The Rocks Pirates' ship, the Rocks' Fury, rapidly approached Makoto.
The overwhelming, innate intimidating aura of the many great pirates on the ship also caused the expressions of the numerous women on the Otherworlder-Go to change.
Saeko instinctively shouted, "Everyone, go back to your rooms!"
Makoto reached out and tapped her on the forehead. "You go back too."
Saeko covered her little head with a somewhat blank expression. Only then did she remember… she was also a new player who had only transmigrated once, and her strength was still weak.
It was just that her mentality when facing a crisis was much stronger than that of young girls like the Nakano quadruplets and Moeha.
"In the future, I will definitely help Makoto," Saeko said very firmly.
Although she had not officially married Makoto, in her heart she already considered herself his wife.
Supporting her husband was also one of a wife's responsibilities. She shouldn't just hide behind her husband seeking shelter once trouble arose.
Makoto smiled and waved his hand, signaling her to stay behind.
Although Saeko was still a weakling for now, her growth rate was astonishing. In time, reaching the level of Master Swordsman seemed practically guaranteed.
"Hey, Makoto-kun, if we're going to fight, I need to borrow the abilities of these women," Nayuta said.
Makoto blinked. "Aren't Roger and their abilities enough?"
Nayuta said seriously, "Those people over there should be stronger than the Roger Pirates, right? So not enough."
Hearing Nayuta say this, Makoto couldn't argue and nodded in agreement. Nayuta immediately turned to Yotsuba, Reze, and the others and said, "Quick, say 'I dedicate everything to Nayuta'."
As she said this, Nayuta couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of her mouth.
Seeing her smile, Reze and the others looked bewildered, 'Why is this child so happy?'
For the time being, most people hid inside the ship. At best, only Nayuta, the Control Devil, Reze, the Bomb Devil, and Ran, who had mastered the Eight Gates and had some understanding of Haki, remained.
Even Utaha, Megumi, and the others, whose strength was now comparable to Elite Jonin, and even Yotsuba, who had just obtained the Magma-Magma Fruit's power, went back to their rooms.
There was no help for it. The strength of the Rocks Pirates was still too high for them.
Yotsuba and the others, watching this scene through the window, clenched their fists secretly. They realized that after Yu and the others left, Makoto simply didn't have any reliable subordinates around him.
'I must become stronger.' Yotsuba and the others secretly resolved… it felt terrible to hide behind their man every time something happened.
The other four sisters beside her had even more complicated feelings: At least Yotsuba had the qualification to work hard... they couldn't work hard even if they wanted to, after all, their starting line was too far behind.
"Vohahahahahaha!"
A distinctively styled laugh came from the large ship opposite. Even hearing the laugh, the women could guess that the person was definitely not simple.
Rocks stood at the bow of his ship. Standing in a row behind him were the future Whitebeard, Edward Newgate... Golden Lion, Shiki... Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin... Kaido of the Beasts... and other great pirates who would dominate their own territories in the future.
There was no denying it, this lineup was truly astonishing.
Although the others were not as famous as the first few, they were still top-tier pirates renowned in this era.
Rocks, standing at the forefront, put one foot on the bow of the ship and looked at Makoto with a smile. "So you're the King of the New World they talk about in the papers? I heard you have quite a few women on your ship. Have they all hidden away? That won't do. Your crew members really need to be helpful to you. If they're always holding you back, they'll drag you down!"
Rocks' words were like a knife, stabbing into the hearts of Megumi and the others hiding inside the ship.
Makoto sat on the Pochita-shaped bow with his legs crossed, smiling cheerfully. "That's still better than having a group of two-faced fair-weather friends who pretend to be loyal."
Although Whitebeard and Kaido had fought alongside Rocks against Imu during the God Valley Incident, when Rocks was controlled by the Domi Reversi and encountered a slight disadvantage… not to mention Kaido, even Whitebeard didn't choose to try and turn the tide.
This was enough to show the true nature of this 'strongest pirate crew in history'.
As for the people on his ship now, Makoto couldn't say that every single one would be absolutely loyal to him if he were in danger, but at least over eighty percent would definitely choose to live or die with him.
"Tch, it seems you're not just strong, you've got a sharp tongue too," Rocks clicked his tongue, looking displeased, but didn't argue.
He knew this himself.
"So then? What do you want with me? Are you here to avenge your good brother Harald?"
Before Rocks could answer, the pirates behind him voiced their opinions one after another.
Whitebeard said, "If he wants revenge, that has nothing to do with me. I don't care if that giant lives or dies."
Miss Bakkin nodded. "My thoughts are the same as Newgate's."
Shiki chimed in, "After we disband, I need to form my own pirate crew."
"Haha!" Seeing these people all voicing escape plans before the fight had even started, Makoto couldn't help but laugh out loud. "If you want to fight me, you'd better tame those idiots first. But if you want to die right now, I suppose I could grant your wish."
Hearing this, Rocks was very unhappy. Although he knew he was probably no match for this kid in front of him, as the strongest pirate of this era, he still had his pride.
Rocks slowly drew his sword and said, "That guy Harald was an idiot, but I always considered him one of my few friends. You killed him. I can't just let that go without an explanation."
Seeing this, Makoto also smiled. "Is that so? What a shame. It seems the King of the Sea is about to become history a little early."
To be honest, Makoto didn't have much dislike for Rocks. Because by the latter part of the original work, Rocks was already one of the few 'normal people'.
