All-Out Assault, New Rocks Pirates!!

The waterway stronghold in the abandoned area of Dock Seven.

The children nibbled on dried fish, their faces still showing lingering fear.

Moria crouched before a little girl, holding a piece of broken bread.

He tried his best to look friendly, but with limited success.

"Eat," he said curtly.

The little girl snatched the bread away, then retreated into a corner and turned her back to chew.

Moria sighed and stood up.

Beside him, a bloated figure shuffled over.

Glen patted a child's back with his chubby palm, humming a little tune until the crying stopped.

After finishing, Glen lowered his voice and spoke to Moria.

"Couldn't tell you were actually pretty gentle."

Moria shot him a sidelong glance. "Are you saying I don't look gentle?"

"Ah, no, no!" Glen hurriedly waved his hands.

"It's just that I've gotten plenty of cold looks because of how I look too."

"People often mistake this face of mine for a thug's. So I know how that feels."

"I hope you don't mind the children's reactions."

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

The moment Moria finished speaking, something landed at the entrance to the stronghold.

Glen's expression changed. He drew a short flintlock from his waist and aimed it at the entrance.

Moria tensed as well, his right hand reaching for the massive harpoon on his back.

But then he stopped and turned to Glen.

"Got another gun? Give me one."

"Huh? You're not using the harpoon?"

"I found guns a little faster than harpoons."

Glen blinked, pulled out a smaller flintlock pistol, and tossed it over.

Moria caught it and weighed it in his hand.

The two stood to either side, guns aimed at the entrance as they held their breath.

The canvas flap was lifted.

A tall figure bent down and entered, followed by a brown-haired young man.

The muzzles of both guns immediately aimed at the newcomers.

Lin Nuo halted and instantly raised both hands over his head in a French military salute.

"Friendly! Don't shoot!"

Despite saying that, he wore a smile.

"You always love showing off," Moria said irritably, lowering his gun.

"I bet even cannon fire couldn't kill you."

Glen also let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Thank goodness. You scared me to death."

He put away his gun and eagerly asked, "Why are you back so soon? Did you save them?"

Lin Nuo lowered his hands and walked over to the kerosene lamp.

"Didn't make it in time," he said. "But I confirmed they're all temporarily safe."

Roy added with a gloomy expression, "The cells were empty, but the smell was fresh. They were probably transferred not long ago."

"Then—"

"Don't rush." Lin Nuo swept his gaze over everyone awake in the stronghold.

"Come sit and listen. I already have a plan."

They gathered around a table made from wooden crates. Lin Nuo took two sheets of paper from his clothes and spread them out.

The larger one was a hand-drawn map of Tenpan City's upper levels, with key buildings and roads clearly marked.

The smaller one was a stiff paper ticket bearing the words Blood Duel Entry Ticket.

"After some digging, it seems there's internal conflict within their gang."

"Second-in-command Karim and third-in-command Samuel both want the credit for themselves, so the hostages are being held separately for now."

His finger tapped a spot on the map marked with an arena symbol.

"At noon tomorrow, they'll hold a match at the Blood Duel Arena on the fifth level."

"The stakes are all the captives, along with some other prizes." Lin Nuo looked up, his gaze sharp. "The winner gets to take everything."

Moria folded his arms and stared at the map. "So you're planning to rescue them there tomorrow?"

"Yes." Lin Nuo nodded.

"The good news is that all the captives will be gathered there tomorrow."

"We can rescue everyone in one go without running all over the place."

"What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that because of this wager, every capable and important figure in the gang will gather there."

Lin Nuo drew a circle on the map with his finger.

"The scene will be extremely chaotic, but that's also an opportunity for us."

Moria stared at Lin Nuo for several seconds, reading something from that familiar expression that said everything was going according to plan.

"You already have an idea, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm only one person in the end. I can't handle everything."

"So—"

Lin Nuo looked at Moria, then at Glen and the other five awake Resistance Group youths.

"I need your help."

Roy straightened his back. "No problem!"

"But if they're prizes, there'll definitely be plenty of guards, right?"

The smile on Lin Nuo's face widened. "That's where I come in."

He tapped the entry ticket.

"Tomorrow, I'll enter as a 'challenger.'"

"Once the match begins, I'll raise hell and draw every enemy I can, every bit of attention, all onto myself."

He looked around at everyone.

"And you'll use that chance to infiltrate from the side or rear, find where the captives are held, and get everyone out."

The stronghold fell silent for several seconds.

Glen and the other Resistance Group members exchanged looks.

Their faces all said the same thing: Wasn't this plan too simple and brutal? Could it really work!?

Only Moria and Roy had little reaction.

One had just ridden an "airborne car" with Lin Nuo, while the other had witnessed the Lunyu Intelligence-Gathering Method. Their mental endurance had already been forcibly strengthened.

"What happens after the plan?" Moria asked.

"Do we meet back here?"

Lin Nuo shook his head, pulled the small Transponder Snail from his pocket, and slapped it onto a wooden crate.

The Transponder Snail wobbled from the impact, its antennae shaking in annoyance.

"Doo-roo doo-roo!!"

It voiced an indignant protest.

"Then follow Moria and take everyone to the abandoned docks. We'll have a ship there to pick you up."

