Chapter 16: Whitebeard's Anticipation, Bringing Back Rono
Hearing Whitebeard's evaluation, a subtle arc formed on Rocks's lips.
Who was Rocks? He was the king of this era. Even someone as strong as Whitebeard would find it hard to hide anything from him.
Rocks naturally understood the unspoken sentence Whitebeard held back.
This Rono... was stronger than Rocks himself at the same age. He might very well surpass him in the future!
However, Rocks didn't mind. Instead, he said with great interest, "Interesting. It's rare for you to give such an evaluation."
This guy, Whitebeard, was usually very proud.
After all, he was considered the strongest person in the Rocks Pirates aside from Rocks himself.
There were few people in the entire Rocks Pirates that Whitebeard respected, yet now he had given such a high evaluation to a fledgling kid. It seemed his guess was correct.
This Rono was malleable material and would be a great asset in his future quest to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' rule!
Immediately, Rocks tossed a file to Whitebeard. "And this file. Take a look."
Just like the Marines, Rocks had also investigated Rono's background.
As the sole king of the New World, Rocks was a major figure with connections in both the light and the dark. His intelligence network spread across the world. Getting Rono's background was very simple.
"To watch the Celestial Dragons kill his parents... no wonder he targeted the Heavenly Tribute as soon as he set out to sea."
After reading the file, Whitebeard also came to a sudden realization. It seemed this was another one whose target was the Celestial Dragons.
At the same time, Whitebeard's heart felt a lot of empathy for Rono.
After all, what Whitebeard valued most was family. To watch his own parents die before his eyes... if that happened to him, he would definitely go mad!
Hearing this, Rocks also nodded. "I like this guy. Such a genius shouldn't be wandering outside. He belongs in the Rocks Pirates."
Although Rocks had a somewhat brutal personality, he truly admired talented powerhouses.
Otherwise, the Rocks Pirates wouldn't have gathered so many strong individuals like Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Big Mom.
It could be said that more than half of the strongest people on the seas were in the Rocks Pirates.
Whitebeard immediately understood Rocks's meaning, but he was still a bit annoyed. "Why ask me for this kind of thing?"
"You know, on this ship, you're the one I trust the most. You're the only one I can count on to get things done."
Hearing the displeasure in Whitebeard's tone, Rocks didn't get angry.
This was Rocks's style. As long as you had strength, he could tolerate minor flaws, or even major ones.
Of course, this style also led to the Rocks Pirates being a complete mess of individuals.
When Rocks himself was present, he could use his overwhelming power to suppress the ambitions of these monsters.
But once Rocks died, the Rocks Pirates would immediately fall apart. It could be said they were the complete opposite of the Roger Pirates.
Hearing Rocks's explanation, Whitebeard's expression softened slightly.
Indeed, there were too many unreliable guys on this ship.
Golden Lion Shiki, that woman Big Mom, and then Wang Zhi, John, and Silver Axe—all of them were ambitious guys. None submitted to the others. They couldn't be trusted at all.
"What if he's unwilling to join?" Whitebeard asked again.
"Pirates have pirate rules." Rocks gave a cold smile. The meaning couldn't be clearer.
The original members of the Rocks Pirates... Rocks had beaten every single one of them into submission.
People like Whitebeard, Shiki, and Big Mom had all joined the crew after losing to Rocks.
"Alright. I understand. I'll set out at once." Whitebeard didn't delay and prepared to leave.
In fact, Whitebeard himself was very interested in Rono.
After his parents were killed, Rono took revenge on the Celestial Dragons. This was enough to show that this guy, like himself, was someone who valued family greatly.
It wasn't easy to find someone like that. After all, there wasn't a single person like that in the Rocks Pirates.
Watching Whitebeard's departing figure, Rocks suddenly felt a wave of sadness.
In this entire, massive pirate crew, he only had this one reliable member.
If he didn't have Whitebeard, who else could he send to do this?
He'd probably have to go himself.
"But it doesn't matter. As long as I can pull those Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise down from their thrones, I'll do whatever it takes!"
Rocks's sadness quickly vanished, replaced by a horrifying killing intent.
It was a killing intent one couldn't possess without having slaughtered tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of people.
...
"A bounty of 500 million. That's really unexpected."
In the East Blue, Rono saw his wanted poster and a smile appeared on his face.
Rono was shocked that his first bounty was 500 million.
Even forty years later, a 500 million bounty was the threshold for a major pirate.
"That guy Roger... must be pretty depressed right now."
Continuing to read the paper, Rono saw that Roger was listed as *his crewmate* with a 300 million Berry bounty. Rono almost laughed out loud.
The future Pirate King... was once his crewmate. That felt pretty good.
In truth, Rono and Roger had parted ways just a few days after the Heavenly Tribute incident.
After all, Roger had his own journey, and now that he was rich, he didn't need to bum off Rono's ship anymore.
It was worth noting that the World Government had intentionally leaked the information about the Mera Mera no Mi in the newspaper. This way, pirates coveting the fruit would come looking for him.
The World Government originally wanted to use this method to cause trouble for Rono, but they didn't know that Rono desperately *wanted* more strong people to come, so he could pick up their abilities.
Unfortunately, for several consecutive days, the groups Rono encountered were all bottom-tier pirates from the East Blue.
As for true powerhouses... first, the Mera Mera no Mi wasn't good enough to catch their eye, and second, the powerhouses who *were* interested in the fruit also understood the weight of a 500 million bounty.
Yet these bottom-tier pirates, who didn't even dare to enter the Grand Line, were clamoring to kill Rono and steal the Mera Mera no Mi.
These pirates had been lording it over the East Blue for too long and had no accurate concept of a major figure's strength. Rono had no choice but to eliminate all of these scourges who harmed civilians.
After all, although he had become a pirate, Rono was from a civilian background. He wouldn't do anything to harm ordinary people.
"I wonder how long the Celestial Dragon has been gone. At my current speed, I should be able to catch up."
After casually dealing with the small fry, Rono looked out at the distant sea, killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Ever since picking up Roger's "Voice of All Things" Observation Haki, Rono had been searching for the Celestial Dragon's presence.
The Voice of All Things belonged to the God-level category of Observation Haki. It allowed him to communicate on a conscious level with different types of creatures, and even non-living things.
In other words, Rono could communicate with nearby sea creatures to get the Celestial Dragon's precise location.
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