Going to West Blue won't hurt, will it? Anyway, he's been idle lately, so it'll be like a vacation. Roa thought this, then ended his call with Morgans.
Below, the mercury giant swung its right hand, and the silvery mercury coiled out like a massive snake, directly penetrating the large hole Chin Jao had created and pulling Chin Jao out.
The supreme commander of the Happo Navy had already fainted, his head bleeding profusely, blood almost obscuring his face. However, the biggest change, of course, was that his proud, pointed head had been caved in by Bullet's punch. Roa looked at that bald head, which had transformed from a cone to something resembling a boiled egg, and couldn't help but sigh. Fate, his old friend, was at work again.
"Old Man!!" The Happo Navy members who had followed Chin Jao were already bewildered by Chin Jao's defeat. Now, seeing Chin Jao caught by Bullet, they instinctively charged towards the mercury giant, intending to rescue Chin Jao.
Then.
"Ants, simply prostrate yourselves!"
A wild aura roared from the mercury giant, instantly enveloping all of the Happo Navy. Almost instantly, the vast majority of the Happo Navy members directly fainted. Only Chin Jao's son, the leader, swayed, then, after stumbling forward a few steps, knelt powerlessly on the ground.
Damn it! Why am I so weak! This man had never hated his weakness as much as he did now. He could only watch helplessly as his Old Man was defeated and captured!
"Boss, it's done." The mercury giant turned around, presenting Chin Jao to Roa.
"Well done, Bullet." Roa praised. Bullet's current strength wasn't much different from Crusher Hyde, the strongest of Uncle Shiki's three strongest subordinates. Of course, King, who had maintained a five-five split with Bullet since eating the Tengu Fruit, was roughly at the same level.
Compared to them, Dylan's strength improvement was much less significant. After all, he wasn't young anymore, and his potential had long been exhausted. Even with advanced Armament Haki and an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, his strength could only be said to barely graze the edge of a Calamity's level, probably similar to the future Drought Jack.
"It's my duty!" As Roa's most loyal soldier, Bullet, who was usually serious and unsmiling, couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth lift slightly after being praised. Boss's praise was like the medals he had sought in his childhood. However, a hundred-meter-tall mercury giant with a somewhat strange smile still looked quite intimidating.
Roa looked at Chin Jao in the mercury giant's hand and thought for a moment. "Wake him up."
"Yes, Boss!" Bullet didn't hesitate. Mercury vapor rose from his silvery hand.
"Wah-ah-ah-ah!" The unconscious Chin Jao instantly awoke under the terrifying pain brought by the extreme heat. He almost leaped out of Bullet's hand. Bullet didn't react to this at all. Could this Chin Jao guy still cause trouble in front of Boss?
Looking at Chin Jao, who was jumping ten meters high, Roa thought, how should he control this guy? He's a Conqueror's Haki user after all, so his emotion manipulation ability might not work on him...
"My head!!" In mid-air, Chin Jao shrieked hysterically. The intense pain from the mercury vapor was now completely ignored. Chin Jao clutched his head, screaming in disbelief, "My pointed head is gone!"
Roa's eyes narrowed. Could it be? The black and white colors in his eyes instantly inverted.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, you damned bastard! What did you do to my head!!" Despite being heavily wounded and only able to move due to his strong physique, Chin Jao, with bloodshot eyes, directly charged at the mercury giant. "I'll blast you to pieces!"
In his eyes, black was rapidly spreading. Oh, so he's a Conqueror's Haki user too. I see, he's indeed very proud of his pointed head, so he's genuinely very angry now.
Well then, I apologize.
"Ugh—" Chin Jao's roar abruptly stopped. He slumped onto the mercury giant's arm, tumbled a couple of times, then crashed to the ground, causing the ground, already shattered by Bullet, to tremble slightly.
"Old Man!" Chin Jao's son, paralyzed on the ground, watched helplessly as his Old Man fell from the sky, and grief welled up within him. He didn't know exactly what had happened, only thinking that his suddenly awakened Old Man wanted to continue fighting but had collapsed again due to his severe injuries. The sorrow in his heart was naturally inexpressible. But the next moment, even as tears still welled in his eyes, his pupils suddenly widened.
