After speaking, Rocks extended his invitation to Marco once again.
"Alright, this is the last time I'm going to ask—will you become my subordinate?"
This was already Rocks' third attempt. If Marco refused again, it might be seen as an affront.
But Marco was never going to agree. In his heart, Whitebeard was no different from his real father—how could he possibly betray his own family?
Not to mention, Rocks still wore the appearance of Teach, which Marco found revolting no matter how he looked at it.
Marco responded with action.
He fully transformed into his beast form, flapping his wings and launching a barrage of blue fireballs down at Rocks.
Having suffered once already, Marco knew better than to engage in close combat with Rocks. He chose long-range attacks instead and deliberately widened the area of effect.
Though the Phoenix Fruit granted him flame abilities, its fire was the Flame of Healing—it didn't burn.
The fireballs Marco hurled relied solely on powerful impact to damage the enemy.
...
...
Seeing Marco reject him, Rocks didn't get angry. He simply grinned and said,
"Looks like you'd still rather play with Newgate. What a shame."
As he spoke, Rocks casually waved his hand. The darkness behind him condensed into long, pitch-black spears that instantly shattered the incoming blue fireballs.
Immediately after, the dark spears shot forward, extending toward Marco like deadly lances.
In the sky, Marco's eyes narrowed. He spread his wings, and a circular shield of blue flames formed in front of him.
"Immortal Thistle!"
Shk! Shk! Shk!
The dark spears plunged deep into the flaming shield, stirring waves of blue fire before dissipating into the air.
Cold sweat beaded on Marco's forehead. That was close—his Immortal Thistle had almost been broken through.
Rocks looked down at his own hands with some dissatisfaction and muttered to himself,
"The Dark-Dark Fruit's power is getting weaker... I can't afford to waste any more time. I need to end this fight now!"
He reached out again, aiming at Marco, and activated Black Hole.
The moment Marco saw the familiar technique, his expression changed dramatically. He'd already been caught by this once.
That was why, after healing up, he immediately flew as high as he could into the sky, thinking he could escape Black Hole's range.
But reality proved he had underestimated the gravitational pull of darkness.
After flapping a few times midair, Marco found himself helplessly dragged in by Black Hole's pull, flying uncontrollably toward Rocks.
Realizing resistance was futile, Marco decisively canceled his Phoenix transformation and wrapped his arms in Armament Haki.
As the commander of Whitebeard's First Division, Marco's mastery of Armament Haki was nothing to scoff at—he could already use it externally.
He hurled a punch at Rocks, sending out a shockwave of invisible force.
Seeing Marco's quick thinking, Rocks showed a trace of admiration on his face.
"Not bad. You really are someone I had my eye on. Sharp combat instincts... too bad I can't make you mine."
Even as he spoke, Rocks didn't slack off in the slightest. Haki? He'd mastered it long ago.
Even while using Teach's body, he could still push it to its absolute limits—especially since he also had Conqueror's Haki.
Conqueror's Haki was different from Armament—it wasn't an innate power that everyone had. It was willpower made manifest.
Put simply, its source was the soul.
Rocks still had access to Conqueror's Haki, and using Conqueror's Infusion was second nature to him.
Black lightning crackled around his arm as Conqueror's Haki surged through it. He mirrored Marco's punch with one of his own.
Marco's punch crumbled instantly under the weight of Rocks' attack. It didn't hold up for even a moment before being overpowered.
Boom!
With a dull thud, Marco's body flew toward the ground like a kite with its string cut.
He was already covered in blood, looking utterly miserable.
Struggling to rise from the ground, he tried to activate his healing powers.
This time, he successfully summoned his ability, and intense blue flames engulfed his body.
But after burning for a while, Marco was dismayed to find that although his wounds were healing... the effect was barely noticeable.
If he had seen the anime's War of the Best, he would've understood—even the most powerful Devil Fruits were helpless before a true master of Haki.
In the anime, he was knocked down by a single punch from Garp and ended up wrapped in bandages.
To truly bring out a fruit's potential, you needed eyes like Kaito's Rinnegan!
But Marco didn't have the Rinnegan. So now, all he could do was swallow this bitter pill.
He swore that if he survived this, he would rigorously train his Haki!
Marco's Armament Haki was already impressive. The reason he suffered so much wasn't due to lack of skill—it was because he didn't possess Conqueror's Haki.
And because Rocks was just too powerful.
Even now, with his powers sealed and body limited, Rocks was still far beyond what Marco could handle.
Rocks' current strength was undoubtedly on par with the Four Emperors. If this had been the Rocks of old, Marco would've been one-shotted.
Even as a phoenix.
With exaggerated strides, Rocks walked slowly toward Marco, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
Marco watched as Rocks drew closer, wanting to strike back—but even moving a finger sent waves of pain through his body. All he could do was stand there like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
But contrary to Marco's expectations, Rocks didn't finish him off.
He stood in front of Marco, raised his hand, and slapped his shoulder twice.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a big deal. But Marco was severely wounded—those two slaps nearly killed him.
Pain contorted Marco's face, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing. He just glared at Rocks with dead fish eyes full of venom.
If looks could kill, Rocks would've died ten thousand times.
Rocks ignored Marco's murderous stare and chuckled.
"Relax. I'm not going to kill you. But I am going to have you deliver a message to Newgate."
Marco froze, stunned that he might actually live.
Rocks didn't wait for a reply. He continued on his own,
"Tell Newgate that his old captain, Rocks, is back... and he'd better be ready to greet me! Gyahahahahaha!"
With that, Rocks spun around and walked away, leaving Marco standing there, blank-faced and dazed.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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