"God Valley?"
Marco furrowed his brow. The name sounded unfamiliar to him.
Rocks didn't expect Marco to recognize it. He simply continued talking to himself.
"Back then, I led my crew into a decisive battle against the Navy there. The result... heh."
A flash of unwillingness crossed Rocks' face. No need to say it—his Rocks Pirates had lost that battle. But he couldn't accept it!
At the time, the Navy was at its peak, with Sengoku, Kong, and Garp all participating. They were the true pillars of the Marines.
But were the Rocks Pirates any weaker?
Even if Kaido was still a bit green back then, what about Big Mom, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion?
Beyond those top-tier fighters, the Rocks Pirates also had several others who were no weaker than today's Emperor Commanders. And most importantly, they had him, their captain—Rocks!
What gave the Navy the right to challenge the Rocks Pirates back then!?
...
...
Thinking about it, Rocks' eyes turned bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and roared,
"If it weren't for that bastard Roger and that mysterious power, how could we have lost!? The seas were supposed to belong to the Rocks Pirates!!!"
While Rocks was pouring out his frustration, Marco was secretly focusing on recovering his strength—quite successfully, too.
Blue flames surged around his shattered ankle, and the broken bones were nearly fully healed.
Rocks seemed unaware of Marco's recovery. He continued his manic rambling,
"That idiot Roger—what did helping the Navy get him in the end? Didn't he still die at their hands? What a joke! Kyahahahaha!"
Rocks' hatred for Roger ran bone-deep. Losing to the Marines? That was fine—they were enemies, after all.
But Roger was a pirate! And yet he acted high and mighty, talking about the "greater good," saying he couldn't let Rocks run amok for the world's sake.
Rocks had burst out laughing when he first heard that.
For what reason?
The trash ruling over Mary Geoise could dominate the world, but he, Rocks, couldn't?
"Are kings and nobles born superior?"
All that talk about protecting the world—what good had the Celestial Dragons ever brought to it? The things they'd done were so vile even he hadn't imagined them.
Roger didn't even go after the Celestial Dragons—and instead helped their dog, the Navy, to take him down? That had to be the biggest joke on Earth.
If Roger weren't already dead and his body retrieved by the Navy, the first thing Rocks would've done after resurrecting was to grind that hypocrite to dust!
Rocks' fury reached a peak. A wave of darkness surged from his body, transforming the entire area into a domain of shadow.
At that moment, Marco's strength had fully recovered. He immediately activated his powers, transforming his arms into wings and soaring into the sky.
Rocks ignored Marco. After venting his rage, he looked up at him and grinned.
"So? Have you made up your mind? Want to be the first subordinate of my new era?"
Marco didn't answer. There was something he still needed to know. He narrowed his eyes and asked Rocks,
"How did you survive that battle? And why are you inside Teach's body?"
"Kyahahahaha! All thanks to the Dark-Dark Fruit!"
Rocks' words confirmed it—he was the previous user of the Dark-Dark Fruit. And the reason it was known as the most evil of all Devil Fruits? He was a big part of that.
He didn't explain the exact method, but it was something he'd realized only at the brink of death—a deeper, hidden power of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Only at that moment did he truly understand the terrifying might of darkness.
It turned out, the gravitational pull of darkness could really absorb everything—including souls!
Back then, at the moment of death, he used that gravitational pull to forcibly drag his departing soul back into his body, preventing it from crossing into the afterlife.
But Rocks wasn't a user of the Revive-Revive Fruit. Without a special power to protect it, his soul grew weaker the longer it was separated from his body.
Even with a soul far stronger than any ordinary human's, time wore him down. His soul was on the verge of collapse.
Then, on a certain island, he encountered a strange boy—young Teach.
That kid was born different. With two hearts in his body, he possessed a talent that even Rocks envied—the potential to withstand multiple Devil Fruit powers.
So, Rocks didn't hesitate. He attached his soul to Teach's body.
But to his dismay, his already weakened soul was almost devoured by Teach's native soul—it was nearly absorbed as nourishment.
He barely held on, shrinking away and hiding deep inside Teach's body.
At that point, Rocks had all but given up hope on resurrection. All he wanted was to use Teach as a puppet to take revenge on the world.
So he began subtly influencing Teach's mind—whispering to him about his body's unique talent and the importance of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
These soul-level suggestions were silent and seamless. Teach didn't even realize where the knowledge came from. He didn't question it—just became obsessed with finding the Dark-Dark Fruit.
To do that, Teach joined the Whitebeard Pirates.
What he didn't know was that Rocks, trapped in his body, nearly disintegrated with rage when he found out.
Rocks thought Teach was an idiot. Of all people to follow, he chose Newgate, his old crewmate—the guy who played at being a "family man."
Did he really think he'd find the Dark-Dark Fruit under that guy's command? Teach's reason? Joining Whitebeard increased his chances of finding the fruit.
That fool! Even if he did find it, why would anyone let him eat it, given his low status?
But to Rocks' shock, Teach actually did find the Dark-Dark Fruit.
And he didn't hesitate—he killed for it and defected from the Whitebeard Pirates!
For once, Rocks had to admit—even he had misjudged Teach. That guy really was born to be a pirate.
Then, as Teach wandered the world with the Dark-Dark Fruit, he finally encountered Kaito...
That moment plunged Rocks into despair. His dreams of revenge seemed forever out of reach.
But fate threw him a lifeline.
Kaito killed Teach in a way that extracted his soul—claiming the Dark-Dark Fruit powers in the process.
That gave Rocks the perfect chance.
He seized the opportunity, flipped the tables, and possessed Teach's body to complete his resurrection.
Thinking back on that long, twisted journey, Rocks couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"Life sure is full of surprises."