Because he saw that his Old Man was now staggering to his feet again, but standing motionless, looking up, as if gazing at someone.
"Old Man?" Chin Jao's son unconsciously swallowed. The joy in his heart instantly vanished. No, something feels wrong?
Swish! A figure landed lightly from the sky.
Roa looked at the now transformed Chin Jao with delight. "Not bad! The strongest Dependent Ghost (Chōki - a type of evil spirit that follows and serves a powerful individual, often a demon.l) in the entire universe has been born!"
He's probably the only one in the entire universe with this ability, right? Not boasting, mind you! A Calamity-level Dependent Ghost, that alone makes it worth the price of admission.
"Old Man?" Chin Jao's son grew anxious. What happened? What happened to Old Man?
"Stop shouting," Roa said with a smile, looking at him. "He can only hear my voice now."
"See, kneel."
At that command, without any hesitation, Chin Jao, completely disregarding his injuries, straightened his knees and knelt before Roa. Chin Jao's son's eyes instantly widened in fury. Such a proud Old Man, such a powerful Old Man!!
"What did you do to Old Man?" Looking at this man whose anger surged like a raging flood, Roa narrowed his eyes. "Don't make me out to be some big villain. Get one thing straight, didn't you guys come looking for trouble first?"
"But never mind, you don't want your Old Man to die, do you?"
Version T0, after a year, reappears in the world!
A moment later, in Umit's office building.
"Your place is really nice, Umit." Roa sat leisurely in the office chair, with wide floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, offering a panoramic view of the entire harbor.
"If you like it, this room will be your private room." Umit, standing respectfully in front of the desk, quickly spoke, looking eager.
"No need," Roa waved his hand. "I hate working. Just looking at the office view is enough." That's why he hired so many ministers, to delegate all the specific tasks. Even overall coordination was handled by professionals Judge found from the Germa Kingdom.
"How's business lately?" However, as Boss, Roa occasionally inquired about the company's operations.
"Thanks to you, after equipping more ships with Seastone on their keels, the Calm Belt is less and less of an obstacle for transport," Umit said respectfully. "For the North Blue and West Blue, which are right next to the New World, transport efficiency has more than doubled. The East Blue and South Blue have also seen significant improvements."
"Very good!" Roa was very pleased. It wasn't in vain that he sent most of his share of Seastone here.
"However, I was quite disappointed when I first found out that you also use ships for transport." Roa said with a sigh.
"Why would you think that?" Umit was a bit confused. "Transport, if not by ship, then by what?"
"You're called 'Deep Current'," Roa casually said. "And aren't the deep seas crisscrossed with various currents? I thought you transported things using those fixed currents."
"Currents?" Umit was stunned for a moment, then chuckled bitterly. "Boss, that's just a nickname. To utilize deep-sea currents, I think only Fish-Men could do that—" His voice suddenly trailed off.
Roa also suddenly turned to look at him.
"Boss!" Umit's voice suddenly became excited. "You truly are a genius!" The experience of Chin Jao's recent attack told him that no matter how covert a route was, it could still be found out by enemies in the real world. But if they could truly use underwater channels, the situation would be entirely different!
Roa stroked his chin. "It seems I'll have to make a trip to Fish-Man Island later." Speaking of which, Fish-Men could also tame sea beasts.
A few days later, in the Calm Belt between the New World and the West Blue.
The snail fleet rumbled majestically through this sea area. Thanks to the Seastone embedded in the snails' underbellies, even sailing so openly through the Calm Belt didn't provoke any Sea King attacks; it was much calmer than when they returned from the North Blue to the New World over a year ago.
At this moment, Roa stood at the edge of a platform on one of the snails' backs. His face was solemn as he clenched his fist. Then, he slowly pushed his fist forward.
Buzz!
A powerful shockwave suddenly erupted from Roa's fist, instantly rushing tens of meters away, creating a huge wave on the sea surface below.
"Truly worthy of Boss! Have you already mastered it?" Behind Roa, Dylan applauded.
"It wasn't that difficult." Roa didn't even turn his head, merely withdrawing his fist. Then, wave after wave of air currents spread out from Roa's fist, making dull puff puff puff sounds. This wasn't the Haki shockwave released by flowing Armament Haki.
