Blood Skull Pirates

"It's pirates!"

Seeing the pirate flag flying on the distant ship, Rocks's eyes widened.

"I know that without you telling me."

Magnus glanced at Rocks, thinking, You know they're pirates, but you don't know I'm a pirate too? My ship's pirate flag hasn't even been taken down yet.

"Rocks, come with me!"

Since he had already decided to recruit Rocks, Magnus had no intention of treating him as an outsider.

"Can you sail? Do you know how to read an Eternal Pose? You'll steer the ship later, heading in the direction the Eternal Pose points. It's recording a small island, and we need to deal with these enemies on that island."

Magnus led Rocks to the ship's helm and then threw him a spherical container with a pointer inside. On the seas of this world, to discern direction, one needs a compass called a Log Pose.

However, some special compasses, like the one Magnus threw to Rocks, have a pointer that permanently points to a specific island.

Rocks asked in confusion, "Why don't we just deal with those guys out here at sea? With your strength as captain, it shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Are you an idiot?" Magnus rolled his eyes. "There are only you and me on the ship right now. If I go deal with those guys, what happens if someone from their side also decides to come over with the same idea? What about you?"

You have to understand, this isn't like the East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, or South Blue, where pirates are just starting out. This is the most chaotic sea in the entire pirate world—the New World!

What pirate can survive here without some serious skills?

What if he gets held up?

With Rocks's current strength, the future ruler of the seas, who has only just set sail, might just be extinguished before he even truly begins.

Moreover.

Even if he could use Nation Splitter to destroy their ship.

The distance isn't enough!

The farther the attack range of Nation Splitter, the more stamina it consumes.

It's only effective if the opponent actively approaches.

[Blessings never come singly, misfortunes never come singly. Just as you encountered a ruler of the seas, you've also run into a down-on-his-luck pirate crew trying to crush a newcomer's dreams.]

[The Blood Skull Pirates, remnants of an old era long abandoned by the new age.]

[Don't worry, the captain of the Blood Skull Pirates is just an old man. With your strength, you have no need to fear him.]

[Defeat them, conquer them!]

Even though Magnus knew his system was a bit dim-witted, seeing the information on the panel still made him stifle a laugh.

Bloody Skull Farrell, bounty 160 million.

(Equivalent to 1.28 billion Belly in the future.)

In the current pirate world.

That's enough to be called a Great Pirate!

This era isn't like later times, where bounties are casually in the billions.

In this era, Belly is still quite valuable.

In terms of purchasing power, the purchasing power of 1 Belly now is seven to eight times that of the future, so bounties also need to be calculated with a multiplier.

If Magnus remembered correctly, the captain of the Blood Skull Pirates wasn't even fifty years old yet, which in the pirate world could be considered prime of his life.

You call this an old man?

Then what does that make him?

A corpse?

As for why the Blood Skull was here?

He was betrayed, that's all.

Magnus wasn't surprised by this; in the world of pirates, betrayal was commonplace.

"What a shame, you chose the wrong time."

In the distance.

The Blood Skull Pirates.

"Hahaha, White Wolf Magnus, I finally found you!"

Wearing a bright red coat, Bloody Skull Farrell looked at the faintly visible ship in the distance and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Hey, you there, you did a great job. After I kill your old captain and get the treasure he's hidden, the treasure is mine, and that broken ship is yours!"

White Wolf Magnus, what a reputation!

Farrell had heard of Magnus's name when he first set sail.

This was a big shot that even the Marines couldn't handle!

Unfortunately.

Even heroes grow old.

Even the most powerful pirates cannot withstand the ravages of time.

As it turns out.

After disbanding his pirate crew, he sought his own burial place alone.

Is there such a cheap thing in the world?

After dominating the seas for decades, each person only received ten million Belly upon disbandment. It's no wonder some were dissatisfied and found him, leaking the other party's whereabouts.

If it were him, he wouldn't believe it either!

"Full speed ahead!"

Farrell shouted, "Gunners, prepare yourselves, give me two rounds of bombardment first!"

As Farrell shouted, a young man beside him immediately panicked.

"Captain Farrell, this isn't what we agreed upon!" the young man hurried forward, "Didn't we agree that Captain Magnus's treasure would be yours, and the ship would be mine?"

Magnus's ship was already old, and now there was only Magnus as a combatant on board. If it took a few more rounds of bombardment, what if it sank?

"Hmm, do you have an opinion about my orders?"

As the young man said this, Farrell's eyes narrowed. An aura, one he had only felt from the old captain Magnus, pressed down, turning the young man's face pale.

The young man quickly shook his head, "No, it's not like that."

"It's best if it's not!"

Farrell snorted coldly.

"Although you said that old man can't use Haki anymore, who knows if that's true? If we just get close, and that old man still has strength, what if my crew gets injured? As captain, I must ensure my crew's safety!"

Farrell said righteously.

In reality, he didn't care about the lives of his crew at all. But reputation preceded him; when Magnus was making a name for himself on the seas, Farrell was still a baby.

Who knew what trump cards this old guy still had?

It was better to keep a distance, fire a few rounds of cannonballs, and wear down the old guy's stamina.

White Wolf Magnus was a Devil Fruit user.

A Devil Fruit is a fruit that, after eating, grants special abilities and awakens superpowers, but the price is being rejected by the sea and being unable to swim.

If Magnus didn't resist the bombardment and the ship sank, he would have no choice but to wait for death!

Farrell's plan was going perfectly, but he didn't know that this was exactly what Magnus wanted.

"It seems they won't attack easily."

Easily cutting open the cannonballs flying from afar, Magnus saw the Blood Skull Pirates, who had been following them at a moderate distance and had been biting at them for a long time but refused to get closer. He pretended to be out of breath.

"However, we're almost there too."

In the distance, an island loomed, faintly visible. Even if the Blood Skull Pirates' ship suddenly accelerated at this moment, they could still reach the island before the other party boarded.

"Captain, are you alright?"

Seeing Magnus panting, Rocks couldn't help but ask.

Although he didn't want to be a crew member, he didn't dislike Magnus, let alone the fact that Magnus had promised to teach him the powerful technique to split the sea.

It was only now that Rocks remembered that Magnus was just an old man.

No matter how strong an old man was, his stamina couldn't compare to when he was young. What the Blood Skull Pirates were doing now was depleting Magnus's stamina.

"Yo, you actually care about people, kid?"

Magnus looked at Rocks and nodded with satisfaction.

"Since you know your captain is tired, why don't you do me a favor?"

"What favor?"

"Guard my old friend for me!"

"Ah?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Rocks saw Magnus leap off the ship.

Moonwalk!

Magnus stepped on the air, moving at a speed several times faster than the ship, heading towards the distant island, leaving Rocks alone on the ship, holding the rudder.

Rocks was stunned.

Another round of bombardment fell.

This time, without Magnus to block, the old ship was immediately riddled with holes.

On the ship, Rocks was scrambling, covering his head from the cannonballs.

From afar, Magnus could still hear Rocks cursing.

"You damn old man, I *******"