At the port of the Ying Kingdom.
As soon as the soldiers on shore spotted the pirate ship, they immediately sounded the alarm.
No country that had established a foothold in the New World was weak.
Every one of them possessed formidable forces capable of taking on most pirate crews!
Take the Prodence Kingdom in the New World, for example. Its royal family, the Elizabello family, had mastered the King Punch, a martial art that required time to charge.
A single punch could destroy an entire city.
The fact that the general of the Ying Kingdom could wield the Supreme Grade Sword, Murakumogiri, without having it stolen by another great pirate showed that he possessed formidable strength and the power to deter his enemies.
For the people of the Ying Kingdom, alarms like this were nothing unusual.
After all, hotheaded pirate crews that had just entered the New World were always attacking their country.
But with General Kusanagi Oda around, there was no need to fear pirate invasions.
However, the moment the soldiers made out the name on the pirate ship, their faces filled with terror.
The words [Rocks] were emblazoned on the black sail.
It was the ship of Rocks, the World's Worst Pirate!
"Bad news! It's Rocks, the great pirate who killed a Marine Admiral!!"
"Quick, tell General Kusanagi!"
"It's over! We're finished! Why would Rocks come to the Ying Kingdom?!"
Rocks's fearsome reputation alone was enough to bring the soldiers to the brink of collapse.
"Wahahahaha! See? That's what they call a reputation!"
"Take down a few strong opponents, and you'll not only become infamous, you'll raise your bounties too!"
Rocks planted a foot on the bow and watched the chaos on the island, gloating to the others behind him.
"That's the fearsome reputation you get for killing a Marine Admiral!"
Behind his sunglasses, Silver Axe Xiong's eyes flickered. He couldn't beat a Marine Admiral, but he could try his hand against a Marine Vice Admiral.
Or take down another great pirate!
According to the first "small goal" Houka had set for them as their chief strategist,
their bounties had to surpass those of Charlotte Linlin, the female pirate with a bounty of 500 million, as soon as possible.
Otherwise, how could they dare call themselves the world's strongest pirate crew?
How could they claim to be a crew of nothing but villains, an all-star lineup?
As the number of people aboard grew, Rocks was already thinking of kicking the sailors and odd-jobbers off the ship.
Those lackeys didn't want to leave, of course.
But they were too weak, and Rocks didn't think much of them.
They had only been allowed to stay because none of the officers wanted to do chores or cook, and Sambel's cooking wasn't very good.
Once a strong cook came aboard, Rocks would probably throw the lackeys off the ship.
Thinking of this, Rocks wanted to snatch Charlotte Linlin and bring her aboard ahead of time.
After all, Streusen, the Gourmet Knight, was a cook who traveled with the strongest female pirate.
Rocks could snatch two pirates at once!
He had even asked Houka for his opinion.
Houka had said they could go after Charlotte Linlin once Newgate had taken Murakumogiri.
A gifted pirate with so much potential might be better off raised from childhood.
Charlotte Linlin's eldest son, Charlotte Perospero, was born when she was eighteen, meaning she had already been taken advantage of by that little dwarf, Streusen, at seventeen.
Streusen and Perospero looked quite alike. They both had long noses.
There was no way a sinister, scheming man like Streusen wasn't after Charlotte Linlin's powerful bloodline.
Houka wanted to raise Charlotte Linlin himself, so Streusen wouldn't corrupt her or take advantage of the Steel Balloon.
While Charlotte Linlin was still young, perhaps he could even change her mind about having children from every race.
Aboard the Sword of Xebec.
"Hey, Rocks! This is my battlefield!"
Seeing Rocks steal the spotlight, Newgate looked a little annoyed.
He was the one who had come to take the Ying Kingdom's National Treasure. He would defeat its general himself and claim the Supreme Grade Sword, Murakumogiri.
How could he let Rocks steal the show?
"Wahahaha! I can't help being famous!"
"Why don't you raise your bounty and reputation to match mine?"
Rocks grinned. At the moment, he was the only one giving the Rocks Pirates their reputation. Houka and Newgate were all just rookies!
"Hmph! It's only a matter of time!" Newgate scoffed.
Just then, the island opened fire. Countless bullets and cannonballs came hurtling toward them as if they cost nothing.
They meant to sink the terrifying pirate ship before the Rocks Pirates could land.
"Don't move! I'll handle this!"
Newgate leaped onto the railing and threw a punch at the barrage.
In an instant, shock waves shattered and detonated the countless bullets and cannonballs in midair.
The terrifying shock wave kept tearing toward the port.
The next moment, a violent earthquake shook the island. The entire port trembled violently as countless buildings collapsed and the ground split apart.
Smoke and gunpowder billowed into the sky.
"Wahahahaha! No wonder it's called the Paramecia with the greatest destructive power!"
Even Rocks was a little shocked by the destructive power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability.
Its destructive power was immense, but it wasn't the ability needed to fight Imu.
It wasn't an ability Rocks had to obtain.
"How outrageous!"
This was the first time Golden Lion Shiki had seen Newgate unleash such a large-scale destructive attack.
It was nothing like their usual sparring.
"Hmph! Lucky bastard! You just happened to get your hands on such a powerful ability!"
Silver Axe Xiong couldn't help feeling envious. He envied both Newgate's Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability and Shiki's Float-Float Fruit Ability.
Of course, he was most jealous of Houka's bizarre ability to wield multiple Devil Fruits!
Houka's mutant talent was enough to make not only Silver Axe Xiong, but even Rocks and Shiki, green with envy!
How could anyone have such a powerful mutant talent? It was ten, even a hundred times stronger than Charlotte Linlin's Steel Balloon talent.
Now Xiong wanted to find a powerful Devil Fruit to strengthen himself too!
"You damn pirates!!!"
A voice filled with fury rang out from the island. A massive flying slash tore through the air at incredible speed, aiming straight for the Sword of Xebec.
"Gurarara! So this is my sword!"
Newgate leaped forward and hurled a powerful shock wave from his fist straight at the flying slash.
"Boom!!"
The slash and the shock wave collided with tremendous force.
In an instant, the seawater receded, the shoreline heaved and buckled, and the very air trembled...
Newgate blasted the slash apart with one punch, then charged toward the sword-wielding figure on the island.
"Men! Attack!"
"Take everything!"
Rocks drew his saber and swung it, leading the others in an attack on the Ying Kingdom to plunder it.
Newgate was going after the Supreme Grade Sword. They would go after whatever treasure they wanted.
Sambel, who had already been warned he'd be thrown off the ship, charged fiercely toward the Ying Kingdom's troops. He wanted to take on the strongest of their samurai.
The battle erupted at once.
Calling it a battle was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, no one could withstand the Rocks Pirates.
"Devour to your hearts' content!"
Houka released a swarm of Blood Shadow Bats. They ravenously drained the samurai's blood, accumulating endless lifespan and strength for him.
If he could develop an effect that improved his aptitude, like the Blood Skull Gu, this ability would be even more perfect.