Instead, it was Hasshoken! The Happo Navy's secret martial art, Hasshoken, capable of releasing shockwaves that could easily pierce shields and deflect blades. Using his "Great Intimidation" technique, Roa easily extracted the training method for Hasshoken from Chin Jao's son. Roa was quite interested in this martial art. As he himself said, it wasn't as difficult as he imagined. Roa had already mastered this technique within a few days.
"Not bad." Roa nodded. It was indeed a decent martial art. Both offensive and defensive, quite versatile. Although everything Hasshoken could do, advanced Armament Haki could also do, and for the same stamina expenditure, Haki could exert much greater power than Hasshoken. However, the advantage lay in its ability to be used in conjunction with Haki. While it might not double the output when used simultaneously with Haki, the amplification was still decent.
"It should be very useful for Bullet and King," Roa gave his final assessment. For Bullet and King, whose Armament Haki was still limited to the hardening stage, this technique was very powerful. When used simultaneously, it could basically serve as a direct substitute for flowing external Armament Haki, enough to further enhance Bullet and King's strength.
It didn't take much longer for the great snail fleet to rumble out of the Calm Belt, officially entering the waters of the West Blue. Their next destination was Jewel Iceberg! The treasures plundered by generations of Happo Navy leaders were buried there! And the other naval forces on par with the Happo Navy would also appear there.
Hmm, learning from the lesson when they went to the North Blue last time, they had already prepared navigators in the fleet this time. So, even in the West Blue, where compasses were useless for navigation, they could still sail smoothly.
Inside a certain building on a snail's back, this was the Germa Kingdom's prison.
It was very small, because this kingdom didn't have much demand for prisons. After all, anyone who dared to defy the king's orders was usually executed directly. And at this moment, a man was imprisoned here.
Chin Jao's son clutched his hair in agony. Not long ago, the monster named Roa had forced him to reveal the training method of Hasshoken, using his father's life as leverage. The secret art of the Happo Navy, passed down for hundreds of years, had been leaked this way—this wasn't even the most painful thing for him.
What truly tormented his heart was that Roa also made him communicate with the Happo Navy and the other naval forces. He was told to say that they had run into trouble in the New World, and now the enemy was coming to West Blue to strike directly at their heart, ordering all naval forces to gather and prepare to face the powerful enemy.
That guy wants to wipe out all the naval forces in one fell swoop! Chin Jao's son knew this clearly. But for his Old Man's life, he didn't dare refuse. Moreover, if all their forces gathered and still couldn't contend with Roa, then whatever he did would be meaningless, right?
"Old Man—" Chin Jao's helpless son covered his face, tears seeping through his fingers. "I can't do anything—"
West Blue, a small island outside the Flower Country.
This was the headquarters of the Happo Navy. And today, this small island had become somewhat chaotic. The sudden news from the New World caught everyone off guard. At this moment, the leaders of the other naval forces, who were closely connected to the Happo Navy, had all gathered here. Also present was the King of the Flower Country, who had been secretly supporting these pirates.
"What exactly happened?" In the wooden hall, the leader of the Nihyaku Navy (Two-Hundred Navy) exclaimed in disbelief, "Chin Jao was actually captured! Is the news really true?"
"It can't be false, it's the news revealed by Chin Jao's son on the phone!" Another naval force leader gritted his teeth. "Chin Jao is certainly strong, but he's not invincible in the New World! The enemy is a major figure in the New World's underworld; those weapons are his handiwork!"
"According to Chin Jao's son, the enemy has their eyes on the treasure in the Jewel Iceberg and is heading there!"
"We must take action!" The King of the Flower Country slammed the table. "Not only must we rescue Chin Jao, but we must also eliminate the enemy and stop those weapons from proliferating in the surrounding seas!" These eight naval forces were powers that couldn't be openly displayed, otherwise, the Flower Country, as a World Government affiliated nation, would surely face investigation from the Marines. Therefore, those weapons that posed a threat to the Flower Country had to be dealt with.
"Good!" The leaders nodded in unison.
"The battleground will be..."
"Jewel Iceberg!"
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi