"God Valley?"
Marco frowned; the term was somewhat unfamiliar to him.
Rocks didn't expect Marco to know the name, and he continued talking to himself.
"Back then, I led my men in a decisive battle against the navy there, and the result... well, let's just say it was terrible."
Rocks' face showed a hint of resentment. Needless to say, the Rocks Pirates lost that battle, but he was not convinced!
In that battle, Sengoku, Steel-Bones Kong, and Garp, all at their peak, participated; it can be said that they were the main force of the Navy at that time.
But weren't the Rocks Pirates any worse off?
Even if Kaido was still relatively inexperienced at the time, what about Big Mom, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion?
Besides these top-tier fighters, the Rocks Pirates also have several members who are no weaker than the current Yonko's first mate, not to mention their captain, Rocks!
What ability did the Navy have at that time to challenge the Rocks Pirates?!
Thinking of this, Rocks's eyes turned bloodshot, and he said through gritted teeth,
"If it weren't for that bastard Roger's help and that unknown power, how could the Rocks Pirates have lost!? This sea should have belonged to the Rocks Pirates!!!"
While Marco listened to Rocks's long-winded remarks, he secretly worked hard to restore his own strength, and the results were quite good.
A vibrant blue flame rose from his crushed ankle, and the broken bones had almost fully healed.
Rocks seemed oblivious to Marco's strange behavior, continuing his rambling, incoherent ramblings.
"That idiot Roger, what benefit did helping the Navy bring him? In the end, he still died at the Navy's hands. What an irony! Hehehehehe!"
Rocks truly hated Roger to the core. He had nothing to say about being defeated by the Navy, as they were enemies to begin with.
But you, Roger, were clearly a pirate, yet you played the grand scheme, saying that for the sake of the world Rocks couldn't continue his reckless behavior.
When Rocks heard this, he burst out laughing.
On what grounds?
If those good-for-nothings in Mary Geoise can rule the world, why can't Rocks?
Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?
They talk about doing it for the world, but have those Celestial Dragons actually brought any benefits to this world? The things they've done are things even he's never heard of before.
Roger, not only did you not go looking for trouble with those Celestial Dragons, but you even helped the Celestial Dragons' lackeys, the Navy, to deal with him. This is simply the biggest joke in the world!
If Roger hadn't already died and his body hadn't been recovered by the Navy, the first thing Rocks would have done after being resurrected was to grind that hypocrite Roger to dust!
Rocks's rage had reached its peak; endless darkness surged from his body, turning the entire space into a dark domain.
Marco's abilities were fully restored at this moment, and he immediately activated them, turning his arms into wings and flying into the sky.
Rocks ignored Marco, venting his resentment until he looked up at Marco in the air, grinned, and asked...
"Have you thought it through? Do you want to become my first subordinate after my resurrection?"
Marco didn't answer Rocks; he had something else he wanted to confirm. He stared at Rocks below and asked,
"How did you survive that battle? And why are you residing in Teach's body?"
"Hehehehe! That's all thanks to this Dark-Dark Fruit!"
Rocks' words indicate that he was the previous Ability User of the Dark-Dark Fruit, and he played a significant role in making the Dark-Dark Fruit known as the most vicious Devil Fruit.
Rocks didn't go into details about how he operated it; it was a deeper level of power he only realized when facing death— the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Only in that moment did he realize just how powerful the forces of darkness truly were!
It turns out that the gravity of darkness really can attract everything! Including souls!
When he was about to die, he used the gravity of darkness to hold onto his soul, which was about to leave his body, and forcibly prevented it from going to the underworld.
However, Rocks was not Ability User of the Revive-Revive Fruit, and his soul, separated from his body, became increasingly weak without the protection of any special power.
Even though his soul strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, it gradually approached collapse over time.
Until he found a special guy on a small island, who was Teach when he was a child.
This guy's body is naturally different from ordinary people. He has two hearts and a talent that even Rocks envies: he can withstand the power of multiple Devil Fruit!
Without hesitation, Rocks attached his soul to Teach.
However, he sadly discovered that because his soul had been worn away during the long journey, it was suppressed by Teach's original soul as soon as it entered his body, and he almost became a supplement to Teach's soul.
He narrowly escaped with his soul, which shrank back inside Teach's body.
Rocks had already given up hope of being resurrected; he only wanted to use Teach to exact Teach on the world.
Therefore, Rocks kept hinting in Teach's mind, telling him about Teach's physical talent that allowed him to withstand multiple Devil Fruit and the importance of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
This kind of spiritual hint came so quietly that even Teach himself didn't know how he knew these things, and he didn't even think about it much, focusing solely on finding the Dark-Dark Fruit.
In his search for the Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach joined the Whitebeard Pirates. Little did he know that Rocks, who was inside him at the time, was nearly driven to his death by this.
Rocks thought Teach was a complete idiot and utterly useless. Of all people to associate with, why did he have to join his former subordinate Newgate? That guy who only knew how to play house?
Do you think he has a chance to find the Dark-Dark Fruit if he's in the hands of someone like that? And Teach's reasoning is that joining the Whitebeard Pirates would give him a better chance of finding the Dark-Dark Fruit!
This idiot doesn't even consider this: even if they did find the Dark-Dark Fruit, given your status in the Whitebeard Pirates, why would they give it to you?
To Rocks' utter astonishment, Teach actually found the Dark-Dark Fruit!
Furthermore, Teach was ruthless enough to kill and steal the treasure before defecting from the Whitebeard Pirates!
Rocks couldn't help but laugh at himself, Teach he had really misjudged Teach; this guy was truly born to be a pirate!
Until Teach, carrying the Dark-Dark Fruit, wandered around and eventually encountered Senga...
Rocks felt his life was bleak and lamented that revenge was hopeless.
But then a turning point came: Senga killed Teach by extracting his soul and gaining the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
This gave Rocks a golden opportunity, allowing him to take over Teach's body and resurrect himself.
Recalling this tortuous experience, Rocks couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"How unpredictable life is!"