"Wait!"
In the arena, someone shouted in terror, "Did we get something wrong? We came here to join the Rocks Pirates!"
Both groups were pirates. Beehive Island never lacked people who came knocking, hoping to cling to someone powerful.
Yet the moment they arrived at Beehive Island and explained their purpose, they were taken into custody.
"This is the selection process,"
Roa said with a smile. "The Rocks Pirates don't accept trash. Prove your worth to me with your blades."
The two groups of pirates froze. Then, the looks they exchanged turned dangerous.
If they were joining the Rocks Pirates, such a selection process wasn't strange, right?
The strongest pirate crew in the world naturally didn't recruit trash.
On the throne, Roa leisurely rested his head on one paw. Pirates really were a group of easy people to deceive.
I'll just sit here and wait for the feast.
The two groups of pirates in the arena had already unconsciously tightened their grips on their weapons, warily watching each other. They didn't rush to attack, though. Even beasts had to assess the difference in strength between themselves and their prey before hunting.
Roa wasn't in a hurry either. He didn't urge them on, merely watching with interest. He loved watching a good show.
"Attack!"
The peace agreement was torn apart in that instant. Led by their respective captains, the two groups of pirates charged at each other.
They were, after all, pirates capable of sailing the New World. The two pirate captains were no weaklings. They clashed in the next instant, and sparks flew when their broadsword and longsword met, while the resulting shock waves kicked up dust from the ground.
Then, the two groups of pirates charged into each other with wild cries.
In an instant, blood splattered and severed limbs went flying.
"Hmm!"
Roa took a deep breath. "Not bad."
The pain and despair intelligent creatures experienced amid disaster were the most delicious food to Roa.
"But it's still a little lacking."
Roa watched the pirates below slaughtering each other in a frenzy and muttered to himself.
The pirates' battle didn't last long. The winner was decided after a dozen minutes.
There was a slight difference in strength between the two captains. After one captain struggled to kill the enemy captain, the battle immediately became one-sided. The victorious captain was like a tiger among sheep, completely unstoppable.
That was the norm in this world's battles. Aside from exceptions like the Rocks Pirates, in an ordinary pirate crew, the captain alone possessed more than half the crew's total strength. Even all the other crew members combined couldn't defeat their captain.
However, despite winning, this pirate crew had suffered heavy casualties. Only a dozen or so people remained standing, and all of them were covered in wounds.
But they had won!
"Oh! How impressive!"
Roa couldn't help sitting up. "You won so quickly. I haven't even had my fill of watching yet."
The victorious pirate captain planted his longsword on the ground and raised his head expectantly toward Roa. "In that case, we can join the Rocks Pirates now, right?"
"Hm?"
Roa turned in surprise and asked Dylan, who stood beside him, "Dylan, did I ever say that winning would let them join the Rocks Pirates?"
Dylan calmly shook his head. "You only told them to prove their worth."
The pirate captain's face gradually turned pale. "W-What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm sorry, but you failed the selection."
Roa sighed. "I already told you, the Rocks Pirates don't accept trash. You defeated a pile of trash, but that doesn't mean you aren't trash yourselves."
The truth was that the pirates sent to Roa had already been screened once beforehand. The pirates who truly possessed value had long since been incorporated into the main fleet.
Roa wasn't picky either. It wasn't as if greater strength meant the black energy released through pain would be of higher quality.
"You bastard! You're toying with me!"
The pirate captain's eyes bulged with rage. He pointed his longsword at Roa. "I'll kill you!"
"What?"
Roa put on an incredulous expression. "You dare resist me, an officer of the Rocks Pirates?"
Visible fear appeared on every pirate's face.
It was precisely because they yearned for the Rocks Pirates that they understood how terrifying Rocks was.
"Exactly! Knowing fear is good,"
Roa said with the air of someone bullying others through his position. "Now hurry up and kill yourselves. That way, I won't have to do it myself."
A flush instantly appeared on the pirate captain's pale face. The muscles in his cheeks twitched violently. "You rotten brat! Go to hell!!"
Since he was going to die anyway, why not fight with everything he had and make this tyrannical beast die with him?
