The crew members of the Roger Pirates watched as their own pirate ship floated into the air.
It's all over now!
They have even less of a chance to escape!
If Captain Roger wakes up and continues to fight for his life, should they continue to follow him in that desperate struggle?
"I never expected that before I, Silvers Rayleigh, could rise and become famous throughout the world, I would meet my downfall here!"
"My dream of preaching to all races!"
Gabban sighed toward the heavens, looking as if he were ready to accompany Roger to the underworld.
He suddenly looked at Fang Huo, the supreme great succubus who possessed countless fans.
This was the modeling freak and superstar he dreamed of becoming!
Why was everyone so handsome, yet Gu Yue Fang Huo had so many beautiful fans, while he could only go to Pleasure Street and pay girls to call him 'Big Brother'?
Those girls even had Gu Yue Fang Huo's bounty posters and photo books pasted in their rooms.
Even while singing, the girls would call out 'Lord Fang Huo'... This... it's completely unbearable!
"Gu Yue Fang Huo!!"
"I want to challenge you!"
"Your damn charm!! It leaves us!! With no love~ ah!!!"
Gabban's voice was full of resentment, as if he wanted to vent all his anger toward Fang Huo before he died.
Rayleigh's forehead was covered in black lines. Even at a time like this, this guy Gabban was still thinking about his preaching dream and his envy, jealousy, and hatred toward Gu Yue Fang Huo.
"I can get you some love. Do you want a giantess? If you want something more exotic, I have all kinds of Fish-Man Race and Mink Tribe members!"
Fang Huo seemed to hear the resentment and bitterness of Gabban, the 'Preacher of Love'.
He instantly transformed into a doctor from those 'I have a friend' stories, shouting in a professional tone that he could cure it.
"Really?"
"Of course!!"
"Godfather!!"
"Ayy! Good son!"
The strange and tacit dialogue between these two old drivers, Silvers Rayleigh and Gu Yue Fang Huo, caused the people of both the Rocks Pirates and the Roger Pirates to fall into a bizarre silence.
"No!!"
"Godfather! I am your number one good son!"
Just then, the equally shameless Kiel Bastard instantly drifted and slid to Fang Huo's feet, his four arms tightly hugging Fang Huo's thigh as he shouted without a shred of integrity.
It was as if the song 'Snowflakes Fluttering' had started playing.
This caused black lines to appear on Rocks' forehead as well.
Under the nonsensical antics of Silvers Rayleigh, Kiel Bastard, and Fang Huo, the atmosphere between the two pirate crews relaxed significantly.
The atmosphere between the two pirate crews instantly relaxed a lot.
"Gabban is amazing, he actually managed to strike up a conversation with that Great Demon Lord who destroyed Enies Lobby. Does this mean we don't have to die?"
"Maybe we can even leave safely!"
"Gabban wouldn't join the Rocks Pirates just for his dream of preaching to all races, would he?"
"No way, Gabban is a man of principle!"
Among the crew of the Roger Pirates, several guys were whispering in the back.
Meanwhile, Silvers Rayleigh's small eyes behind his sunglasses darted around. People always said Rayleigh was the brains and strategist of the ship.
They also said both he and Roger were just brutes.
But in fact, he was incredibly witty most of the time.
Now, by following Gu Yue Fang Huo's lead and successfully 'claiming kinship,' he was fully utilizing his clever, adaptable mind to secure another glimmer of hope for the Roger Pirates.
If Roger woke up later and wanted to be reckless again, perhaps he, as the 'key man' who could talk to the Great Demon Lord, could still save the Roger Pirates.
---
"Newbie, if you want to be Vice Captain Fang Huo's godson, get in line behind me."
Kiel Bastard and Gabban locked eyes, sparks of electricity flying between them. He was the number two incubus beside the supreme great succubus, responsible for taking in the beautiful fans that Fang Huo didn't care for.
"Godfather is going to introduce me to giantesses, as well as the Fish-Man Race and Mink Tribe!!"