At least compared to heavyweights like Kozuki Oden, the Deserter King, and the God Valley's Speed Bump, Rocks at least didn't disgust Makoto.
If he hadn't come looking for him, Makoto wouldn't have wanted his life. But since the other party had drawn his sword against him, that was a different matter.
"Do you have any children?" Makoto asked with a smile. As soon as he said this, both Nayuta, Reze, Ran beside Makoto, and Whitebeard, Shiki on Rocks' side were stunned.
'Why ask about children at a time like this?'
Rocks's expression changed dramatically. His wife had only called a few days ago to say she had given birth to a big, healthy son, and no one in the Rocks Pirates even knew about this.
'How did this kid...'
"Are you threatening me with this?" Rocks was enraged. If the other party had that intention, even if he wasn't a match, he would fight to the death to take this kid down with him.
"You're overthinking it. Threatening with kids is too low-class." Makoto shrugged. When reading the manga in his previous life, Shanks had pulled this stunt when he went to Elbaf.
At the time, Makoto had thought the God's Knights were going to cosplay as Uchiha Madara showing up to massacre the Allied Ninja Forces, but it turned out to be just kidnapping kids to threaten the giants.
At the time, Makoto's feeling was… that's just too damn low-class. He disdained doing such things.
Nishikawa-sama has an image to maintain, you know?
'But judging by Rocks' expression, Teach should have already been born, or at least his wife was already pregnant. So there was no need to worry about killing him now and failing the mission.' Makoto stood up and chuckled lightly. "Are you sure you want to fight? The words 'holding back' aren't in my dictionary."
Rocks grinned evilly. "If you're afraid to die, why become a pirate? Besides, you've trampled the World Government underfoot. That makes you my target."
Rocks, who wanted to become the King of the World, had originally considered the World Government his primary target.
Now that the World Government had already been defeated by Makoto, his target would naturally have to shift to him.
Not to mention that Harald had died at Makoto's hands... he would inevitably face him in battle eventually.
Makoto laughed even harder. "Haha! Good, I appreciate that you're a normal person. Later, if I have to kill you, I'll try to make it painless."
As his voice trailed off, the sky above the sea changed dramatically, wind and clouds swirling.
Makoto stood at the bow of the Otherworlder-Go, his hands rapidly forming hand seals, his afterimages blending into a blur.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Before the Rocks Pirates members opposite could react, Makoto gave a light shout. The sea surface suddenly exploded.
A dragon formed from seawater surged up from the seabed, its massive body blocking out half the sky. The water dragon opened its huge mouth, letting out a silent roar, and dove down towards Rocks.
"Seawater?" Quite a few members of the Rocks Pirates were startled. Many of them were Devil Fruit users and had a natural fear of seawater.
But Rocks was not a user. He didn't even lift an eyelid, his right hand slowly gripping the sword hilt at his waist.
"Vohahaha! Is this all you've got?" Rocks laughed wildly and drew his sword.
A flash of sword light appeared.
No fancy technique name, just a simple slash. But the sword energy from this slash split the entire water dragon in two.
The water dragon's body exploded with a bang, turning into a downpour of seawater that poured down like a torrential rain, drenching both ships. Rocks's lips curled in a disdainful smile.
But then… the moment he split the water dragon, a huge gray-black figure had already charged right in front of him. Susanoo - Fourth Form.
Makoto was clad in gray-black energy armor, his body expanded to nearly ten meters tall, each of his arms holding a chainsaw also condensed from the same Chakra.
The chainsaws roared, their teeth spinning at high speed, emitting a piercing whine. Makoto towered above, a brutal and unreasonable slash descending. The chainsaws whistled through the air, cleaving down towards Rocks's head.
Rocks's pupils contracted. He raised his sword to block.
Clang—!!!
The deafening sound of metal colliding exploded across the sea. The shockwave radiated outwards, kicking up towering waves tens of meters high.
Both ships shook violently, pushed by the surging waves, and the crew members grabbed onto railings to steady themselves.
And Rocks... the sea surface beneath his feet had dented into a huge crater, seawater pushed away in all directions.
The next instant, Rocks was slammed into the sea.
"Gurgle blub blub!"
Seawater churned, bubbles rose, and Rocks's figure disappeared into the blue depths. The sea surface fell silent for a moment.
"That guy Rocks..."
"It shouldn't end that quickly, right?"
The crew members of the Rocks Pirates looked at each other. Miss Bakkin's eyes widened. "What kind of Devil Fruit user is he?"
Kaido's brow furrowed deeply. Kaido was not yet a Devil Fruit user at this time. But to obtain his desired Devil Fruit ability, he had often studied the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
However, after racking his brains, he couldn't think of any Devil Fruit ability that could achieve the effect of controlling seawater and transforming into a giant.
The next second…
Woooom—
A dull roar came from the seabed. The sea surface began to tremble. And then… the entire sea was literally split in two from the middle.
Seawater pushed to both sides, revealing a bottomless abyss in the center. This fissure extended from beneath Makoto all the way to the horizon, separating the Otherworlder-Go and the Rocks' Fury on either side.
The residual force of this sword energy even sheared off a corner of the nearby Forget Island.
"So strong..." Inside the room, Eriri's mouth gaped wide enough to fit a fist.
"He split the sea?"
Cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of the Nakano sisters. Rocks, drenched, jumped up from the seabed.