I got sick, so I'm taking a short break. My head's been dizzy, and even sitting in front of the computer, I just can't write anything. I'll make up for it once I'm feeling better. For today, there'll only be one update for now.
Also, thank you all so much for the flowers and monthly tickets. I truly appreciate the support.
PS: This chapter is 4,000 words and serves as compensation for yesterday's missed update.
At this moment, it was already close to noon.
After an entire morning of physical training, Is, Uchiha Madara, and the others were sitting beneath the shade of the courtyard trees, discussing various matters.
"Found anything?"
After taking a sip of red wine, Madara turned his gaze toward Is.
Is shook his head.
"Nothing for now. The Celestial Dragons here don't seem to know much either. What they do isn't particularly special—pretty much the same as Mary Geoise."
"Could it be that the so-called secret hidden in God Valley is just bait created by the higher-ups to lure you here?"
Acnologia leaned lazily against his chair and casually voiced his opinion.
"That's possible."
Yoriichi nodded slightly, agreeing with Acnologia's speculation.
However, Is firmly believed that God Valley truly hid a secret belonging to the Celestial Dragons.
After all, in the original story, this was where the Rocks Pirates had fallen.
As the second major stronghold of the Celestial Dragons, Rocks would never have come here without a reason—especially considering the large amount of Marine forces stationed nearby.
Rocks wasn't the type to seek trouble for no reason.
If he had been willing to pay such a huge price to come here, then there had to be something in God Valley that he desperately needed.
It was just that… Is still hadn't found it yet.
"They really hid it well."
Muttering to himself, Is slowly raised his hand.
Sheets of paper peeled away from his fingertips, transforming into butterfly-like forms before flapping their wings and flying into the sky.
Clearly, these were scouting butterflies.
With them, Is could monitor the movements of the Celestial Dragons at all times.
And perhaps… they might even unexpectedly uncover the secret of God Valley.
Just as the discussion was about to continue, Tatsumaki suddenly flew over in a hurry, clutching a newspaper.
"This is bad… this is bad, Is!!!"
Everyone turned to look at her, their faces filled with confusion.
"What happened? Why are you so nervous?" Yoriichi asked.
"Don't tell me… pirates are attacking God Valley? If that's the case, then it's not exactly bad news," Madara said with a faint smile.
Tatsumaki ignored them entirely.
She rushed straight to Is, handed him the newspaper, and hurriedly said:
"Rocks… Rocks is still alive!!"
The moment those words fell, everyone's expressions changed drastically.
But Is remained completely calm inside.
After all, ever since he had taught Senju Hashirama Haki, he had already known.
Not only was Rocks alive—
Even Whitebeard was still alive.
"Hm? Is and I already knew that."
Hashirama, who sat nearby, casually responded.
"We ran into that guy called Edward Newgate during training once."
Is nodded with a calm smile.
"That's right. We already knew. But it seems Rocks is trying to gather all the officers who escaped from prison back into the crew."
Anyone with a functioning brain could guess Rocks' intentions.
This sudden reappearance was obviously meant to summon his former subordinates.
After casually skimming through the newspaper, Is placed it onto the stone table and continued:
"I forgot to mention it before. Tell them to deliver newspapers to us every day."
Tatsumaki puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms midair while proudly saying:
"I already knew you'd forget, so I told them in advance. I had the World Government personnel bring us the daily newspapers."
"Nicely done."
Is gave her a thumbs-up.
Hearing his praise, Tatsumaki felt incredibly pleased inside, though she tried not to show it on her face.
Spreading her hands helplessly, she said:
"Well, what can I do? I ended up stuck with such a forgetful man."
At the same time, Unohana Retsu had already arrived beneath the shade of the garden trees and walked over to Is.
"I've finished the task you gave me. Nearly twenty maids have officially been added to the noble registry. The World Government handled it very efficiently—it was confirmed and completed on the spot."
"Mhm."
Is nodded in satisfaction.
Unohana noticed the newspaper on the table, picked it up, and glanced at it briefly before gently asking:
"You're talking about this?"
"Yes. Rocks isn't dead."
"Whether he's dead or alive no longer poses any threat to us."
Truthfully, Is didn't care much about Rocks surviving.
The newly arrived maids had all been hardworking and humble, earnestly learning from the senior maids.
The relationship between them was extremely harmonious.
The newer maids treated the older ones like older sisters, while the older maids cared for them like younger sisters.
Since he had spent the entire morning training, Is was covered in sweat and felt sticky all over.
So he planned to head to the artificial hot spring for a bath before enjoying lunch.
However, when he carried his clothes along the pathway toward the hot spring, he suddenly found over a dozen maids standing in front of him.
Is looked slightly surprised, though he didn't say anything.
"Good day, Master!"
They greeted in unison.
Is nodded calmly without saying much and simply walked forward, intending to pass them and continue toward the hot spring.
But in the next moment, their actions stunned him.
All of them lifted their skirts slightly and knelt down together.
"…"
"What are you doing? If you want to leave, go speak to Minian. She'll handle it."
Is spoke calmly and composedly.
"No, no, no…"
The maids hurriedly explained themselves, afraid he had misunderstood again.
"Master, you misunderstand us. We're thanking you for saving our lives. We know you're a very special Celestial Dragon. You even added us to the noble registry. The only way we can repay you is by serving you for the rest of our lives."
At this moment, they had all already made up their minds—
They would serve Is for life.
This outcome was something even Is hadn't expected.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Master."
The maids slowly stood back up.
