel, I already told you—Akane isn't vice-captain. There's no vice-captain on my ship. Whoever's stronger gets a bigger share of the spoils."
Rocks glared at Akane. This sly bastard was actually tricking the newcomer.
"But Captain Rocks, even you keep asking Akane for opinions."
Babel didn't call Akane vice-captain, but judging by Rocks' attitude, wasn't Akane the second-in-command?
And that future-seeing ability was insanely strong, insanely mysterious.
"Hmph! Anyway, there's no vice-captain on this ship!"
Rocks snorted, but he didn't deny Akane's importance.
"Heh. If I'm not vice-captain, then call me Chief Strategist."
Akane gave Sanbel a satisfied look. Authority could be built subtly, step by step.
"Next, we're going to find that so-called Whale Pirates. Edward Newgate is with them—Whale Uharu can't control him."
"Perfect timing. They're active in the early New World."
"Of course, we also need to gather information on Sleepy Ancient Town."
"Captain Rocks, planning complete. Please give the order!"
Akane spoke boldly, but still gave Rocks enough face at the end.
"Wororororo! Then charge! Let's seize our next partner!"
Rocks shouted excitedly, and everyone on the ship cheered.
...
With Rocks' strength, the New World's vicious weather was no problem at all.
No Eternal Pose? Go steal one.
No intelligence? Go buy it in the underground dark world.
With clear objectives, Rocks' crew quickly found the White Whale Pirates, who were looting treasure in the early New World.
"Wororororo! Whale Uharu, let's have a Davy Back Fight between pirates!"
The moment the two crews met, Rocks sensed Edward Newgate's powerful presence.
This guy was definitely stronger than the captain, Whale Uharu.
This year, Edward Newgate had only just turned eighteen, and his signature white mustache hadn't grown in yet.
His blond hair was wrapped in a headscarf, and he wore a simple vest, exposing knotted muscles.
Feeling Rocks' terrifying aura, he was equally shaken.
He had never encountered a monster this strong.
"The most evil pirate… Rocks!!"
When Uharu saw Rocks clearly, he instantly panicked and nearly collapsed.
What right did he have to be targeted by the strongest pirate with a bounty of 3,811,540,000 Beli?
"Lord Rocks, do you want the treasure, or the pirate flag, or even me—anything is fine, just please don't kill me!"
Dressed in full pirate-captain getup, Whale Uharu surrendered on the spot, not daring to fight Rocks at all.
And if he could join under Rocks… maybe that wasn't impossible.
"Wororororo! You want to be my subordinate? Too weak!"
"What I want, I'll take myself!"
Rocks stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, staring straight at the strongest pirate of the White Whale Pirates—Edward Newgate.
Newgate flinched under Rocks' burning gaze.
Could it be that the most evil pirate who killed a Navy admiral… was aiming for him?