We need exactly paragraphs count likely input 89. Preserve every paragraph. Translate title and body. Need count carefully paragraph units separated blank lines. Include scene breaks ... as paragraph. Output. System panel none. title.Chapter 32: Pirate Pa

New World · Elysium Island.

"How is this possible?!"

"Even a massive fleet led by a Marine Admiral couldn't take down the Rocks Pirates, a crew with only a handful of people?!"

Pirate Patriarch Ochoku stared at the latest Big News Morgans report, stunned by the Rocks Pirates' terrifying record.

With a fleet of that size dispatched by Marine Headquarters, there wasn't a single pirate crew in the New World that could stand in its way.

Yet Rocks, that monster of a man, had crushed it with overwhelming force.

Most importantly, every one of Rocks's officers was absurdly powerful.

Great Demon Lord Kozuki Houka, Whitebeard Newgate, Golden Lion Shiki...

It felt like these officers were already almost as strong as he was.

And they were all so young!

Where had Rocks found so many powerful subordinates?

"Damn it! If the Rocks Pirates set their sights on me, how could I possibly beat them?"

Ochoku stuck out his tongue, looking restless and uneasy. Rocks was known throughout the Grand Line and the New World for loving to play Davy Back Fights.

Would he have to give up Elysium Island?

Or join the Rocks Pirates?

Ochoku's expression shifted between dark and bright. He was a great pirate in the New World in his own right, after all. How could he possibly put himself beneath someone else?

Just then, a mysterious team in suits infiltrated Elysium Island and secretly sought out Ochoku...

Lamb Island, in the mid-to-late stretch of the New World.

Steel Balloon Charlotte Linlin and Gourmet Knight Streusen had just completed another raid and returned to the island.

Charlotte Linlin had come to think of Lamb Island as her home. She wished so badly that Mother Carmel would return with all her little friends.

Unfortunately, she had searched for Mother Carmel for so many years without finding a single trace of her.

"The Rocks Pirates are actually that terrifying!!"

Streusen looked at the newspaper, his expression unreadable. By now, he had come to see Charlotte Linlin as his cash cow.

And Rocks loved using Davy Back Fights to steal powerful crew members.

If they ran into the Rocks Pirates, Rocks would surely force them aboard.

Perhaps there would be great benefits to attaching themselves to the world's worst pirate crew, but Streusen still preferred the freedom he had now, with Charlotte Linlin firmly under his control.

Once the exceptionally gifted Linlin grew up, she might well be as strong as Rocks.

'I have to keep the Rocks Pirates away from us!'

Streusen made up his mind. He couldn't let Rocks take Charlotte Linlin.

What Streusen didn't know was that the Rocks Pirates were already looking for them, and they were their current target.

Somewhere in the New World.

Ganzi, a smuggler and pirate who had just closed a major deal, stared wide-eyed at the newspaper.

Were the Rocks Pirates really that powerful?

They had actually defeated a huge Marine fleet!

"Looks like a bunch of monsters have appeared in this world!"

Ganzi sighed, though it didn't have much to do with him.

After all, smuggler pirates like them were different from other pirates. They preferred making money steadily.

Smuggling brought in no less money than robbery, and the key was that it was steady, long-term, and safe.

Those pirates who did nothing but fight and kill still ended up selling their loot to people like them.

Smugglers and fences in the underworld made plenty of money too.

"The Rocks Pirates took Cang Kingdom, Black Hand Pirate Island, and Ying Kingdom. Who knows how many treasures they've stolen by now?"

Ganzi licked his lips greedily. But considering Rocks's habit of taking whatever he wanted, he'd be better off not provoking the world's worst pirate!

Gol D. Roger and Silvers Rayleigh in the East Blue, Malone in the West Blue, and Gier Buster and Captain John in the New World all started paying close attention to the world's worst pirate crew...

Aboard the Sword of Xebec.

Golden Lion Shiki and Silver Axe Xiong, an old pair of rivals, fought every day.

Shiki had also asked Rocks for permission to prioritize searching for his fated swords, Oto and Kogarashi.

As the Rocks Pirates searched everywhere for Charlotte Linlin, Shiki was also hunting for information about the two famous swords.

"Houka!! Do you know of any Devil Fruits you can recommend?"

Silver Axe Xiong wanted to get stronger too. He wanted to steal a powerful Devil Fruit and become even stronger.

At the very least, he couldn't fall behind Shiki's Float-Float Fruit Ability.

"Not at the moment."

Houka answered coolly. If he came across a powerful Devil Fruit, he would eat it himself. There was no way he'd give it to Xiong.

More importantly, Xiong was the sort of man you could never truly win over. Just like Shiki, he wanted to leave the Rocks Pirates and set out on his own.

Only if Houka found a Devil Fruit he didn't want would Xiong have any chance of getting it!

"I'm not trying to steal one from you. I'm just asking for a recommendation. If I want something, I'll steal it myself!"

Xiong had learned a few things about the secrets behind Houka's multiple abilities. He knew that even if Houka knew of a better ability, he would never hand it over.

However, Houka seemed able to directly take abilities from other users, while Xiong could only consume Devil Fruits.

So Xiong still had a chance to steal a decent Devil Fruit himself.

"Logia or Mythical Zoan. Either would do!"

Houka spoke slowly, provided Xiong could find one.

"I know those are powerful! But can't you be more specific? Like where they might be?"

Xiong grumbled. It seemed he'd have to pay a price to get information out of Houka.

"I'll trade you a few pieces of information."

"When I was an assassin, I ran into another assassin on that Pirate Patriarch's Elysium Island. He had the Teleport-Teleport Fruit Ability!"

"There's also a criminal assassin in the West Blue whose body can turn into a castle!"

"You might be interested in their abilities!"

Ever since Xiong had learned that Houka got his Gravity Ability from a general in Cang Kingdom, he had guessed that there were even more secrets.

This prophet's mutated talent was truly terrifying!

"An assassin? No wonder there's so little information..."

Houka narrowed his eyes. He was currently asking everywhere for information about Devil Fruit users.

It was no secret aboard the ship anymore!

Even when Shiki went looking for information on Oto and Kogarashi, he would help Houka find information on Devil Fruit users.

"The future users of the Logia Magma-Magma Fruit and the Glint-Glint Fruit both come from the North Blue!"

Houka smiled faintly and shared a piece of information that wasn't much use.

"The Logia said to have the greatest offensive power and the Logia with the fastest speed?"

Xiong's eyes lit up, and his heart instantly began to race. As long as those Devil Fruits hadn't been eaten yet, he still had a chance.

Most importantly, Houka had said that there was a good chance those two Logia abilities were in the North Blue.

From now on, he could focus his efforts on the North Blue.

Even Shiki perked up his ears at Houka's words.

If he got the chance, he wouldn't mind stealing those powerful Logia fruits from his old enemy Xiong.

He couldn't use them himself, but he couldn't let Xiong have them either.

Of course, finding two unknown Devil Fruits in a vast sea like the North Blue was next to impossible.

If someone else ate them first, Xiong would have no chance.

Those users would just become Houka's prey!