On the other side, Golden Lion Shiki lay among the Ruins, blood streaming from his head, his eyes vacant.
Every bone and cell in his body was screaming… Shiki, who had just awakened Haoshoku and was riding high, had known the gap between him and Rocks was still huge—yet never imagined it was this huge!
He'd been one-shot by Rocks again!
Shiki's Haoshoku conviction and Kingly Soul had nearly been shattered by that single strike.
"Damn it! I won't give up…"
Golden Lion Shiki's trembling pupils slowly refocused as he ground out a curse through clenched teeth.
He would snatch Fang Huo, and he would snatch this world!
But for now—play it safe, grow stronger.
He would surpass Rocks sooner or later!
Charlotte Linlin, blasted down as well, had already climbed to her feet; under Rocks's terrifying Haoshoku coating, even Iron Balloon Linlin was bleeding from mouth and nose.
Still, Linlin's constitution was stronger than Newgate's or Shiki's, and the Soul-Soul Fruit gave her healing recovery.
"It hurts so much~"
In all her life Charlotte Linlin had only ever felt pain in Rocks's hands.
And the thought that she might never snatch Fang Huo from Rocks hurt even more!
She had just climbed onto Thunder Cloud Zeus, ready to fly back and fight Rocks again,
when she saw Fang Huo descending.
"You okay, Linlin?"
Fang Huo had come personally to collect the three of them, while Rocks went to retrieve the newly joined Ganzi, Kiel Bastard, and Stussy.
He worried the trio might overthink and bolt.
"Fang Huo, sorry… I can't beat Rocks…"
"But don't worry—I'll steal you back to be my first mate one day…"
Seeing Fang Huo lifted her mood, though guilt still flickered across her face.
"Am I Cargo? Something you grab whenever you want?"
"Stop overthinking; let's head back. Maybe in a few days Rocks will beg me to be his first mate."
Fang Huo met Linlin's determined gaze and answered helplessly.
It seemed Linlin and Shiki had made snatching him their grand ambition.
"Fang Huo isn't Cargo! If Rocks won't make you first mate, I'll snatch you back to be mine!"
Charlotte Linlin declared with blunt sincerity; she wouldn't let Fang Huo be wronged.
It was only a first mate post!
That brute Rocks had no brains at all.
"Then grow stronger. I'll wait for you to come steal me."
Seeing single-minded Linlin could only think of snatching people, Fang Huo went along with it.
"Mm-hmm! I'll train hard—stronger than Rocks—and then I'll steal you!"
Charlotte Linlin beamed a happy, resolute smile; she had one more goal now.
Find Sister Carmelo, build Totto Land, and now—snatch Fang Huo… "…"
"Let's go!"
Tired of Linlin's every sentence ending with "snatch," Fang Huo flew her straight to the worst-off victim: Golden Lion Shiki.
He lacked Linlin's toughness and Newgate's power, and had provoked Rocks first, so he'd taken the heaviest beating.
"Still alive, Shiki?"
With a flick of his finger Fang Huo levitated the half-dead Golden Lion.
The man was so injured he could barely activate his Float-Float Fruit; clearly in rough shape.
"Not dying yet…"
Seeing Fang Huo come personally comforted Shiki—his chances of recruiting Fang Huo later were still decent.
"Good. If you were dead I'd have to take your Float-Float Fruit with tears in my eyes."
Fang Huo spoke with theatrical regret, as though he'd rather see Shiki finished off.
"You bastard, Fang Huo!"
Shiki nearly choked on his rage, but he knew if Fang Huo truly wanted his fruit, he couldn't resist right now.
Even if Fang Huo killed him and took the Float-Float Fruit, Rocks wouldn't blame him.
"Nice! Plenty of spirit—definitely not dying!"
Floating Shiki, Fang Huo—along with Linlin—headed toward Newgate.
Spotting the Pineapple Head beside Newgate, Fang Huo almost thought the phoenix Marco had arrived early to treat Whitebeard.
"Someone's coming—I'm off, Newgate!"
"Till next time."
Seeing Fang Huo approaching, Bolo Gram quickly bade Newgate farewell.
He wanted no entanglement with the Rocks Pirates, terrified Rocks might "draft" him.
He only wished to adventure freely with his own crew, not join Rocks.
"Why the rush?"
"Don't want to meet Fang Huo?"
"Besides, you probably can't leave—your name's long been on both Rocks's and Fang Huo's lists."
Newgate rather liked this Pineapple Head; no wonder Fang Huo said they'd be good friends.
"What? I'm on Rocks and Fang Huo's radar?"
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Bolo Gram goggled at the bushy-browed scoundrel; had Newgate spoken up, he'd have fled long ago.
He'd find some way to keep far away from the Rocks Pirates!
Yet Newgate had chatted for ages without mentioning it.
"Gurarara, I want you on the crew too!"
Newgate laughed; he'd deliberately stalled the clingy pineapple.
If Bolo Gram could endure Rocks's terrifying Haoshoku, his strength was solid.
"I treat you as a friend and you try to throw me into a pit? I won't abandon my crew!"
Bolo Gram snapped, then spun and sprinted toward his unconscious comrades.
He had to get his crew off Paradise Island at once.
Otherwise he really would be "drafted" by Rocks or Fang Huo.
Newgate watched Bolo Gram's back with a helpless look.
Clearly the man wanted no part of the Rocks Pirates.
But with Rocks's brute methods and Fang Huo—the prophetic chief strategist—Newgate doubted Bolo Gram could escape Rocks's grasp.
Fang Huo, flying over, had spotted the Pineapple Head—only to see the man bolt instantly.
Unlike Ganzi or Silver Axe, this one might choose freedom over life.
Fang Huo decided to act personally, lest Rocks kill the Pineapple Head.
"He who treasures his crew has a Weakness—you won't get away."
Seeing Bolo Gram race toward his mates, Fang Huo knew the pineapple would pick his comrades over freedom.
He'd use gentler means than Rocks's brute approach.
Fang Huo flew straight toward Bolo Gram.
Bolo Gram, one man slung over each shoulder, still couldn't carry everyone, driving him frantic.
Under Rocks's terrifying Haoshoku, his crew looked pathetically weak.
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