A Turn of Events

Newgate's gaze turned incredibly imposing, making it hard for anyone to look him in the eye. He increased the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki, bearing down on Carl.

He hadn't expected Carl to possess Conqueror's Haki too. He wanted to see if he could help Carl gain further mastery over it.

Feeling Newgate's Haki grow stronger, Carl released even more of his own. Black halos rippled into being behind him, radiating a terrifying aura.

Under the pressure of their Conqueror's Haki, the atmosphere grew tense in an instant.

Carl knew his Conqueror's Haki wouldn't be able to hold out for long. He had to attack first to break the deadlock.

He immediately covered his fist with all his abilities. Purple, golden, and black light shimmered across it!

Then he launched the first attack.

Carl swung his fist forward at incredible speed, and the air boomed with a sonic blast.

He moved so fast that the onlookers could see only afterimages.

Carl's fist had already shot forward. Before it even reached Newgate, the air behind him roared, then formed a tremendous shockwave that swept through everything around them like a raging gale.

"Bring it on!"

Newgate hadn't expected Carl to attack first, but it also showed that Carl had pushed his Conqueror's Haki to its current limit.

"Quake Shock!"

He hurriedly swung his right hand, coated in Armament Haki, hard toward Carl.

In the blink of an eye, their fists collided.

The force of the impact shattered ships in the distance and split the ground beneath their feet into countless cracks. The trees around them were uprooted by the shockwave.

The island beneath them couldn't withstand the force. It burst apart in an instant and slowly sank beneath the sea.

Neither of them had fought to their heart's content yet, but with things already like this, they had no choice but to call it off for now.

They both jumped onto the ships in the sea.

"That was satisfying!"

"We'll do it again sometime."

This was Carl's first time experiencing such a fiery battle, and he fell in love with the adrenaline rush.

"Sounds good!" Newgate replied casually.

He rarely got to give it his all, either.

"Let's go back."

Carl ordered Clay to sail the ship back to Hachinosu. The battle was over, and there was little point in staying here.

He needed to properly reflect on his Observation Haki and Conqueror's Haki. He had only gained a basic grasp of them, and he wanted to use what he'd just experienced to master his Conqueror's Haki further.

For some time after that, nothing happened on the island.

As time passed, the day Rocks planned to attack the Affiliated Nation drew near.

The pirates on the island were preparing to attack the Tyr Kingdom. After all, it was no small country.

Clay had also completely mastered the Golden Light Incantation, though his golden light was still rather faint.

Clay continued taking them to train in the woods behind the base every day.

Under Clay's guidance, over a hundred orphans, along with Long Yi and Long Er, were making excellent progress in the Five Elements Fist.

With plenty of nutritious food on the island, the orphans, Long Yi, and Long Er had gradually grown as strong as ordinary children. They had also learned the basics of the Five Elements Fist, but lacked actual combat experience.

They normally shouldn't have brought Long Yi and Long Er along on this expedition to the Tyr Kingdom. They were still far too weak.

But the two of them kept begging. They thought they were ready after all their training and wanted to see the world. They didn't realize this was the New World, where anyone too weak wasn't even qualified to set sail.

"Please, just let us go!"

Seeing them plead, Carl didn't refuse. Their strength was about on par with a Commodore's, and Clay would be watching them, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"But you have to listen to Clay. Otherwise, there won't be a next time!"

As Carl spoke, he looked toward Clay. In his eyes, the two little troublemakers weren't strong enough to make it on their own. Clay would have to keep an eye on them at all times. Otherwise, if something went wrong, all Carl's efforts would be wasted.

"We'll do as we're told."

Long Yi and Long Er looked very obedient just then.

Only Clay knew how mischievous they were when they weren't training. The two of them were the notorious little troublemakers of his 6th Division.

Though they had promised, Carl didn't notice the sly glint in their eyes as they lowered their heads.

They were definitely already thinking about how to slip out of Clay's control once they got there.

After assigning the tasks, Carl ordered the pirates under his command to prepare to set sail.

