"Gyahaha! I wonder if he got taken out!"
Golden Lion Shiki grinned cruelly. He knew Ganzi, the infamous smuggler and great pirate. The man was as renowned as Pirate Patriarch Ochoku.
He was far more famous than Shiki, a newcomer.
Ganzi's bounty was even higher than his and Silver Axe's!
If Ganzi successfully joined, they'd have another powerful man over their heads!
Thinking about it, Golden Lion Shiki felt some resentment toward the World Government and Marine Headquarters.
They'd taken down Pirate Patriarch Ochoku, a pirate with a bounty of 757 million.
He and Ochoku had been nearly evenly matched. Even if his bounty hadn't risen to 700 million yet, it should've reached 600 million Beli.
Then his bounty would've surpassed Ganzi's 570 million Beli.
Still, Shiki's bounty wasn't much lower than Ganzi's now. It was short by only twenty or thirty million.
Golden Lion Shiki's bounty was still 547 million Beli. It hadn't been updated.
"Damn it! The Rocks Pirates keep getting stronger! I absolutely can't end up as a mere background character!"
Silver Axe Xiong looked toward Skull Castle, feeling immense pressure.
Ganzi was also a powerful Devil Fruit User.
Every one of these guys had abilities, which only made Silver Axe yearn more for a Devil Fruit!
When would they finally be able to search for Devil Fruits in North Blue?
At the harbor on Elysium Island.
Bolo Gram, sporting a pineapple-shaped hairstyle, finally landed on the island with his subordinates.
In the distance, he spotted Silver Axe Xiong standing alone, holding the line.
But the man didn't seem all that impressive.
And yet Silver Axe Xiong's bounty was one or two hundred million higher than his.
Was that the hidden boost you got from joining the Rocks Pirates?
Silver Axe Xiong had joined the Rocks Pirates in the war that crushed the Navy's grand fleet. He'd also ridden the fame of killing Pirate Patriarch Ochoku, so his bounty had risen so quickly.
If Silver Axe had been on his own, would he have dared to attack the Navy? Would he have dared to go after great pirates like Ochoku?
Bolo Gram had led the Bolo Pirates with great caution, avoiding the great pirates and powerful Navy officers along the way. That was why his bounty had risen so slowly.
Bolo Gram had watched Silver Axe in several battles and finally figured out where he stood.
He'd especially noticed that several pirates with bounties close to his seemed weaker than he was.
Had he really been that strong all along?
Bolo Gram gradually grew more confident.
But he had no intention of joining the Rocks Pirates as an officer or becoming the captain of an affiliated crew.
He preferred adventuring with his own companions.
He'd come to Elysium Island this time just to broaden his horizons.
Seeing more powerful fighters would help him understand his own strength.
Just then—
"I'm the worst! I shouldn't have been born into this world. I'm a failure!"
"I've disgraced my hometown. I'm a coward!"
One pirate after another suddenly dropped to their knees, wailing and confessing their sins. The pirates around them immediately scattered, eyeing the cowboy-hatted man warily.
The man had four arms.
He was one of the rare Four-Armed Tribe, which, like the Three-Eye Tribe, was on the brink of extinction.
"Hey, if you're too scared to come up, then get out of the way!"
Four-Armed Gun King Gier Buster flicked his cowboy hat and made a dashing entrance. Four pistols hung at his waist, and four white ghosts floated around him.
His ghosts had just passed through those pirates.
That was why the unlucky men had dropped to their knees and started confessing.
"What a bizarre ability!"
"I wonder if Haki can resist it!"
Bolo Gram put his subordinates behind him and eyed the strange gunslinger warily.
If those ghosts made someone kneel on the ground, the gunslinger could easily slaughter them while they were under his control.
"I only came to watch the fun, but now joining the Rocks Pirates doesn't sound so bad!"
Gier Buster glanced at Skull Castle and felt an urge to climb to the top and look down on everyone.
He headed straight for Silver Axe Xiong.
If he could match this guy or beat him, would that be enough to meet Rocks?
Silver Axe Xiong had just hurled a pirate captain away.
"You're not even qualified to captain an affiliated crew!"
In a foul mood, Silver Axe had been using these pirates as punching bags.
Ganzi hadn't died. He'd even appeared at Skull Eye.
That meant Ganzi had successfully joined the Rocks Pirates.
"Hey, I want to become an officer of the Rocks Pirates! All I have to do is beat you, right?"
Gier Buster pointed both right arms at Silver Axe, wearing a faint smile.
"You dare point at me? I'll cut your hands off!"
"Besides, you've got plenty of them!"
Silver Axe Xiong looked at the four-armed cowboy in sunglasses, his eyes turning cold beneath the lenses.
This man actually wanted to become an officer of the Rocks Pirates!
"You've got a short fuse!"
"Before you joined the Rocks Pirates, your bounty was 300 million Beli. Now it's only risen to 400 million."
"Honestly, if I'd taken part in the Battle of Omaha and the Battle of Elysium Island, my bounty would definitely be higher than yours!"
Gier Buster acted as if Silver Axe didn't even matter, convinced that he'd only gotten his bounty by riding on the Rocks Pirates' fame.
"You're asking for death!!"
Silver Axe Xiong exploded with rage and charged at him.
His low bounty had always been a sore spot, especially after Shiki had surpassed him.
Now he saw the ghosts floating beside the four-armed cowboy. Another Devil Fruit User.
That only made Silver Axe angrier!
"What a hotheaded brute!"
Gier Buster grinned and drew all four pistols at once. Two of the bullets carried Negative Hollows.
Two more Negative Hollows flew at Silver Axe from either side.
Silver Axe unleashed powerful Armament Haki to smash the squishy ghosts, even coating his body in Armament Haki for defense.
"Kneel and repent, brute!!"
Gier Buster chuckled, already wearing a victorious smile.
Silver Axe knocked aside the two bullets and the two ghost bullets, but one of the Negative Hollows from either side forced its way through his scattered Armament Haki defense.
Silver Axe, still charging, dropped to his knees in an instant.
"I'm just a loser abandoned by the Goddess of Luck. I can't even find a Devil Fruit. I'll never catch up to those guys..."
Tears filled Silver Axe's eyes. He looked like an abandoned kitten or puppy, utterly despairing.
"Tsk, this is bad. I'm out of here!"
Seeing Silver Axe make such a fool of himself, Gier Buster hurried toward Skull Castle.
He had to join the Rocks Pirates, or Silver Axe would probably keep giving him trouble.
"Gyahaha! Xiong, you worthless fool! You're killing me!"
"But you're right about one thing. You'll never catch up to us!"
Seeing Silver Axe get hit, Golden Lion Shiki didn't help. He just laughed wildly and mocked Xiong, his old rival.
Not long afterward, the Negative Hollows' effect wore off.
Silver Axe came to, and his face instantly turned bright red!
A grown man's blush said it all!
"Bastard! I'll kill you!!"