"Have I been too nice to you? Ask me again, and I'll send you flying!" Luo Tian's eyes turned cold.
The pirate captain shuddered in fear, then scrambled toward the helm. He didn't dare slack off again, steering the ship with all his might toward Beehive Island.
After a sleepless night spent nervously keeping the ship on course, the pirate captain finally reached the Rocks Pirates' main base, Beehive Island.
Known as "the pirates' paradise," the island drew pirates from across the New World and was rife with greed, violence, and chaos.
Rocks had chosen it as his base precisely because the island was a melting pot of all kinds, making it easy for him to recruit ambitious, powerful people from across the seas.
The Rocks Pirates' flag flying from the ship let Luo Tian and the others pass without trouble. No one approached to question them.
As soon as they came ashore, a shout rang out.
"That's him! That brat killed dozens of our brothers! Don't let him get away!"
The pirate captain had made it onto his own turf. While Luo Tian's gaze swept over the island, he suddenly leaped off the ship.
He sprinted toward the shore, shouting himself hoarse in an attempt to attract attention.
But before his cries had even faded—
Vmm—
A wave of Repulsion struck first, pierced the pirate captain, and sent him flying three hundred meters away.
Before long, pirates nearby had gathered around, their eyes fierce and their killing intent palpable.
To them, anyone who dared provoke the Rocks Pirates had to pay in blood.
Luo Tian couldn't be bothered wasting time on riffraff. With a thought, his figure blurred, then vanished from the spot.
[Space Leap] Teleport a short distance by thought, landing precisely at any chosen point within sight!
After blinking a few times, Luo Tian had crossed most of the harbor and its outskirts, teleporting straight to the island's central district, the seat of power on Beehive Island.
The instant his form solidified—
Whoosh!
A huge golden crescent Slash Wave shot without warning from the entrance of a fortress built into the mountainside, heading straight for Luo Tian's face!
Luo Tian remained expressionless. He raised his right hand and spread his fingers. A translucent Void Barrier instantly unfolded in front of him.
[Void Barrier] Create a translucent spatial wall that can deflect any attack!
Clang!
The golden Slash Wave slammed into the Void Barrier with a thunderous crash, sending energy surging in every direction.
It was forcibly deflected, shooting diagonally into the sky and carving a huge rift through the distant clouds.
Luo Tian understood. From the moment he'd set foot on the island, every move he made had probably been noticed by the Rocks Pirates' top brass.
Their vigilance and strength were worthy of the New World's overlords.
The tremendous commotion caused by the deflected golden Slash Wave immediately drew the attention of more pirates across Beehive Island. They converged from every direction.
"If I'm not mistaken, kid, you're not one of us, are you?" A voice heavy with menace sounded slowly.
"You've got some nerve, coming here all by yourself."
Amid the sound of footsteps, the overlord who ruled the entire New World, Rocks D. Zebek, appeared surrounded by his officers.
Standing beside him were the bare-chested, blond Edward Newgate; Charlotte Linlin, snacking on sweets; and Golden Lion Shiki, holding a sword in each hand. The slash from earlier had clearly come from him.
Those three were the Rocks Pirates' core officers—and the strongest among them.
The rest were ordinary officers.
"Not yet. But I will be soon." Facing a lineup powerful enough to make the sea tremble, Luo Tian grinned.
Everyone understood the naked ambition behind his words, as well as his implied offer to join them.
"Hahahaha!" Rocks burst into laughter.
"You talk big. But if you don't have the strength to back it up, you won't just fail to join us—you might not even make it off this island alive!"
The officers around them, including Silver Axe, John, and Ochoku, watched with amused interest, sizing up the reckless young man.
The Rocks Pirates ruled the New World. They'd seen plenty of pirates show up to offer their services, hoping to rise to the top in one easy leap.
Most were deluded fools. Without exception, they ended up at the bottom of the sea, as fish food.
Rocks's top-tier Observation Haki sensed that Luo Tian's presence was considerably stronger than that of the previous challengers.
There was also some strange power hidden within him, but that only piqued Rocks's interest slightly. It was far from enough to earn his attention.
"Gurararara... What an interesting kid." Edward Newgate folded his arms and guessed:
"To deflect one of Shiki's casual strikes that easily, he must have some kind of special Paramecia Devil Fruit ability, right?"
