Rocks Wants to See You

The CP0 agents discussing Rocks and the villains under his command all shuddered in unison, tacitly avoiding that frightening name.

"By the way, aside from the one on our ship, there's another monster on the Grand Line lately. He seems to be fifteen too, and their paths are quite similar. Both became the strongest warriors in their countries at the age of ten.

"A year ago, that guy named Kaido was sold out to the Marines by the king of the Vodka Kingdom, who wanted the right to participate in the Reverie. Unfortunately, he escaped. Otherwise, after we return to the Holy Land this time, those two monsters could meet. Maybe then we could see which one of them is stronger!"

The CP0 agents shifted the topic to Kaido, another monster the same age as Oak—someone with the same origins and experiences, who had also been betrayed by his own country. They lamented that if he had not escaped, they might have been able to witness the collision of two monsters after this mission ended.

Both monsters were known for their tough physiques. Even as children, they had possessed the strength to destroy a country alone.

"Enough. Don't overthink it. Focus on completing this mission. The target on this ship is someone personally named by the Five Elders. If anything goes wrong, none of us can bear the consequences!"

One CP0 agent spoke up, reminding everyone that the mission mattered most right now, not debating which monster was stronger.

"What does it matter?"

Another CP0 agent put on an unconcerned expression.

"That guy is already in our hands, and we've been making him inhale enough anesthetic every day to knock out several Sea Kings. What could he possibly do to escape? Or is there some blind fool who would dare attack our armed ship..."

Before he could finish, another CP0 agent interrupted him.

"Not necessarily. We're already on the Grand Line. We might run into the monsters under Rock...s's command. After all, the entire Grand Line is their territory."

At the mention of Rocks, the CP0 agent instinctively slurred the name, as though afraid that monster might hear him.

"We can't be that unlucky, can we?"

The first CP0 agent said after hearing this. He did not believe he could encounter such an unlikely event.

But sometimes people were just that unlucky. The more they feared something, the more likely it was to happen. The instant his words fell—

"Rumble~"

The warship beneath their feet jolted violently. Then everyone felt their position rising continuously along with the ship.

"What's going on?"

The entire warship shook nonstop as it rose, tossing everyone aboard into disarray. Those who had been knocked unconscious by Oak's Conqueror's Haki woke from the pain of slamming into the hull. But before they could figure out what had happened, they heard a sharp whoosh, and the warship split into upper and lower halves from the middle.

The CP0 agents in the bottommost cabin looked up and saw the upper half of the ship's interior and the entire deck above their heads.

"Splash, splash, splash~"

Amid the sound of bodies dropping like dumplings into a pot, the armed personnel who had just awakened on the deck and in the upper cabins fell into the sea one after another.

"Boom~"

The last thing to crash into the sea was the deck and cabins that had scraped past the lower half of the ship. They kicked up enormous waves upon landing, yet not a single drop splashed near the CP0 agents or Oak.

The CP0 agents looked down and realized that, without noticing, they had risen a hundred meters into the air. When they looked up, they saw blue skies and white clouds—and beneath them, a domineering golden figure floating in the air.

A cigar hung from his mouth. His long golden hair trailed to the ground like a lion's mane, and he held two long swords gleaming with cold light as he let out a wild laugh.

"G-G-Golden Lion Shiki!"

The CP0 agents cried out as they recognized the domineering figure above them. Their voices stuttered, and their teeth chattered.

"Get lost, trash!"

Golden Lion Shiki descended boldly from the sky and landed on the lower half of the ship, which floated in the air through his ability. Ignoring the CP0 agents, he headed straight for the cell where Oak was imprisoned.

"S-Stop..."

The CP0 agent who had finally gathered the courage to stop him had not even gotten close when he was enveloped by the sword energy bursting from Shiki's two blades. A flash of white sword light passed, and the CP0 agent was gone, leaving only a cloud of drifting blood mist. These elite agents, hailed as the "Celestial Dragons' strongest shield," could not even withstand a single move before being completely buried in these waters.

Oak, trapped in deep unconsciousness, vaguely felt something slapping his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar, ugly face—and a sword blade striking his cheek hard.

"Finally awake!"

When that ugly face saw him open his eyes at last, it broke into a malicious grin. Then Oak felt a tremendous force slam into his face. His entire body instantly spun one hundred and eighty degrees in place while flipping three hundred and sixty degrees vertically, before his head embedded itself in the ship's hull.

"Fuck!"

The familiar curse burst from his mouth. He clenched his fist and smashed the entire hull apart with one punch, sending violent fist wind and ship fragments flying in every direction.

Then, with a whoosh, he sprang up, snapped the iron chains binding him, and vanished from the spot by stepping on air.

"Boom~"

A brutal punch shot straight toward that ugly face. Oak did not care why Golden Lion Shiki had appeared here or why he had rescued him, but after getting slapped in the face, he had to hit back.

"Jihahahaha!"

"Soru from the Marine Six Powers, and the Hasshoken of the Happo Navy from the Country of Flowers in West Blue. Kid, you know quite a lot!"

Shiki burst into laughter. Rather than showing any tension at facing a monster attacking with full force, he commented on Oak's moves with great interest.

The move Oak had used to vanish from the spot was Soru, one of the Six Powers. The shockwave-infused punch he had thrown was Hasshoken, commonly used by the Happo Navy of the Country of Flowers in West Blue. Shiki was very familiar with both techniques.

With a clang, he raised his sword to block. The sound of metal colliding rang out between the blade and Oak's fist.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Kid, the toughness of your body is enough to rival that woman Linlin's Steel Bone Balloon! No wonder Rocks wants to see you."

Shiki clicked his tongue as he looked at Oak's fists, which bore no flowing Haki and were clashing against his two famed blades, Oto and Kogarashi, through sheer physical strength alone. Curiosity was impossible to hide in his eyes. This kid's physique was no ordinary kind of tough. The next moment, he twisted his wrists, and two massive sword slashes shot from his blades without the slightest restraint.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

For the first time in his life, Oak saw sword energy so enormous it could split the entire sea in two. The strike sent him flying back hundreds of meters. Before he could steady himself, he felt someone seize the collar behind his neck, followed by a rough voice.

"Be a good boy and come with me. Rocks is waiting for you!"