Roaring, the pirate captain dragged his heavy blade and charged straight toward Roa.
At the edge of the arena, he leaped into the air. Borrowing force from the wall, he actually jumped ten meters up into the stands.
"Oh!"
Roa couldn't help praising him. "Nice move!"
"Die, brat!!"
The pirate captain leaped again, bringing his heavy broadsword down directly toward Roa's head.
Roa's follower Dylan didn't react at all. He simply ignored it.
With a thunderous crash, the broadsword struck Roa's forehead.
The pirate captain's hands shook violently, and his expression changed drastically.
It was like striking a solid steel ingot. The broadsword in his hands shattered outright, while the webbing between his thumbs and index fingers split open from the impact.
"How is this possible?!"
He couldn't believe it.
Was it Haki?
But this brat was so young!!
Roa smiled. In the myths of his previous life, Qiongqi's body was said to be covered in hard fur resembling porcupine quills. Therefore, it made sense that his own hide possessed extraordinary defensive power, right?
"Now do you understand why you failed the selection? When something goes wrong, you should look for the problem in yourself."
As he spoke, his huge mouth, lined with ferocious fangs, opened wide.
"Roar!!"
A thunderous tiger roar!
The air instantly rippled in circles, and dust soared from the arena floor.
In the arena, the pirates covered their ears in agony, as if their eardrums were about to burst. This was no exaggeration. The slower pirates even had blood flowing from both ears.
The pirate captain charging at Roa was sent flying outright, crashing heavily onto the arena floor.
"Arghhhhh!"
He rolled across the ground in agony, bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Blood even seeped from the surface of his body.
There was an idiom called "the tiger's roar and the dragon's cry." A fierce tiger's roar was naturally a form of attack. In Roa's case, it manifested as a sonic attack.
The Lion's Roar—no, the Tiger Roar Technique!
Extraordinary defensive power, a roaring sonic attack, and the authority to control Natural and Man-made Disasters—this was the full extent of Roa's abilities at present.
"Everyone,"
Roa leisurely stood up and looked down at the terrified pirates. "You can start being afraid now."
Bronze patterns spread across the huge horn on his forehead. Dark clouds instantly filled the sky above the arena, and lightning danced within them.
Then, under the pirates' despairing gazes, thunder crashed down.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The entire arena trembled as the thunder struck.
Roa took a deep breath, inhaling the dense black energy through his nostrils. "Mmm, now that's a truly delicious feast!"
Humans only experienced the most extreme pain and despair after their hopes had been shattered.
The black energy born at such a moment was also the most delicious and nutritious.
Today is another day of eliminating evil for the people. The bounties on these two pirate captains both exceed fifty million.
He had obtained delicious food while also dealing with two groups of pirates who committed all kinds of evil. It was a win-win.
"Dylan, I'm counting on you."
Roa lazily flopped back onto the throne. He was full and drowsy, ready to sleep.
"Yes, Lord Roa."
Dylan nodded calmly. It was his turn to clean up the aftermath.
However, Roa's afternoon nap didn't last long.
"Roa! You're back, right? Come out and play!"
A loud, boisterous voice woke him.
Yawning, Roa sat up from the throne and happened to see Dylan bringing someone over.
"How annoying. Katakuri, disturbing someone's sweet dreams is punishable by execution."
Roa complained.
The boy who had come over was nearly twice as tall as Roa in human form. He had a mouth full of ferocious fangs, stitches on both cheeks, and a trident in his hand.
His name was Charlotte Katakuri. He was three years older than Roa and could be considered Roa's childhood friend.
Because of his ugly appearance, aside from his siblings, Roa was his only friend.
Katakuri laughed heartily. "I've never heard that Beehive Island has such a law! Enough nonsense. Come on, let's go play!"
"You're really impossible,"
Roa sighed. "But you're my good friend, so what can I do? Let's make this clear beforehand: if I ever need your help in the future, you're not allowed to refuse, even if you have to risk your life."
"Are you trying to trade my life for one afternoon of play? You really refuse to suffer even the slightest loss."
Katakuri scratched his head. "Whatever! Let's go!"
Fine. Some afternoon tea doesn't sound bad either.
Before you continue