"What?"
Ozz's mind buzzed on the spot.
Wait. Old man… you?
He did not have time to explain. First he had to keep Roger from blowing his top. In a flicker he was back on the Oro Jackson, talking Roger down from a fistfight with Gick. Only after Roger confirmed three times that Ozz was joining the Rocks Pirates not just out of pressure but by his own choice did he finally grunt an unwilling "oh" and stomp off to sulk.
Such a kid.
Ozz could only sigh. Rayleigh patted his shoulder.
"I know you have your own plans, but do not make your father worry too much."
The elder's tone made Ozz's eyelid twitch. Watching Rayleigh's back recede, he nearly sent another goodnight kick to the jaw.
With a light step Ozz reappeared on a Rocks deck. He watched the Oro Jackson shrink into the distance, then finally drew his gaze back. Only then did the ocean he had been holding aloft with his power loosen and pour down as ordinary seawater.
He had his reasons. Pirates are treacherous by nature, and the Rocks Pirates even more so. If they went back on their word, that mountain of water would have come crashing down and swallowed the entire fleet. Without a Kuzan in sight, any Devil Fruit user would be lucky to live through that.
Newgate had always loved this kind of play. A Seaquake to raise a tsunami that could drown an island. He had not expected to be on the wrong end of one.
Shiki stood not far off, eyes on the sea Ozz had propped in midair like a floating continent. The corner of his mouth curled. This young powerhouse fascinated him, second only to Roger.
"Kehehehe. Moving the sea into the sky, huh. I wonder which is stronger, that or my Float-Float Fruit."
Shiki's power strips gravity from inanimate matter. He can make islands drift and whip up oceans into wide-area slaughter.
Perched on the gunwale, Ozz glanced over.
His eyes were calm, confident, a touch amused.
"If you are that sure, try it."
He made no move to stop him.
"Fine."
Shiki did not flinch. He rose and unleashed his fruit at full tilt. A few breaths later he froze. Sweat slid down his temple. His face stiffened in disbelief.
"It will not move at all."
He tried to shape the water into a pair of roaring lion heads, only to feel it locked in an invisible frame. Even with Sea Kings gliding inside like fish in a bowl, the mass would not budge.
That is the power of space. Once the boundary is set, brute force cannot alter it unless you slam it with overwhelming Haki. A Devil Fruit user who does manage to break it will be buried by the very ocean he freed.
Whitebeard, on the other hand, showed no surprise. He did not provoke Ozz again or attempt to stop Roger's ship. The Roger Pirates are not easy prey. With Ozz agreeing to come along, the Rocks side had their step down and both sides had an answer to give.
If a real fight broke out while Rocks himself was absent, Ozz plus the Roger Pirates was a combination even three captains would not bring down. They might all die here.
The longer they stayed around Ozz, the less they could guess how many bottom cards he had left.
Once the last of the suspended sea had fallen away, the Rocks armada came about.
Newgate contacted Rocks immediately. The man was busy tangling with the Navy. Otherwise it would not have been only Newgate's party here today.
"Rocks. We did not catch Roger."
"… Yes. But we recruited a monster. As strong as Roger, if not stronger."
"Uh-huh. We are all hurt. Me, Shiki, the rest."
"… Got it."
Then Newgate relayed a bombshell that sent ripples through every deck and set the fleet buzzing.
Dotor Ozz was appointed a top executive of the Rocks Pirates. One of the captains.
That was it. Quick and casual.
In the Rocks Pirates, which runs on the law of the jungle and little else, strength is the only loyalty that matters. If we are being honest, even Whitebeard and the Golden Lion, men who had sailed with Rocks for years, would not hesitate when it came time to stab him in the back.
It did not take long for Ozz to feel the atmosphere for himself.
…
Capes snapping in the spray, the vast fleet cleaved the sea unchallenged.
The small fry aboard kept their distance from the new captain whose power seemed bottomless. No one with a brain tried to test him.
Except for one man who kept bouncing around in front of Ozz.
And Ozz, somehow, could not shake him.
"How many times do I have to tell you, we are not actually brothers."
"Then answer this. Why is your surname Dotor? There are not many of those on this sea."
"… "
"And why did you not finish me. You let me cut you and took the wound yourself."
Truth be told, Ozz did not have many scars worth mentioning. Unlike other top fighters with crossed chests or ruined eyes, testament to their manhood carved in flesh, he had grown up with no real opponents. With the old man and Captain Roger watching over him, his noob years passed in peace. Later, even when wounded, teleportation helped him reset damage and money could smooth the rest away.
That little cross on his chest was one of the rare ones.
Why had he not healed it?
"Too small to bother with. And it was not from an enemy."
Gick kept pressing. Ozz had to fob him off with half-answers. Gick did not fully understand, but his awe for "captain" and for "monster" carried him through. Ozz promised there would be an answer later. Gick stopped prying.
Instead, he happily requested a transfer to Ozz's command.
Ozz gave a helpless smile and agreed.
If his arrival had already stirred butterflies, then before God Valley came, his grandfather's safety could fall to the grandson.
"Right then. Combatant Gick, you will move with me from now on."
After watching this young captain crush legends with a smile, Gick had already caught a case of Ozz-fanboy fever. He straightened up and answered smartly.
"Got it, Captain Ozz. Also, you can call me Little Gick."
"… What?"
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