Lin Nuo's gaze moved over every face one by one.

"I don't know whether tomorrow's plan will go smoothly. I don't fully know how many men the gang has or what ambushes they might have either."

"But I can guarantee one thing."

"I'll draw every bit of firepower I can and create every bit of chaos I can."

"And you only need to do one thing."

"During that window, get everyone out as quickly as possible and bring them somewhere safe."

He paused, his tone turning serious.

"I won't be able to stay by your side and cover you at all times."

"Once we split up, you'll have to rely on yourselves and the companions beside you."

"Understand?!"

Glen nodded hard, his gaze resolute.

The other two young men tightened their grips on the iron pipes in their hands, while Roy directly began rolling his wrists, his bones cracking.

Moria played with the short flintlock in his hand, then finally tucked it into his belt and slung the massive harpoon back over his shoulder.

"We understand!"

Lin Nuo smiled.

"Then—"

"Begin the final preparations!!"

Under the same night sky.

On a deserted island beach several hundred nautical miles from Tenpan City.

The waves surged violently against the shore, only to be stopped just before reaching the beach.

The mouth of the beach was littered with the wreckage of massive warships.

Their keels had snapped, their masts had fallen, and thick smoke still rose from their scorched hulls.

Flags bearing the word "Justice" lay half submerged in seawater and half burning in flames.

At the center of the wreckage, two giant-like figures stood in a cleared open space.

One had wild blue-and-white hair and a savage lightning-shaped scar slashing diagonally across his face.

Merely standing there, the aura he gave off made the air feel much heavier.

"Rocks D. Zebek!"

Beneath his feet was a mast, and his eyes swept across the beach.

Kneeling, lying, or standing there were hundreds of pirates dressed in tattered prison uniforms.

Excitement and worship burned in every pair of eyes.

A little behind Rocks's side stood Kaido, half man and half dragon.

He carried Hassaikai on his left shoulder, guzzled liquor with his right hand, and casually swayed his dragon tail behind him.

"Gulp... Hah!" Kaido lowered the gourd and wiped his mouth with a dragon claw.

"Guhahaha! That was a damn good fight—!"

"Rocks!"

He extended a dragon claw and pointed at the prisoners on the beach.

"The guys you let out are pretty capable!"

Kaido's laughter rolled like muffled thunder.

"If everyone here could eat a Devil Fruit as powerful as mine—no, even weaker ones would do."

"We could put together a proper army! Gurarararara!"

Rocks turned his head, his eyes beneath the lightning scar fixed on Kaido.

"I think you want to strike out on your own, just like Newgate."

Kaido's laughter stopped.

Several seconds later, he openly admitted it. "I do have that idea. If I stay in one place too long, my bones will rust."

But then he took another huge swig of liquor, fanaticism bursting from his dragon eyes.

"But for now, fighting alongside you is still more satisfying!!"

"This world is too boring. Someone needs to turn it upside down!!"

Before his words had faded—

A shout came from the sky.

"Hey—Rocks—!"

The two looked up.

A cloud was rapidly descending through the night sky. Standing atop it was an abnormally tall woman.

She wore a pink dress and carried the giant bicorne hat Napoleon.

Charlotte Linlin leaped down from the cloud, landed on the beach, and casually tossed a stack of newspapers at Rocks.

"Your underlings snatched these from the Marines."

"Looks like there's something you'd be interested in."

Rocks raised a hand and caught the papers.

They were an internal intelligence bulletin from Marine Headquarters.

There was a lot of text, but a clear photograph in the lower right corner caught his attention.

The photo depicted a harbor.

In the background, a crowd was cheering while several bruised and battered men crouched in a corner with dejected expressions.

And at the very center of the photograph—

A white-haired figure spread black wings and hovered in midair.

[West Blue White Shell Town Incident: Escaped Lunarian confirmed to have acquired a Mythical Zoan Fruit. Designated as a priority observation target.]

Rocks's gaze slowly shifted to the corner of the photograph.

At the edge of the crowd stood a figure holding a baby.

Rocks knew that woman better than anyone.

Alice.

And the black-haired baby in her arms...

The fingers gripping the newspaper tightened slightly.

A few seconds later, he let out a low chuckle.

"Heh..."

The laughter rolled from his throat, gradually growing louder until it became wild, unrestrained laughter.

Kaido and Linlin both looked at him.

"Looks like that little apprentice brat on my ship did a pretty good job!"

"Not only did he make the headlines, he kept my family safe and sound too."

Rocks spread his arms, the tangled hair behind him stirring without a breeze.

"Then!" he roared.

"We should make an even bigger mess! Let the news travel farther!"

"Let everyone on these seas hear the sound of our return! Let them kneel beneath our feet!!"

"OOOH!!!"

On the beach, hundreds of vicious pirates raised their weapons at once and unleashed earth-shaking roars.

Kaido rested his spiked club on his shoulder and grinned broadly.

Linlin licked the blood from her fingers, her eyes curving into dangerous crescents.

Farther out at sea.

Several Marine reconnaissance ships that had escaped by sheer luck were racing desperately into the distance.

They had to bring the news back--

The Rocks Pirates had returned!!