Rocks D. Xebec

Warship Rest Room

After knocking the stubborn Teach unconscious again, Roy and Ace walked out of the cold prison side by side. The heavy iron door slammed shut, effectively shutting out the blood and darkness.

"Whoosh--"

The air trembled slightly, and the space rippled like water. In the next instant, the two appeared in the Warship's Rest Room.

Roy raised his hand and waved it, and a spatial barrier, invisible to the naked eye, slowly opened, isolating the entire room from the outside world. Even Den Den Mushi could not transmit a single fluctuation.

He gently beckoned Ace to sit down.

Ace was still unsettled, Roy's chilling question still echoing in his mind, "What secrets did your father, Rocks D. Xebec, leave behind?"

He swallowed hard, finally unable to hold back any longer, and asked, "Roy... who exactly is Rocks?"

"And that 'multiple Devil Fruit abilities' you mentioned... does it really exist???"

Can a person really eat two fruits without exploding and dying?!

Roy did not answer immediately.

He walked to the table, slowly picked up the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea, and the steam rose up, as if carrying away old stories from more than forty years ago.

"Rocks D. Xebec."

He spoke in a low voice, his tone calm, yet it was as powerful as rolling thunder.

"He was the true maritime hegemon more than 40 years ago."

"A madman whose identity even the Celestial Dragons dare not mention in front of him."

Ace's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously asked, "Is it also 'D'...?"

Roy nodded slightly. "He is the most extreme and darkest embodiment of the 'D. Clan'."

"He was the only being of that era to be publicly designated as 'unmentionable' by the World Government."

"His Rocks Pirates are the most notorious violent organization in history."

"They have no loyalty, no regard for their comrades, only slaughter and conquest."

They dared to plunder the Celestial Dragons' treasure ships, storm kingdom castles, and hang nobles in the streets.

Ace's throat bobbed, his face filled with shock.

"You... you mean they dared to rob the Celestial Dragons?!"

Roy smiled faintly, "You know the Four Emperors of the Sea right now, right?"

Ace nodded. "Whitebeard... Kaido of the Beasts... Big Mom Charlotte Linlin... Red-Haired Shanks."

Roy looked at him and slowly uttered a thunderous statement that seemed to freeze the air. "Three of them— Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom... were all members of the Rocks Pirates."

"That was a warship made up of 'demons'."

"Each captain is a disaster capable of single-handedly ravaging a nation."

"And Rocks is the Lord of Purgatory."

"Boom!!"

Ace abruptly stood up from the sofa, the color draining from his face instantly.

"What did you say?! Those three were on the same ship?! What kind of monster Pirate crew is that?!"

Ace swallowed hard, his throat dry, as if a Purgatory woven from human malice was appearing before his eyes.

Roy looked up at him. "Remember the 'Gate of Justice'?"

Ace nodded. "Of course I remember! That's where you passed by when you first took me to Enies Lobby... To be honest, I was really shocked when I first saw it!"

"So enormous... it's almost like a symbol supporting the authority of the Navy and the World Government..."

Roy's eyes were deep and unfathomable, yet his words were unusually calm. "Rocks... destroyed that door with his sword."

"Puff--!"

Ace had just picked up his tea to calm himself down when he heard those words, and he instantly spat out his tea!

He stared wide-eyed at Roy in disbelief. "What?! The Gate of Justice?! Isn't that thing supposed to be 'unbreakable,' a 'sea fortress'?! He did it all by himself?! With just one sword?!"

"Yes."

"..."

Ace was completely speechless, and sat down shakily, almost dropping the teacup in his hand.

"Is that guy... even human?"

Roy gently set down his teacup, the tea rippled slightly, and his tone was so calm it was as if he were talking about something trivial:

"That year, he even infiltrated the Reverie in Mary Geoise and kidnapped five kings."

"Smack!"

Ace dropped the teacup from his hand and smashed it on the ground. He looked up abruptly, his lips trembling with shock.

"Wait... what did you say?!"

"Mary Geoise?! That's the most heavily guarded place in the world! The Five Elders, the Celestial Dragons, and the Marine Headquarters Admirals are stationed there; it's a place where not even a single breath can get through—"

Roy looked up at him, his tone as cold as Seastone: "But he was there, killed a Marine Admiral, and managed to escape unscathed..."

"..."

"Boom--!"

Ace felt a buzzing in his mind, as if his entire worldview had been shattered!

His Adam's apple heaved violently, and he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

"Killed... Marine Admiral?! Was he active duty?! Active duty?!"

"Reverie?! Killing Admiral?! That's... the place where all the heads of state, the Five Elders, and the Celestial Dragons gather!!"

He subconsciously recalled the terrifying strength of the Three Admirals: Aokiji, Kizaru, Akainu... weren't they all capable of suppressing an entire era?! And Rocks, he actually managed to kill an admiral on the spot at Mary Geoise?!

Even someone like Whitebeard, known as the "World's Strongest Man," was... just one of his subordinates during that period of history?!

"What kind of madman is this?!"

Ace murmured to himself, while Roy's gaze remained cold and sharp.

"If it weren't for the later 'God Valley Incident,' where Garp temporarily joined forces with the great Pirate Roger— "

"This world will probably have to belong to the Rocks family."

"!!!"

A series of major, hidden events left Ace feeling his heart skip a beat and his mind go blank.

After a moment of silence, he immediately asked, "Garp... teamed up with Roger?!"

"You mean... the old man, and my dad?! Teamed up against Rocks?! And they won?!!"

Roy nodded, his voice deep and resolute. "32 years ago, Rocks led his Pirate crew in a surprise attack on 'God Valley'."

At that time, the Celestial Dragons were holding a 'hunting festival' on the island, taking pleasure in slaughtering the entire kingdom.

The Rocks Pirates landed under unknown pretexts.

Meanwhile, Gol D. Roger, for his own purposes, led his crew to the island.

"And you know about old man Garp, with all that love and hate between him and your father. When he heard Roger was going, he even abandoned his vacation and the ladies to come and join the war."

"Two 'D's, side by side for the first time."

"The Battle of God Valley has become a taboo subject in world history that the World Government never wants to mention again."

Ultimately, Rocks was defeated by the combined efforts of the two, and the Pirate crew disbanded.

"After that war, Garp was awarded the title of 'Navy Hero'."

Ace stood frozen, his lips moving, before finally speaking in a hoarse voice after a long while:

"That old guy who's always yelling in my ear, 'Don't be Pirate!' 'You brat deserve a beating!'..."

"Is it really that strong...??"

Roy rolled his eyes at his dazed expression. "What do you think?"

"Grandpa Garp is a man who rose through the ranks of the battleship through sheer force of his fists."

"Back when I was chasing Roger all over the world..."

You weren't even born yet.

Ace rolled his eyes. "If I were born around that time, you'd be calling me 'brother'."