Beneath Skull Castle.
"Lady Linlin has blocked Lord Silver Axe!!"
"Could it be that Kiel Bastard has been accepted by Captain Rocks?"
"Damn it! Kiel Bastard actually passed the test just like that."
"Ahahaha, so getting past Silver Axe means you can become one of the Rocks Pirates' Executives."
—Countless pirates were boiling with excitement.
Within this single day, both the Smuggler Great Pirate Ganzi and the Four-Armed Gun King Kiel Bastard successfully joined the Rocks Pirates.
If a few more powerhouses show up, the Rocks Pirates' Executive roster will truly dominate the entire New World.
"That guy really became an Executive of the Rocks Pirates?"
Shock flickered in Bolo Gram's dead-fish eyes.
All of a sudden he felt that it didn't seem that hard.
He believed he was no weaker than Silver Axe, even feeling he was a tiny bit stronger.
Didn't that mean that, if he wanted, he had at least a sixty-percent chance of joining the Rocks Pirates?
But Bolo Gram glanced at his own crew; he still preferred free adventures with his mates.
He had no intention of stepping up to challenge Silver Axe.
Besides, right now Silver Axe was in a towering rage—probably not easy to handle.
He kept watching the show with his crew, watching the throng of strongmen challenge the two tigers blocking the path—Golden Lion Shiki and Silver Axe.
"Could you sneak your way into the Rocks Pirates?"
Or maybe anyone with a special ability can join...
Baccarat Stussy watched Kiel Bastard, who had successfully ascended Skull Mountain.
She wondered if, by quietly bypassing Golden Lion and Silver Axe to climb up, Rocks would recruit her.
Stussy calculated her odds of success.
But doing it that way, there was probably a fifty-fifty chance Rocks would kill her without mercy.
Stussy didn't have the guts to gamble like that.
'What should I do?'
Stussy looked distressed; finding a thick thigh to hug really wasn't easy.
Still, she hadn't given up on the idea of joining the Rocks Pirates.
She planned to use her advantage—her beauty—to attract the Captain Rocks and his first mate Fang Huo.
She refused to believe these pirates weren't lechers.
—Night.
Paradise Island blazed with lights; countless pirates were reveling.
The dazzling lights of the Ground-Burst Heavenly Star skull-eyes shone like a lighthouse, letting seafaring pirates see the twin eyes of Skull Mountain sparkling.
As first mate, Fang Huo personally threw a welcome banquet for the two newcomers, helping Ganzi and Kiel Bastard integrate into the Rocks Pirates as quickly as possible.
In the past, Golden Lion Shiki and Silver Axe—those two sworn enemies—usually did the verbal sparring.
But now Silver Axe was staring holes into the new enemy Kiel Bastard, ignoring Shiki, his old love-and-hate rival!
"Hehahaha, Fierce, Bas is now our Executive—kindly rein in your killing intent."
"Besides, this is the Rocks Pirates' welcome banquet; Fang Huo has forbidden all Executives from fighting on the day a rookie joins."
Golden Lion Shiki kept fanning the flames and needling the hot-headed Silver Axe, seemingly eager to watch Fierce and Kiel Bastard come to blows.
On this ship of the Rocks Pirates, Captain Rocks set the sole rule: power above all, the strong are supreme.
Then first mate Fang Huo added the rule that a welcome banquet must be held and fighting is forbidden that day.
Under the steadfast upkeep of Newgate, Babel, and Sanbel, even Shiki and Fierce didn't dare offend the so-called pseudo-first mate Fang Huo.
"Shiki, can you please pipe down."
"Fierce, let this humiliation teach you: never underestimate any opponent!"
"On these seas, the bizarre powers of Devil Fruit users are endless; one slip and you'll tumble."
In a real fight, you might already be dead by ambush."
Fang Huo gave Shiki a calm glance, then 'enlightened' the stubborn, face-saving hothead Fierce.
"Hmph!!"
Silver Axe slowly reined in his killing intent toward Kiel Bastard, but he would never forget today's disgrace.
Sooner or later he would reclaim the face he'd lost today.
Still, Fang Huo was right—today he had indeed been careless.
Kiel Bastard's Ghost-Ghost Fruit power was so weird that even his Armament Haki hadn't blocked it.
That made Silver Axe's obsession with obtaining a powerful Devil Fruit peak once more.
Watching these two newcomers and the other old Executives—each a mighty Devil Fruit user—Silver Axe felt more and more aggrieved.
Now, apart from the invincible Captain Rocks and the two Fishmen Sanbel and Babel, he was the only one on board without a Devil Fruit ability.
"Heh, no hard feelings! Brother Silver Axe, let me toast you—surely you're not that small-minded?"
Seeing Fang Huo's lofty status in the Rocks Pirates, Kiel Bastard instantly decided to hug that big thigh.
He realized that the world's worst pirate, Rocks, didn't seem to run the crew's affairs.
The Captain even wanted to watch them fight one another; it was first mate Fang Huo who kept order on board.
It was as if Fang Huo were the real manager of the ship.
"Next time I'll beat you up good and proper!"
Hearing Kiel Bastard's goad, Silver Axe could only gulp his wine with a vicious glare.
"Tsk, with your guts, even if Sanbel and I awaken Haoshoku, you probably never will."
The huge Fishman Babel spoke, his eyes showing disdain for Silver Axe.
Under the guidance of the two big shots Fang Huo and Newgate, his strength had grown fast; now he feared Silver Axe even less.
Next time his bounty would probably surpass Silver Axe's and his rank rise another notch.
"Bastard!"
Silver Axe was furious; apart from Devil Fruit powers, the qualification for Haoshoku was another obsession in his heart.
He looked at the overbearing Golden Lion Shiki and the calm Whitebeard Newgate—those bastards with kingly caliber.
Even Fang Huo, that weakling Rocks scolded daily for physical issues, now seemed to carry a vague pressure and aura.
He suddenly realized Fang Huo felt a bit different.
Could Fang Huo be about to awaken Conqueror's Haki?
"If a man can't accept his own defeat, he won't walk far in the future."
Newgate shook his head slightly; Silver Axe's temperament really couldn't even match Babel's.
"..."
Silver Axe felt malice from the whole world, as if every crewmate looked down on him.
It nearly made him completely lose his composure!
"Humble birth is no disgrace; bending and stretching—now that's true manliness!"
"Fierce, without royal blood, to become a first-generation Haoshoku awakener you must make up your mind."
Seeing everyone mocking Silver Axe, Fang Huo spoke up when Fierce stood alone.
With Fang Huo's words, Silver Axe's frozen heart felt warm sunshine, a thing called 'being moved' sprouting inside.
He suddenly felt that sly Prophet Fang Huo was like a big family head, stirring him deeply.
No wonder so many crewmates respected Fang Huo; now he too felt himself falling, wanting to stay near this warm sun.
—