As each of the officers and crew learned their future titles one by one.
Rocks waited for Houka to speak up and flatter him, the World's Strongest Pirate.
But Houka dropped the subject again and happily clinked glasses with the newcomers, Shiki and Newgate.
The mood aboard the ship came alive.
Feeling Houka's goodwill, Shiki let down his guard and dropped his defiant attitude, temporarily settling into this new pirate crew.
As for his former subordinates, he had already chosen to ignore them.
"Ahem, Houka, did you forget about me?"
"Don't make me take action!"
Rocks finally snapped and spoke roughly, watching Houka with ill intent.
He knew Houka was deliberately trying to lure and tease him again, just to get on his nerves.
"So the captain wants to know too? I thought you were already quite satisfied with the title World's Worst Pirate."
"If you want to know, captain, just ask. If you don't say anything, how am I supposed to know you want to know..."
Houka spoke with an innocent look on his face, making Rocks clench his fists.
Rocks gave an angry laugh. This bastard really needed a beating.
"Your goal is to conquer the entire world. You want to replace that old monster and become the new King of the World, so you can call yourself the King of the World if you want."
"Of course, in the future, you'll be recognized as the Overlord of the New World, too!"
Houka hurriedly floated onto Newgate's shoulder, watching Rocks warily, ready to beat someone up at any moment.
"Wahahaha! King of the World! Overlord of the New World!"
"Not bad, not bad! Those titles are worthy of my strength!"
Rocks burst into wild laughter, and the anger on his face vanished in an instant.
"Houka, you said I should ask if I want to know something. So hurry up and tell me where Pluton is."
Rocks seemed to have thought of something else. He fixed Houka with a smile.
"Not yet! The time isn't right!"
Houka's expression immediately turned serious. He even glanced at Shiki with a raised brow. That guy was ambitious.
The moment Shiki heard the name Pluton, his eyes lit up.
This prophet was even more important than he had imagined!
He had to get on Houka's good side. If he ever got the chance to leave the Rocks Pirates, he would make sure to take Houka with him.
"Hmph. You keep saying I should ask if I want to know. I think you're just planning to trade that information for something even better!"
"Which Devil Fruit or ability user have you got your eye on this time?"
Rocks seemed to see right through Houka. But as long as Houka stayed aboard, he would eventually get more information about the Ancient Weapons.
"Hehe, you know me too well, captain!"
Houka readily admitted it. Sooner or later, he would turn all his Soul Fire into powerful Soul Gu.
"Shiki! Lead the way. We're going to find that Yakuza Assassin Xiong!"
Rocks put aside his thoughts of Pluton for now, eager to make the Rocks Pirates stronger.
"Gyahahahaha! I'll lead the way for you right away, captain!"
Golden Lion Shiki instantly turned into a bootlicker, floating into the air to lead the World's Strongest Pirate to beat Xiong to a pulp.
At the very least, Xiong couldn't be any lighter than him!
"Shiki, give the Sword of Xebec the Float-Float Fruit Ability."
"Also, after that Yakuza Assassin Xiong joins the Rocks Pirates, he'll be known as Silver Axe Xiong!"
Houka couldn't be bothered to use the Press-Press Fruit to keep the Sword of Xebec weightless.
"No problem!"
Shiki's eyes lit up, and he felt a little more confident. It seemed his Float-Float Fruit Ability did have some advantages over Houka's Press-Press Fruit Ability.
Shiki used his ability to make the Sword of Xebec fly permanently.
Houka used Horizontal Gravity to accelerate the ship, and the whole pirate ship shot forward at incredible speed.
"Wahahahaha! Now this is a real flying ship!"
Rocks stood at the bow, very pleased with the strength and abilities of his subordinates.
"So we can stay up in the air the whole time?"
Babel and Sambel, the two Fish-Men, had never imagined they could become flying pirates.
Life at sea was just too thrilling and unbelievable.
"Joining the Rocks Pirates really is more exciting than staying with the Whale Pirates!"
Newgate leaned on the railing, enjoying the thrill and freedom of the wind rushing past.
"I never thought the Gravity Ability could work together with the Float-Float Ability!"
Watching the Flying Warship speed through the air, Shiki was once again astonished by Houka's abilities.
That made him even more eager to have Houka as an ally!
He and Houka, the prophet and gravity user, were the perfect combination.
"Hey, don't look at me with those lovesick eyes. I'm not into men!"
"And watch out, or Rocks might beat you to death!"
Houka warned Golden Lion Shiki, whose ambition was impossible to hide.
"..."
Shiki immediately glanced cautiously at Rocks, suppressing his ambition and desire.
As long as Rocks hadn't fallen, he had no chance of leaving the Rocks Pirates.
Rocks, who possessed powerful Observation Haki—and even the Voice of All Things Observation Haki—had already noticed Shiki's little schemes.
But he wasn't worried at all that Shiki could steal Houka away.
After all, when Houka had first provided the list, he had openly mentioned Shiki's defiant nature, as well as Ochoku and John, who might betray them.
But Rocks wasn't afraid. He was confident he could keep them in line.
Of course, if Houka really wanted to take Captain John's Magnet-Magnet Fruit Ability, Rocks wouldn't stop him.
While the Flying Warship, the Sword of Xebec, sped onward.
On an island in those waters.
A burly man with a giant axe strapped to his back and X-shaped sunglasses on his face grabbed a pirate blocking his way by the head and hurled him away.
"Shiki!!!"
"Damn that Float-Float Fruit Ability!"
Yakuza Assassin Xiong cursed as he watched the Flying Warship disappear, the anger in his eyes growing stronger by the second.
He had been hunting Shiki the Extreme for months, but all that time, Shiki had led him around like a fool.
He could hardly wait to chop Shiki into mincemeat!
That arrogant yakuza samurai had thoroughly enraged him!
Not long after, the island was in an uproar once more.
"The Flying Warship is coming back!!"
A number of pirates shouted as they watched the sky through their binoculars.
"Shiki! This time, I'm definitely killing you!"
Xiong had just sat down for a drink when he rushed out of the bar and looked up at the Flying Warship in the sky.
This time, he didn't hesitate to grip his giant axe and start gathering strength.
He was going to knock Shiki's Flying Warship out of the sky with one swing!
Aboard the Flying Warship.
Rocks stood with one foot on the bow, looking down at the island below.
"Wahahahaha! Your fifth subordinate is here!"
Rocks wore a wild grin as he prepared to land and test his new subordinate's strength.
But unexpectedly, a Heaven-Slaying Axe Qi, brimming with ferocious force, burst from the island first.
At the sight of the axe-shaped slash, Shiki wore a sly grin.
He knew Xiong wouldn't be able to resist attacking!
Let his old enemy Xiong witness the monster who was Rocks, the World's Worst Pirate!
"Wahahaha, not a bad slash!"
Rocks instantly drew his long sword with one hand. With a tremendous blast like a cannon, he slashed down through the air amid his laughter...