Whitebeard glanced over and quickly withdrew his gaze. He did not care much. If Rocks had not suddenly run over, he would still be sitting on the roof, drinking his wine and enjoying the salty sea breeze.
"Boring. I'm going back to sleep," Whitebeard answered lightly. Then he pushed Stussy, who had been leaning beside him, away and turned toward the inside of the ship.
Stussy swayed slightly after being pushed. She subconsciously brushed a lock of blond hair behind her ear, raised her face to look at Whitebeard's broad back as he walked away, and gave a soft snort.
"What a block of wood..."
...
At the harbor, Ron, in his Tailed Beast Transformation, lowered his eyes and looked at Kaido. The moment he opened his mouth, a Tailed Beast Bomb had already begun to form.
Crackle!
That point of dark light expanded at high speed. With the massive power of the Sage Body supporting it, the light spot turned into a giant sphere of energy in the blink of an eye.
Kaido's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He instinctively took three steps back, his voice tightening. "What the hell?! You bastard, are you trying to kill me?!"
Wasn't this supposed to be a spar? Looking at this, the newcomer clearly wanted to kill him.
Ron remained silent. Once he felt it was about enough, he fired the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Whoosh!
The Tailed Beast Bomb, packed with terrifying power, screamed through the air.
Kaido's face stiffened. He immediately decided to dodge, but the Tailed Beast Bomb was far too large. Its area of effect had already surpassed the limit of what he had predicted he could evade.
"Bastard!" Kaido cursed angrily and quickly wrapped Armament Haki around the kanabo in his hand. The next second, he saw a figure appear soundlessly beside him.
"Sigh..."
A long, helpless sigh drifted lightly through the smoke-filled air.
"Kids fighting sure is dangerous... they never know how to hold back."
Before the words finished, Rocks had already drawn his blade. The ringing hum of the unsheathed sword had not yet faded when Conqueror's Haki roared over the entire blade like a black-purple storm.
Immediately after, his figure completely vanished from where he stood.
When he appeared again, he was already in front of the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Whoosh!
His long blade, wrapped in terrifying power, slashed upward and released an incomparably sharp black arc.
The blade collided violently with the surface energy of the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion beyond words suddenly erupted.
The raging air currents burst outward like a tsunami, sweeping in a ring in all directions.
But the Tailed Beast Bomb did not explode. Instead, the instant it touched the blade, its trajectory was forcibly twisted by an irresistible force. It shot upward into the sky at high speed.
Then it drew an arc through the air and smashed down toward the distant sea.
At the same time, aboard the Roger Pirates, who had just sailed away...
After sensing danger with Observation Haki, several figures rushed out of the cabin.
Then they saw a huge energy sphere plunge into the sea.
Hiss!
A blinding white light burst out from deep beneath the ocean.
Immediately after, a muffled explosion resounded in every direction.
Boom!
The sea surface bulged violently upward, and a gigantic mushroom-shaped wave edged with churning white foam shot into the sky.
Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban all turned their eyes toward the island almost at the same time.
"Are those Rocks Pirates... fighting someone?" Gaban frowned.
Rayleigh narrowed his eyes and stared toward the direction of the explosion. After thinking for a moment, he said slowly, "Based purely on the power just now, it probably didn't come from anyone in the Rocks Pirates."
Rayleigh understood most of the Rocks Pirates fairly well, whether it was their Devil Fruit abilities or fighting styles.
"Hahahaha." Roger laughed loudly. "Looks like Rocks ran into quite a bit of trouble."
Rayleigh did not agree. He only shook his head slightly. "Or it may cause us quite a bit of trouble in the future. With Rocks' personality, when he meets someone strong, he won't kill them. He'll try to pull them onto his ship."
Hearing that, Gaban immediately nodded with a serious tone. "Although we have no real grudge against Rocks and his people, when interests clash one day, we'll end up standing on opposite sides."
Roger stopped laughing. His face gradually calmed, and his burning gaze looked toward the island.
"A pirate crew without bonds is nothing but a heap of sand destined to collapse. It isn't the wind that destroys it. It's every grain of sand forgetting why it stood beside the others in the first place."
Just as Rayleigh and Gaban had their own thoughts about that statement, Roger wrapped one arm around each of their shoulders and grinned.
"Come on. Let's go back and drink."
-------------------------------------
At the harbor.
The violent aftershock of energy gradually dispersed, and the surging smoke slowly sank. Ron's Tailed Beast Transformation faded, returning him to his original appearance.
"Hey, hey, hey, Rocks, did you see that? This guy was trying to kill me!" Kaido was full of anger. You told me to spar with him. I almost died. If you didn't show something for that, it really wouldn't make sense.
Hearing him, Ron looked surprised. He could guarantee he absolutely had no such intention. This was pure slander.
"Look, look! That bastard still looks like he doesn't care!" Kaido said furiously.
Ron frowned. No, brother, what are you even saying?
"Wahahahaha!" Rocks sheathed his blade and laughed. "Kaido, you're being too sensitive. Young people fight. It's only natural that they sometimes don't know how hard they're hitting."
"Huh?" Kaido's mind froze for several seconds. Once he recovered, his face filled with disbelief. "What kind of joke is that, Rocks? I absolutely do not agree with that explanation."
Rocks smiled and slowly raised his hand, making a peace sign.
Ron did not understand. What was this supposed to mean? Did he want the two of them to fight him together?
Hmm. Very possible. So this was the Rocks Pirates? Their way of solving problems was truly crude.
'Two, huh...' Kaido muttered internally. It seemed... maybe he really had been a little too sensitive.