"God Valley?"
Marco frowned. The name rang no bells.
Rocks didn't expect recognition. He simply kept speaking, mostly to himself.
"Back then, I led my crew into a decisive battle against the Marines there. And the result… heh."
His expression twisted with resentment. He didn't need to say it—the Rocks Pirates lost that battle. But Rocks had never truly accepted it.
That war was legendary. Sengoku, Garp, and even Kong were all at their peak. They represented the true might of the Marines at the time.
But the Rocks Pirates were nothing to scoff at either.
Even if Kaido was still green, Big Mom, Whitebeard, and Shiki were already monsters in their own right. The rest of the crew weren't far behind—many of them rivaled today's Yonko Commanders.
And above them all stood Rocks.
With power like that, why did the Marines have any right to challenge them?
Rocks' eyes flared blood-red with rage as the memories surged.
"If it hadn't been for that bastard Roger… and that mysterious force that showed up out of nowhere… how could we have lost!? This sea should've belonged to me!!"
As Rocks vented his fury, Marco remained airborne, quietly accelerating the regeneration of his body. Blue flames now encased his fractured ankle, and the healing was almost complete.
Down below, Rocks rambled on, oblivious.
"That fool Roger… What did helping the Marines ever get him? Didn't he still die at their hands in the end? The irony! Hehehehehe…"
His voice dripped with hate. His anger toward Roger ran deeper than toward any Marine. At least the Marines were expected enemies.
Roger, on the other hand, claimed he was doing it "for the good of the world"—that he couldn't let Rocks run wild.
Rocks had laughed in his face back then.
Why not?
The rotten scum of Mariejois could rule the world, but he couldn't?
Were kings, nobles, and Celestial Dragons born divine?
Those so-called "gods" brought nothing but suffering. Even he found their atrocities appalling.
And Roger—he didn't raise a hand against them, but instead helped their loyal hounds—the Marines—take him down.
That was the biggest joke in history.
If Roger's body hadn't already been seized by the Marines after his execution, Rocks swore he would've personally ground him to dust.
Rocks' rage hit its limit. A surge of darkness erupted from his body, turning the entire shore into a twisted black domain.
At that exact moment, Marco's power fully returned.
Flames burst from his back. He transformed, wings spread wide, and took to the sky.
Rocks noticed, but didn't react. After venting, he simply grinned and looked up at Marco.
"Well? Thought it over yet? Want to be the first subordinate of my rebirth?"
Marco didn't answer immediately. There was one more thing he needed to confirm.
"How did you survive that battle?" he asked coldly. "And why are you inside Teach's body?"
Rocks cackled, a cold gleam in his eye.
"All thanks to the Dark-Dark Fruit!"
That line alone revealed much. Rocks had been the fruit's previous wielder—and the reason it gained its fearsome reputation.
But how did he do it?
He never gave full details. It was a hidden, advanced ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit—something he'd only realized at death's door.
He had learned that darkness truly pulls in everything—even souls.
As he hovered on the brink of death at God Valley, he used the gravity of darkness to anchor his soul to his dying body, stopping it from drifting into the underworld.
But Rocks didn't have the Revive-Revive Fruit. Without a physical form, and without any special ability to protect his soul, he began to fade.
Even with his exceptional spiritual strength, the passage of time wore him down. His soul was slowly disintegrating.
Until… he found Teach.
A boy on a remote island. And more importantly—a body unlike any other.
Two hearts. A physique that could contain more than one Devil Fruit. Even Rocks coveted it.
So, without hesitation, he attached himself to Teach's body.
But his weakened soul was soon overpowered. Suppressed by Teach's own will, Rocks became nothing more than a whisper—almost consumed completely.
He resigned himself to using Teach as a vessel for vengeance. If he couldn't rise again, he would manipulate this fool to do his bidding.
So Rocks whispered in his mind—told him he was destined for more. That his body was special. That he needed the Dark-Dark Fruit.
It was a subtle influence, barely noticed by Teach himself. But it worked.
To chase that fruit, Teach even joined the Whitebeard Pirates.
Inside his subconscious, Rocks was almost driven mad with rage.
Of all crews, why Whitebeard's?
The same Whitebeard who once served under him and now played "father" to a family of pirates? A man too soft to rule?
Teach thought joining would make it easier to find the fruit. But even if he found it, who would let a nobody like him eat it?
And yet—against all odds—Teach did find the fruit.
And he took it, killing Thatch and fleeing the crew.
Rocks had to admit—he'd misjudged the man.
For all his stupidity, Teach had real pirate instincts.
But then came the fateful encounter—with Uchiha Chiga.
Chiga defeated Teach and extracted his soul to claim the Dark-Dark Fruit for himself.
And in doing so… he inadvertently gave Rocks the perfect opportunity.
With Teach's soul removed, the body was finally unguarded.
Rocks wasted no time. He took over completely, claiming the vessel and completing his resurrection.
He now walked the world again.
As he finished recounting everything, Rocks let out a cold laugh.
"Life really is full of surprises."
---
Thank you for the Powerstones.