Newgate Boards the Ship

Fujitora Issho, the blind man with the Gravity Ability, walked along the ground using his Supreme Grade sword, Extreme Path Fireline, as a cane—a habit that was, to say the least, a bit eccentric.

Of course, perhaps Fujitora Issho simply wanted to keep his feet on the ground and avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

Houka was different; now that he had Rocks backing him, he had no fear of exposing his abilities.

He loved to show off, enjoyed playing the saint in front of others, and found it both effortless and convenient.

With references from so many anime and novel worlds, Houka's understanding of the Gravity Ability was likely a dimension ahead of Fujitora Issho's.

Developing techniques like anti-gravity and weight reduction were considered quite basic.

If this Gravity Ability were developed deeply enough, it could even become more powerful than the Float-Float Fruit Ability.

"Gravity? That is indeed a fine ability!"

Newgate had a deep understanding of Devil Fruit powers, having encountered many weak and bizarre ability users.

He felt fortunate that his own Tremor-Tremor ability was sufficiently powerful, as everyone could only eat one Devil Fruit in their lifetime.

If one were to end up with some pathetic ability, it would truly be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Not to mention losing the ability to swim and becoming a landlubber.

For a pirate living and fighting on the high seas, that was no small blow.

"Newgate, welcome aboard. Actually, as long as you are strong enough, that guy Rocks is quite easy to talk to."

"At the same time, congratulations on joining the world's top pirate crew. You are about to see the truth of this world and its peak monsters."

"Your future life will be a hundred, a thousand times more exciting than what you have now."

Seeing Newgate drink the healing potion he had handed over, Houka spoke in high spirits.

"The truth of the world?"

Newgate raised an eyebrow, looking at Houka in confusion. He was just an ordinary pirate and didn't care much about the truth of the world.

"You'll know in time."

Houka floated back with Newgate in tow.

"Wahahahaha! Are you convinced yet, Edward Newgate?"

Rocks looked at the young giant, Newgate. If he wasn't convinced, Rocks would beat him into total submission and drag him onto the ship by force.

He would even wipe out the entire Whale Pirates crew to force Newgate to surrender.

"Let them go, and I will join your ship."

Newgate glanced at Captain Uhale, who was playing dead, and sighed inwardly.

He suddenly realized that getting along with this captain was far less comfortable than being with a guy like Houka.

"Wahahahaha! I don't think much of them either!"

"Then let this Davy Back Fight game be declared over!"

"Uhale, are you dead yet? If not, come over here and end this game!"

"I am a man who highly respects [contracts]."

Rocks, in a good mood, agreed to Newgate's request and shouted at the cowering Uhale.

"Not dead, not dead! I'm coming right away!"

Uhale scrambled to his feet and scurried over, tumbling as he ran.

Watching Uhale's display, Newgate sighed again; the camaraderie of their years on the same ship dissipated rapidly.

In truth, as his strength grew day by day, Uhale had long since begun to harbor suspicions toward him.

After all, first mates and officers seizing power was not an uncommon occurrence on these seas.

To maintain Uhale's dignity as captain, he had even deliberately hidden most of his true strength.

Perhaps leaving now was a good choice after all.

Just as Houka had said, his future did not lie with the Whale Pirates.

"Wahahahaha! I declare this Davy Back Fight game over. Edward Newgate is now my crewmate."

Rocks announced loudly, and Uhale nodded hurriedly, not daring to raise a single objection.

Rocks was already being quite merciful by not seizing their pirate ship and flag as well.

"Now get lost!"

Rocks waved a hand, shooing away the weaklings of the Whale Pirates.

Newgate watched as the Whale Pirates' ship slowly disappeared into the horizon. He felt a bit of loss, yet also a sense of rebirth.

He looked at the powerful Rocks; perhaps, beyond finding his own family, he had gained a new goal.

That was to become stronger—strong enough to battle Rocks, and perhaps even defeat him!

"Wahahahaha! I like the look in your eyes! You want to defeat me? I'll be waiting for you!"

Seeing the determination in Newgate's eyes, Rocks felt no wariness or desire to crush him; instead, he offered nothing but encouragement.

He felt that once this little giant was no longer "suppressed" by that spineless captain Uhale, he would soon awaken his Conqueror's Haki.

"I will!"

Newgate met Rocks' gaze without a hint of fear, his powerful spirit surging wildly like a dragon entering the vast sea.

If the captain Uhale had been a shallow puddle, restricting the growth of Newgate's spirit, then this new captain, Rocks, was an ocean; no matter how much Newgate strengthened himself, he still couldn't see the limits of Rocks' back.

"Wahahahaha! If you can't bring your strength up to par, I won't even have any use for you!"

"Grow stronger, and I will take you all to witness the pinnacle of this world."

Rocks laughed wantonly, becoming increasingly satisfied with his new crew member, Newgate.

With Houka the prophet providing the intellect and Newgate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit user providing the brawn, his Rocks Pirates would surely rise to power even faster!

"To welcome Newgate aboard, let's have a banquet!"

"Newgate, these are Babel and Sambel. Everyone here is an official member of the Rocks Pirates!"

Houka fully embraced his role as the grand strategist, helping Newgate integrate into the Rocks Pirates as quickly as possible.

Now, while the fledgling Rocks Pirates hadn't yet completely devolved into a culture where only the strong survived and the new crew members were still relatively normal, Houka felt there was still hope for improvement.

After all, Houka intended to stay with the Rocks Pirates for a long time.

He certainly didn't want the Rocks Pirates to spend their days slaughtering one another!

Newgate exchanged greetings with Babel and Sambel.

Sambel was very friendly, but Babel's eyes were filled with a desire for challenge.

His goal was to make a name for himself across the seas, to become a villain as great as Rocks, and to strike fear into the World Government.

As the boss of the thugs in Fish-Man District, he had always believed himself to be stronger than any human.

He couldn't beat a monster like Rocks, but there was no reason he couldn't take down this young little giant.

"Bahaha, let's spar when you have the time, little giant!"

Babel issued a direct challenge to Newgate.

Rocks was more than happy to see this competitive atmosphere; conflict bred strength, so he chose not to intervene.

"From now on, every time a new officer joins the ship, we'll hold a banquet, and I forbid any trash talk that ruins the mood."

Houka raised an eyebrow as he looked at the reckless Babel.

What kind of pirate crew issues a challenge to a new recruit on their very first day?

"Grand Strategist, this isn't trash talk. I'm serious. Rocks said that on this ship, the strong are respected."

"We have to establish everyone's standing, don't we?"

"This determines how the loot is split!"

Babel respected Houka as a prophet to an extent, but that didn't mean he would treat later arrivals with the same courtesy.

"Wahahaha, Babel is right."

Not only did Rocks not stop him, but he even fanned the flames, casting a wicked, wanton grin toward Houka.

He seemed to be cooking up some bad idea again, looking for an opportunity to beat Houka up!

"Fine, then spar whenever you have the time. Newgate, don't be polite—just hit as hard as Rocks does. Also, feel free to call the captain by his name; he doesn't care about such trivialities anyway."

Houka shrugged. Very well, he probably couldn't change Rocks' old tradition of valuing strength above all else; after all, this was Rocks' will and his principle.