Time flies by, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
In a room in Hachinosu.
A man with a spiky, afro-like hairstyle knelt on a cushion with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, the man opened his eyes, two beams of light shooting out from them, and then he slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
The man was none other than Rocks, and a hint of joy graced his face.
"Almost there! It won't be long before I master the Observation Haki Killer' technique!"
"Once I master the Observation Haki Killer' technique, I'll fear no one! Not even those five old geezers!"
As he said this, for some reason, a figure flashed through Rocks's mind.
The joy on his face slowly faded, replaced by a serious expression.
This person is Xia Chen!
To be honest, Rocks knows about Xia Chen right now is that he is mysterious and incredibly powerful.
Mystery aside, everyone has secrets, right?
But sheer strength is crucial. Although Xia Chen has made two moves, to be honest, he couldn't estimate Xia Chen's strength based on those two battles at all.
But he was certain that Xia Chen's Three Types of Haki was superior to his own, and he also possessed that extremely powerful crimson flame.
Now, Rocks no longer has the confidence he had when he first met Xia Chen. Even if he were to use his hidden abilities now, he wouldn't be confident that he could defeat Xia Chen.
After all, no one knows if Xia Chen is hiding anything.
Just like this Observation Haki Killer, he had never heard of a technique that could nullify Observation Haki before.
Most importantly, Xia Chen was actually willing to teach them this move without holding anything back.
Rocks would never believe that Xia Chen's reason—that he possessed great love and was willing to share selflessly—was because he had to die for her.
There is only one answer!
That means Xia Chen simply doesn't care!
In Xia Chen's view, even if they possessed the ability to use the Observation Haki Killer, it still posed no threat to him.
Otherwise, there's no way to explain why Xia Chen did this.
Thinking about this gave Rocks a headache.
The sudden appearance of someone as powerful as Xia Chen might affect his plans.
He wasn't confident he could stop the other party if they really wanted to sabotage his plans.
However, it seems that Xia Chen doesn't have any such plans at the moment.
After thinking about it for a while Rocks stopped thinking about it.
Let's wait until it actually happens before we talk about it. There's no point in thinking about it now. After all, he's not Xia Chen and doesn't know what Xia Chen is thinking.
As for now...
Rocks slowly got up and walked out of the room.
Soon, all the high-ranking Rocks Pirates gathered in the main hall of the central castle, including the two captains and various officers.
After scanning the crowd, Rocks stood up and said:
"My latest news is that in three days, Heavenly Tribute will be transported from the Vatali Kingdom to Mary Geoise!"
"Given the situation Shiki encountered last time, this operation requires at least three officers to guarantee success!"
"So, does anyone have any ideas on how to intercept this batch of Heavenly Tribute?"
Originally, Rocks intended to take action personally, but now mastering the Observation Haki Killer was more important to him than seizing the Heavenly Tribute.
And as he said, if one cadre isn't enough, just send more, right?
After speaking Rocks glanced around at everyone again, but did not look at Xia Chen.
Because Xia Chen is now on equal footing with him, he has no right to order him around.
Upon hearing this, several cadres showed expressions of interest.
They were quite interested in the idea of hijacking the Heavenly Tribute.
Because Rocks would provide them with every piece of news about the Celestial Gold, but he didn't take the Celestial Gold they hijacked; they distributed it all among themselves.
If the Navy or the World Government cause trouble afterward, Rocks will even back them up.
This is why they were willing to stay with the Rocks Pirates.
They usually don't have much to do, and only occasionally are they given tasks, for which they are generously rewarded.
They'll even help take responsibility if something goes wrong, isn't that great?
However, although these cadres were all interested in the Heavenly Tribute, they did not speak immediately, but instead all looked at Xia Chen sitting in front of them.
They no longer have only one captain, Rocks; they need to hear the new captain's opinion.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Xia Chen calmly stood up and said:
"I'll go! It's a good opportunity to have some fun!"
Then he turned his gaze to the Whitebeard and asked:
" Newgate, are you coming with me too?"
"Good!"
Whitebeard nodded and stood up as well.
Seeing that Xia Chen had spoken, the others naturally stopped mentioning that they wanted to go.
They were indeed somewhat interested in the Heavenly Tribute, but since Xia Chen had already said he was going, they naturally didn't dare to go against Xia Chen.
Putting aside the fact that Xia Chen's strength far surpasses theirs, just the fact that Xia Chen was willing to teach them the Observation Haki Killer technique makes it impossible for them not to give Xia Chen face.
Even in the brutal world of pirates, there is still a sense of justice and righteousness!
" Xia Chen, if you're willing to go, then there's definitely no problem!"
A smile appeared on Rocks ' face as he looked at Xia Chen and said.
Xia Chen nodded, then walked towards the door.
The Vatali Kingdom is quite a distance from Hachinosu, so we definitely need to set off early.
If you go early, you can have some fun there; if you go late, it will be difficult to find a transport ship.
In short, it's better to do it sooner rather than later!
Not long after, a pirate ship sailed away from the port.
Besides Xia Chen and Whitebeard, the ship also carried several captains under Whitebeard's command and some ordinary crew members.
There's one more person!
"Boss Xia Chen, here's the tea you ordered!"
A tall man with two horns on his head held a cup of tea and spoke respectfully to Xia Chen.
Xia Chen took the tea from his hand, took a small sip, let out a comfortable sigh, and then looked at the man and said:
" Kaido! Not bad! Your talent for making tea is even better than your talent for cultivation!"
That's right, this person is Kaido.
After Kaido woke up that day, Kerr told him what Xia Chen had told him.
After much deliberation and enduring the pain, Kaido went to find Xia Chen.
What happened next was quite simple. Xia Chen saw Kaido's potential and was willing to help him improve his strength, but on the condition that he join his crew.
Kaido agreed without hesitation.
Moreover, after Xia Chen significantly improved his strength during this period, Kaido now treats Xia Chen with utmost respect!
He'll do whatever you tell him to do! He didn't even hesitate when Xia Chen asked Kaido to take down Rocks.
That's how Xia Chen discovered that Kaido actually had a unique talent for making tea!
Hmm! It seems that Kaido's training really did hold him back!
I wonder how he compares to those tea masters from his past life~