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

Edward Newgate, captain of the Rocks Pirates' First Division!

Apart from Rocks himself, he was the crew's strongest and most trustworthy man.

"Hm? What happened? Another promising newcomer?" Whitebeard asked the pirates with interest.

His Observation Haki had already picked up bits of their conversation. It sounded like they were talking about some rookie pirate.

"Captain Whitebeard, take a look at the paper."

A low-ranking pirate handed him the newspaper. Whitebeard took it without ceremony and began to read.

The more he read, the more his expression changed.

By the time he finished, he let out a long breath.

"Another extraordinary man has appeared on the seas. Has anyone told Rocks?"

Whitebeard looked at the pirates.

This rookie named Rono had awakened all Three Types of Haki at an advanced level. He was already powerful, but his potential was downright terrifying. He also liked attacking Celestial Dragons.

Rocks would definitely be interested in him.

"Not yet... We haven't seen Admiral Rocks," one of the pirates answered honestly.

Just then, another pirate ran up to Whitebeard, panting hard. He clearly had urgent news.

"C-Captain Whitebeard! Admiral Rocks wants you to see him at once. He says it's important!"

"Got it. Take me to him." After reading the news about Rono, Whitebeard had expected Rocks to summon him.

Sure enough, the moment they met, Rocks got straight to the point. "Whitebeard, have you heard about the rookie who's appeared on the seas?"

"I just did." Whitebeard raised the newspaper in his hand.

"Good. What do you think of him?" Rocks asked.

Whitebeard thought for a moment. "He awakened all Three Types of Haki at seventeen, and all three have reached an advanced level. Talent like that comes along once in decades. Give him time, and he'll become a monster!"

Whitebeard paused. There was one more thing he had considered saying, but he held it back.

Given enough time, Rono might even become a monster who surpassed Rocks!

Whitebeard Looked Forward to Bringing Rono Back

At Whitebeard's assessment, the corners of Rocks's mouth curved into a knowing smile.

Who was Rocks? He was the ruler of this era. Even someone as formidable as Whitebeard had trouble hiding anything from him.

Rocks knew exactly what Whitebeard had left unsaid.

Rono was stronger than Rocks had been at the same age. One day, he might surpass him!

But Rocks didn't mind. Instead, he said with interest, "Now that's something. It's rare for you to rate anyone so highly."

Whitebeard was usually a proud man.

After all, he was arguably the strongest member of the Rocks Pirates besides Rocks himself.

There were few people in the crew Whitebeard thought much of, yet he had given such high praise to a kid fresh out at sea. Rocks's hunch had been right.

Rono had the makings of a great pirate. One day, he would be a powerful ally in toppling the Celestial Dragons' rule!

Rocks tossed Whitebeard a document. "Read this, too."

Like the Marines, Rocks had investigated Rono's background.

As the sole king of the New World, Rocks had influence on both sides of the law and an intelligence network spanning the globe. Getting hold of Rono's background was easy.

"He watched the Celestial Dragons kill his parents. No wonder he went after the Heavenly Tribute as soon as he set sail."

After reading the file, Whitebeard understood. Rono was another man with the Celestial Dragons in his sights.

Whitebeard also felt a deep kinship with him.

Family mattered more to Whitebeard than anything. If he had been forced to watch his parents die before his eyes, he would have gone mad!

Rocks nodded. "I like this guy. A talent like him shouldn't be left out there. He belongs in the Rocks Pirates."

Rocks could be brutal, but he greatly admired powerful, talented people.

Otherwise, the Rocks Pirates would never have gathered so many formidable figures, including Whitebeard, Golden Lion Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin.

Nearly half the mighty fighters on the seas were in the Rocks Pirates.

Whitebeard immediately understood what Rocks wanted, though he was still a little annoyed. "Why come to me for this?"

"You know you're the one I trust most on this ship. You're the only one I can count on to get it done."

Rocks didn't take offense at Whitebeard's sharp tone.

That was his way. If someone was strong enough, Rocks would tolerate their flaws, even serious ones.

Of course, that attitude also meant the Rocks Pirates were barely held together.

While Rocks was there, his overwhelming strength could keep the monsters' ambitions in check.

But if Rocks ever died, the crew would fall apart at once. In that sense, they were the complete opposite of the Roger Pirates.

Rocks's explanation softened Whitebeard's expression a little.

It was true. This ship had far too many unreliable people aboard.

Golden Lion Shiki, that womanizer's dream Charlotte Linlin, and men like Ochoku, John, and Silver Axe were all fiercely ambitious. None would yield to another, and none could be trusted.

"What if he refuses to join?" Whitebeard asked.

"Pirates have their own rules." Rocks gave a cold smile. His meaning could not have been clearer.

Rocks had beaten his earliest crew members into joining, one by one.

Whitebeard, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin had all joined after losing to him.

"Fine. I understand. I'll leave at once." Whitebeard wasted no time preparing to depart.

