A few days later, somewhere in the Paradise section of the Grand Line.
"Ignis, your physique is truly pathetic. An eight-year-old kid in my village is stronger than you!"
"Hmph! Stop your yapping over there. So what if you have good lineage! I'll get stronger sooner or later. Give me a few more years, and I will definitely achieve a qualitative breakthrough!"
Ignis was training like his life depended on it, but his physique still couldn't meet Rocks's minimum requirements.
This was literally the weakest student Rocks had ever seen.
Even the brats of the Davy Clan were stronger than Ignis.
Amidst Rocks and Ignis's daily arguments, the sailors and laborers on board had gotten used to it.
They couldn't believe that Rocks, the man capable of killing a Marine Admiral, was actually like this.
"Captain Rocks, are we arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago soon?"
A sailor was a bit nervous. After all, these waters were very close to Marine Headquarters. They were genuinely afraid of being suddenly surrounded by the Marines.
"Then lower the black flag. We'll enter the Sabaody Archipelago quietly."
Rocks was prepared. He wasn't truly a brainless brute; he knew when to keep a low profile.
He had even prepared cloaks for himself and Ignis.
As for this Heavenly Tribute warship, they had already modified it significantly. It had completely transformed into a pirate ship.
The World Government had some critical opinions on Rocks's recent behavior of continuously attacking pirate crews...
According to intelligence, Rocks seemed to be constantly playing Davy Back Fights with those Paradise pirate crews, but he wasn't actually taking their members.
He hadn't even taken a single supernova with a new bounty over 100 million.
The World Government was almost happy to see Rocks helping them clear out pirate crews.
....
The coating process at the Sabaody Archipelago this time was unexpectedly smooth. Nothing happened.
The Xebec's Sword successfully proceeded towards Fish-Man Island.
"Hmph, the World Government deliberately lets pirates and ambitious people from the Four Blues and Paradise flow into the New World!"
"Moreover, the various pirate crews bring a constant stream of slaves and treasure to the Sabaody Archipelago. The Celestial Dragons specifically reserve the lawless areas for their own entertainment."
"Now, the Sabaody Archipelago has become the Celestial Dragons' backyard."
"A prosperous yet twisted island. Unless absolutely necessary, the Celestial Dragons won't let the Marines and pirates start a major war here."
Rocks snorted lightly. He had also witnessed the darkness of the Sabaody lawless zones.
Human auction houses and slave shops were everywhere.
Truly a hell for commoners, a heaven for nobles, and a paradise for the Celestial Dragons...
"Speaking of which, Rocks, you want to become the King of the World. If you become king, will you change all this?"
Ignis looked at Rocks, whose face showed disdain, and spoke calmly.
Even if this brute managed to overthrow Imu and become the King of the World, he probably wouldn't rule it.
"..."
Rocks was stunned. He really hadn't thought that far ahead.
Just one terrifying King of the World already consumed all his thoughts without any certainty of victory.
According to the Davy Clan's heritage and intelligence, to defeat the immortal King of the World, you needed at least two of the strongest Devil Fruits!
One was the strongest Mythical Zoan, the Sun God Nika; the other was the most evil Logia, the Dark-Dark Fruit.
The Sun God Nika fruit possessed unparalleled combat power and even had some special ability to counter that old monster.
The Dark-Dark Fruit, on the other hand, possessed the eerie ability to counter all Devil Fruit abilities.
But currently, he had no information about these two Devil Fruits at all.
He could only pin his hopes on Ignis.
"I'll think about it after we beat that old monster!"
"Besides, isn't there you?"
"I only want to defeat the King of the World for now!"
Rocks laughed heartily, never worrying about things that were far from happening.
"If you ever face that old monster directly, don't piss your pants."
Rocks tried to slap Ignis again, but Ignis quickly flew away to dodge.
"However, your ancestor, Davy D. Jones, seemed to have made a contract with the King of the World, Nerona Imu."
Ignis looked at Rocks as he spoke. Honestly, he also wanted to know what the contract between Im and Jones was.
"You really do know my true surname!"
Rocks glanced at Ignis with a serious expression. Ignis even knew about the Davy Clan.
He probably also knew about the hidden God Valley.
"I also know that Imu keeps a portrait of Queen Lily hanging in the Holy Land and looks at it every day. I know she can descend and possess the Five Elders and the God's Knights."
"Also, every single one of the Five Elders and the God's Knights possesses an immortal body."
"Only the highest level of Conqueror's Haki infusion can destroy their immortality."
"Rocks, your Conqueror's Haki infusion doesn't seem to be enough, does it?"
"In a glimpse of the future, I saw that you couldn't even kill the Commander of the God's Knights."
"Your Conqueror's coating only delayed the immortal recovery of the Knight Commander!"
Ignis looked at Rocks with equal gravity. He couldn't understand how even Rocks's Conqueror's coating couldn't kill a God's Knight.
That was a bit of a problem!
"What? An immortal body? Even I can't kill them?"
Rocks's expression grew darker. His wariness of the King of the World, Imu, as well as the Five Elders and the God's Knights, had increased another notch.
With enemies that terrifying, could he really succeed in overthrowing Im!
"So you need to train an even stronger Conqueror's Haki infusion!"
"Work hard."
Ignis cheered on Rocks, who seemed a bit doubtful about his own path.
As a captain, how could he be lazier than his crew members?
From now on, while Ignis trained, Rocks would need to train twice as hard, too.
Don't think that just because you can solo a Marine Admiral, you don't need to train!
To overthrow Imu, it was still far from enough.
"Even stronger Conqueror's Haki infusion..."
Rocks had originally felt his strength had reached its peak. He had planned to focus his energy on recruiting powerful subordinates and finding those two legendary Devil Fruits.
He felt that now he could only advance further, to reach Im's level, through Devil Fruit abilities.
But now Ignis was telling him that his Conqueror's coating hadn't yet reached its zenith, that he could still improve.
"Joy Boy's god-level Conqueror's Haki could make Imu scream in terror and force an awakened Mythical Zoan user back into their human form."
"Your path is still long. Work hard!"
Ignis actually patted Rocks on the shoulder like an elder, earnestly admonishing him.
Rocks was just about to nod seriously, but seeing Ignis's young face right in front of him, he immediately erupted in anger.
"Get lost! I don't need you to teach me what to do!"
Enraged and embarrassed, Rocks directly used a Conqueror's coated fist and blasted the fleeing Ignis straight into the ship's hold.
"Captain Rocks, be careful! We're still at the bottom of the ocean!"
The dozen or so sailors and laborers trembled in fear, terrified that the coating would rupture and they would all be buried at the bottom of the sea.
"Rocks, if you don't listen to an old man's words, you'll suffer for it!"
Ignis's screams and curses echoed out.
"Tch, you're an old man? You little brat, I need to properly teach you a lesson!"
"Just because you can see a bit of the future doesn't mean you can come and lecture me."
"You said it yourself, the future can be changed!"
"Now, predict this: will you get beaten up by me today or not?"
"Guess right and you get a prize!"
Rocks grinned widely, clenched his fists, and walked into the hold. He was going to give this arrogant bastard Ignis a good beating.
"I'm already injured, you can't hit me..."
"Looks like your prediction was wrong. Taste my supreme elbow strike!"
"Ahhh!! I predict you're going to hit me again... I want my prize!"
"Vohahaha! Congratulations, you predicted right! I really am going to keep hitting you. Your prize is my supreme foot stamp!"
"Ahhh!! Rocks, you just wait!!"