"Black Flag Black?"
Houka raised an eyebrow. The man's appearance immediately reminded him of the wanted poster he had seen a few days ago.
Houka had already come up with a series of plans to test this mysterious Black Flag Black.
But now, that rigid, upright stance made him even more suspicious.
Were undercover agents and spies in this era really so careless?
Houka thought of X Drake, the Marine Rear Admiral who would defect from the Navy in the future and become one of the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation.
Using a Marine defector as an undercover agent was pretty foolish.
From the moment X Drake joined the Beasts Pirates, Queen the Plague and several of the Tobi Roppo had never trusted him.
And, as it turned out, Drake really was an undercover agent.
With that rigid military stance, it was hard for Houka not to suspect the Black Flag Black standing before him!
"Tsk, tsk. That stance isn't much of a disguise. Looks like you failed spy school."
"And instincts don't lie..."
"I wonder if you know Rokushiki..."
As the Rocks Pirates' chief strategist and vice captain, Houka felt it was his duty to help Rocks eliminate potential threats.
He quietly split off two Blood Shadow Bats. They circled around before suddenly attacking Black Flag Black from behind, one after the other.
Watching the fight, Black Flag Black sensed the sudden attack and felt his heart jump. Instinctively, he used Kami-e.
His body moved like a sheet of soft paper, dodging the first Blood Shadow Bat.
But the second one was faster, and he couldn't quite evade it.
Once again, he instinctively used Tekkai, which he had practiced tens of thousands of times, to defend himself.
The Blood Shadow Bat only managed to tear a hole in Black Flag Black's clothes before his hardened muscles crushed it.
"Who's there?!"
Black Flag Black immediately looked around warily, especially at the vicious pirates behind him.
Bounty hunters?
Those damn pirates and bounty hunters were all a nasty lot.
Looks like a great pirate had to stay alert at all times.
Up in the air, Houka's lips curled with a trace of contempt.
Dodging with Kami-e, then defending with the signature Tekkai...
"Tekkai, huh..."
Houka almost laughed. Just from the man's stance and the techniques he'd used on instinct, he was already certain that Black Flag Black was an agent and undercover operative for the World Government and Marine Headquarters.
He'd even prepared a whole series of ways to test him.
After all, Rocks the reckless fool had insisted on recruiting Black Flag Black.
But now the answer was obvious.
"The average intelligence in this world, along with all these miraculous stunts and disguises, is as consistently low as ever..."
Houka stopped watching the wary Black Flag Black and turned his attention to the battle between Ochoku and Babel.
More than half an hour later, Babel, who had taken quite a few hits, was finally driven out of the fight by the eager Silver Axe Xiong.
Silver Axe Xiong excitedly charged at Ochoku. Today, he was going to make a name for himself by standing on Ochoku's shoulders!
"Rocks!! What the hell do you mean?!"
Exhausted by the successive challengers, Ochoku was furious. He could clearly feel how little Rocks thought of him.
This was nothing like his plan to fight Rocks and become his second-in-command.
If he kept fighting the officers one after another, even his reputation as the Pirate Patriarch would be dragged through the mud.
"Wahahaha! I just want to see how strong you are, Pirate Patriarch. You've got some nerve calling yourself that!"
Rocks spread his hands with a laugh, looking a little disappointed. The Pirate Patriarch Ochoku was pretty weak.
He couldn't even get past Rocks's subordinates.
He wasn't fit to fight Rocks at all.
"Rocks, are you scared of me? Is that why you're using these bastards to wear me down?!"
Ochoku punched the mad-dog Silver Axe Xiong away and taunted Rocks.
"Do you want to die?"
Rocks's smile turned cold. He was ready to draw his sword and cut the bastard down!
"Rocks! We haven't had our turn yet! You're not allowed to fight him!"
Shiki and Whitebeard hurriedly spoke up, afraid Rocks would take out this stepping stone before they could make names for themselves.
"Houka, you said that if I beat him, we'd become good friends, right?"
Charlotte Linlin looked at him with eager eyes, her baby-faced cheeks plump and round.
According to Streusen, if she became good friends with Houka, he would definitely help her predict the future.
After all, in her mind, good friends helped each other.
Then she'd be able to find Mother Carmel sooner!
"That's right!"
Houka smiled faintly. He didn't have to go out of his way to win Charlotte Linlin over. The big girl was coming to him on her own.
"Good! I'll beat the crap out of him!"
Charlotte Linlin clenched her chubby fist, her eyes brimming with fighting spirit.
Houka looked at Ochoku, then glanced at Black Flag Black.
He'd just considered discussing with Rocks whether he could turn the two men into his Blood Servants and control them.
But that kind of evil technique would probably make the other officers aboard the ship wary of Houka.
That would be bad for unity and growth.
So Houka planned to 'eat' both the Pirate Patriarch Ochoku and Black Flag Black!
After all, instead of wasting a huge amount of power turning them into Vampire Blood Servants, he might as well swallow them whole and turn them into his own strength, speeding up his body's transformation!
Houka knew that suffering alone wouldn't make someone superior—but eating people could!
No matter how many Blood Servants he had, they were still just outside help. True strength came from within!
As the battle between Ochoku and Silver Axe continued,
the pirates of Elysium Island began to murmur among themselves.
They hadn't expected the fearsome Pirate Patriarch to take so long against even a few of Rocks's officers.
Aside from knocking Sambel away with one punch, Ochoku hadn't even managed to defeat Babel outright.
And now he'd been fighting Silver Axe Xiong for more than half an hour!
Babel and Silver Axe Xiong had made names for themselves by standing on Ochoku's shoulders, proving they could hold their own against the Pirate Patriarch.
Even Sambel had earned a reputation for being tough as nails.
Ochoku was still in the lead, but the halo around the 'Pirate Patriarch' had been shattered for good.
Before long, Silver Axe finally lost to Ochoku.
Charlotte Linlin, already riding a thundercloud with her right fist wrapped in Prometheus, the Sun, boldly joined the fight.
The arrival of this Steel Balloon raised the battle to an entirely new level.
The Ochoku Pirates' headquarters on Elysium Island was blasted to pieces by Charlotte Linlin's lightning and flames.
Furious, Ochoku brought out his full strength and fought Charlotte Linlin.
"Damn it! I still can't beat him!"
Silver Axe had enjoyed the fight and wasn't disappointed. He'd already accomplished what he came for.
He'd proven to everyone that he wasn't much weaker than the Pirate Patriarch Ochoku.
If Rocks and Houka didn't take Ochoku out this time, Silver Axe would surpass him sooner or later and stand above him.
"Pirate Patriarch Ochoku's been sent flying by Charlotte Linlin!!"
"Are all of the Rocks Pirates' officers that strong?"
"Shiki, Whitebeard, and the Great Demon Lord haven't even fought yet!"
"Looks like the Patriarch's going to have to join the Rocks Pirates!"
"The world's strongest pirate crew has arrived! A crew of villains! Let's hear it!"
"They're all stars! Captain Rocks, you're my idol!"
The pirates across Elysium Island had gone wild. Countless pirates began worshipping the invincible Rocks Pirates.