Pirates: A Family Slaughtered, Every Celestial Dragon Must Die!

The last elder flushed and said, "It would be disastrous if the Flame-Flame Fruit fell into the hands of the Rocks Pirates."

As the most notorious pirate crew on the seas, the Rocks Pirates had already grown powerful enough to give the World Government and the Marines a serious headache.

Add a Flame-Flame Fruit user with formidable destructive power, and they would be an even bigger problem!

"Report! We have a detailed account of the Heavenly Tribute incident!"

The CP0 agent in charge of gathering intelligence had arrived.

"Were the Rocks Pirates behind it?" the Five Elders immediately asked the question that concerned them most.

"N-no, they weren't," the CP0 agent replied. The Five Elders breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn't someone from the Rocks Pirates.

"B-but the culprit may be even more terrifying than the Rocks Pirates."

The agent's next words made their hearts sink again.

"More terrifying than the Rocks Pirates? Impossible." The Five Elders scoffed.

If the era in the original story belonged to three great powers—the Four Emperors, Marine Headquarters, and the Shichibukai—then the current era belonged to just one: the Rocks Pirates!

There were no Four Emperors or Five Emperors. The Rocks Pirates ruled the New World. They were the only kings of the seas!

Even the Marines would have little chance of winning a head-on clash with them!

How could this culprit be more terrifying than the Rocks Pirates?

"The culprit is named Rono. He's about seventeen, and he nearly wiped out the CP0 squad assigned to transport the tribute single-handedly."

Before the agent could finish, the Five Elders cut him off.

"What? You're saying the culprit is a seventeen-year-old brat?!"

Stunned, they interrupted him outright.

"Yes. According to the surviving Marines, this boy named Rono killed the CP0 members almost instantly!"

"Instantly? How could a seventeen-year-old brat do that?" the Five Elders exclaimed.

The CP0 squad leader assigned to the transport was at least as strong as a Vice Admiral. A seventeen-year-old had killed him in an instant?

Absurd!

"That's right. According to the Marines, Rono already possesses Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki!"

"CP0 was no match for him. The entire fight ended in under five minutes."

Even the agent sounded astonished as he spoke.

"What did you say?! He awakened all Three Types of Haki at seventeen?!"

The five elders' eyes widened again, their faces full of disbelief!

All Three Types of Haki had awakened? Where had this monster come from?

"Th-that's right. We also believe all three are at least at an advanced level. That's why he was able to kill the CP0 squad leader so quickly."

Even the agent could scarcely believe his own report.

The entire hall of power fell silent. It was so quiet a dropped pin could have been heard.

"Five Elders?" the agent ventured softly.

The Five Elders were frozen in shock, unable to speak!

Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr—the Marines Stunned At that moment, the Five Elders were still too stunned to speak.

A boy of just seventeen had awakened all Three Types of Haki, and each had reached an advanced level!

He could kill a Vice Admiral-level CP0 agent with a single punch!

Even a pirate in his thirties or forties with that kind of strength would be a famous and formidable figure who dominated a stretch of these seas!

Yet a seventeen-year-old boy already possessed such terrifying power!

How frightening was his talent? How vast was his potential? What heights could he reach? Those questions alone left the Five Elders deep in thought.

Had another Rocks appeared?

No. What chilled the Five Elders even more was that Rocks himself probably had not been this powerful at seventeen!

Who in the world was this boy?!

More importantly, why had he targeted the Heavenly Tribute? Was he simply seeking fame, or was he after the Celestial Dragons? They needed to find out.

"Have you determined why he attacked?" one of the elders asked urgently.

"According to the survivors, Rono also demanded that CP0 tell him where the Celestial Dragons were. We don't know his exact reasons, but he was very likely after them!" The agent's voice grew grave.

To these thoroughly indoctrinated agents, targeting the Celestial Dragons was an unforgivable crime!

"He was after the Celestial Dragons? That sounds a lot like Rocks."

The Five Elders' expressions grew darker.

Rocks frequently seized the Heavenly Tribute too, and even slaughtered Celestial Dragons.

If those two ever crossed paths... the consequences would be unthinkable!

"That boy cannot be allowed to live!"

The Five Elders exchanged glances. Years of working together had given them an easy understanding, and they quickly grasped one another's meaning.

They had to destroy Rono before he could grow any stronger!

If they let him develop, he would inevitably become a catastrophe!

Worse still, Rocks might recruit Rono. The two of them joining forces was the last thing the Five Elders wanted.

"Notify the Marines at once and issue a bounty. His potential is terrifying at such a young age. We must eliminate him as soon as possible!"

