"Science Bandit?"
"Wahahaha! I only just came up with that idea, and I never expected there'd really be a commander like that in the future!"
Rocks took Houka even more seriously. With this prophet around, he could surely overthrow Imu and fulfill the Davy Clan's mission.
Then the Davy Clan would be able to live openly beneath the sun, no longer hunted relentlessly by the World Government until they were wiped out.
Houka didn't mention Vegapunk, the world's greatest scientist. The guy was only nine years old right now, and Houka didn't even know if he'd eaten the Brain-Brain Fruit yet.
As for Vinsmoke Judge, Queen, and Caesar, they'd all been born only within the past year or two.
Under the others' admiring gazes, the Sword of Xebec cut through the waves.
They were searching for Shiki the Golden Lion.
Babel and Newgate had a duel along the way.
As expected, Babel was thoroughly defeated.
Newgate had secured his place among the Rocks Pirates through sheer strength.
With Houka acting as a "lubricant," the atmosphere aboard the ship was fairly harmonious for now. Rocks wasn't letting his officers slaughter one another.
Houka worked hard to develop his three abilities, while also enduring Rocks's physical conditioning and Haki training. Rocks beat him black and blue for one reason or another.
He was determined to guide Houka down the "physical strength above all" path—the right one!
Newgate also challenged Rocks, hoping to learn how to train in Three-Color Haki.
He wanted to learn from Rocks, catch up to him, and surpass him!
But there was no avoiding getting beaten up.
Rocks treated everyone equally, and he hit them hard.
The results, however, were obvious!
Houka, Newgate, Babel, and Sambel had all grown noticeably stronger.
Several months later!
"Damn it!! This guy can really run!!"
The search for Shiki the Extreme, the flying yakuza samurai, had left Rocks seething with anger.
"I never expected Xiong and Shiki to have become enemies so early!"
Houka hadn't expected the search for Shiki to take so long.
No wonder the Rocks of the original timeline had spent eight years recruiting six officers: Newgate, Shiki, Stussy, Ganzi, Malone, and Ochoku.
During that time, plenty of strong, rebellious fighters had been killed for refusing to follow Rocks.
After visiting Harald in Elbaf, Rocks had spent another four years bringing Charlotte Linlin, Streusen, Captain John, Babel, and Gloriosa into the fold.
It was only after taking Hachinosu that Kaido and Xiong joined the Rocks Pirates.
The Rocks Pirates had continued to grow from their base on Hachinosu for several more years before reaching their true peak.
Now Shiki and Xiong were playing a game of cat and mouse, chasing each other around.
At this point, Xiong, the Yakuza Killer, seemed a little stronger than Shiki. He was the one hunting Shiki the Extreme.
Shiki hadn't yet mastered the power of the Float-Float Fruit, so he could only flee and avoid fighting.
Their feud and pursuit had kept the Rocks Pirates from catching up with Shiki.
"When I catch those two, I'm gonna beat the crap out of them!"
Rocks had now set his sights on both Shiki and Xiong.
Especially after learning from Houka that Yakuza Killer Xiong would join the Rocks Pirates himself more than a decade later.
Rocks had made up his mind: he would beat the guy into submission ahead of time and bring him into the crew!
Houka couldn't do anything about Rocks, who was furious.
The reckless captain insisted on catching Shiki and Xiong.
They'd have found their next target much faster if they'd gone to West Blue to look for the mafia boss Malone, searched for the smuggler Ganzi, or even sought out the Pirate Patriarch Ochoku, instead of chasing Shiki the Extreme nonstop.
Still, this stretch of time gave Houka and the others a chance to get stronger and deepen their bonds as crewmates.
Houka had become close with Newgate, Babel, and Sambel. The four of them got along well and had built a solid friendship.
"Rocks, chasing them like this forever isn't going to work."
Houka felt a little helpless with their hotheaded captain. They'd been at it for months, and he still hadn't thought of switching targets.
"Houka, your prophecies aren't worth a damn! Otherwise, how could we chase him for so long without catching him?"
Rocks was already obsessed with Shiki and had no intention of giving up. He even complained that Houka's prophetic ability only worked when it felt like it.
"Everything in the world is changing, and the future is always shifting. That's what makes the future so varied and fascinating."
"If I told you one possible future where you couldn't beat Imu, I bet you wouldn't believe me either..."
Houka couldn't be bothered to deal with Rocks's grumbling. The guy had been confident he could recruit Shiki in no time, but after being led on for months, his mood had more or less fallen apart.
"Hmph! That future was one where Imu caught me before I found the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, and the Dark-Dark Fruit, right?"
Rocks knew that without those two powers, there was no way he could stand against Imu.
"That's right."
Houka didn't reveal everything outright. He couldn't very well say that the World Government would discover Rocks's homeland, God Valley.
"Just as I thought! Without those two legendary powers, there's no way to beat that immortal monster!"
Rocks finally calmed down. Compared to Imu, that old monster, the little matter of Shiki and Xiong was nothing.
If they wasted a little more time, then so be it.
They had plenty of time anyway!
"It really takes the vice captain to talk the captain down."
Seeing Rocks, who'd been scowling the whole time, return to his usual bold, carefree self, Sambel felt the mood aboard the ship lighten considerably.
When Rocks was in a bad mood, the whole ship felt oppressive.
The sailors and deckhands were even more nervous. They nearly messed up the cooking, and in the end, Houka had to take over in the kitchen a few times.
Only then did everyone discover that Houka had cooking skills, too.
But Houka didn't cook often. Newgate, Babel, Sambel, and the other giant-sized crewmates could all eat an incredible amount.
Houka wasn't about to cook for those human bottomless pits!
"Couldn't your gravity counter Shiki's Float-Float Fruit Ability, Houka?"
Newgate regretted not getting to try Houka's cooking. The deckhands' food was pretty ordinary.
He'd have to get Rocks to find some proper chefs.
"The Float-Float Fruit Ability is more like a rule-based power. Once you're floating, you can keep drifting, while my gravity requires a constant expenditure of stamina to maintain a weightless state."
"Besides, 'counter' isn't quite the right word. The short version is, whoever's stronger counters the other!"
"Fire can even counter water if it's strong enough."
Houka had tried making the Sword of Xebec fly before, but it took so much stamina and concentration that he sometimes couldn't focus on developing his other abilities.
So he'd only used the airborne version of the Sword of Xebec for a few days before losing interest.
Better to stick to sailing on the sea.
Unless they found Shiki, in which case it could be used to pursue him.
"That's right. If your Haki is strong enough, you can counter most Devil Fruit abilities."
"On the other hand, if you develop your Devil Fruit abilities enough, you can break through Haki defenses, too."
Rocks agreed completely with Houka's theory. There was no such thing as a perfect counter. It all came down to not being strong enough!
Just then, Rocks suddenly looked into the distance.
A flying pirate ship drifted lazily through the sky, and Rocks instantly broke into a vicious grin!