Inside the towering Skull Mountain.
"Wohahaha! I didn't disturb your sleep by calling you all here so early, did I?"
Rocks stretched his limbs as he walked in from outside, glanced at the people sitting in the Council Hall, and plopped down on the central sofa.
Inside the room.
The core members of the Rocks Pirates.
Division Captains Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Linlin.
Senior Combatants Stussy, Gloriosa, Wang Zhi, the Fishman Babel, Kilpstad, and others were all present.
Aside from Carlo, Kaido, Gan Sui, and Maron, who were currently at the harbor, the entire lineup was there.
Seeing Rocks enter, the impatient Linlin was the first to speak.
"Mamamama, that doesn't matter. But Rocks, calling us all together with such fanfare, it seems you have some big move planned? Tell us, which kingdom are we attacking this time?"
"Wohahaha! Linlin, don't be in such a hurry. Isn't everyone here yet?" Rocks said nonchalantly as he propped a leg up on the coffee table, grabbed a bottle of wine, and flicked the top with his thumb.
With a pop, the bottle cap flew off.
He picked up the wine and took two gulps.
Only then did he set it down with satisfaction.
He looked with a smile at Whitebeard, who was sitting on the right sofa, and pointed at the wine on the table.
"Newgate, help yourself if you want a drink. Don't be formal with me."
Whitebeard raised a hand. "Gurarara, I don't have the habit of drinking in the morning. It's bad for the health."
"Hmph! Such pretension! What 'bad for the health'? Everyone knows you're just a cheapskate."
Golden Lion, with a cigar clamped in his teeth, casually hooked a finger. One of the fine bottles of wine in front of Rocks flew up and drifted into his hand.
He looked down at the label.
"Sherry? What kind of crappy name is that? Sounds girly. Rocks, your taste has gone downhill."
Despite saying that, he suddenly exerted force with his hand and crushed the bottle.
The bottle exploded. A large amount of transparent liquid, mixed with glass shards, miraculously floated in the air before him instead of spilling onto the floor.
Then, the wine and the glass shards separated to the left and right on their own.
The glass shards flew onto the table.
The wine stretched into long ribbons and automatically flew into Golden Lion's open mouth.
"You're getting better and better at using your Devil Fruit Power, Shiki," Whitebeard offered a rare compliment.
Golden Lion looked smug. "Of course!"
Glancing at the bickering pair, Rocks looked toward several vents on the mountain wall ahead.
"What's going on outside? It's so lively so early in the morning."
Wang Zhi responded, "John and Silver Axe are here. Right now, Maron, Gan Sui, and Carlo... are fighting them."
When mentioning Carlo's name, Wang Zhi's expression was clearly somewhat uncomfortable.
"John and Silver Axe?" Rocks was slightly surprised. "How did those two end up together? Are they... both here to challenge me?"
"I don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence. John is after Carlo, while Silver Axe, besides wanting to challenge you, is probably here to find Shiki." Wang Zhi glanced at Golden Lion, who was playing with the wine. "After all, he is your childhood friend, Shiki. Aren't you going out to deal with him?"
"Ah, A Xiong." Golden Lion chuckled. "It's true I haven't seen him in many years, but..."
His face turned stern. "But what level am I at now? If he wants me to deal with him, let him get past that brat Carlo first! Jiehahaha!"
He laughed wildly, glancing at Charlotte Linlin, who was chatting and laughing with Gloriosa and Stussy.
"Besides, even if that brat Carlo can't hold out, isn't Linlin still here? It's not like it's the turn of a second division captain like me to personally take the field, Jiehahahaha!"
Hearing Golden Lion's laughter, Linlin's eyes turned cold. "Who gave you permission to call me Linlin? Calling me so intimately, people might think you're my husband. What, Shiki, do you want to become the new father of my children?"
The smile on Golden Lion's face froze, and he gave a forced laugh. "Jiehaha, you're joking, Linlin. I'm a proud bachelor; I have no intention of becoming a step-dad."
A red light flared in Rocks' eyes, as if he saw something worth being happy about. He tossed the wine bottle in his hand and suddenly threw it with a flick of his arm.
The empty wine bottle in his hand smashed out like a cannonball.
Midway through its flight, the bottle split in two, one to the left and one to the right, hitting two vents dozens of meters apart.
Accompanied by two deafening roars.
The thick mountain wall in front of the Lounge suddenly exploded, creating two huge circular holes, looking like the two eyes of Skull Mountain.
Countless Rocks splashed and fell onto the square outside.
With these two huge holes, the sunlight from outside immediately shone in, brightening the entire Lounge.
The view before everyone also became wide and open.
From this height of several hundred meters, looking down from above, they could even see the fierce battle taking place far away at Hachinosu Port.
"Wohahaha! The view has instantly become ten times wider."
Rocks laughed with satisfaction and picked up another bottle of wine to drink, while looking toward the harbor with great interest.
"Is Carlo taking them on two-to-one? Things have become interesting, Wohahahahaha!"
"Two-to-one?" Wang Zhi was stunned and narrowed his eyes to look out. "You're saying that kid is fighting John and Silver Axe alone? That's unlikely, isn't it? Those two are no pushovers."
Hearing this, the others also became interested and crowded around the holes.
Seeing this, Rocks suddenly reached into his coat and pulled out a thick stack of Berries, throwing them onto the table in front of him.
They were all ten-thousand denominations; this stack was at least a million Berries.
Seeing everyone's confused looks, he smiled and said, "Let's place a bet."
Golden Lion asked, "Bet on what?"
Rocks pointed outside. "On the outcome of Carlo's two-to-one fight. One million Berries, I bet on Carlo winning."
"You want to bet on a two-to-one? Rocks, are you serious? You really think that kid Carlo can beat A Xiong and John?" Golden Lion was taken aback.
In his view.
Although Carlo had defeated Wang Zhi not long ago.
But Carlo's actual strength was only average.
And while he also looked down on John and Silver Axe.
The strength of those two was on par with Wang Zhi's.
In terms of pure power, they were even stronger.
And each possessed impressive Devil Fruit Power.
It had been less than half a month since the last time; Golden Lion didn't believe Carlo could take on two people of Wang Zhi's level at once.
The power of strong individuals joining forces.
Is not as simple as one plus one equals two.
Even if John and Silver Axe had never coordinated before.
Rocks spread his hands. "It's just a bet, just for fun. Anyway, we're sitting in the audience seats; why not take the opportunity to have some fun?"