Rocks and Marine Headquarters

On the island stood an enormous skull-shaped building, with vast heaps of treasure piled inside.

In the dim light, a figure sat silently atop a solitary throne.

He was not particularly large, but the power he held was terrifying.

This was Rocks D. Zebek, captain of the Rocks Pirates and leader of a criminal empire.

On these seas, a question could have many answers.

But!

If you asked!

Who was the most terrifying monster in the world?

Who was the strongest man on these seas?

There was only one answer: Rocks D. Zebek.

He had once faced all three admirals of Marine Headquarters alone and held his ground. That feat had made his name known across the seas.

He was the most terrifying monster on the seas!

Marine Admirals were the Navy's supreme combatants, the public face of the World Government.

Yet even together, they could do nothing against one pirate.

That had happened ten years ago. It had thrust the Rocks Pirates, formed less than two years earlier, into the spotlight and made them a major threat to the World Government.

The Navy and the World Government had lost face. Doubts had spread among the Affiliated Nations, some of which no longer believed the Navy could protect them.

They wanted to break away from the World Government and build naval forces of their own.

The World Government could not allow that. It had long forbidden and suppressed the Affiliated Nations' efforts to develop naval forces, even passing a law specifically to keep them dependent on it.

But that depended on the World Government and the Navy protecting their interests. If they failed and losses mounted high enough, the law would inevitably be repealed.

That was why, after failing to make headway in the war against the Rocks Pirates, the World Government and the Navy needed to demonstrate their strength.

They set their sights on "Grim Reaper" Jaeger, who was nearly as formidable as Rocks, intending to cut off one of the Rocks Pirates' arms.

Together, those two monsters posed a grave threat to the World Government's rule.

The World Government paid a terrible price for it.

Afterward, it also had to face Rocks's furious retaliation.

But by making much of "Grim Reaper" Jaeger's death and downplaying its own losses, it had achieved enough to give the Affiliated Nations an answer.

Then, drawing on its vast resources, the World Government quickly filled the Navy's two vacant admiral posts and stabilized the seas.

That also spared the World Government further turmoil. Once the Affiliated Nations began building their own forces, the Heavenly Tribute they paid would surely shrink. They would no longer need to rely so heavily on the Navy—or on the World Government.

And Rocks was only forty-nine now.

He was far more formidable than he had been ten years ago. No one knew how strong he had become.

Rocks D. Zebek, who could keep so many monsters in line, was a monster among monsters.

Rocks read the news that had reached him, then tossed his bottle aside.

There was anticipation in his eyes. He looked forward to Hades's arrival.

Hades would come to him eventually. That could not be changed.

He knew it, and so did the Navy and the World Government.

It was easy enough to see coming.

But that was all. Hades was still only Jaeger's son, a young kid.

Given his ties to Jaeger, Rocks could look after him a little. The boy was an old friend's child, after all, and even pirates had their code.

But if Hades proved hopeless and useless, Rocks would show no mercy.

Pirates lived by their own rules. Once Hades joined the Rocks Pirates, he would have to follow theirs. If he failed to show the potential he should have, he would not be worth supporting.

Even if he was Jaeger's son—no, in that case, he would not deserve to be called Jaeger's son. His very existence would bring shame on Jaeger.

There was no hurry, though. Rocks knew Nyx well enough to understand that she loved her son too much to send Hades aboard his ship so soon.

Hades was still too young, only twelve.

If he joined the Rocks Pirates without enough strength, the blows he suffered might break him for good.

It had happened to countless pirates. They had set out to sea full of themselves, been defeated, joined the Rocks Pirates, and suffered one crushing setback after another.

In the end, they had fallen apart instead of finding the resolve to keep going.

Without the spirit to match their talent, they were never going to amount to anything.

Beneath the Rocks Pirates' ranks of monsters lay heaps of corpses.

And the pirates whose hopes and dreams had been shattered were beyond counting.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

"The worst has happened." Black, the current Fleet Admiral, sighed and frowned.

"Fleet Admiral, he's just a kid. Do we really need to take him so seriously?" Marine Admiral "Steel Bone" Kong asked, puzzled.

"There was only one Jaeger. How could another appear?"

"Who can guarantee there won't be?" Black replied. "The direct line of the Tartarus Family has never produced a weakling. And he's Jaeger's child."

"Even if he never matches Jaeger, sooner or later he'll become a powerful figure known across the seas. How far behind could he really be? Even at half Jaeger's strength, he'd be a formidable enemy—and a threat to us."

"After all, our losses in that battle were enormous."

Black sighed again. Half the Navy's high-end combatants had died fighting Jaeger.

The Navy still had not recovered.

The Death-Death Fruit's killing power had been terrifying. For countless people, it had become the stuff of nightmares.

Combined with Jaeger's overwhelming strength, it had struck at the Navy's lifeblood like a blade.

Black was already over seventy and had long intended to retire, but that day remained far out of reach.

He likely could not step down until the threat of the Rocks Pirates was gone.

Changing fleet admirals at a time like this would have serious consequences. Besides, the Navy still needed his strength. Kong could not hold the line alone.

Black might even die in battle before then. He was prepared for it.

After hearing Black's explanation, Steel Bone Kong grew grave. He no longer dismissed the matter.

The threat Hades posed kept rising in his mind.

As Black had said, even if Hades fell short of Jaeger, how far short would he be?

He would pose a greater threat to the World Government and the Navy than almost any pirate alive.

Someone like that needed to be eliminated while he was still young, before he could grow strong.

Kong had been too shortsighted, concerned only with the present and not the future. That was what he lacked.

"Then we need to find Nyx as soon as possible," Steel Bone Kong said firmly, killing intent in his eyes. "We have to kill that brat before he grows strong."

"I've already sent people to do it. Every Marine Base in the New World will be watching."

But despite his words, Black held out little hope. Even when Hades had been hiding in the Kronos Kingdom, the Navy had struggled to get to him.

They had lost quite a few men without even reaching the Royal Palace.

The World Government, with greater resources in that field, had failed. What could the Navy do?

Now that Hades had left, the only place he was likely headed was the Rocks Pirates—territory the Navy could not reach.

It was already too late to intercept the Black Night Pirates' ship.