Power Was Everything

The change set off quite a chain reaction.

The larger a power grew, the more it wanted stability—and the more it feared losing control.

The New World was now the Rocks Pirates' domain. Even with the Marines returning in such force, many still believed the Rocks Pirates held an overwhelming advantage.

Even the factions of the Underworld had submitted to the Rocks Pirates, openly or otherwise.

The center of the New World was now Hachinosu.

Most rising pirates were drawn into the Rocks Pirates.

And with the Rocks Pirates recruiting, those two would very likely get in if they wanted to join.

To low-ranking pirates like them, the pair were unbeatable powerhouses. People that strong might well join the Rocks Pirates.

As for the possibility that they were nobles—were nobles so rare among the Rocks Pirates?

Nobles, fallen nobles, giants, Fish-Men, members of the Mink Tribe, and all manner of other peoples. There were too many to count.

It was a jumble of every kind of person. For all its vicious competition, the crew was remarkably accepting, provided you were strong enough.

At this point, tensions between the Marines and the Rocks Pirates were steadily rising. The atmosphere was strained across most regions, especially New World Central.

Everyone feared being caught in a conflict that had nothing to do with them.

Islands and towns that became battlefields were usually left in ruins.

The Rocks Pirates did not care whether civilians lived or died, while the Marines struggled to keep them safe.

The threat of war grew stronger by the day.

Perhaps those two would become important figures someday, giving the locals a story to boast about.

There were usually two ways to join the Rocks Pirates. The first was through the recruitment drives they held on Hachinosu every so often.

Each one was a terrifying battle to the death. More than ten thousand pirates seeking to join slaughtered one another, and only a tenth survived.

Those who lived were the best of the lot.

After all, the Rocks Pirates were recruiting cannon fodder. Their standards were not especially high.

Those who performed exceptionally well could become full members of the Rocks Pirates, or even officers.

Two of the Rocks Pirates' rising stars, Shiki the "Lion Ghost" and Edward Newgate, had emerged from those trials.

Before they truly came into their own, they had only modest reputations. The Rocks Pirates gave them the stage on which to make their names known far and wide.

The second path was for pirates who had already made a name for themselves and showed great potential. The Rocks Pirates would take notice and send someone to invite them.

Shakky, for instance, was already famous when the Rocks Pirates sent Nyx to recruit her.

The clearest example was Charlotte Linlin, the "Natural Destroyer." Her bounty reached an astonishing 500 million Beli with only her second wanted poster.

Even Chinjao the Drill's bounty, more than twenty years later, was only 500 million.

Charlotte Linlin's immense potential had already become real strength, more than enough for her to find a place among the Rocks Pirates.

What was more, Captain Rocks D. Zebek had invited her personally, showing just how highly he valued her.

She was only fifteen at the time, but she was already an extraordinarily powerful fighter.

When Charlotte Linlin first joined the Rocks Pirates, her standing aboard the ship was far higher than Shiki's or Edward Newgate's.

Word of the incident spread quickly across the island.

Before long, everyone knew that two fearsome figures had arrived—two people no one could afford to offend.

In secret, some took photographs and passed word to their superiors.

Others waited eagerly to see what the island's Underground Forces would do next.

To their disappointment, those factions did nothing at all, as though nothing had happened.

The day before Hades arrived, the powers behind those factions had already been warned. They did not dare offend him.

After all, the Rocks Pirates stood behind Hades.

His mother, Nyx, had returned to the Rocks Pirates some time ago and now controlled their intelligence network. To a certain extent, she could speak for the crew.

A single phone call from her had scared them witless.

That saved Hades considerable trouble.

Otherwise, he would have had to spend some effort dealing with them.

With his strength, he could have slaughtered everyone on the island if he wanted to.

From then on, his mother began watching over him from the shadows.

Besides, the Kronos Kingdom was keeping track of Hades's every move. It must have received word in advance.

The kingdom had trading partnerships with numerous powers and controlled the Trade Routes leading to the Four Seas.

If it had put in a word, no faction foolish enough to bother Hades would come forward.

And that was how things played out. The dead were nothing but scum of the sea—what did it matter to those powers?

At most, they would suffer a little financial loss. That was hardly worth mentioning.

The Kent Auction House was named after Kent Island and run jointly by several Underground Forces.

It held an auction roughly every three months, though a Devil Fruit did not come up very often.

Most of the time, anyone who obtained a Devil Fruit would give it to one of their own to eat.

A Devil Fruit with abilities as good as the Mantis Fruit's—top-tier even among ordinary Zoans—was a rare sight.

The fruit had drawn plenty of factions and pirates to the island.

That, in turn, boosted the island's economy. The powers running it certainly knew how to do business, using Devil Fruits and other treasures to draw a crowd.

It was a standard auction-house tactic.