In truth, he was very interested in Rono himself.

Rono had taken revenge on the Celestial Dragons after they killed his parents. That showed he valued family as deeply as Whitebeard did.

Finding someone like that was no easy feat. There wasn't a single other person like him in the Rocks Pirates.

Watching Whitebeard leave, Rocks felt a sudden pang of sadness.

In a crew so vast, he had only one member he could truly rely on.

Without Whitebeard, who else could he send?

He would probably have to go himself.

"But it doesn't matter. If I can drag those Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise down, I'll do whatever it takes!"

Rocks's sadness soon vanished, replaced by a terrifying bloodlust.

A man could hardly possess such killing intent without having killed tens of thousands, perhaps even a hundred thousand people.

"A bounty of 500 million. That really is a surprise."

In the East Blue, Rono smiled as he looked at his wanted poster.

Even he was startled to see a first bounty of 500 million.

Forty years from now, a bounty of 500 million would still mark someone as a major pirate.

"Roger must be pretty upset right now."

Reading on, Rono nearly laughed aloud. The World Government had mistaken Roger for a member of his crew and placed a bounty of 300 million Beli on him.

Having the future Pirate King listed as his crewman felt pretty good.

In fact, Rono and Roger had parted ways a few days after the Heavenly Tribute incident.

Roger had his own journey to make. Besides, he had money now and no longer needed a free ride on Rono's ship.

Notably, the World Government had deliberately revealed in the paper that Rono possessed the Flame-Flame Fruit. That would draw pirates who coveted it straight to him.

The World Government had hoped to cause him trouble, unaware that Rono wanted more strong opponents to come his way so he could pick up their abilities.

Unfortunately, the groups he encountered over the next few days were all low-level East Blue pirates.

The truly powerful had little interest in the Flame-Flame Fruit. Those who did understood what a 500-million-Beli bounty meant.

Yet these small-time pirates, who didn't even dare enter the Grand Line, boasted that they would kill Rono and take the fruit.

After so long preying on people in the East Blue, they had no real grasp of how strong the great pirates were. Rono had no choice but to dispose of the lot of them.

He might have become a pirate, but he had come from an ordinary family. He would never prey on innocent people.

"I wonder how long ago that Celestial Dragon left. At this speed, I should be able to catch up."

Having dealt with those lackeys, Rono gazed out to sea, murderous intent flaring in his eyes.

Ever since picking up Roger's Voice of All Things through Observation Haki, Rono had been searching for the Celestial Dragon.

The Voice of All Things was a god-tier form of Observation Haki. It allowed him to communicate with the consciousness of living creatures and even inanimate things.

That meant Rono could communicate with nearby sea creatures to learn the Celestial Dragon's exact location.

Catching Up to the Celestial Dragon

After using the Voice of All Things to communicate with nearby sea creatures, Rono confirmed the Celestial Dragon's location.

The bastard hadn't gone far!

If Rono followed this route, he was sure to catch up.

He drove the Revenge forward at full speed and took the opportunity to check his system panel.

[Host: Rono]

[Age: 17]

[Strength: Mid-tier Shichibukai level]

[Speed: Mid-tier Shichibukai level]

[Stamina: Mid-tier Shichibukai level]

[Haki: Conqueror's Haki (Advanced), Armament Haki (Advanced), Observation Haki (Advanced)]

[Other abilities: Swordsmanship (Advanced)! Combat Experience (Advanced)!]

[Devil Fruit ability: Flame-Flame Fruit · Absorption]

[God-tier ability: Voice of All Things!]

He had grown considerably stronger since his fight with Roger.

First, he had picked up Roger's god-tier Observation Haki, the Voice of All Things.

Absorbing the Flame-Flame Fruit's power had further increased his destructive ability.

He was now around Doflamingo or Kuma's level, roughly on par with a Yonko's second-in-command.

And now that he had a fine blade suited to him, Kotetsu, one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords, even Roger might not be able to beat him!

Rono was pleased with his progress.

He had only been at sea for a dozen or so days, yet he had risen from a lieutenant commander's level to a Shichibukai's. His strength had shot up like a rocket.

"As long as there's no Admiral-level fighter guarding him, I can catch that Celestial Dragon, kill him, and get away unscathed."

"No. Even if there is an Admiral, I should still be able to kill him. I'd just have to pay a price to escape."

Rono had a rough measure of his strength.

He should be able to put up a fight against an Admiral-level opponent, and that was without factoring in his system.

In fact, if he did encounter someone at that level, he might pick up powerful abilities from them and rapidly advance to Admiral level himself!

Of course, the likeliest possibility was that no Admiral-level fighter guarded the Celestial Dragon. Usually, there were only a few Vice Admiral-level CP0 agents nearby.

Admiral-level fighters were rare across the entire sea. How could one be kept at a Celestial Dragon's side all the time?