The Five Elders gave the order without delay.

"Oh, and Rono had an accomplice named Roger."

"He's around thirty and roughly as strong as Rono."

Only then did the CP0 agent remember that someone else had been at the scene, apparently working with Rono.

Rono had shocked them so badly they had nearly forgotten Roger altogether.

"Anyone allied with Rono must be eliminated as well," the Five Elders said in unison.

Word soon reached Marine Headquarters.

In his office, Kong, then a Marine Admiral, summoned Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, Tsuru, and many other key officers.

Even Dragon, still a Marine recruit, was in the meeting room.

The Marines had learned that Dragon awakened Conqueror's Haki during the incident. They took it seriously and decided to focus on training him.

When they heard about the Heavenly Tribute incident, the Marines were just as incredulous.

None of them had ever heard of a seventeen-year-old with such strength.

"What do you all think? Speak up," Kong said.

Nearly everyone present was destined to become a pillar of the Marines. Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr in particular were all candidates for Admiral.

In terms of strength, the three were already close to Admiral level.

Kong had called them in partly to give them experience.

"This Rono is frighteningly strong for his age. We should deal with him as soon as possible—or at least capture him and imprison him in Impel Down," Zephyr said.

Zephyr was already beginning to show the makings of the "Admiral Who Never Kills."

"Agreed. Seizing the Heavenly Tribute has caused severe damage to the Marines' reputation for justice. We need to act quickly," Sengoku said.

Just then, Garp stood up. "He did seize the Heavenly Tribute, but he was after the Celestial Dragons. You all know what those scum are like. There may be more to this."

Garp had never liked the Celestial Dragons. He did not find Rono's crime particularly hateful, much less think it warranted hunting him down to the bitter end.

"Garp, watch what you say!" Kong snapped.

The rebuke was protection in disguise. If the Celestial Dragons heard Garp speak that way, even Kong's rank as Admiral would not be enough to save him.

The battle at God Valley had not yet happened, after all. Garp did not have the protection that came with being hailed as a Marine hero.

"Admiral Kong, you know what the Celestial Dragons are like. We shouldn't act rashly before the background investigation comes in," Garp said, unconcerned with whether they heard him.

"Admiral Kong! We've completed the investigation into Rono's background!"

A Marine hurried into the meeting room and handed Kong a file.

"Good." Kong opened it at once.

But the moment he finished reading, his expression changed. He looked uncomfortable.

"What is it, Admiral Kong?" Sengoku asked quickly.

Kong tossed the file onto the table. "Read it yourselves."

The others read it, and their expressions changed as well.

The file was straightforward. It documented Rono's family and hometown. He had lived as an ordinary person for more than a decade, so his background had been easy to investigate.

One week before he seized the Heavenly Tribute, a Celestial Dragon had visited Rono's hometown and shot numerous civilians, including Rono's parents!

Rono had witnessed the entire thing!

"No wonder he seized the Heavenly Tribute and went looking for the Celestial Dragons. It all makes sense now!"

Slap! Garp slammed the file onto the table, furious.

Those worthless Celestial Dragons had brought this on themselves—and now they had caused another huge disaster.

Garp almost wanted to say, "Good for him!"

Sengoku and Zephyr, who had just been calling for Rono's swift elimination, looked uncomfortable too.

They had assumed Rono was some vicious criminal. Neither had expected this.

If they had watched the Celestial Dragons kill their own parents, they probably would have done the same.

"So that's why..." Dragon stood rooted to the spot when he heard the reason!

Now he understood why Rono had insisted on asking CP0 where the Celestial Dragons were.

If it had happened to Dragon, he was certain he would have done exactly what Rono had.

First Bounty: 500 Million Beli The meeting room turned painfully awkward.

They had thought this was a terrible crime. They had never expected the truth to be this.

They deserved it!

That was the only way to describe what everyone was thinking.

The Celestial Dragons had brought it on themselves.

The uneasy silence lasted several minutes.

At last, Kong broke it. "Whatever the circumstances, Rono seized the Heavenly Tribute and caused serious repercussions. We have to respond."

"First, issue a wanted notice worldwide immediately. Warn people that he's dangerous!"

Kong paused, then went on.

"Mary Geoise has also ordered his extermination. We must eliminate him completely, so we'll proceed with the original plan."

No one answered. They all knew what had happened now, and quite a few privately supported what Rono had done.

There were still plenty of people in the Marines who believed in justice. They had not been thoroughly indoctrinated like CP0.

The Marines could still tell right from wrong.

"But Admiral Kong, the Celestial Dragons brought this on themselves from start to finish!" Garp protested.