"Truly the man I set my sights on—his slaughter is elegant and clean!"
Stussy watched Fang Huo's fury without the slightest disgust; in her eyes he could do no wrong.
If only he could love her alone—perfection!
"Prometheus, can your flames copy those Blood Shadow Bats?"
"Let's craft a move—Crimson Flame Bat Swarm!!"
Charlotte Linlin's eyes blazed as she studied the sky-filling blood shadows, determined to 'cross the river by feeling Fang Huo's stones' and forge her own technique.
"Master~, I'll start experimenting right away!"
Prometheus answered eagerly. For now the three main Homies didn't yet call the plump girl "Mama" as they would in the future.
With Fang Huo around, they'd probably never get the chance.
"Master~, I can craft lightning bats too!"
Thunder Cloud Zeus hurried to assert himself; he wouldn't let Prometheus hog all the favor.
"Haha, all my good children!"
Big Mom laughed heartily. After moves like God's Roulette everyone was unconsciously aping Fang Huo's flashy style.
Ghost-Ghost Fruit user Kiel Bastard drifted in mid-air, a huge sack of treasure on his shoulder while a full-moon ghost hovered behind him—an awkward sight.
Not a shred of divine bearing!
Such clumsy mimicry was nothing but a joke.
---After Fang Huo vented his rage, the Rocks Pirates vanished across the seas, their holds bulging with loot.
When the Marine Branch fleet arrived, they found only ruins and countless desiccated corpses.
The sight deepened the seamen's terror of the world's most brutal pirate crew.
They had even massacred the monks and clergy who stood for kindness and light.
Such boundless evil and cruelty!
"Can even Marine HQ's might not stop the Rocks Pirates!"
A Branch Rear-Admiral knelt helplessly on deck, staring in dread at the devastated charity isle.
So what if Rocks had killed an Admiral—weren't the Fleet Admiral and the two other Admirals still around?
If Marine HQ threw in everything, surely they could crush the Rocks Pirates.
"Rear-Admiral, the Rocks Pirates have Flying Battleships…"
A Marine Colonel sighed; the Rocks Pirates were now the strongest, most troublesome force on earth.
Even if the World Government and Marine HQ had the power, they simply couldn't catch those flying ships.
"Damn pirates!"
The Rear-Admiral roared, even angrier that the cruel Great Demon Venerable Fang Huo had become a world-class idol incubus.
It infuriated him further.
He felt only bitter resentment toward women bewitched by Fang Huo's looks.
A normal person should never swoon over a demon!
How could values follow faces!
"Report everything to Marineford at once! Spread word of the Rocks Pirates' atrocities—especially Kozuki Fang Huo. He's a true demon, no pretty-boy incubus!"
the Rear-Admiral thundered, swearing eternal enmity with pirates.
---The next day.
News of the Rocks Pirates' slaughter on a West Blue charity island swept the globe.
The World Government's papers hammered home Kozuki Fang Huo's cruelty, branding him an unforgivable demon.
Fang Huo's bounty was finally updated!
Great Demon Venerable Kozuki Fang Huo: 880 million Berries.
For massacring clergy and monks on the charity branch—an act of extreme malice and danger!
Whitebeard Edward Newgate: 846 million Berries.
As the quake-man who destroyed the charity branch, Newgate's bounty rose 200 million, adding to his earlier feat of thrashing Pirate Patriarch Wang Zhi on Paradise Island.
Whitebeard Newgate's bounty jumped alongside Fang Huo's by 200 million.
Golden Lion Shiki: 647 million Berries.
Up 100 million from before—still above Ganzi's 570 million, yet below the late Wang Zhi's 757 million.
Iron Balloon Charlotte Linlin: 588 million Berries.
Her bounty had risen a mere 88 million.
Charlotte Linlin was furious.
Ganzi was even unhappier—his bounty unchanged, only the label "Rocks Executive" added.
His bounty now trailed all four King Executives.
The newcomers, however, rode the Rocks name to skyrocketing bounties.
Simply joining the Rocks Pirates proved their strength.
Four-Armed Gun King Kiel Bastard: 370 million Berries.
Bolo Gram: 364 million Berries.
scientific bandit Baccarat Stussy: 288 million Berries.
Gourmet Knight Long Bread: 277 million Berries.
Mafia Boss Maron: 238 million Berries.
---Aside from Ganzi, Silver Axe, Babel, and Sanbel saw no change.
The trio raged at the snub!
Sanbel feigned indifference as Kiel Bastard and Bolo Gram overtook him, but a flame of ambition had already ignited within.
Silver Axe, at 400 million, felt endless pressure as Babel, Kiel Bastard, and Bolo Gram closed in behind.
What galled him most was Shiki's bounty leaping far ahead.
"Heh, finally I'm not bottom-feeder!"
Long Bread grinned; rookie Maron's bounty had landed below his own as ship's cook.
Maron's bounty had rocketed past 200 million, yet he felt only frustration.
From West Blue Mafia boss he'd sunk to Rocks Pirates bottom-rung.
The downgrade from big fish to small pond infuriated him.
Swearing to climb the ranks, he vowed to become first under the four King Executives.
Within three or four years he'd catch up to Ganzi and Silver Axe.
"Why do Fang Huo and Newgate outstrip me so!"
Golden Lion Shiki raged; as a King Executive he and Charlotte Linlin lagged far behind Fang Huo and Newgate.
Charlotte Linlin fared worse—under 600 million, barely above newbie Ganzi, barely preserving a King Executive's dignity.
"Why? Fang Huo earned it with ruthless slaughter, Newgate with earth-shattering destruction."
"While you two only grabbed treasure and farmed grunts…"
Rocks surveyed his ever-growing fleet, satisfaction etched on his face.
He'd planned a decade or two of growth, yet Fang Huo's arrival had forged this mighty force in under two years.
Fang Huo was his ultimate cheat.
---