As Whitebeard's question hung in the air, a cold voice cut through the tension.
"If you won't do it," Rocks said, his eyes glowing with an unprecedented, malevolent light.
"Then I will."
His murderous gaze swept across the deck, and every pirate—veteran commanders and new recruits alike—felt their hearts seize with terror.
The icy breath of his killing intent was suffocating.
"Damn you, Rocks!" Whitebeard roared, realizing the man was not bluffing.
"Are you really prepared to slaughter the entire world yourself?!"
He could feel it.
This lunatic was radiating the intent to kill every last person on this ship if his will was defied.
"Oh?" A strange, twisted smile spread across Rocks's scarred face.
"And what's the problem with that? I have nothing left to lose. Everyone in this pathetic world is damned anyway. Are you going to stop me, Newgate?"
The cold words were a direct challenge.
Before Whitebeard could even answer, Rocks's body flickered.
He moved like a gust of wind, a phantom of pure speed, and appeared directly in front of the old Emperor.
But what truly captured everyone's attention was the bizarre, bone-white scepter in his hand.
A chilly, ethereal wisp of green fire now emanated from its tip, a ghostly light that seemed to draw in the gaze of all who saw it, mesmerizing them.
"Hmph! Don't get ahead of yourself, Rocks!"
With a furious snort, Whitebeard shot up from his throne, gripping his legendary bisento, Murakumogiri, and swinging it in a massive, shimmering arc.
BOOM!
Where the blade passed, a brilliant white light of pure vibrational power erupted, crashing down on Rocks.
The entire sea for miles around began to churn violently from the force of the attack.
"Hah!" Rocks roared in defiance, streaks of orange light bursting from his scepter to meet the blow.
When the two forces collided, an immense shockwave ripped outward, blowing everything on the Moby Dick's deck away.
The pirates below were slammed to the ground as if crushed by an invisible weight.
When the dust settled, Whitebeard had been thrown back several steps, sweating and breathing heavily.
He looked down at his Supreme Grade Blade, the weapon that had been with him for decades, and his heart sank.
Where it had made contact with the scepter, the legendary steel was corroded, faint cracks spreading from the point of impact.
It was on the verge of shattering.
'That thing... it was no ordinary weapon.'
'No wonder Rocks was so confident.'
As Whitebeard was processing this, a sarcastic sneer formed on Rocks's lips.
"What's the matter, Newgate? Not going to try again?" he taunted.
"Although, if you do, I'm afraid that old relic of yours will be completely destroyed."
"Rocks!" Whitebeard growled, his eyes flashing with anger.
"What? Angry?" Rocks laughed, and in the next instant, he moved.
He was so fast that no one even saw him, and his sharp, claw-like fingers were suddenly wrapped tightly around Whitebeard's throat.
"You!" Whitebeard choked out, his face flushing red as he struggled against the unbreakable grip.
"My body has been transformed by this Necromancer's Staff," Rocks whispered, his voice nonchalant as he effortlessly subdued the World's Strongest Man.
"Your speed, your strength... they're nothing to me now. And do you know why I need your help with the killing?"
He leaned in closer.
"When enough people die, this precious scepter of mine absorbs their deaths and continues to evolve. It is a supreme treasure from my lords. With it, I will destroy the Marines and everything else in my way!"
The pirates who had managed to get back to their feet listened in horror.
Whitebeard, their invincible father, was completely at his mercy.
"Hehe, don't waste your energy, Newgate. You're not my opponent," Rocks sneered.
"Just surrender. Cooperate with me, and you too can have the chance to become stronger. Trust me. Devil Fruits? They are nothing but childish toys compared to the power of the Necromancer's Staff. I will give you a new life, a new world!"
He spoke with the passion of a prophet and despite their fear, some of the pirates felt a flicker of hope.
To become stronger... that was the ultimate dream.
Then Rocks's tone turned to ice.
"But if you dare to refuse me," he said, his grip tightening on Whitebeard's throat, "I will kill every last member of your precious family, right here and now. You, who values his family so much... surely you wouldn't let that happen, would you?"
