The stab of the blade piercing his chest was quite something, as Rock's couldn't remember the last time any weapon successfully did damage to him that wasn't owned by Roger or Harald. While this pretty boy Holy Knight couldn't have done this in normal circumstances, Rock's was not surprised at all to see his smug expression as the sword of Figarland Garling impaled his heart. The sight of his home, the burning remnants of God Valley, faded from his vision as his life slipped away while the Holy Knights walked off wordlessly into the flames.
The day had been a difficult one. Most of his crew had abandoned him at the first opportunity. Not that he should have been surprised though, he knew what he was doing during every Davy Back fight. Forcing someone to work for you is never going to build undying loyalty, but gods were all of them powerful. Nowhere near him, of course, but if only Newgate volunteered to stand at his side once faced with Imu, it wasn't exactly the best look. Despite this though, Rock's felt a great deal of relief. Whatever Imu did to him made him lose control, but he was able to remember flashes of what he was doing, and he shuddered briefly as he recalled his mind controlled attempt to take the life of his wife and child. However, whatever that giant child did got them to safety, and he hoped that someday he'd be able to find that kid and thank him, which would have been a strange final thought for most men.
But not the owner of the Revive-Revive Fruit.
The ripping of his soul from his body was a strangely painless process, though it was surreal to see himself begin to float above his body. He recalled what the dealer who gave him the fruit said, and attempted to unleash a burst of conquerors haki. While about 1% as potent as what he could do in his living body, the burst of spiritual energy did what he hoped, stopping the pull of his soul toward the underworld and allowing him to remain floating just above his body.
Looking down, he grimaced at the sight of his mangled form, but had no other choice than to immediately return. The risk of him being lost to the underworld was far to great if he lingered, plus the revive fruit was theoretically supposed to restore him to full health. Taking a deep breath that he realized was pointless as he did so, his shimmering for dove back into his lifeless corpse. As his ghostly figure reentered his body, a sharp gasp released from his mouth as he felt the strange sensation of his wounds instantly healing. Broken limbs were forced back into place with sickening cracks, his shredded skin began to heal at an unnatural pace, and his breathing became progressively steadier. The fires burned around him crackled menacingly, and Rock's grimaced as he stood to his feet. While the healing process of the Revive Revive fruit seemed to be true, he could still feel that he wasn't at full strength.
Though the Holy knights weren't a challenge at full strength, he wasn't even sure that he could access supreme king haki at this point. Looking down at his hand, he curled it into a fist as he attempted to infuse armament haki into it, but the strain on his body made his knees nearly buckle, confirming his suspicion and his plan to not engage in any further combat.
The chaos that was still ongoing made it easy for even an injured Rocks to be able to weave through the island's jungle, making it to an isolated area of the desolate beaches where a few stray pirates were fleeing with whatever bits of treasure they had been able to grab from what he assumed Raleigh had dropped on his way out.
Even in his current state, commandeering a New World rookie's ship was easy work, and soon he was holding the helmsmen at gun point. The terrified fish man did not dare to look up at his captor, especially considering the state of his former crew that was currently scattered along the beaches of God Valley, if the island was even still standing.
"Umm…where did you want me to take you…sir?" The fish man asked Rocks, unsure of what level of formality to speak to the terrifying man with.
"Sir?" Rocks asked incredulously, unable to hold back a laugh as he lowered his pistol. "What's your name?"
"Mayando…Sire?" The shaking helmsmen responded desperately.
"Just Rocks is fine," the grimacing captain said as the recovery process from the Revive fruit was clearly not going to be the smooth process he was hoping it would have been. "Mayando, was it?" He asked as the teenager nodded quickly. "Tell me Mayando, what did you like about your old crew before their untimely demise?" He asked as he casually twirled his pistol in his hand.
"Umm…" Mayando said with hesitation until he saw the flash of an annoyed look on his captor's face. "Well, to be honest, I didn't like them that much!" He blurted out in a voice that was much louder than he intended it to be.
"Oh?" Rocks asked with a raised eyebrow.
"They were all dicks who bullied me into coming on this raid because none of them could steer this ship worth a damn!" Mayando shouted, the high likelihood of death allowing him to feel the freedom to get some long overdue feelings off of his chest. ""I become a pirate for random treasure, especially not the scraps that we grabbed today. That's why I told them it was a bad idea to come to a raid with the biggest names on the sea, but they were so cocky!" He shouted in frustration as a storm began to swell around them.
"Calm down kid, I think you're making the sea agitated," Rocks said as he casually peered up at the gathering clouds.
"Sorry, sorry," Mayando said as he began to slow his breathing.
"So why did you become a pirate then?" Rocks asked as he continued to casually twirl his pistol.
"I guess…I mean it's a little personal to tell a stranger, but you do have me at gunpoint, so I feel like we can probably throw social norms out the window," the helmsman said nervously as Rocks nodded in agreement. "Fishmen are not…treated well, to say the least. I grew up in the East Blue on an island where I was one of 5 fishmen, and by the time I left last year, there were no more fishmen in that village. Let's just leave it at that," Mayando said with a deep bitterness. "If people hate you that much just for who you are, eventually that overtakes them and they do unthinkable things, so it seems like the safest move is to be mobile with strong people. My old crew was not filled with geniuses or even decent folks, but let me get out of that wretched place before that hate gave my neighbors an excuse to kill me, so to some extent I'll always be grateful to them. But I knew we'd be splitting up eventually, because my goal was always alot…larger in scope, I guess you could say."
"Oh?" Rocks asked curiously, the tone of a dreamer sounding quite familiar to him.
"I don't think that the prejudice against Fishmen will go anywhere within my lifetime, but I want to create a place where my people can go and not feel like their lives are in danger. Fishmen Island is simply not enough space, and those of us born on the surface are relegated to lives of being treated as monsters by those that surround us. I wanted to become a captain, and make at least one island my territory. Even that would be enough to feel like I did something with my life," he said as the tears unabashedly streamed down his face, though Rocks noticed that the smoothness of his steering had not been affected whatsoever. In fact, by the time that Mayando had finished speaking, the ship was nearly out of the developing storm despite over a dozen other ships trailing behind them that had started leaving before they did.
"Hmm, I know a Fishman back in Water 7. Perhaps we could pay him a visit," Rocks said as he stood to his feet and stowed his pistol into the holster on his hip. The creaking of the floorboards beneath his boots made Mayando sweat as he felt the intimidating presence come within a foot of him. Though the tension made it even more surprising when a firm yet friendly hand grasped his shoulder. "Join my crew, kid. If we're successful, then one island will just be the start. By the time we've kicked the bucket, we'll have change the entire world!" Rocks shouted as his new yet confused helmsmen sailed them into calmer seas.