"What... what did you say?"
"Rocks... resurrected?"
"Brother Quinn, you're joking, right? Rocks has been dead for decades. The dead can't come back!"
"Exactly! Quinn, this must be fake news. It's impossible—how can someone rise from the dead?!"
Gasps and shouts filled the hall.
On Onigashima, within the heavily guarded central chamber of the Beasts Pirates, panic began to ripple. Veterans of the old era—pirates who had witnessed Rocks D. Xebec's tyranny firsthand—were suddenly dragged back into their worst memories.
They knew his name too well.
After all, many present once sailed under the Rocks Pirates banner... or fought against it.
Quinn, wiping sweat from his forehead, held up the newspaper. "I know how it sounds… but this issue carries the seagull emblem."
That symbol silenced the room.
The seagull marked an official World Government / Marine publication—the most credible source of news in the world, second only to the World Economic Journal.
This wasn't random New World rumor. This was sanctioned information.
"The Marines issued this themselves?"
Gasps erupted again. Even skeptics began to waver.
If the Marine Headquarters had issued such a claim, it couldn't be dismissed lightly. The Marines had no reason to risk their credibility on a lie of this scale.
After all, they'd fought at God Valley. They knew who Rocks was. They knew who betrayed him.
Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, Ochoku, John, Silver Axe—six traitors who turned on their captain during the most pivotal battle of the era.
Now, Rocks was back.
From the Marine's perspective, Rocks would inevitably seek revenge on the surviving traitors.
Which meant... chaos.
The Marines weren't spreading fear—they were sowing strategic destabilization.
A weakened pirate world was a win for them.
Kaido, seated in the center of the chamber, stared down at the paper. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping in silence.
"Kaido… what do you think?" Jhin asked quietly. "Is this true… or not?"
Kaido took a long breath. His hands clenched around the paper.
"If this came from the Marines… I doubt it's fake. They wouldn't risk their credibility for something like this."
Even for someone like Kaido, a man who once called himself the strongest creature in the world, the name Rocks D. Xebec evoked raw fear.
He didn't believe it—but he couldn't dismiss it either.
"Rocks... is really back?"
"If someone who stood at the top of the world during the old era has returned," a pirate muttered, "this sea is about to go through hell."
"Damn it! Ayr alone already has us all on the back foot—and now this?! If Rocks is alive again, we're completely screwed!"
The murmurs became a storm of voices.
They all knew Ayr—the unchallenged monster of the current age. No pirate crew, not even the Beasts or Big Mom Pirates, had been able to stop him.
And now, Rocks, the nightmare of the past, had resurfaced?
"What kind of chaos is about to descend on the sea now…?"
Suddenly—
"Tap tap tap!"
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed outside the hall.
Several pirates burst in, breathless, newspapers in hand, eyes wide with terror.
"Bad news, Boss Kaido! Rocks... Rocks has really been resurrected!"
"You idiots!" Quinn barked, spinning toward them. "Kaido already knows! Stop yelling and let him think!"
He couldn't afford any distractions now. Rocks' return meant the entire power structure could collapse. The next moves Kaido made would determine their survival.
"Sorry, Brother Quinn! We didn't know the news had reached you already…"
"We thought maybe... you hadn't seen it yet. It also says that it was Ayr who resurrected Rocks—"
"What?"
Quinn froze.
His eyes narrowed, and his voice dropped.
"What did you just say...?"
The papers Quinn had first read made no mention of Ayr in connection with the resurrection.
This... was new.
"Did Ayr really resurrect Rocks?"
A pirate stammered, "T-That's what it says... it's confirmed in this update..."
"Hey, hey, if that's true—doesn't that mean they've joined forces?!"
"One ruled the old era... the other dominates the current age. If those two are now allies… they could—no—they will rule the entire world!"
The words chilled the air like winter.
They all knew Ayr's terrifying power firsthand.
And most of them knew about Rocks not from stories—but from experience. He was more than a pirate. He was a monster.
Now those two monsters were on the same side.
"Bring those papers. Now!" Quinn snapped.
He stormed over, snatching the updated editions from the hands of the terrified pirates. He flipped through rapidly.
And then, he stopped cold.
His face drained of color. He staggered back two steps, a cold sweat erupting down his spine.
"It's true... Ayr and Rocks joined forces. They killed John, Ochoku, Silver Axe... even Byrnndi Wald."
Kaido's pupils shrank.
He shot to his feet.
"What?! John, Ochoku, and Silver Axe... are dead?!"
Those three were more than names. They were Kaido's former comrades. They had fought together under Rocks, betrayed him together at God Valley.
Now they were dead.
And it wasn't just Rocks who struck them down.
It was Rocks... and Ayr.
That realization sent a chill down Kaido's spine.
If Rocks had come for revenge... he'd already started.
And Kaido knew what that meant:
He was next.
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