"Wahahahaha, it looks like our newcomer is in trouble."
At the edge of the plaza at the foot of Skull Mountain, Rocks emerged late from a tavern, followed by a group of Division Captains and Senior Combatants from the Rocks Pirates.
Watching the great battle unfolding in the plaza, the group was in no hurry to step forward and stop it.
Instead, they wore expressions of people watching a show, stopping at a distance to observe the fight.
"Mamamama~, Rocks, didn't you say there was only one newcomer? Why is there an extra one? And looking at his performance, he's even better than that brat from the Oni race."
Tall and statuesque at 8.8 meters, with long pink hair, a charming and moving face, and eyes like rippling spring water, the oversized beauty Charlotte Linlin looked at Kaido and Carlo with curiosity, her eyes flashing with intense interest.
Rocks grinned. "I don't know either. You'll have to ask Newgate."
As he spoke, he looked ahead.
A blond giant with a white mustache, leaning on a massive naginata, approached with giant strides.
"I'm not quite sure myself."
"By the time I reached Rocky Port, the harbor had already been mostly destroyed."
Whitebeard pointed back with his thumb.
"Those two guys in the back were in the middle of a life-and-death struggle, fighting quite fiercely."
Hearing his explanation.
In the crowd, a blond man biting a cigar floated over through the air without any point of leverage, his feet off the ground, muttering:
"Ha? Rocky Port was destroyed? Then what about Samuro?"
"Dead." Whitebeard walked up to Rocks and planted the naginata he was holding into the ground.
"What? Dead? Who killed him?" The blond man's brows knitted, killing intent erupting in his eyes.
Whitebeard glanced at the blond man floating above his head. "What? Are you so concerned about a subordinate's life? That doesn't seem like your style, Shiki."
Golden Lion Shiki snorted coldly: "Business is business. I might not care, but Samuro was my man after all. Killing my man without paying a price... that just won't do."
As he spoke, he began to float up, seemingly about to fly toward the site of the battle.
"Heeheehee, Shiki, you're as petty as ever." Wang Zhi, who was obese with several layers of chins, chuckled strangely.
Rocks, who was watching the battle, glanced over at Golden Lion upon hearing this.
"Shiki, don't say I didn't warn you. It's fine if you bully newcomers. But for newcomers with potential like them, as long as they haven't actively provoked you, you cannot kill them. I still need them to grow up and fight the World Government."
"Humph! Stop ordering me around! I'm not your subordinate!" Golden Lion looked displeased, but he stopped nonetheless, floating in the sky to overlook the battle.
After reprimanding Golden Lion, Rocks looked back at Whitebeard, his gaze questioning. "Newgate, who is that white-haired brat?"
Hearing Rocks' inquiry, everyone around couldn't help but look toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard shook his head: "I told you, I don't know him. However, he said himself that he is a Navy Lieutenant Commander..."
"Marine?" Rocks was stunned, seemingly not expecting this answer from Whitebeard at all.
"What? A Marine? Newgate, why did you bring a Marine to Hachinosu?"
"Wait, you said he's a Navy Lieutenant Commander? Are you joking? What Lieutenant Commander can fight Gan Sui for this long?"
The crowd was in an uproar.
Whitebeard's head throbbed from the noise of the people around him, and he said impatiently, "I said I don't know, stop asking me!"
"Wait, Newgate, did you say he is a Navy Lieutenant Commander?"
Suddenly, a graceful woman with a pink python wrapped around her waist asked.
"Yeah, is there a problem? Gloriosa." Whitebeard nodded.
The former Captain of the Kuja Pirates, Gloriosa, handed over a newspaper she was holding. "This is the newspaper from two days ago. You guys should take a look."
"Newspaper?" Whitebeard was taken aback, taking the newspaper and spreading it open.
The people around also curiously crowded in.
On the front-page news of this paper, there was a somewhat familiar photo.
