Houka looked at the drooling big girl. Charlotte Linlin wasn't worthy of coveting him yet!
"You get out of my way too!"
Horizontal Gravity: Shinra Tensei!!
Houka raised a hand and unleashed a wave of gravity, blasting the lovestruck, chubby Charlotte Linlin away with a single palm strike.
He wasn't worried in the slightest about the Steel Balloon getting hurt. Her skin was thick, and she was as tough as iron!
"Wo-hahaha! Houka, look at you. Shiki and Xiong are lusting after your bounty, and Linlin is lusting after your body."
"What other reason do you need to train harder?"
"I don't want you getting captured or assaulted one day!"
Rocks laughed wildly. Even he hadn't expected Houka's candid photos to become so popular.
He'd underestimated the lovestruck girls and celebrity fanatics of this repressive age!
Even a female Celestial Dragon had become obsessed with Houka's looks.
This had never happened before in history!
"I know!"
Houka replied coldly. The burning gazes of Shiki, Xiong, and Linlin made him feel a little pressured.
He would never let anyone stab him in the back or force themselves on him!
"Vice Captain, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on those bastards Shiki and Xiong!"
Babel and Sambel hurriedly stepped forward to pledge their loyalty. They would protect Houka without hesitation.
They wouldn't let him get dragged off to Mary Geoise to work as a gigolo!
"With me here, nobody can lay a hand on Houka!"
Whitebeard Newgate's expression was serious as he shot Shiki and Xiong a cool glance.
If those two really dared to give in to greed, he'd send them straight to the bottom of the sea without a second thought.
"Hey, hey, it was just a joke! I'm Houka's best buddy!"
Golden Lion Shiki hurriedly floated back over. He'd already decided Houka would be his future vice captain as they searched for the Three Ancient Weapons.
There was no way he'd sell him to a female Celestial Dragon for a mere four billion Beli.
"Hmph! I'm a man of honor too!"
With everyone's eyes fixed on him, Silver Axe Xiong immediately stuck out his chest and spoke up, putting that last trace of greed behind him.
As long as the Rocks Pirates still existed, sooner or later, each of them could grab four billion Beli for himself.
So he could do without Houka's four-billion-Beli bounty!
"Wo-hahaha! I knew you wouldn't dare. But Houka, you still need to get stronger!"
"Take this Lion's Fang!"
Rocks laughed, then suddenly unleashed a storm of punches at Houka. The ferocious attack came without warning.
"Rocks, you bastard!!"
Houka was swallowed by Rocks's barrage of punches and sent flying!
Fortunately, his body had instinctively been protected by the repulsive shield of his Gravity Ability. Otherwise, Rocks would have caught him off guard.
"Tsk, tsk. Good instincts! You even guard against your own captain!"
"But your ability really is impressive."
Rocks grinned, feeling no guilt whatsoever over his sneak attack.
If anything, he was pleased by Houka's ability to protect himself.
Had Houka covered his whole body with gravity in every direction?
He'd gotten so good at using the Gravity Ability—much better than Shiki, that illiterate gangster.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Explosions rang out one after another from the Chibaku Tensei Skull, and pirates all over Elysium Island excitedly looked toward Skull Eye.
"The officers are fighting again!"
"What a passionate crew, always eager for a fight."
"I hear the Rocks Pirates follow the iron rule that strength comes first. Every officer fights to earn a higher position and a bigger share of the spoils."
"Ahahaha! I wonder if I can join the Rocks Pirates after beating Gourmet Knight Streusen!"
Some pirates had their sights set on Streusen, whose bounty was the lowest.
If even Streusen, with a bounty of 177 million, could join the Rocks Pirates, then there was no reason those great pirates with bounties over 200 million couldn't join!
"You trash, you're picking a fight with a chef? Pathetic! You've got no ambition! You're not even qualified to join an affiliated crew of the Rocks Pirates!"
"Streusen's obviously just along as the Steel Balloon Charlotte Linlin's companion. He got lucky and joined the Rocks Pirates."
"Right. You'd have to beat Tidal Sea Demon Sambel, whose bounty is 320 million, before you'd even qualify for an audience with Rocks!"
As the elite pirates talked, they suddenly started fighting among themselves.
They followed the Rocks Pirates' strength-first philosophy to the letter.
Cipher Pol spies from the World Government, along with spies of all kinds hiding in the Underground Dark World, were flooding into Elysium Island.
They would do whatever it took to join the Rocks Pirates, whether as officers in the main crew or as one of its affiliated pirate crews.
A fleet sailed toward Elysium Island's busy harbor, its ships advancing in a grand procession.
"Zahaha! I'm finally here! Money, here I come!"
The great pirate and smuggler Ganzi brought a massive cargo of supplies to this new pirate haven.
Along the way, he'd sunk several greedy pirate crews that didn't know the rules.
Did these rookies not know that smuggling fleets and News Coo were both off-limits?
And if he weren't capable, how could he swagger around in a suit of golden armor and successfully build a smuggling fleet?
As a Paramecia Bomb-Bomb Fruit Ability user, he could turn anything on his body into a powerful bomb.
Even a breath of air or a booger could become a highly destructive explosive.
"Men! Today I'm going to make a deal with the World's Worst Pirate. Just watch and see what it means to be a smuggler with balls of steel!"
Ganzi laughed excitedly. He was sure the Rocks Pirates wouldn't turn away a smuggler who could keep them supplied with goods.
Out on these seas, didn't pirates plunder treasure so they could buy all kinds of good stuff from the Underground Dark World and smugglers?
Smugglers were nearly as untouchable as News Coo.
Ordinary pirates wouldn't attack smugglers or News Coo.
After setting foot on Elysium Island, Ganzi, clad in golden armor, spotted the massive, towering Lion Pillar and the Chibaku Tensei Skull.
"Zahaha! No wonder they're the World's Strongest pirate crew. They're far more impressive than Ochoku's lot."
Ganzi was enormous, and his golden armor drew every eye. Countless pirates looked at him greedily.
"Do you have a death wish? Keep your eyes to yourself!"
"That's the famous smuggler Ganzi! He commands a fleet of more than ten pirate ships and has a bounty of 570 million Beli!"
A pirate captain slapped his reckless subordinate awake and quickly avoided Ganzi's contemptuous gaze.
"If I weren't still figuring out the rules on this island, I'd give you a Cannon Bomb!"
Ganzi thought it over and decided not to pick a fight. He kept heading toward the skull, where he'd make a deal with the Rocks Pirates.
Then he'd be able to do whatever he wanted on this island!
Behind the smuggling fleet, another pirate ship sailed into the harbor at the mouth of the strait.
A beautiful woman with short blond hair stepped onto the island, walking with graceful strides among the pirates.
"Tsk, tsk. Great Demon Lord Houka—so handsome, and worth a fortune~"