After rescuing Tenmoku, the soft-spoken intellectual from the Three-Eye Tribe, Brook turned his attention to the other experiment survivors crying out for freedom. He prioritized releasing members of the Dwarf, Mermaid, and Fishman tribes under his command.
He also recruited a few formidable survivors: Mandro of the Snakeneck Tribe, Obaro of the Longleg Tribe, and Cannon of the Longarm Tribe—all brimming with raw vitality.
The last was Rocky, a giant from Elbaf. Brook saw a golden opportunity to gain a foothold in Elbaf. Rocky, a fiery radical, was no ordinary giant.
Now part of Brook's crew, Rocky dreamed of rallying like-minded giants to form a mighty division under the Hell Pirates, ready to conquer the seas.
"Wanna be the new king of the giants?" Brook asked, eyeing the excited Rocky.
Rocky's ambition to lead a mere giant division under the Hell Pirates seemed small to Brook. If he was going to dream, why not aim for the throne of Elbaf itself?
"Captain Brook, it's not that I don't want to," Rocky said sheepishly. "I just don't have the strength. I never even qualified to learn Elbaf's core martial techniques."
Rocky admitted he was just an average giant, too weak to join the Giant Warrior Pirates. In a fit of passion, he'd gathered a few fellow hotheaded radicals and set sail, only to be captured by the World Government.
His three young giant comrades were now half-dead from experiments. If Brook had arrived a few weeks later, they'd likely be gone.
"I've got Elbaf's martial techniques and potions to unlock your potential," Brook said coolly. "It's up to you to decide how big your ambition is."
Brook smirked, thinking of Vegapunk's SIQ-ES serum. Sure, it shaved off lifespan to boost power, but giants lived three or four centuries. Brook only needed Rocky at his peak for a few decades to serve the Hell Pirates.
Help Brook take control of Elbaf, and a shortened life was a small price to pay. A glorious few decades or a mediocre couple of centuries—Rocky could choose his fate.
"Captain Brook, I won't let you down!" Rocky roared, his excitement boiling over.
Once an ordinary, rebellious Elbaf youth, Rocky had never dared dream of being king. His wildest goal was to captain a crew as legendary as the Giant Warrior Pirates. But Brook's words ignited a fire in him. One day, he'd claim the throne of Elbaf!
"Work hard, then! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed, his skeletal grin wide.
His plans for Elbaf were accelerating. Originally, he'd hoped to leverage Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy's connections. Now, he could send Rocky back to shake things up and fracture Elbaf's unity!
"Linlin, Newgate, take it from here. Pick your crews wisely!" Brook called out.
He left Charlotte Linlin and Whitebeard Newgate to select members for Whole Cake Island and their personal divisions. Redfield, however, had no interest in forming a division.
"Gurarara! Don't mind if I do, Brook!"
Newgate stepped forward, carefully choosing members for his soon-to-be-formed division. Soon, he'd lead his own missions, no longer hitching rides on others' ships. A top commander needed his own swagger.
Unlike Golden Lion Shiki's airship or Redfield's lightning-powered vessel, Newgate's ship wasn't flight-capable—yet. Brook had Vegapunk working on a thunder-storage device.
Soon, Newgate's personal pirate ship would soar, needing only periodic recharges at Raijin Island. Still, Newgate preferred the open sea, flying only when missions demanded speed.
"Mama! Whatever Newgate doesn't take is mine!" Charlotte Linlin declared lazily.
She didn't bother picking—she'd scoop up everyone left, take them to Whole Cake Island, and sort out the strong ones for her combat forces later.
...
As Newgate finished his selections, Antonio rushed in with urgent news: Admiral Devo was closing in fast, and they needed to prepare.
Linlin wasn't fazed. Shiki was set to lift the entire island anyway—Brook's real prize was its scientists and rare equipment.
Still, Brook freed all the experiment survivors from every race, letting them witness the clash of titans: a pirate overlord versus a Navy admiral!
The survivors, tears streaming down their faces, rejoiced in their freedom. Whatever came next couldn't be worse than this hell.
...
Punk Hazard Sea
Admiral Devo clenched his fists. Vice Admiral Aishu had gone silent—Punk Hazard, the secret research island, was almost certainly overrun.
"Damn it! How did Brook know about Punk Hazard's secrets? If the Hell Pirates steal this island, even we'll take the fall!" Devo growled, his teeth grinding.
Brook's moves were calculated. Fresh off raiding the Prodence Kingdom, he'd targeted Punk Hazard with surgical precision—a meticulously planned heist.
Urging Kong to hurry, Devo resolved to storm Punk Hazard, even at the cost of his life. He had to stop the Hell Pirates, especially Shiki's island-stealing antics!
"All units, prepare to assault the island! We're taking back Punk Hazard—for justice!"
Devo rallied the troops across three warships. Their mission: stall the Hell Pirates, keep them from floating Punk Hazard away until Kong arrived.
The attack horns blared, and the warships surged toward Punk Hazard's shallows, aiming for a forceful landing.
"Gurarara! Not so fast!"
In front of the gaunt new recruits, Whitebeard Newgate stepped up to flex his might. His right fist glowed, charging with Quake-Quake power, and he shattered the air itself.
A tsunami, dozens of meters tall, roared toward Devo's three warships. Even if it couldn't sink them, it'd push them back.
But a ferocious wave of dark energy blasted through the tsunami, carving a path for the warships to charge forward.
Hovering above the fleet was a snarling, horned beast with black wings, cloaked in a Navy Justice coat. Without it, you'd swear he was more pirate than the pirates!
"Admiral Devo, Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Horned Demon Form!" Antonio recited calmly, reading off the monster's dossier. "Known as the Navy's demon, he's slaughtered countless pirates. The iron-fisted face of the Hawks faction!"
-----------
+400 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg