The skin on Ochoku's face tightened, and his expression instantly turned serious. He reached out and stroked his long beard, which was comparable to that of "Guan Erye." "This ship carrying Heavenly Gold actually had CP0 members lying in wait, along with a Logia - Cloud-Cloud Fruit..."
"Our intelligence contained no information about this at all. It seems we almost walked right into their ambush."
The CP0 organization had always been incredibly mysterious. Even the Rocks Pirates had no way of knowing the identities or strength of its members, because whenever CP0 members were deployed, it meant the situation was extremely serious.
They were the "trump card" that would not be deployed lightly.
Ochoku then looked Ares over again and said with a hearty laugh, "Speaking of which, you've actually grown to the point where you can contend with the CP0 Chief, a Logia Devil Fruit user. That's incredible!"
"No wonder Newgate and Shiki both thought so highly of you. You reached this level in just one year. That's truly astonishing."
"Now that you're back, the Rocks Pirates will have another fierce general capable of making countless people tremble in fear!"
He was inwardly amazed. Strictly speaking, Ares had only joined the Rocks Pirates a year and a half ago, yet his current combat power had reached the point where he could contend with the World Government's secret weapon.
This had truly shocked him.
"Captain Ochoku, I've improved quite a bit over the past year too. Once we return, I definitely won't be a newcomer to the Rocks Pirates anymore." Kaido grinned. "But compared with Big Brother Ares, I'm still far behind. Still, sooner or later, I'll become an officer of the Rocks Pirates!"
As he spoke, Kaido's face was filled with a trace of smug pride.
Hearing Ochoku's praise,