Silvers Rayleigh actually called him 'Godfather' without any integrity, causing Kiel Bastard's eyes to widen.
Rayleigh wanted nothing more than to bash Gabban's dog head in.
He was truly throwing all their dignity away.
And he had the nerve to call himself an awakener of Haoshoku.
Did this guy really think that by relying on his cheap relationship with Gu Yue Fang Huo, he could get Rocks to let the Roger Pirates go?
Did Gabban think he was being smart, or did he think he was enduring humiliation for a greater cause?
The two pirate ships fell back into a somewhat awkward silence.
However, soon, under the healing of the holy Gekko and the energy from the special cured meat, Roger, who had been heavily injured in an instant, slowly regained consciousness.
But he still felt pain in every bone of his body, as if he had been run over.
"wahaha! Roger, I told you before the fight started—if you lost, you'd have to join my command!"
"Are you going to keep your word now?"
Rocks' large face suddenly appeared before Roger's eyes, giving Roger a huge fright.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Even if I die, I will never join someone else's pirate crew!"
"I want to be the freest Captain!"
Roger subconsciously shouted his refusal immediately.
"Then do you want your crew to be buried with you?"
Rocks revealed his white teeth in a grimace, his terrifying Haoshoku crushing down on Roger once again.
"..."
Roger's eyes narrowed and he instantly fell silent. If anyone had dared to threaten his companions' lives before, he would have destroyed even an allied nation.
But now, he was completely unable to defeat Rocks!
"Roger! Our lives were long ago entrusted to you, our Captain, and to the sea!"
Rayleigh spoke calmly, showing no fear of death, only unconditional obedience to his Captain.
Gabban, who had wanted to speak to Gu Yue Fang Huo, also suddenly fell silent.
He suddenly realized that Gu Yue Fang Huo, the Vice Captain of the Rocks Pirates, probably couldn't change the will of the Captain, Rocks.
In a pirate crew on this sea, the Captain holds supreme authority.
It's over!
He called Fang Huo 'Godfather' for nothing; it seemed like a loss.
Even if it was just a joke or some random banter, it was still a loss.
"Everyone..."
Roger gritted his teeth, his eyes full of hesitation and his heart full of conflict; even his resisting Haoshoku was becoming a bit chaotic.
However, at that moment, Fang Huo spoke up.
It seemed Roger truly wouldn't submit to another. Fang Huo and Rocks didn't need a half-broken Haoshoku king.
"Actually, it's also fine if you don't join the Rocks Pirates."
"You can become an official pirate crew of the Rocks Empire!"
Fang Huo spoke slowly, his eyes full of playfulness.
"What's the difference between that and joining the Rocks Pirates? I'm not doing it!"
Roger refused again, his one-track mind seemingly not even considering it.
Rocks' eyes narrowed, a hint of killing intent appearing.
"This won't do, that won't do!"
"Then I'll give you one last choice: become an official pirate crew of the New World Alliance!"
"This way, you will become the star pirate crew of the New World, and you'll be able to freely dock at every alliance nation!"
"When you set out to sea, didn't you want to turn this world upside down?"
"Join the New World Alliance, and you can turn the World Government and the Celestial Dragons upside down!"
"If you don't even agree to this! Then you'd better be more careful in your next life!"
Fang Huo presented the final choice. His face carried a trace of killing intent, but deep in his eyes was a look of someone who had everything under control.
According to the 'Open Window Theory,' this condition, which clearly had lower requirements, should lead Roger to choose the last option among joining the Rocks Pirates, becoming an official crew of the Rocks Empire, or the New World Alliance.
If the Roger Pirates didn't want to die, they had to choose one.
And by giving these choices, Fang Huo had actually already taken control of everything.
In any case, the New World Alliance was also their territory; this was just to give Roger a passable psychological comfort.
As long as they followed the arrangements.
When the time came to take them to Red Soil Island to witness the Celestial Dragons' Native Purge Competition, Roger and the others would naturally undergo a change.