Fang Huo looked at this drooling fat girl—right now, Charlotte Linlin still had no right to set her sights on him!
"You get lost, too!"
"Lateral Gravity: Shinra Tensei!!"
Fang Huo raised his hand and blasted the love-struck fat girl, Charlotte Linlin, away with a single palm of gravitational force.
He wasn't the least bit worried that the thick-skinned "Iron Balloon" would get hurt!
"Worororo! Fang Huo, look—now Shiki and those bastards like Kyo are eyeing the bounty on your head, while Linlin's after your body."
"What excuse do you have for not training harder!"
"I don't want to see you captured or raped one day!"
Rocks burst into wild laughter; he'd never expected Fang Huo's candid photos to be such a sensation.
He'd underestimated the fangirls and star-chasers of this repressed era.
Even a female Celestial Dragon had become infatuated with Fang Huo's looks.
Nothing like this had ever happened in history.
"I know."
Fang Huo spoke coldly; the burning stares of Shiki, Kyo, and Linlin were putting pressure on him.
He would never allow himself to be backstabbed or forced into anything.
"First Mate, don't worry—I'll keep an eye on those two bastards, Shiki and Kyo!"
Babel and Sunbell quickly stepped forward to pledge their loyalty; they would guard Fang Huo without hesitation.
They wouldn't let him be dragged to Holy Land Mary Geoise to become a gigolo!
"With me here, no one can lay a finger on Fang Huo!"
"Whitebeard" Newgate's face was grave; he gave Shiki and Kyo a level stare.
If either of them let greed take over, he'd sink them to the bottom of the sea without mercy.
"Hey, hey, hey, just kidding! I'm Fang Huo's best bro!"
"Golden Lion" Shiki floated back at once—he'd already reserved Fang Huo as his future First Mate to hunt the three Ancient Weapons.
There was no way he'd sell him to some female Celestial Dragon for a mere four billion Berries.
"Hmph! I'm a man of honor, too!"
Under everyone's gaze, "Silver Axe" Kyo stiffened his neck and declared, finally quashing the last trace of greed in his heart.
As long as the Rocks Pirates existed, each of them would eventually earn four billion Berries on their own.
So, the four-billion bounty on Fang Huo could be ignored!
"Worororo! Good—I knew you wouldn't dare. But Fang Huo, you still have to power up!"
"Brace yourself for my Lion's Fang!"
Rocks laughed and suddenly hurled a sky-full of fist shadows at Fang Huo; the savage assault began without warning.
"Rocks, you bastard!!"
Fang Huo was instantly swallowed by the storm of punches and sent flying!
Luckily, his reflex had activated a repulsion-layer shield of gravity ability—otherwise, Rocks would have landed that sneak attack.
"Tsk, nice vigilance—even defending against your own Captain!"
"Still, your ability development is impressive."
Rocks grinned, not feeling the least bit guilty about his ambush.
He was even pleased by Fang Huo's self-protection skills.
Had the kid coated his entire body with omnidirectional gravity?
Fang Huo handled his gravity ability so nimbly—far better than that illiterate gangster Shiki.
Boom!
Boom!
Explosions echoed from the Planetary Devastation skull, and pirates across Paradise Island excitedly turned their eyes toward the skull's sockets.
"The officers are at it again!"
"Now that's a passionate, battle-crazy crew."
"I heard the Rocks Pirates live by the iron rule of power—every officer fights for higher rank and a bigger cut of the loot."
"Ahahaha, wonder if beating 'Gourmet Knight' Streusen gets me into the Rocks Pirates!"
Some pirate had targeted the lowest-bounty Streusen.
If a guy with only 177 million Berries could join, surely these 200-million-plus Great Pirates could, too!
"Trash, fixating on a cook—no drive, no vision! You don't even qualify as a sub-crew of the Rocks Pirates!"
"That Streusen obviously only got in as Charlotte Linlin's sidekick."
"Right—at minimum, you've gotta beat the 320-million-bounty 'Tidal Sea Demon' Sunbell before you can even meet Rocks!"
As these elite pirates talked, they suddenly started brawling among themselves.
They embodied the Rocks Pirates' power-first ethos to the letter.
World Government CP agent spies, along with underworld operatives of every stripe, were flooding into Paradise Island.
They would find a way to join the Rocks Pirates—either as main-crew officers or as subordinate crews.
Just offshore, a fleet sailed grandly into the bustling Paradise Island.
"Zahahaha! Finally here—come to papa, sweet cash!"
The smuggler Great Pirate Ganzi, hauling a mountain of supplies, entered this new pirate mecca.
Along the way, he'd already sunk several greedy rookie crews who didn't know the rules.
Did these newcomers not know that smuggler fleets and News Coos are equally off-limits?
Besides, without real skill, how could he flaunt a solid-gold armor and build an entire smuggling armada?
As a Paramecia user of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, everything on him could become a powerful bomb.
Even a breath of air or a booger could turn into a deadly explosive.
"Listen up, boys! Today your boss is gonna do business with the World's Worst Pirate—watch and learn what fearless smuggling looks like!"
Ganzi laughed excitedly; he was sure the Rocks Pirates wouldn't turn down a smuggler who kept the goods flowing.
Out on these seas, pirates plundered treasure only to trade it with underground dealers and smugglers for the good stuff, right?
The status of a smuggler was almost on par with that of the News Coos.
Ordinary pirates rarely attacked smugglers or News Coos.
Clad in golden armor, Ganzi stepped onto Paradise Island and beheld the towering Lion Pillars and the Planetary Devastation skull.
"Zahahaha—truly the world's strongest crew, way above that Wang Zhi guy."
The hulking, gold-plated Ganzi drew countless greedy stares from pirates.
"Want to die? Stop your staring!"
"That's the infamous smuggler Great Pirate Ganzi—commands a fleet of over ten ships, bounty of 570 million Berries!"
A pirate Captain slapped his reckless underling awake and quickly averted his gaze from Ganzi's contemptuous stare.
"If I didn't need to learn the island rules first, I'd gift you a cannon-bomb!"
Ganzi thought it over and chose not to fight, heading instead for the skull to finalize a deal with the Rocks Pirates.
Once that was done, he could throw his weight around this island!
Behind the smuggling armada, another pirate ship entered the strait harbor.
A golden-haired beauty stepped onto this pirate-infested island with elegant strides.
"My, my—'Great Demon Venerable' Fang Huo, so handsome and so very valuable~"