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

Though it was nowhere near as powerful as the Four Emperor Kaido at his peak, the beginnings were already there!

"Holy crap, he can breathe fire! And wind!"

"That's incredible!"

Everyone was green with envy. The kid's luck was unreal.

With that fruit, Kaido was going to soar!

After a quick test of his new powers, Kaido wasted no time.

He soon shifted from Azure Dragon Form back to Human Form and went straight to Rono.

"Lord Rono! I... I don't know what to say!"

Having felt the power of the Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon Form, Kaido dropped to one knee, too excited to string his words together.

What had I, Kaido, done to deserve such a rare fruit?

He owed it all to Lord Rono!

"Words can't express how grateful I am!"

"All I can say is, Lord Rono, if you tell me to go east, I won't dare go west. If you tell me to chase a dog, I won't go after a chicken!"

"From this day on, my life is yours!"

Kaido's impassioned declaration nearly brought him to tears.

Lord Rono had treated him too well!

"No need for speeches, Kaido. You know what I'm after."

"Train hard and become someone I can count on!"

Rono smiled faintly, pleased himself.

From now on, Kaido's loyalty was his beyond a doubt!

Good. Very good!

One Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit in exchange for the undying loyalty of a future Four Emperor-level powerhouse!

There was no better bargain!

"Lord Rono's been so good to me! Waaah!"

"I have to train hard, then help Lord Rono kill every last one of those worthless Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land!"

Tears streamed down Kaido's face. In his heart, he made himself a promise.

I have to grow stronger as fast as I can and help Lord Rono achieve his goal!

After that brief interlude, Hachinosu plunged back into celebration!

Whitebeard and Rono drank to their hearts' content, while Golden Lion couldn't get a word in.

Charlotte Linlin was wholly intent on getting close to Rono.

Silver Axe, John, and Ochoku set aside their grudges for the moment and drank their fill.

Hachinosu rang with revelry.

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure spread word of the Golden City incident across the world!

The accounts of the fighting and the details revealed left the entire world in shock!

The Most Evil Criminal Shocks the World with a 3.5 Billion Beli Bounty! (2)

New World, Hachinosu!

Three days had passed since the Golden City incident, yet Hachinosu was still in the throes of a grand celebration.

"Hey! The papers are here! Don't tell me the World Government covered up the Golden City incident again?"

"Of course it did. Nineteen Celestial Dragons were killed. How could the government possibly report that?"

"What about the bounties? Those have to go up! Does the paper mention them?"

As newspapers drifted down from the sky, the gathered members of the Rocks Pirates broke into heated discussion.

"Relax. The government definitely covered this one up!"

"The Marines were routed, and even the Five Elders couldn't stop the Celestial Dragons from being killed. There's no way they'd let that get reported."

Division Commanders Silver Axe, Ochoku, John, and Golden Lion showed no interest.

From past experience, they were certain the World Government would invent some excuse to cover it all up.

It would never let this damage the reputations of the Marines and the government.

Rono and Whitebeard didn't even look up. They kept playing drinking games and downing their drinks.

Great Pirates knew the World Government's methods all too well.

"Don't worry. I made arrangements for the Golden City incident right from the start!"

"I guarantee the world will learn every last detail!"

"Government, Marines—you won't cover up the truth this time!"

At that moment, Captain Rocks spoke up!

A smug smile played on his lips!

He had thought of this long ago!

It was time to shatter the myth that the World Government and the Marines could never be defeated!

That was why, as soon as the Golden City incident ended, Rocks had contacted the News King of the Underworld!

Rocks told him to report everything exactly as it happened, leaving out nothing and dressing up nothing!

If he omitted so much as one detail, Rocks would bring the Rocks Pirates to wipe him out the next day and throw his body into the sea for the Sea Kings!

Eliminating an Underworld boss would be child's play for the Rocks Pirates!

"Hey, Captain! Is that true?"

"Then this will be in the paper?"

"Does that mean my bounty's going to shoot up again?"

"Quick... let me see it!"

At Rocks's words, the Division Commanders who had shown no interest a moment ago suddenly perked up!

Even Rono and Whitebeard raised their heads and turned their attention to the newspapers!

A moment later, the crowd snatched up the papers and read what was inside!

An uproar erupted!

"Holy shit! This... this can't be real!"

"Nineteen Celestial Dragons were killed in Golden City?! Not one survived?"

"The Rocks Pirates did it!"

"Four of Marine Headquarters' strongest—Kong, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr—were dealt a crushing blow by the Rocks Pirates!"

"Then the Five Elders, the highest authority in the world, arrived at the scene!"

"Every one of the Five Elders is an Admiral-level powerhouse, yet they still couldn't stop the Rocks Pirates from slaughtering the Celestial Dragons!"

"Rocks held his own against two of them at once!"

"Whitebeard, the First Division Commander, and Golden Lion, the Second Division Commander, each fought a Five Elder!"

"And the rising star Rono, the Seventh Division Commander who joined the Rocks Pirates just three months ago, shone brightest of all in this battle!"

"Rono, the Most Evil Criminal—a newcomer who joined the Rocks Pirates only three months ago!"

"He was the one who decided the outcome of the battle?"

It had been an ordinary morning.

For the people of the Sabaody Archipelago, life had gone on as usual.

Then a flock of albatrosses scattered newspapers from the sky.

The residents of the Sabaody Archipelago could no longer remain calm!

Every one of them looked as if they'd been struck by lightning, hair standing on end and faces frozen!

And it wasn't only happening in the Sabaody Archipelago!

At that very moment, in Zou, homeland of the Mink Tribe.

On Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters beneath the sea.

On Amazon Lily, the land known as the island of women.

In the Alabasta Kingdom on the Grand Line.

In Flevance, before it became the White Town.

In Dressrosa in the New World.

In the Goa Kingdom of the East Blue.

In Water 7, and countless other places!

People across the world looked as startled as boars that had stepped on land mines!

The World Government had deployed four of the Marines' finest fighters and the Five Elders—nine Admiral-level powerhouses in all!

They had also sent dozens of elite Vice Admirals and CP0 agents!

That was nearly every fighting force the World Government and Marine Headquarters could muster!

Yet nineteen Celestial Dragons had still died at the hands of the Rocks Pirates!

In an instant, the Rocks Pirates became even more feared than before!

Above all, there was that monstrous prodigy known as Rono, the Most Evil Criminal!

After three quiet months, the name of the Most Evil Criminal once again swept across the world!

And just like the previous two times, it had to do with the Celestial Dragons!

In Golden City, all nineteen Celestial Dragons had died by Rono's hand!

He had faced a Sword-Wielding Five Elder alone!

In a short span of time, he had severed the elder's arm with a single sword stroke and stolen his Supreme Grade Sword, the First Generation Kitetsu!

It was Rono's entry into the fray that had shattered the balance between the two sides in an instant!

Rumor even had it that Rono's strength had surpassed that of an Admiral-level powerhouse!

The full accounts and details of the battle left people around the world staring in disbelief!

All nineteen Celestial Dragons were dead. Not one had escaped!

The Marines' and World Government's aura of invincibility seemed to have been broken!

The result shook people across the world to their core!

Could they still preserve the balance of the world? Could the Marines still uphold justice?

Or were the World Government and Marine Headquarters no longer capable of containing the Rocks Pirates?

People around the world, and even many nations, fell into panic.

The credibility of the Marines and the World Government took an unprecedented blow!

Rocks, Rono, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion had all distinguished themselves in the incident!

The world came to hail them as legendary pirates!

After that battle, bounties soared across the entire Rocks Pirates crew!

Captain Rocks: bounty, 5.388 billion Beli!