On the floating Red Soil Island.
The Cadres of the Rocks Pirates saw that Fang Huo had found another red-haired woman.
Golden Lion Shiki and Ganzi were filled with envy and jealousy.
But in Kiel Bastard's eyes, there was only worship.
His idol was simply awesome!
Newgate, who hadn't seen his two god-sons for days, immediately went to hug Kogetsu Kamui and Kogetsu Ryuma, completely turning into a doting father.
"Hmph! Indulging in beauty like this, be careful or I'll surpass you soon!"
Silver Axe Fierce spoke with a cold snort, as if he couldn't wait for Fang Huo to fall into depravity.
But there was also a hint of frustration in his tone, as if he expected better from him.
How could Fang Huo, whom he regarded as one of his strongest rivals, indulge in such lowbrow pleasures as beauty?
Fang Huo should be training hard like them.
"Jiehahaha! A Dice-Dice Fruit user like you wants to surpass Fang Huo? Catch up to me first!"
His old rival, Golden Lion Shiki, immediately spoke up to mock Silver Axe Fierce.
This guy Silver Axe still couldn't see the gap between them, as always.
So what if he awakened Conqueror's Haki?
There is a huge gap even between kings.
"Catch up to you?"
"Don't forget how I was the one hunting you down back then!"
Silver Axe Fierce retorted sharply; back then, Shiki had indeed been chased around by him.
If it weren't for the Float-Float Fruit's ability to flee quickly, he might have chopped that bastard Shiki to pieces already.
"Tch, you just started out a few years earlier than me. Now that I've risen, you won't even be able to see my back in the future."
Golden Lion Shiki sneered, and the two of them started their bickering mode once again.
---
"wahaha! So, Harald, how does it feel to have a bounty on your head?"
Rocks went to see Harald with his bounty poster, appearing very happy.
Meanwhile, the siblings Presley and Davy D. Tinajet were shocked once again by the sight of the sixty-meter-tall Ancient Giant.
Vortex Erza, who had a normal human physique, had thought the eight-meter-tall Charlotte Linlin was already massive.
But then she saw twenty-meter giants, and even a sixty-meter super giant... the sights she had seen over the past few days had completely surpassed everything she had experienced in her dozen or so years of life.
She also saw races with wings, the Three-Eye Tribe, the Mink Tribe, the Fish-Man Race... Was this the daily life at the top of the world?
"Hmph! If there's a bounty, so be it!"
"I didn't expect the World Government to actually deny the Human Clearing Contest; it's truly hypocritical!"
"They are shielding those brutal Celestial Dragons."
Harald no longer wanted to join such a World Government; it wasn't the righteous and radiant organization he had imagined.
If he couldn't establish diplomatic relations with countries all over the world, then establishing them with the nations of the New World Alliance would suffice.
The nations of the New World should be able to help Elbaf learn how to coexist peacefully with other races.
"That's why we're going to take down that old fossil!"
Rocks grew even happier; with Harald's help, his goals and plans had moved one step closer.
Next, he just needed to persuade Harald to eat Elbaf's inherited Devil Fruit, and he also needed to find that Dark-Dark Fruit that could counter all Devil Fruit abilities.
Then, together with Fang Huo, who possessed nine fruit abilities, they could kill the thousand-year-old monster, Imu.
Harald's eldest son, Hajrudin, saw that so many Cadres of the Rocks Pirates had awakened Conqueror's Haki.
He also wanted to awaken Conqueror's Haki.
He knew he couldn't compare to Loki, who was born with Conqueror's Haki, but the royal blood of his father, Harald, also flowed through his veins.
Logically speaking, he should have every chance to awaken Conqueror's Haki.
These past few days, he had been consulting Harald and the knowledgeable Elder Yaruru, but to no avail.
They didn't know how to awaken this innate power either.
Hajrudin could only place his hopes on Fang Huo, the great prophet who had invented the method of awakening Conqueror's Haki by killing Celestial Dragons.
But like Fūgetsu Kisaburō, Hajrudin's fear of the Celestial Dragons wasn't as exaggerated as it was in the Outer Seas.
The person he was most unwilling to submit to was Loki.
Did he have to take down Loki to awaken Conqueror's Haki?
But that was clearly impossible.
So he could only ask Fang Huo for guidance.
Fang Huo could only state that he didn't know how to guide Hajrudin to awaken Conqueror's Haki either.
This left Hajrudin very disappointed.
Fang Huo looked at Hajrudin; he actually knew what to do to have a sliver of hope in forcing Hajrudin to awaken Conqueror's Haki.
It wasn't about killing Loki, but rather putting Hajrudin's most important person, Ida, in extreme danger.
Of course, he couldn't tell Hajrudin this.
After all, if he knew, it would be even less effective.
Donquixote Doflamingo awakened his Conqueror's Haki through rage when he was on the brink of death.
Katakuri did it to protect his sister, Ace to protect Luffy... Besides awakening by breaking through shadows and fear, extreme emotional stimuli like rage and the desire to protect can also trigger Conqueror's Haki.
Later, Fang Huo would discuss it with Harald and Ida to see if they should set up a situation to stimulate Hajrudin.
If Hajrudin couldn't even awaken Conqueror's Haki when his most important mother was on the verge of death, then there was no hope for him.
Accepting mediocrity would be his only choice.
---
While the Red Soil Island was crossing the Calm Belt to return to the New World.
A newspaper that did not belong to the World Government's mainstream press once again spread rapidly across the globe.
[The King of the World hidden behind the scenes of the World Government, the King of the Celestial Dragons sitting upon the Empty Throne and receiving the obeisance of the Four Elders.]
[An immortal old monster who underwent the Eternal Youth Surgery of the Ope-Ope no Mi.]
[An old fossil of a Celestial Dragon who has annihilated his humanity and calls himself a God.]
[The Native Purge Competition is merely a game created by this old fossil to screen for powerful Celestial Dragons to become his minions.]
[The Great Reveal of the King of the World Imu's Abilities!]
[Is Immortality a gift, or a means for the King of the World to control everything?]
[Shocking! Shocking! The Rocks Pirates will publicly execute the Celestial Dragons captured on Red Soil Island!]
[In the war on Red Soil Island, a member of the Four Elders and two God's Knights of the Celestial Dragon high command have fallen.]
[If the Red Soil Island incident is fake, please have Saint Jaygarcia Saturn of the Four Elders come out and take a few steps.]
[The World Government's Marine recruitment order is the King of the World selecting new minions and servants.]
[Once the Ability contract of Imu is accepted, one's life will be completely controlled by this King of the World, and can be snuffed out with a single thought.]
[Hachinosu in the New World will auction off the identification tags and clothing of the deceased Celestial Dragons from Red Soil Island at low prices!]
---
One news report after another shocked the world once again.
The Red Soil Island incident, which the World Government's newspapers had spent days suppressing, was once again whipped into a storm by these news reports.
Even among the countless experts in the midst of the fervent recruitment drive, hoping to skyrocket to the position of Marine Vice Admiral or Admiral Candidate...
...were startled by the information in these newspapers.
Once controlled by that King of the World behind the scenes, their lives would be completely at his mercy?
If there is no freedom or life, what is the use of reaching even the highest position?
In the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
When the Four Elders saw these newspapers, their veins bulged with rage, and they felt a trace of nervousness.
They really didn't know how to report this to Lord Imu now.
Were they supposed to tell Lord Imu that the Rocks Pirates had stripped away all of his... secrets?