"Float-Float Fruit—activate!"
Shiki's golden hair flared as his ability took hold. The captured warship groaned, then lifted from the ocean, rising into the air like a phantom ship against the burning sky.
On the ruined battlefield below, Admiral Shinji Ryoga and Tsurumaru Shigemasa watched the floating vessel vanish into the distance. Their faces were dark as ink.
When Steel Bone Kong's fleet finally arrived, they saw only the scattered wreckage of sunken ships—and the battered, bloodied forms of two defeated admirals.
"They escaped again…"Kong's metal fist crushed the railing beside him, his glare cutting through the smoke."Rocks!!"
The smell of gunpowder still lingered, but tension was already rising on the deck of the stolen warship.
"Ochoku!" Newgate's deep voice thundered as he shattered a wine jug in his hand. "You looking to lose that tongue of yours?"
Ochoku's bone rosary gleamed crimson. "Newgate… I've tolerated you for far too long!"
"You bastard—looking for death?!"
The shockwave that followed rattled the entire ship.
A flash of scarlet light sliced through the air—the Blood Seal Palm!Tanma's sword Calamity arced in response, a silver streak through the smoke.
Clang!The back of his blade deflected one of Ochoku's bone beads inches from his temple. Using the recoil, Tanma leapt into the air, blade thrusting down like rain."You dare sneak up on me? Die!"
Ochoku's withered palms struck out in a blur—eighteen bloody marks crisscrossing the air."Arrogant brat! You've gotten too full of yourself!"
Sparks flared elsewhere on deck.
Sapphire cufflinks flashed as Malone's flintlock roared, his bullet skimming past Gan Sui's ammunition pack."Gan Sui, it's time you cleaned up your damn toy shop!"
Bang! A green mist burst out—hypnotic gas.
Stussy waved her peacock fan, dispersing it with disdain."Mr. Malone… using poison gas against a lady? How rude."
Her poison needle darted through the haze—only for Malone to block it with the handle of his rifle.
Gan Sui used the distraction to hurl his fishing net."This bulletproof jacket's mine!"
Overhead, two calamities clashed again.
"Sky Shock: Sky Fall!" Newgate's Cong Yunqie split the clouds in half.
"Lion's Might: Imperial Palace Scroll!"Shiki raised an entire cliff from the seabed, hurling it like a mountain. The impact nearly wiped out both Newgate and Ochoku in one strike.
The collision carved a kilometer-wide crater into the bay, seawater rushing in to form a temporary waterfall.
On the main ship, Rocks gripped his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His Haki spiderwebbed across the deck, cracking the wood beneath his feet.
Before him lay eight captured navy warships—his spoils, his claim to dominance.Now they were turning into a gladiator pit.
He didn't need reports to tell him what was happening.The wreckage spoke for itself.
Newgate and Shiki's shockwaves had tilted one ship by fifteen degrees—ruined.Tanma and Ochoku's clash had ignited the third ship's ammunition bay—gone.Gan Sui, trying to steal Malone's cigars, had blown up the fourth ship's fuel tank—colorful, toxic smoke now coiled through the air.
"STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!!" Rocks' roar thundered across the fleet.
His command went ignored.
Tanma's Calamity clashed against Ochoku's beads, slicing through the anchor chain of the sixth ship."Ochoku, you're losing focus!"
The chain snapped with a thunderous clang, while Stussy's poison needle pinned Malone's sleeve to the mast."Don't move," she purred.
Slash! Calamity grazed Ochoku's arm, blood spraying. Ochoku countered with a bloody palm strike, missing Tanma's head by inches and leaving a charred handprint on the warped hull.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Stussy's peacock fan clashed with Malone's rifle barrel, sparks flying.Gan Sui swung the gun barrel he'd stolen like a meteor hammer."Tsk! What a waste!"
BOOM! Another hypnotic blast erupted, throwing them apart.
For a brief moment, all eyes turned upward—Newgate's white aura flaring brighter, Shiki's debris swirling twice as fast.
They were about to collide again.
Rocks' temple twitched. He glanced at the deck—the only intact ship left.The polished floorboards were scarred from Gan Sui's dragging cannon. Stussy's poison and Malone's bullets had shattered the windows. Tanma and Ochoku's battle had dented the hull.
Another clash, and this last ship would be nothing but splinters.
"Enough," Rocks muttered.
And as if on cue, the chaos stopped.
Silence.
The deck stilled. Only ragged breaths and the hiss of burning wreckage remained.
Ochoku licked the blood from his wounded arm, glaring daggers at Tanma.Tanma sheathed Calamity, but his hand stayed on the hilt, muscles coiled like a predator's.
Stussy smoothed her collar, fan in hand, eyes sharp as ice.Malone brushed invisible dust from his sleeve; his sapphire cufflinks caught the dying light.Gan Sui sat lazily atop a cannon, rubbing his nose and scanning the deck for loot.
Newgate loomed at the bow, his massive presence enough to silence the air itself.Shiki landed nearby, blonde hair tousled. He lit a cigar and exhaled, eyes cold as he stared across the devastated sea.
Everyone gathered now on the last surviving ship—bloodied, bruised, and unbroken.
Rocks stood tall among them, surveying the wreckage."Each of you," he began, voice rising, "is better at wrecking ships than fighting the Navy."
His glare swept over them."Eight captured warships—gone! In ten minutes! You've turned them into an underwater graveyard!"
You could have heard a pin drop.Only Shiki's smoke drifted lazily upward.
Rocks inhaled deeply. These weren't crewmates—they were wild beasts. But beasts could still be aimed… if the prey was large enough.
He needed something to bind them again. Something grand enough to make them hunt together.
Shiki broke the silence first, his voice low but sharp as steel.
"Rocks… keep running your mouth," he said, exhaling a stream of smoke. "And we'll kill you."
Every gaze shifted toward Rocks.
Tanma's fingers brushed Calamity's hilt.Ochoku leaned forward like a coiled beast.Newgate's towering form cast a long shadow across the deck, his grin faint but dangerous.
Violence hung in the air like a living thing.
Rocks didn't move.Shiki's killing intent washed over him, but his expression didn't flicker.He simply raised his chin, scanning the monsters before him—each one a storm in human form.
And then—barely visible—the corner of his mouth curved upward.