On a current in some part of the New World.
The famous smuggler pirate Ganzi, dressed in golden armor, read the news about the Rocks Pirates.
"Ahahaha! Looks like another bunch of lawless monsters has arrived in the New World!"
"As long as they don't interfere with my business, that's fine by me!"
Ganzi picked his nose and flicked the booger into the sea. In an instant, a huge spray erupted from the water.
The smuggler pirate Ganzi was a Paramecia Bomb-Bomb Fruit Ability user.
In a laboratory somewhere in the New World.
The twenty-year-old blonde researcher Buckingham Stussy had suffered repeated experimental failures due to her lack of skill. The project lead and the investor had berated her for it.
The investor had even taken a fancy to Stussy's beauty and, overcome with lust, harassed her repeatedly.
In a fit of rage, Stussy slaughtered the project lead and the investor, stole all the lab equipment and funding, and set sail to become a Science Bandit.
At the Mafia headquarters in West Blue, the Mafia boss Malone had finally achieved a preliminary unification of the underworld there not long ago. He was at the height of his success.
But after seeing Rocks's outrageous bounty, he knew that he still had a long way to go before he could rival the World's Worst Pirate as the boss of the West Blue Mafia.
Once he had fully unified and consolidated the West Blue underworld, he would head for the New World, where there were much broader opportunities for growth.
Being a Mafia boss wasn't enough to satisfy Malone's ambition!
On an island in the New World, smoke and flames still billowed.
The Steel Balloon Charlotte Linlin and the Gourmet Knight Streusen had plundered another town, each carrying a huge sack of treasure.
"The World's Worst Pirate? His bounty is so much higher than mine. I'm not even worth a fraction of it."
Charlotte Linlin stared at Rocks's wanted poster, suddenly itching to take the bastard down.
"Linlin! We can't mess with someone that powerful. We'd better focus on making more money and keep looking for Mother Carmel."
Streusen didn't dare take Linlin to confront a monster like Rocks, someone even the World Government couldn't handle.
He only wanted to use Charlotte Linlin's strength to make money for himself.
The girl now did exactly as he said.
"That's right. Finding Mother Carmel is the most important thing!"
Charlotte Linlin's thoughts came and went quickly. Finding Mother Carmel remained her top priority.
Seeing how easily he could mislead the monstrous girl, Streusen gave a sinister smile.
Still looking for Mother Carmel?
You ate her ages ago, you monster!
But had that sly old nun and slave trader, Carmel, really been eaten by Linlin?
Even now, Streusen couldn't understand how Linlin had inherited Mother Carmel's Soul-Soul Fruit Ability.
···
Elsewhere in the New World.
Pirate captains such as Gil Basta, Polo Gram, and John were all reading the news and reports about the Rocks Pirates.
That monster Rocks had put tremendous pressure on every pirate crew.
After all, most of them wouldn't dare fight a Marine Admiral.
Yet Rocks had forcibly taken down a Marine Admiral in Mary Geoise, the heavily guarded Holy Land.
How could anyone not fear him?
All they could do was hope they never ran into that monstrous pirate crew at sea.
···
Several more weeks passed.
With the New World's sudden, foul weather, the Rocks Pirates rarely flew through the air, instead sailing properly across the sea.
During the voyage, they learned how to handle all kinds of bad weather.
The officers sparred with one another, and they more or less established everyone's place aboard the ship.
Aside from Sambel, the officers were all roughly equal in strength, with Houka being the exception.
"Shihahaha! I'm so jealous, Newgate! You're about to get yourself a Supreme Grade Sword!"
Golden Lion Shiki's voice was thick with envy. Houka still hadn't given him a single prophetic hint about the famous sword he wanted.
"Gurarara! Then you'd better get on Houka's good side, our resident prophet!"
As the island of Ying Kingdom drew closer and closer, Newgate's smile grew wider.
Rocks had Xebec's Sword, Houka had the Seven-Star Sword, and Xiong had his silver axe. Even Babel had named his Meteor Ship Anchor the Abyss Anchor.
Babel even hoped to hear Houka casually "suggest" that he gradually forge the Abyss Anchor into a Supreme Grade Anchor!
He firmly believed that if Houka said it could be done, then he would definitely make it happen in the future.
Even Sambel had his own weapon now: a red trident he called the Sea Knight Trident.
Soon, Edward Newgate would have his own Supreme Grade Sword, Murakumogiri.
That would leave only Shiki, still using a pair of ordinary double-edged swords.
"That Houka's too crafty. He's waiting for me to ask first so I'll owe him a favor—and pay for the information, too!"
Golden Lion Shiki complained loudly, even shouting in Houka's direction.
Meanwhile, Houka swung a huge barbell over and over inside his gravity field.
Sambel, who was also working hard to get stronger, trained within Houka's gravity field. He was determined to earn Rocks's approval and stay aboard the ship.
"You stingy bastard! Get lost!"
Hearing Shiki's complaint, Newgate sent him flying with a single shock wave.
"Wahaha! We've reached Ying Kingdom, Newgate! Are you going to plunder it yourself, or do you want us to help?"
Rocks licked his lips. After plundering the royal capital of Cang Kingdom last time, he wanted to take Ying Kingdom's royal capital, too.
After all, nobody ever complained about having too much treasure or Beli!
Next time they returned to their old home at God Valley in West Blue, they would have to bring back even more treasure.
"I don't need your help! I'll plunder it myself!"
Newgate spoke coolly. This was a perfect chance to show off his destructive power and raise his bounty.
Maybe Houka was right. How could a grown man like him have a lower bounty than a little girl?
More importantly, he didn't want to listen to that noisy bastard Shiki yammering on in front of him.
"Tch! You go steal the sword. We'll go after the treasure!"
Silver Axe Xiong hoisted his giant axe, eager to begin his first large-scale raid.
Back when he was a Yakuza Killer, he had either collected bounties for his jobs or robbed pirates and the underworld himself.
This was his first time taking part in a raid on an entire country.
"Ying Kingdom? Why is there another country with a Wano Country style?"
Houka thought of Sang Kingdom in West Blue and Wano Country in the latter part of the New World. That made it even easier for him to take action without feeling any qualms.
Of course, Shiki's clothes were in the style of Wano Country, too.
He seemed to know Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru, two runaways from Wano Country's Kurozumi Clan.
Before Kozuki Sukiyaki was born, the Kurozumi Clan had nearly succeeded in seizing the country and taking the position of shogun in Wano Country.
After their coup failed, the Kurozumi Clan members either died or fled!
The two Kurozumi siblings were among those who escaped overseas and survived. They were both now in their forties or fifties.
Houka had already started asking Shiki about them.
He had his eye on Kurozumi Semimaru's Paramecia Barrier-Barrier Fruit Ability.
After all, having another defensive ability to keep himself alive could only be a good thing!