Inside Skull Mountain, in the council hall.
"Silver Axe, John, welcome to the Rocks Pirates. With you two aboard, our crew grows ever stronger—something truly worth celebrating."
Watching Silver Axe and John follow Golden Lion and Carlo into the room, Rocks rose from the sofa to welcome them personally.
Yet neither Silver Axe nor John wore much of a smile.
Rocks gave Carlo a subtle glance, the corner of his mouth twitching in a barely perceptible smirk.
He, master of Hachinosu and governor of the Rocks Pirates, was rather pleased that Carlo had taken on both men and beaten them soundly.
Over the years,
whether by choice or necessity, he had spread his name across the seas.
Almost every month, every year, challengers arrived drawn by that fame.
Of those challengers, only a handful possessed real strength.
Most were middling fighters with no honest gauge of their own ability—
arrogant fools who thought eating a Devil Fruit made them invincible.
John and Silver Axe were perfect examples.
Still, their strength was already impressive;
out on the open ocean they would be hailed as top-tier powerhouses.
But he was Rocks!
To him, their might was no different from stray cats or dogs yapping at his feet.
If every stray mutt demanded his attention, life would be unbearable.
Fortunately,
he had since pushed Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Linlin to the fore as Division Captains, deflecting most challengers.
But in recent years the three had grown lazy,
no longer troubling themselves much with the pests who came to Hachinosu.
And because their reputations had swelled, challengers either feared to face them
or, figuring they would lose anyway, bypassed them to pester the Captain himself.
Now, however, things were different.
He had the hot-blooded, ambitious, steadily rising young Carlo standing guard.
From now on, those pests would suffer.
What?
Wang Zhi, you say?
No one could flatter better,
but when asked to fight challengers like Silver Axe or John, he would teleport away to Rocky Port to avoid battle.
Rocks knew his old subordinate too well:
Wang Zhi never lifted a finger without profit.
"Enough, Rocks. Everyone's here. If you've something to say, say it—keep us guessing and I'm leaving."
Golden Lion floated to his seat, folded his legs in the air, and spoke irritably.
"Shiki, still so impatient."
Rocks chuckled, clapped his hands, and, once every eye in the hall was on him, grinned: "This begins with the monks you robbed last time, Shiki."
"Monks?" Shiki blinked, scratching his head. "What monks?"
Rocks reminded him: "Half a month ago, acting on Stussy's intel, you intercepted several monk ships and came back loaded."
Golden Lion thought for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, those phony do-gooders? What about them—don't tell me you've found their nest?"
He had spoken casually,
but Rocks nodded with a smile.
"Exactly!"
"Stussy's people traced them to their lair."
"Where?" Golden Lion demanded.
No wonder he was eager: those monks were fat beyond belief.
Last time he had stopped only three small boats, expecting little.
Yet the tally showed over five hundred million Berries in cash alone,
and with jewels, antiques, and paintings his haul topped one billion berries.
At that time an average celestial tribute convoy carried roughly the same sum—
and a mere few dozen monks equaled robbing one such shipment.
Calling them "rolling in riches" was an insult;
best of all,
they were effortless to rob.
Though the bald monks kept warrior guards,
they were child's play compared to tribute escorts or Marine fleets—
a rookie crewman could handle them.
Seeing Shiki's impatience, Rocks said: "Puttelocrne, International Benevolent Alliance Temple, near the Totto Land archipelago."
"Totto Land? That's quite a trip," Carlo heard Linlin mutter beside him.
He shot the statuesque beauty a sidelong glance,
thinking: That will be your turf when you're one of the Four Emperors.
Present-day Linlin, of course, had no idea she would rule those islands.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's sail! Who knows what other treasures are waiting in their nest!" Golden Lion leapt up excitedly.
Silver Axe, seated nearby, brightened. "Rocks, can I join this raid?"
"Oh? You want in? I'd be delighted." Rocks smiled.
Silver Axe nodded at once. "Count me in! How do we split the loot?"
He was broke.
Not only did he need funds to rebuild Hachinosu,
he owed Carlo one billion berries.
If interest kept piling up, who knew how deep the debt would grow.
Rocks answered: "Whatever you grab yourself is yours. What we take together splits by crew shares. Silver Axe, you'll draw a Senior Combatant's share."
"Only Senior Combatant? I'm not strong enough to be a Division Captain?" Silver Axe frowned.
Rocks merely pointed at Carlo.
"Business is light and territory small; we've only four divisions. Carlo is the last, Fourth Division Captain. Beat him and you take his share."
Silver Axe's protest died in his throat.
Rocks turned to John.
"John, same rank—Senior Combatant. You coming?"