He wasn't an impostor. He was the real deal!
After feeling the terrifying, beast-like aura radiating from Mongge, Iron Hand Jod no longer had any doubts about his identity.
Even aboard his captain Undead Jason's ship, Jod had never felt an aura this terrifying.
There were differences between pirates.
Even among the Great Pirates, some stood above others.
At that moment, Jod understood those words more deeply than ever.
"W-White Wolf Mongge!?"
"Mm. That's me."
Mongge looked at Jod calmly. They were about the same height, but to Jod, Mongge's gaze made him feel like an ant.
"Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"
At Mongge's words, Jod's throat grew parched. The last trace of hope in his heart vanished, and he could only answer in a low voice.
"I-I want to live."
"Good. Bring your arm, and have your captain come see me."
Mongge hadn't seemed to move at all, but Jod felt a gust of wind sweep past. Then he saw the pirates still standing around him staring at him in terror.
My arm?
Only then did Jod suddenly realize that he couldn't feel his arm.
He turned his head and saw nothing but an empty shoulder.
The arm he'd always been so proud of had been cut off!
"Argh—!"
Seeing a pirate with a bounty of fifty million Beli lose his arm in a single exchange, the pirates around them stared at Mongge in sheer terror.
Even more frightening, Mongge's slash hadn't just taken Jod's arm—it had split three streets in the town in two as well.
A massive gash stretched across half the harbor town.
"Oh, right. Not just your captain. Bring the other two crews here too. There are a few too many flags flying over this town."
Looking at Jod kneeling on the ground, clutching his severed arm, gritting his teeth and gasping for breath, Mongge continued.
Mongge had spent a great deal of effort conquering this island more than a decade ago. But after leaving it alone all these years, someone had moved in and taken over.
If Mongge had retired, that would have been one thing.
But now that he was ready to rise again, he naturally had to reclaim his old territory one piece at a time!
Mongge hadn't planned to deal with these local powers so soon, but since they'd come looking for trouble first, he couldn't be blamed.
Mongge: "Let's head back."
Lipri asked, "Aren't we going to the underground black market?"
Mongge: "One of the three pirate crews occupying this place must run it. We can just talk to them directly."
Mongge had spent six months in Elbaf, but that wasn't long enough for the sea to change much.
For example, he recognized all the flags flying over the town now.
Undead Jason.
The crooked merchant Dukemon.
Monster Moz.
Their bounties were 120 million, 115 million, and 138 million, respectively.
Of course, those were their bounties from a year ago.
A year had passed. Mongge didn't know whether the bounties on the other two had changed, though Jason's probably hadn't.
Great Pirates with bounties exceeding a hundred million Beli were well-known figures throughout the New World. A year ago, Mongge wouldn't necessarily have been able to take one down easily in a one-on-one fight.
But things were different now.
"Perfect. Rocks should be about finished over there, too."
Mongge looked toward the Black Pearl.
A little earlier.
While Mongge and Lipri were dealing with the pirate thugs, Rocks and Newgate were locked in a fierce struggle.
"Hey, hey. Do you two plan to keep hiding forever?"
With a casual shot, he blasted a hole in the Black Pearl's deck. Several Heart Pirates strolled across it as if they were cats toying with mice.
"Heh. We're only after what's on this ship. We don't care about the lives of you two."
As he spoke, the captain of the Heart Pirates, Bennet, signaled for their ship to draw closer. If they ran out of time, he had no qualms about towing the whole ship away.
"Tch. Only an old man would sail a wreck this ancient."
Thinking of Mongge and Lipri, who had left ahead of them, Bennet felt a little regretful.
If he'd known there were really only three people aboard this ship, he would've gone aboard himself. He wouldn't have needed to send a bunch of kids to test the waters before swooping in to reap the rewards.
As for the flag flying from the pirate ship?
He'd sooner believe that old man was the new Marine Admiral than White Wolf Mongge!
"I hope this isn't a disappointment."
Inside the cabin.
Rocks watched the pirates approaching and frowned.
If it had only been the captain, he would have gone out and taken him down already.
But there were several other capable enemies besides the one with the gun. If Rocks couldn't take them all down in one move, they would swarm him.
Pirates didn't care about honor.
"Hey, kid. Can you still move?"
Rocks patted Newgate, who was twice his size and curled into a ball with his arms wrapped around himself.
"Yeah."
Newgate nodded, his voice muffled. Then he looked worriedly toward the deck, where his companions still lay after being beaten down.
"Help me draw their attention in a moment. I'll take care of those guys!"
The pirates had mistaken them for children and hadn't taken them seriously.
That was their chance.
"Why should I help you?"
At Newgate's words, Rocks grinned.
"Because I just saved you. Your life belongs to me now!"
Though Newgate was just a kid, their brief time together had let Rocks sense the potential within him. He'd make a perfectly good human shield.
"Follow me!"
Rocks growled and charged headlong at the Heart Pirates.
By then, the Heart Pirates were already dazzled by the gold and silver piled up inside the cabin.
Lipri had shrunk all the treasure with her ability, but there was so much of it that even shrunk dozens of times, it still filled one corner of the cabin.
"Boss, we're rich!"
One of the pirates said excitedly, clutching the jewelry in his hand.
He had no idea why all the jewelry was the size of mosquito legs, but there sure were a lot of those tiny gold and silver trinkets!
They hadn't even seen the luxury goods piled up on the other side—high-end items that only the Celestial Dragons could afford. Even a few pieces slipping onto the market would send the ordinary nobles of this world scrambling to buy them.
Though even if they saw them, they probably wouldn't understand what anyone could do with luxury goods the size of grains of rice.
By then, Rocks had silently appeared behind one of the Heart Pirates.
He drew his waist sword.
A flash.
A pirate fell to the ground.
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