In the photo, a tall and sturdy white-haired youth stood alone in front of a ruined Marine base, holding a glittering golden treasure chest, with an undisguised wild laugh on his face.
The headline of the news was—
Marineford Lieutenant Commander Sorus Karlo Commits Unforgivable Crime!
Publicly attacked Marine Base G2, stole the celestial tribute intended for the World Government, and a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit worth one billion berries.
The World Government and Marineford have now placed a bounty of five hundred million berries on him!
Seeing the news in the paper, Whitebeard and the others had varying expressions.
Whitebeard was surprised by Carlo's actions.
Shiki was disdainful. "A brat like this can get a five hundred million berry bounty? Is the World Government blind?"
Linlin's eyes sparkled. "Mythical Zoan? He stole a Mythical Zoan fruit worth one billion berries? What kind of Mythical Zoan is it? If he's willing to hand it over to Mama..."
Wang Zhi looked greedy. "celestial tribute! This brat actually stole the Celestial Dragons' celestial tribute! Where did he hide it?"
Even Rocks was somewhat surprised.
"A Marine publicly attacking a Marine base and stealing celestial tribute... this kind of thing is truly rare. It's the first time I've ever heard of it."
He looked with interest at Carlo, who was currently battling Gan Sui in the field.
Right at that moment, in the center of the plaza where waves of explosions were constantly erupting, a sudden change occurred!
"Screee!!"
Accompanied by a sudden, sharp bird cry.
Amidst the fire and thick smoke of the explosions, a pair of glittering golden wings suddenly spread outward.
Those golden wings were incomparably wide; when they opened, they even cast a shadow over Rocks and the others watching at the edge of the plaza, blocking out the sunlight above.
This forced Rocks, Whitebeard, and the others to look up in amazement.
The moment the wings unfurled, they swept away all the explosive flames and thick smoke stirred up by Gan Sui, clearing the area instantly!
"What on earth?"
While Gan Sui was still dazed, a pair of golden talons the size of houses clawed at him, moving so fast they turned into golden afterimages. Before he could react at all, they had him pinned inside.
Then.
Those brilliant golden wings rose high and slammed down fiercely.
*BOOM!!*
In an instant, the sand and stones on the ground were like turbid waves surging into the sky. An eighteenth-level storm whipped up in the plaza, peeling up and blowing away the bluestones covering the ground with a clatter.
The terrifying storm was like a raging torrent, sweeping in all directions, making it impossible for Rocks and the others to keep their eyes open, their bodies swaying backward from the wind.
Kaido and Maron, who were in the center of the storm and still fighting, were blown away like rolling gourds, tossed toward the outskirts along with houses that were being uprooted.
In the sky, the gale howled as a brilliant golden giant bird with a wingspan of over a hundred meters, like the Golden Divine Bird of myth descending, soared into the sky against the piercing sunlight, instantly flying a thousand meters high.
Under the shocked gazes of countless pirates on Hachinosu Island, the giant bird remained aloft, continuing to climb even higher into the sky.
In an instant, the golden giant bird, clutching Gan Sui with its golden talons, broke through the sea of clouds and reached an altitude of ten thousand meters.
And then... under Gan Sui's terrified gaze, the giant bird released the claws holding his body.
"No!!"
Gan Sui, clad in heavy armor, immediately went whistling downward.
He was so scared his limbs flailed non-stop, and he cried out in terror.
At the same time, he used his bomb ability, attempting to slow his descent by making the air below him explode.
But how could Carlo possibly let things go as he wished?
*Vroom vroom vroom—!*
Within the majestic golden vertical pupils of the Golden Divine Bird Garuda, a red light more dazzling than the sun suddenly lit up.
The next moment, two crimson-as-blood laser beams pierced through the sea of clouds, like the light of divine punishment bestowed by a god, stabbing straight into Gan Sui's body.
This caused his descent speed to increase more than tenfold!
Like a meteorite frictioning into bright flames, he went whistling down toward the earth!