Rocks and the officers had no intention of acting right away. A challenger of this level wasn't worth their personal attention.
There would always be someone eager to show off or defend the crew's prestige who'd step forward.
The central district of Beehive Island was usually reserved for officers and elite crew members.
Only when summoned or when special circumstances arose were division commanders and full-fledged crew members who had distinguished themselves allowed to enter.
By now, a large number of pirates had gathered after hearing the commotion. They'd witnessed Luo Tian deflect Shiki's powerful slash.
The ordinary crew members, who knew they couldn't possibly withstand such an attack, looked at the powerful figure in the middle with a mixture of emotions, unable to help feeling both admiration and awe.
It was the instinctive longing of the weak to become strong.
"Hmph! What a bunch of cowards, getting scared by some nobody!"
A division commander who thought highly of his own strength pushed his way through the crowd, his face full of contempt and anger.
"Kid, let me see what makes you think you can charge onto this island all by yourself!"
"Oh?" Luo Tian gave him a cold grin. "So you're pretty brave, huh?"
"I'm super brave, okay!" the pirate commander declared loudly.
"Remember my name. I'm Zaosi, a Zoan: Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Golden Eagle user! My bounty is 510 million Beli!"
Before he'd even finished speaking, Zaosi activated his Devil Fruit power.
His body quickly grew larger. With a ripping sound, golden wings spread from his back and his hands transformed into talons. In an instant, he took on a half-man, half-eagle form!
His body, greatly enhanced in this hybrid form—especially his speed and strength—filled Zaosi with confidence.
He was certain that the powerful physique and strength granted by his Zoan fruit would let him tear this arrogant young man to pieces!
"Golden Eagle form? I think it'd make more sense the other way around!"
Luo Tian couldn't help quipping as he raised his right hand and made a grasping motion in the air toward the charging eagle-man.
Vmm—
An irresistible force of attraction locked onto Zaosi.
The charging eagle-man suddenly felt his body slip out of his control. He was pulled toward Luo Tian at high speed, against his will.
"What?!" Zaosi panicked. He beat his wings as hard as he could, but couldn't escape the strange force.
At the critical moment, his fighting instincts kicked in. He quickly coated his sharp, hard beak in Armament Haki, intending to use the momentum of being pulled in to pierce his opponent's chest.
But Luo Tian had already seen through his plan.
Just as Zaosi was drawn to within a few meters and his beak was about to strike—
Luo Tian suddenly raised his right fist, gathering a mass of impact energy around it, then threw a punch.
"Luo-beard, is that you?"
Whoosh—BOOM!
A powerful shockwave erupted from Luo Tian's fist!
The air around it was compressed to the extreme, then suddenly exploded. Even space shuddered violently.
Zaosi's beak, coated in Armament Haki, took the brunt of it. Against the terrifying shockwave, his Haki defense was as fragile as paper. It shattered instantly!
Thud!
Luo Tian's punch slammed into Zaosi's chest. His breastbone caved in, and blood mixed with pieces of his organs burst from his mouth and nose.
Zaosi flew backward and crashed into the hard ground dozens of meters away, leaving a deep crater. Dust billowed around him. It was impossible to tell if he was alive.
The pirates watching hurriedly backed away to avoid the shockwave's lingering force.
They were stunned to realize that Commander Zaosi hadn't lasted even three seconds.
"Gurararara..." Newgate analyzed:
"First, he used a force like gravity to drag Zaosi over, disrupting his flight and throwing off his attack.
"Then he hit him with an even stronger shockwave, attacking from both inside and out.
"Nice combination. Quite interesting."
Shiki puffed on his cigar and glanced at Zaosi's motionless form in the crater, his tone full of disdain.
"Whose subordinate is that? Someone of his caliber can be a commander? He couldn't even take one punch. Since when did our crew's standards get so low?"
The remark put Ochoku, standing nearby, in an awkward position.
Zaosi was one of his commanders.
But then he thought about it. If he could recruit this young man with the strange powers into his ranks, he could make up for the loss in strength caused by the vacancy.
In the Rocks Pirates, the strong preyed on the weak. An old member's fall often meant a newcomer's rise.
"Sorry, I didn't think he'd be that easy to beat." Luo Tian spread his hands, feigning regret. "Tell him to be more careful in his next life."
Before you continue