Hearing Rocks' overbearing voice, Newgate felt extremely uncomfortable despite having anticipated this outcome.
Uharu, beaten black and blue, was like a Landlord encountering the Axe Gang, silently burying his head in the dirt to play dead.
He even used his hands to scoop up piles of mud to cover the sides of his face.
He no longer had the face to meet Newgate's eyes.
"Even though Captain Uharu has already lost me as a bet, I still want to compete with you as a combatant of the Whale Pirates!"
"If I win, I win myself back. If I lose, I will willingly become your crew member from now on."
"Are you willing to accept this game?!"
Newgate was unwilling to let others control his future like this, and he looked coldly at Rocks.
He wanted to use his own fists to fight against fate.
"worororo, you've got guts! As expected of the man destined to be a top Executive of the Rocks Pirates!"
"I accept!"
"The event and the rules are still for you to decide. I'm going to make you lose so convincingly that you'll have no complaints!"
Rocks grinned and laughed loudly; he could already feel the astonishing aura emanating from Newgate.
This guy possessed the qualities of a King!
Perhaps Edward Newgate, this eighteen-year-old Little Giant, would awaken Haoshoku Haki even faster than Fang Huo.
That fellow Fang Huo still had too many distractions in his mind.
He was also putting too much focus on Devil Fruits.
In that case, it would be somewhat detrimental to awakening the Three Types of Haki.
It seemed he needed to lash Fang Huo more often.
Beating Fang Huo daily to squeeze out his potential.
Rocks couldn't imagine what heights Fang Huo would reach in the future, possessing nine Devil Fruit abilities and the Three Types of Haki.
Of course, with so many abilities while also having to balance the Three Types of Haki, could a brat like Fang Huo really cultivate them all?
After all, a person's energy is limited; it is difficult to be a master of everything.
Being a jack of all trades often means being a master of none.
Every ability might end up being only half-baked.
--- "Then let's fight! Let me see how strong the worlds worst pirate really is!"
Edward Newgate activated his Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability, and a transparent fluorescent sphere appeared over his fist.
At this time, Newgate had not yet obtained the supreme grade meito: murakumo cutter.
His fists and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability were his strongest methods of attack.
"worororo, it really is the Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability, the one hailed as the Paramecia Type ability with the greatest destructive power!"
"Let's see how much of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power you can bring out!"
Rocks laughed wildly. As a descendant of the Davy Clan, just like the future Blackbeard Teach, he had long ago memorized the devil fruit encyclopedia cover to cover.
He had a very deep understanding of most Devil Fruit abilities.
This Edward Newgate, just as Fang Huo had predicted, possessed this powerful Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability.
Rocks just didn't understand why Fang Huo didn't covet this Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability and instead wanted that Magnet-Magnet Fruit ability.
Was it really just because that Captain John would betray the Rocks Pirates in the future, which is why Fang Huo set his sights on the Magnet-Magnet Fruit ability?
It seemed that Fang Huo still had some principles and a sense of duty; he didn't completely treat Rocks as his hired muscle.
At least he spared some thought for the expansion of the Rocks Pirates.
--- 'Air Shatter!!'
'Hell: Cannon Roar!'
Newgate took the initiative to attack, throwing a vibration-enhanced punch, while Rocks swung his saber with one hand, unleashing a terrifying shockwave from his Cannon Roar sword technique.
"BOOM!!!"
The vibration wave and the shockwave sword qi collided violently.
In an instant, the earth cracked, the sea surface overturned, and the shockwaves spread rapidly in circles... The terrifying destructive power made Babel and Sanbel's eyes widen.
This destructive power was simply too exaggerated!
Uharu had thought Newgate had already surpassed him, but he truly didn't expect Newgate to have become this strong.
It turned out Newgate had been hiding most of his combat strength!
He suddenly felt a bit envious and jealous of the Devil Fruit Newgate had accidentally eaten.
To think he had completely surpassed him in just a few short years and was now countless times stronger than him.
"Uha~"
The current Edward Newgate was still too young; he was no match for Rocks at all.
After only a second or two of stalemate,
Newgate was blasted away by Rocks' Cannon Roar sword technique, coughing up a large mouthful of blood.
His Little Giant body flew back hundreds of meters, carving a deep trench into the ground.
This scene was even more exaggerated than when Roger used 'Divine Departure' to instant-kill Kozuki Oden.
"That guy Rocks! His hand is always so heavy!"
Fang Huo began to complain. He had been beaten quite badly by Rocks these past few days and knew the feeling well.
Rocks, that brute, would even use heavy hands on little kids like Loki, even going so far as to cruelly stab Loki with several long swords without any mercy.
Newgate's eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.
Rocks' strength far exceeded his imagination!
"worororo, not bad, not bad! Being able to take one of my moves makes you much stronger than that brat Fang Huo!"
Rocks was very satisfied with Newgate's great strength and ability, immediately acknowledging this new member.
"Heh, why drag me into this? I wonder who it was that encountered Imu and only dared to leave some tough words before running away."
Fang Huo was a bit displeased by Rocks calling him out and muttered back directly.
"Brat, do you want to taste my Supreme Elbow Smash again!"
Rocks glared fiercely at Fang Huo. Do I not need to save face?
Why bring that up!
"..."
Faced with Rocks' elbow smash warning, Fang Huo decisively followed his heart and shut up. After all, that Supreme Elbow Smash really hurt!
It was probably dozens of times stronger than Garp's 'Fist of Love'.
Not only was it imbued with Armament Haki, but he would even use Haki Infusion.
This brute's hands were just that ruthless, with no sense of restraint!
Fang Huo chose to ignore Rocks' teasing gaze and flew over to Newgate's side, using his Gravity Ability to make the injured Newgate float up.
"Hey, you okay? This Captain of ours has such heavy hands. After all, he can even take down a Marine Admiral; this was just a normal move for him."
"We'll be partners from now on!"
"If you're willing to call me Brother Huo, we'll be family from now on!"
Fang Huo flew over and spoke leisurely, taking the initiative to build some goodwill with Newgate.
Since he hadn't chosen to kill Newgate to take the Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability, becoming good friends and partners with the loyal Newgate seemed like a good choice.
After all, Newgate valued loyalty and sentiment very highly.
"A brat like you wants to be my big brother? No way!"
Newgate coughed up some blood and spoke with a bit of annoyance.
However, his attitude towards Fang Huo had indeed become much friendlier.
Partners, family—these were the things he had always been pursuing!
"This is a healing medicine from Fish-Man Island."
Fang Huo handed some medicine to Newgate. Perhaps given Newgate's massive size, calling Fang Huo 'brother' would indeed feel a bit awkward for him.
"Thanks."
Newgate did not refuse Fang Huo's kindness. He felt that this little guy who could 'order' Rocks around was very mysterious and filled him with curiosity.
"Is this your ability?"
Newgate felt as if he were weightless, floating in the air; it was quite a comfortable feeling.
"Paramecia Type: Gravity Ability. It's a pretty good Paramecia ability!"
Fang Huo smiled faintly. The Gravity Ability he developed was more refined than Fujitora Issho's, with many practical daily moves.