"Master, are you going to bathe?"
"Mhm."
"We heard from the older sisters that assisting during baths is also part of our duties, right, Master?"
One of the maids spoke with a blush spreading across her face.
And after she said that, blushes appeared on the faces of the other maids as well.
The implications were obvious.
"…"
"That's not a rule. You don't need to follow it."
After leaving behind those words, Is stopped wasting time.
Lunch would be soon, after all.
The artificial hot spring here was far larger than the one at Mary Geoise.
After changing into a bath towel, Is stepped into the spring and closed his eyes to relax for a while.
However, what he didn't expect was that all those maids followed him in afterward.
At a glance, every single one of them was exceptionally beautiful.
Truly the life of a winner.
(I won't describe the details too much. Last time, I had to revise it so much I nearly lost my mind.)
"Master, you trained hard all morning. Let us help relieve your fatigue."
And thus—
A form of "training" even more exhausting than actual training began…
In the blink of an eye, more than a week had passed.
During that time, the officers of the Rocks Pirates regrouped, clashed with the Marines, and officially set sail once more.
That was all the newspapers reported.
Afterward, there was no further information about the Rocks Pirates at all.
There was some news about Roger, but nothing particularly important.
Although the newspapers no longer mentioned Rocks, that didn't mean he was sitting idle.
Their current objective remained unchanged—
To search for the Three Ancient Weapons recorded within the Poneglyphs.
Fish-Man Island.
Because of the arrival of the Rocks Pirates, Fish-Man Island had already become a battlefield.
With the overwhelming strength of Rocks and his crew, they quickly took control of the island.
But what happened afterward was something Rocks found utterly unacceptable.
That's right.
One of the Three Ancient Weapons—
Poseidon, the Sea King—
Had not yet been born.
They… had arrived too early.
Far too early.
That revelation nearly drove Rocks to despair.
They had planned to use Poseidon's power to dominate the world.
But the result?
The result was nothing.
"Captain Rocks, according to what they said, Poseidon hasn't been born yet… We made this trip for nothing."
One of the officers looked toward Rocks and quietly spoke.
Sitting atop a massive rock, Rocks remained silent for a long time, unable to calm himself.
"Heaven truly refuses to favor me, Rocks… Heaven truly refuses to favor me…"
His voice had already become hoarse.
This blow was simply too devastating.
If it were only one or two years, he could wait.
But waiting for decades?
That was far too long.
None of them could afford to wait that long.
The atmosphere became increasingly oppressive.
Rocks sat silently atop the rock, and none of the crew members dared to speak, afraid of provoking his wrath again.
After a long while, Golden Lion suddenly flew over while carrying a small mermaid in one hand.
"Captain Rocks, I found the mermaid called Shyarly. This is her."
As he spoke, Golden Lion casually tossed the still-young Shyarly onto the ground.
Clutching her crystal ball, Shyarly rolled across the floor several times.
Everyone looked over and frowned slightly.
"Shiki, did you grab the wrong person? She's just a little kid," Whitebeard asked in surprise.
Golden Lion shook his head confidently.
"No mistake. She's definitely the Shyarly whose fortune-telling accuracy is said to be one hundred percent. I already confirmed it. They wouldn't dare lie to me."
Rocks remained silent.
After examining Shyarly for a moment, he stood up, picked her up from the ground, and placed her onto the rock where he had been sitting.
"You can predict the future?"
Shyarly nodded her tiny head fearfully.
Her watery eyes were already moist with tears.
If Rocks raised his voice even slightly more, she would probably burst into tears on the spot.
"I won't hurt you. But on one condition—you'll do whatever I tell you. If I discover that you lied to me, I'll kill every last one of your people. Understand?"
Rocks spoke in a deep voice.
Shyarly swallowed nervously and nodded, not daring to say another word.
"In the future… who will become the ruler of the world?"
Rocks asked his first question.
Upon hearing it, Shyarly began her divination.
After a short while, she hesitantly answered:
"The one who becomes the ruler of the world in the future… is someone called God."
"God?"
Rocks and the others were stunned.
After sailing the seas for so long, they had never heard of anyone by that name.
However, the moment he learned that the future world ruler wasn't himself, half of Rocks' heart instantly turned cold.
"Has that person not appeared yet?" Whitebeard asked doubtfully.
"Maybe it's like Poseidon. Perhaps they haven't even been born yet. They might not even belong to our era," Golden Lion speculated.
"So… I was simply born in the wrong era?"
After hearing that, Rocks felt even more unwilling and furious.
"Y-You promised you wouldn't hurt me if I did the fortune-telling!"
Seeing Rocks begin to lose control, Shyarly immediately cried in fear.
"If you cry again, I'll kill you immediately."
Rocks roared.
Shyarly instantly fell silent.
"Now divine one more thing for me. When will this person called God be born?"
Shyarly didn't dare say anything unnecessary.
She continued her divination.
A moment later, she stared at them silently.
"What is it? Hasn't he been born yet?" Rocks asked.
Shyarly shook her head.
"No… the person called God has already been born."
"In that case, he simply hasn't revealed himself yet. Perhaps we can find this person called God and have him join the Rocks Pirates. We could use his power for ourselves," one of the officers suggested.
Hearing that idea, Rocks fell into deep thought as he began analyzing the situation.
"Could it be that after we recruit him onto our ship, he eventually uses our strength to become the ruler of the world?"
Rocks began analyzing things from the opposite angle.
The others exchanged looks and found the reasoning surprisingly plausible.
Maybe… that really was the case.
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