The shore was soon bustling with activity, with pirates everywhere loading supplies onto the ships.

After all, attacking the Tyr Kingdom would require plenty of cannons and ammunition.

A few days earlier, on Kuro Island—the Giant Warrior Pirates' stronghold.

"What?"

"Little Thirteen is dead?"

When the captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates, Yorulu, heard the news, he went on a rampage in his room, smashing the entire place to pieces. Morgans hadn't founded a news agency yet, so information from newspapers traveled slowly.

Nearly a month had passed, and only now had the news reached him.

The messenger standing before him trembled, visibly intimidated by Yorulu's presence.

"Have you found out who did it?"

"According to our informant, it was Carl, the new 6th Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates."

"The young master sneaked out alone and ran into Carl at sea. Somehow, Carl killed him."

"That's all the information we've received."

The messenger knew that Krulu often sneaked out on his own.

Normally, people wouldn't dare lay a hand on him once they learned he was a son of the Giant Warrior Pirates. But Carl hadn't known that—and even if he had, it wouldn't have intimidated him.

"This is a provocation. Rocks is provoking us!"

"Summon all the Division Commanders."

Yorulu immediately called the Division Commanders together.

Soon, they all arrived.

"Captain, is something the matter?"

"Everyone's here, Captain."

The vice-captain, Fred, already knew what had happened. He quieted the commanders gathered there.

"I just received word that my thirteenth son, Krulu, was killed a month ago by Carl, the 6th Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates."

"What? We just made peace. How dare they start a fight again?"

Angelo, the 4th Division Commander, was furious. As far as they were concerned, ever since they had allied with the X Pirates, the Rocks Pirates had stopped daring to face them head-on.

"Then we fight."

Eloy, the 2nd Division Commander, was never one to shy away from trouble.

As far as he was concerned, they were bound to fight the Rocks Pirates sooner or later. It made no difference whether they fought now or later.

"Should we notify X?"

The vice-captain, Fred, was worried. He was the more clearheaded one. After all, their crew alone couldn't defeat the Rocks Pirates.

If the two pirate crews hadn't formed an alliance, the Rocks Pirates might have already taken over the second half of the New World. They wouldn't have stood a chance.

"No need. We're just going to talk and demand that they hand over their 6th Division Commander."

"Besides, I've heard that Rocks isn't on the island right now."

Yorulu was growing overconfident. Since the two crews had formed an alliance, the Rocks Pirates had stopped provoking them. He assumed they were afraid of his crew. And with Rocks away from the island, he felt even less apprehensive.

What he didn't know was that this was all part of Rocks's plan to lure them into a trap.

As soon as Rocks learned that Carl had killed Krulu, he spread the false rumor.

He hadn't expected Yorulu to fall for it. The giants really weren't much good at scheming, and their intelligence was generally rather low.

Rocks had only been testing the waters. If they came, he could deal with them outright. If they didn't, he'd lose nothing.

Besides, the Rocks Pirates were preparing to attack the Tyr Kingdom. It was a major power in the New World, with a population of over two million. Everyone in the Tyr Kingdom was trained to fight, and it had as many as half a million people capable of battle, as well as several Admiral-level fighters.

It wasn't that Rocks didn't want to deal with them. He had more important things to do.

"Order the pirate crews under our command to gather. I'm going to demand justice from Rocks."

Yorulu was growing impatient. He took Rocks's actions as a sign of fear.

His alliance with the X Pirates gave him confidence—perhaps too much confidence.

"Should we leave some people behind?"

Fred knew Rocks had been waiting for an opportunity. If they went to the Rocks Pirates alone, wouldn't they be walking straight into a trap?

And if this information wasn't true, then wouldn't they be...

Rocks had long wanted to unite the second half of the Grand Line. It was only the alliance between their two crews that had kept him from making his move.

But that didn't mean they could go meet with Rocks alone.

Yorulu was far too overconfident. Besides, he thought they were only going to demand an explanation. He wanted Rocks to hand Carl over.

He truly hadn't intended to start a war.

But things weren't going to unfold the way he expected.