Chapter 30: Initiation into the Rocks Pirates, a Preemptive Show of Force
"Captain, do you know 'The Heinous'?"
Rayleigh, Gaban, and the others gathered around, very curious.
'The Heinous' was the most talked-about pirate on the seas recently.
His fame had even overshadowed the Rocks Pirates.
First the Heavenly Tribute, then killing a Celestial Dragon, and escaping the siege of several powerful figures at the Admiral level, had drawn the attention, admiration, and jealousy, both open and secret, from countless pirates.
Even Rayleigh and Gaban were no exception.
"Hahaha, Rono? He's no 'Heinous' man. He simply has a grudge against the Celestial Dragons."
Roger laughed heartily, dismissing the title the World Government had given Rono.
That's just how the World Government is, always calling black white and white black.
But I never expected Rono to actually join the Rocks Pirates!
That crew is notoriously brutal, often attacking countries and civilians.
But considering that their captain, Rocks, also has issues with the Celestial Dragons and frequently causes trouble for them, perhaps that's why Rono joined them.
"But to be surpassed by you again so quickly, it's really annoying."
Roger looked at Rono's bounty, a staggering 1.5 billion, and felt provoked.
My own bounty is just over 800 million right now. I've got to step it up.
"In any case, I can't lose to you. We have to give it our all!"
"Men, let's go! Take down that Devil Pirate crew with the 700 million bounty ahead of us!"
Roger led his crew, charging towards a large pirate crew not far away.
Meanwhile, in the New World, Hachinosu Island.
This is the most prosperous island in the New World, and also the main base of the Rocks Pirates.
Whitebeard and Rono had landed on Hachinosu.
Their arrival immediately attracted a crowd!
"Look, isn't that the First Division Commander, Captain Whitebeard? Has Captain Whitebeard been away?"
"I was wondering why I hadn't seen Captain Whitebeard for a few days."
"Hey? There's someone with Captain Whitebeard... Who... who is that!"
"Holy crap, are my eyes deceiving me? Isn't that 'The Heinous' Rono, who's been making all the headlines?"
"A bounty of 1.5 billion, killed a Celestial Dragon in front of 'Steel Bone' Kong, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr! Why is he here on Hachinosu!"
"It really is him! So Captain Whitebeard disappeared these past few days to find Rono?"
"Don't tell me this guy is also joining our Rocks Pirates?"
"Doesn't that mean our Rocks Pirates have gained another great pirate!"
Many members of the Rocks Pirates gathered around, extremely interested in Rono's arrival!
After all, this was 'The Heinous,' whose fame had recently overshadowed even the Rocks Pirates!
His bounty of 1.5 billion was even higher than Captain Whitebeard's.
On the Rocks Pirates' crew, only Rocks himself had a bounty higher than 'The Heinous'.
The numerous pirates looked him up and down, trying to see if this 'Heinous' Rono was as ferocious as the newspapers claimed.
After all, the World Government's newspapers depicted Rono as an extremely vicious criminal!
Burning, killing, looting, and harming civilians—Rono's brutality was said to be second to none among pirates!
But no matter how they looked at him, Rono didn't seem like the type of villainous, bullying pirate who would commit every evil imaginable.
Thud, thud!
The next moment, some of the pirates in the crowd suddenly rolled their eyes back, lost consciousness, and collapsed to the ground.
This was Rono unleashing his Conqueror's Haki.
Rono hated being surrounded by a chattering crowd—he wasn't a monkey in a zoo—so he decided to make a show of force.
Nearly half of the pirates fainted, and some of those who remained conscious were unsteady on their feet.
These were all grunts, which also showed the difference between the Rocks Pirates and other crews.
If these were members of another pirate crew, faced with Rono's top-tier Conqueror's Haki, likely only the captain and a few core officers would have remained standing.
"What powerful Conqueror's Haki! It's not inferior to Captain Whitebeard's or Captain Shiki's at all!"
Sure enough, as soon as Rono acted, the pirates who had nearly been knocked out quickly backed away, clearing a path for Rono and Whitebeard.
At the same time, they formed a rough assessment of Rono in their minds.
In terms of Conqueror's Haki alone, Rono was on par with the First Division Commander, Whitebeard, and the Second Division Commander, Golden Lion Shiki!
It seems the newspapers weren't exaggerating.
"Gurararara, you really don't hold back, do you," Whitebeard couldn't help but laugh.
"These guys are like annoying grasshoppers, they're too loud," Rono said.
"But a lot of the people you knocked out are members of Golden Lion Shiki's division, as well as Silver Axe's, Wang Zhi's, John's, and Charlotte Linlin's."
"You've offended all of them the moment you stepped on board," Whitebeard reminded him kindly.
"Isn't that the way of the Rocks Pirates? Who's afraid of offending people?" Rono seemed completely unconcerned.
Members and officers of the Rocks Pirates often fought amongst themselves, sometimes even to the death.
Offending people was the norm; sometimes you could say something unintentionally and be hated for it.
Rono couldn't be bothered with all that. He'd deal with these annoying guys first and worry about the rest later.
"Gurararara, that's true. I was overthinking it." Whitebeard felt he had thought too much. He had witnessed Rono's strength.
If he offended them, so be it!
Besides, guys like Golden Lion, Silver Axe, and Charlotte wouldn't fall out with another officer over some low-ranking members.
Just then, a figure approached from a distance.
The aura emanating from that person was terrifying; Rono could feel it even from far away!
Rono had never encountered such a terrifying aura before.
It was definitely stronger than Whitebeard's and his own, and also stronger than that of 'Steel Bone' Kong, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr, whom he had met!
As the person got closer, Rono could finally see his appearance.
He had an exaggerated, spiky red hairstyle that pointed upwards, and a long red robe that billowed in the sea breeze!
Even though his clothes were relatively loose, his muscles strained against the fabric!
He wasn't particularly tall, around 2.5 meters, but with his powerful and somewhat suffocating kingly aura, no one would dare to underestimate him!
This was the king of these seas, Rocks D. Xebec!
"Hahahaha, Rono! It's better to meet you in person than to just hear about you!"
"To be honest, I've been looking forward to your arrival for days!"
When Rocks saw Rono, and then the unconscious crew members scattered on the ground, he wasn't displeased at all. Instead, he burst into a hearty laugh!
Unlike what Rono had imagined, Rocks wasn't a cold and cruel type; on the contrary, he seemed rather approachable.
If it weren't for the terrifying kingly aura he exuded, it would be hard to believe this was the captain of the strongest pirate crew on the seas!
It made sense. It would be difficult to recruit so many great pirates through bloody suppression alone.
"Go and immediately inform Shiki, Charlotte, John, Wang Zhi, and the others!"
"We're having a banquet tonight to celebrate Rono joining us!"
Rocks quickly gave the order, and the grunts hurried off to inform Shiki and the others.
That evening, famous officers like Shiki, Charlotte, John, and Silver Axe all arrived.
On one hand, it was to show respect to Captain Rocks; his orders had to be obeyed.
On the other hand, they also wanted to see for themselves the demeanor of this 'Heinous' man who had been causing such a stir recently.
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