Fate can be strange.
Whitebeard had never imagined this day would come let alone arrive so fast and hit so hard.
He felt no psychological burden, only gratitude. Sparring with Ares had helped him grasp infusion more quickly.
He had even picked up a number of useful little tricks from the way Ares used it.
Whitebeard raised his arm with a flourish. Black-red sparks crackled as he showed off. "Jealous, you yellow-maned lion?
"I can use infusion now."
Shiki's face darkened at the smug look. "And you would not have without Ares, so maybe dial it back."
"Simple question. Can you or can you not?" Newgate waved that thick arm right in front of Shiki's eyes,
Purely to gloat.
Ares chuckled. "All right, big bro Shiki. If you want to learn, I can train with you more."
"Forget it. My time is better spent developing my Fruit and working my swordsmanship," Shiki declined without shame.
His physique
Lagged far behind those two monsters, Ares and Whitebeard. His control over his body could not match a true martial artist's, much less meet infusion's demands. Learning it would be extremely hard.
"Ares, can you train with me more?" Kaido leaned in, eyes bright, speech speeding up. "If I master this technique, my strength will rise. Besides
I am a man with the qualities of a king."
He wore absolute pride.
Kingly disposition.
It was indeed something worth bragging about.
"Sure. If you want to learn, I will drill with you whenever I can," Ares agreed readily. Having Kaido as a partner would be good.
Kaido's strength had grown a lot. He should be able to last a while under Ares's hands now.
Whitebeard laughed in high spirits. "Gurara...
Tonight no one goes home sober."
At the mention of wine, everyone's eyes lit up at once like hungry wolves catching a scent.
Not one of them disliked drinking.
Even Slardar, who had gone nearly two hundred years without a drop, had fallen in love with the taste in recent days.
"Go."
They said it and they did it, storming off for a drink.
On the way,
Ares asked, "Kaido, are your weapons done?"
"Should be soon. It has been over a month. A handful of kanabō should be ready," Kaido said, a beast's gleam flashing in his eyes.
He had always used a spiked club. After gaining the Mythical Zoan Hanuman form,
One club was no longer enough.
Eight arms and only one club looked wrong to him.
Ares laughed. "Once your clubs are forged, your Fruit form with eight kanabō will look magnificent."
He could already picture it.
Eight clubs crashing down would be more than most could bear.
Ares added, "The smiths on the island are not the best. When we meet a famed weaponsmith later, we will have them make you a few that fit your hands.
Or, if we get the chance, I can try forging a kanabō myself."
Kaido blinked. "You can forge weapons?"
"I can, though I have never tried. When we get the chance, I will," Ares said with confidence.
As a child, he had picked up a lot about forging from his father.
He had simply never put it into practice.
He believed that with some study and hands-on time, his workmanship would not be bad.
…
In the Skull Castle,
Rocks returned to his room and sent for Shakky.
She came in complaining from the doorway, "Captain Rocks, what kind of monsters live on this island? Every one of them eats more than the last.
Ares even brought back a 'sea demon' with a bottomless stomach, and he and Kaido are eating more too."
Rocks smiled faintly. "Did we not recruit a whole slate of cooks already?"
Then his face set. He got to the point.
"I called you because I want to know if any Celestial Dragons are away from God Valley or Mary Geoise."
Shakky flicked a lighter with a snap and drew deep on a cigarette.
She exhaled a ribbon of smoke.
Her whole expression shifted,
Hardening into that of a sharp, imposing woman in charge.
"So you are planning to make a move on the Celestial Dragons. Makes sense.
The Navy has been stirring nonstop. Of course Captain Rocks will not sit still.
Right now there is intel on Celestial Dragons traveling."
"Do you want the details?"
Rocks nodded. "Yes. I can already feel that the World Government and the Navy will not give the Rocks Pirates much time.
If they are executing a plan, I am not going to let them carry it out smoothly."
Better to strike first than to wait.
Shakky relayed the information.
…
The next day,
Rocks summoned the Golden Lion Shiki and assigned the snatch job to him, the man with the Float-Float Fruit.
…
A few days later,
An eye-popping shock tore across the seas at lightning speed.
The seas erupted.
"Have you heard? Rocks is going to publicly execute Celestial Dragons on Hachinosu, and he is inviting pirates from all over the world to watch."
"Celestial Dragons? The Creator's descendants? There will be a storm over this."
"He caught three of them this time. The World Government will not sit still. What will they do?"
"Rocks is Rocks. Executing Celestial Dragons is satisfying."
"Shut up if you want to live. If someone reports you, you are dead."
"That herd of beasts called Celestial Dragons should all die."
"This is going to be a show. Rocks is slapping the World Government in the face."
"So what if it is the World Government? Rocks invited the whole world's pirates to Hachinosu. There will be so many on the island it will scare you to death."
"Even the World Government cannot face numbers like that."
"Classic Rocks. He is pulling in so many pirates precisely to keep the Navy and the Government from acting recklessly."
"…"
As the news spread, countless crews turned their bows toward Hachinosu.
Even two pirate crews in the middle of a battle
Chose to break off and head to Hachinosu together.
No one can count how many pirates sail the New World and the Grand Line.
They are as many as cattle on a plain.
Several World Government affiliates in the New World panicked at the news and sealed their borders on the spot,
Even calling the Government through Den-Den Mushi to beg for protection.
The entire New World dissolved into chaos.
At Marineford,
The atmosphere was taut as a drawn bow.
Fleet Admiral Kong's face was black as coal, darker than pitch.
Bang.
His fist slammed the desk and left a crater in the hardwood.
"Damn it.
"Outrageous.
"That bastard Rocks actually dared to publicly execute Celestial Dragons."
…
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