He fixed his gaze on Whitebeard with a confident predatory smile on his face and waited for his answer.
Rocks fixed his gaze on Whitebeard, his expression turning grim.
"YOU!" Whitebeard roared, his face contorted in a mask of fury and shame, but he could not break the iron grip.
He was trapped.
He knew that to save his family, he had no choice but to obey.
Rocks had him, the strongest man in the world, completely at his mercy.
If he could do this to him, his children wouldn't stand a chance.
"Alright," Whitebeard squeezed the words out through gritted teeth, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"I promise you, Rocks. The Whitebeard Pirates... will help you kill."
The admission seemed to drain the very life from him.
His face went pale, and in that instant, he looked as if he had aged a dozen years.
A satisfied smile touched Rocks's lips.
He released his grip, and Whitebeard's weakened body slumped heavily to the deck.
"Very good," Rocks said, raising the terrifying Necromancer's Staff. "Let's begin."
A sickly, dead-green energy surged from the scepter, spreading across the deck like a foul mist.
"Go, my children," Rocks whispered to the staff.
"And if you cannot kill for me, you will pay the price with your own lives."
The pale energy washed over the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Not good!" Ace, the second division commander, cried out.
He could feel the life draining from his body, siphoned away by an unseen force.
He tried to use the gravity of his Dark-Dark Fruit to hold onto his own life force, but it was useless.
It was like trying to hold water in a sieve.
His vitality poured out of him, and he could feel his own lifespan shortening at a terrifying rate.
His hair began to lose its color, his skin grew taught and dry.
"I... can't accept this..." he gasped, a trace of despair on his face.
Then, just as he felt he was on the brink of death, the draining sensation stopped.
His vitality stabilized, but he felt like a hollowed-out shell, a half-dead man with no energy left.
"To ensure everyone is properly motivated for our grand event," Rocks announced to the gasping, weakened crew, "I have allowed my scepter to temporarily absorb your vitality. Getting it back is not difficult. For every life you take, you will regain one month of your own. You all have one month to live. If you fail to kill, you will pay the price with what remains of your lives."
He scanned their pale, horrified faces and sneered.
"Now, are you ready?"
.....
A moment later, Rocks became a blur in the sky, the Necromancer's Staff now pulsing with the stolen life force.
The Whitebeard Pirates were a start, but tens of thousands of killers were too few.
He needed endless slaughter, and he needed it now.
After a brief, bloody tour through half the New World, a figure in a black robe arrived in the skies above Totto Land, the queendom of Emperor Big Mom.
"Rocks! You're not dead?!" a cold voice boomed from below.
Rocks looked down at the fat, bloated form of his old crewmate.
"Linlin," he said calmly. "I didn't expect to see you here."
He flashed through the air, appearing directly in front of her.
A wave of pure death intent washed over her, and the mighty Emperor's pupils shrank in terror.
She was frozen in place, a terrifying pressure locking her down.
No matter how she tried to command the power of her Soul-Soul Fruit, she couldn't break free.
Rocks's ferocious mouth opened in a grin, and a shard of white bone materialized in his palm.
SHINK!
The bone shard pierced Big Mom's arm, the sound of it tearing through her famously tough skin making her own children cringe.
She could only watch helplessly as it embedded itself in her flesh.
A piercing, agonizing scream ripped from her throat as she felt her very essence being devoured.
"AHHHH! My power! My souls! Where did they go?!" she shrieked, her body flickering, slowly becoming transparent and desiccated.
The countless souls she had collected over the decades were being siphoned away by the ghastly weapon.
From a distance, a bolt of lightning streaked from the sky.
Zeus, the thundercloud Homie created from a fragment of Big Mom's own soul, saw his master's plight.
Eager to play the hero, he unleashed a terrifying thunderbolt, aiming it directly at the spot where Rocks and Big Mom were locked in their terrible embrace.
The lightning crashed down, and a powerful wave of energy exploded outwards.