Rocks once said he would not die.
He also said the darkness would choose Sharn.
Kaido had heard that some Devil Fruits seem to choose their host by themselves. He originally thought that, after Rocks died, Sharn might somehow be chosen by some dark fruit. But the more Kaido thought about it, the more impossible that idea felt: would all the world's greatest Devil Fruits just wait around for Sharn? Would the strongest Logia and Paramecia simply be handed to him?
There was only one real answer: Rocks must have left a contingency plan.
"Either Sharn is Rocks' contingency… or he's found a way to bring Rocks back."
Kaido had toyed with renaming Sharn's crew the "Hundred-Beast Pirates" — making Sharn accept the role of vice-captain — but now cold dread ran down his spine. What was Sharn planning?
Kaido's thoughts raced like a storm. He remembered the history text of Sky Island: the Sea King, the ancient weapon. Sharn intended to wait for the birth of a Sea King — he intended to gather ancient weapons and combine his own power with outside forces. If people ever realized Rocks hadn't truly died, or that someone had set plans in motion in advance, the revelation would be terrifying.
Kaido laughed, a wild sound. He wanted to witness this new era — Sharn… or perhaps Rocks.
Kaido's certainty hardened: nothing about Sharn's actions was mere coincidence. Why had Sharn gone to Sky Island and just happened to find Olvia — the only person who could read the history text? Why had a single strike sent him to the giant vines of the sky? The coincidences piled up until they weren't coincidences at all.
From now on Kaido would tread carefully. He wondered if Sharn would seek revenge: one by one, to punish the traitors from God Valley. Kaido wanted to see how the men who'd scavenged Rocks' legacy — King, John, Silver Axe — would react. And if Sharn was indeed a continuation of Rocks' will, then the world had only begun to tremble.
Sharn struck. Brogy felt the world tilt. Brogy's Haki and sword skill could dominate seas — but that was the past. The world produced new titans every hour. Elbaf would not return to glory in the hands of those clinging to old ideas; it needed new blood.
Brogy was tossed into the sea. Sharn's blow sent him tumbling, and he splashed down far from the big ship. Brogy and Dorry, though tall as towers, were still smaller than Sharn's enormous ship and the gigantic Inflated Wolf (Evil Wolf) that floated beside it. Inflated Devil Fruits are peculiar: in water the user is weakened and fragile, yet because a portion of Evil Wolf's mass remained out of the water, he hovered — a special state granted by his mutated giant lineage. If an ordinary human ate that fruit they'd sink; here, the giant blood made it different.
Dorry and Brogy bobbed on the ocean, irritable and glum. A colossal fish — a sea-king-class super-goldfish large enough to swallow an island — leapt up. Dorry and Brogy stared at the changing times, unsure what they'd been doing all these years. Were their predecessors really dead? Had the giants become tools of the Navy?
Sharn's words echoed in them. Harsh truths had to be swallowed with pride.
"Let the Giant Warrior Pirates rise again," Sharn said. "Giants are not meant to be cowards."
He strode across the air, fire suffusing his body — a sight that stirred Dorry's memory of a strange flame from his childhood.
Before Dorry could respond, the super-goldfish opened its huge maw and swallowed the three: Dorry, Brogy, and the gigantic fish swallowed them all.
On deck, the crew panicked. Moria and Ulcky were sweating. Kinnie tugged on Bear's sleeve, begging to help. Olvia fired her musket repeatedly, but the bullets were useless.
A bloody jet burst into the sky and rain fell — then, Dorry and Brogy crawled up from the goldfish's head, laughing. Sharn tossed the monstrous fish onto the island with a shoulder throw and ignited it.
"Heat Breath!" he shouted. Flames accelerated the cooking until the gigantic fish became food.
With the danger over, Dorry and Brogy invited Sharn's crew to feast. They ate roasted fish and drank the Western and Southern seas' liquor.
"We've decided to rebuild the Giant Warrior Pirates!" Dorry proclaimed. "Sharn — you woke us up. You're our comrade!"
They toasted. Moria grumbled about losing shadows; his resentful squeaks turned to an excited little laugh.
"Congrats — new Giant Warrior Pirates!" someone cheered. Sharn promised to visit Elbaf one day.
That night, Dorry and Brogy built a huge ship from fish bones and giant timber. At dawn the archaeological ship sailed toward its next destination: the Magnetic Drum Kingdom — and the hold contained some unexpected items.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto