"Women are such a pain! Fang Huo, keep your chick in line!"
Rocks spoke coldly; he realized this woman Stussy was getting more and more melodramatic.
The world's worst pirate crew has no need for that sort!"
If not for Fang Huo's sake, he'd have thrown her overboard already.
"You hear that? Behave, or the Captain will toss you off the ship!"
Fang Huo smacked Stussy on the rear, raising a brow in warning.
On the Rocks Pirates' ship, Rocks was the undisputed boss.
Even with Fang Huo backing her, Stussy couldn't act so presumptuously.
The vessel lived by one rule: strength above all, the strong are kings.
Stussy lacked the power to put on airs before heavyweights like Fūgetsu Kisaburō, and she couldn't rely on first mate Fang Huo to ignore that principle.
"Yes, Captain, first mate!"
Stussy flinched at Rocks's Haoshoku and quickly straightened up.
She'd already upset Rocks; she couldn't let Fang Huo dislike her too.
Looks like she'd have to back down and accept Fang Huo taking more women.
But she had to secure herself a bigger say in things.
She would be the first to win Fang Huo, to become the first mate's head wife!
She'd just have to swallow the loss and let Fang Huo have his way.
No—looked like she'd profit too.
After all, Fang Huo was the supreme great succubus with a 5-billion-Berry bounty on his head.
Before any other woman came aboard, she'd completely win Fang Huo and capture more than half his heart.
"Set sail—destination Ohara!"
"Let's see if that tree of knowledge really knows everything."
Once Maron wrapped things up on Amazon Lily, Rocks ordered the crew onward.
He was growing fond of recruiting powerhouses and promising rookies.
One day, the Rocks Pirates would grow strong enough to topple the World Government.
He wondered whether Barlorick Redfield could shine as brightly as Fūgetsu Kisaburō.
Rocks was very pleased with the strength of his new Executive, Fūgetsu Kisaburō.
This Yakuza Warrior already outclassed most Executives.
Apart from the four top king-level officers, probably only Ganzi could fight him evenly.
Silver Axe, Babel, Bolo Gram, and Kiel Bastard likely couldn't beat him right now.
A few years from now, though, who could say.
Every officer aboard had monstrous talent; once they hit their peaks, their strengths wouldn't differ by much.
But the king-level officers who possessed all Three Types of Haki would leave the other senior officers far behind.
That outcome was inevitable!
Because Conqueror's Haki Coating is an overwhelmingly mighty force!
Without the qualification of kings, one was fated to be a notch weaker.
Of course, even possessing that qualification didn't guarantee survival, let alone mastering Conqueror's Haki Coating.
But once one did, it was a qualitative leap!
That was the vast chasm between a Four Emperor and their first mate—almost a whole tier apart.
—Aboard the flying Gibeck's Sword.
With easygoing fellows like Fang Huo and Newgate around, and troublemakers like Golden Lion Shiki and Silver Axe absent,
the Yakuza Warrior Fūgetsu Kisaburō blended into the Rocks Pirates at lightning speed.
Using the crew's intel, he quickly learned about the outside world.
"So you're the strongest pirate crew in the world!!"
"I thought you were just big shots from the West Blue!"
After reading the crew's bounties and news clippings, Fūgetsu Kisaburō breathed easy.
If everyone in the West Blue were this strong, he'd never survive the Grand Line and the New World.
He'd assumed Wano was a delicate, sheltered maiden in the New World, ready to fall to any pirate.
Turned out his own strength was pretty solid!
Moreover, the Flying Battleship was unique to the Rocks Pirates.
If the outside world had fleets of them, Wano's Great Falls couldn't keep the country safe.
"Gurarara, if you want your folks to hear about you fast, get a bounty so the whole world sees you."
"With your strength, five hundred million Berries should be no problem."
Whitebeard Newgate acknowledged the samurai; even Bolo Gram and Silver Axe didn't pressure him like that.
"A bounty?"
"You outsiders are strange—taking pride in wanted posters and prize money."
Fūgetsu Kisaburō shook his head, though anyone sneaking out was probably already hunted by Shogun Kozuki.
Wano's closed-door policy forbade leaving; the crime was grave.
Even sons of shoguns and daimyōs who broke the ban were stripped of status and sent to quarries as laborers.
"A bounty is proof of our strength!"
"The higher the bounty, the stronger and more famous you are!"
Babel still smarted over his unchanged bounty.
The World Government was forcing him into something earth-shattering.
He even began to approve of Charlotte Linlin's plan to assault a Marine Branch.
Striking World Government agencies and Marine Branches boosted bounties fastest.
Of course, the quickest way was first mate Fang Huo's advice: go after the Celestial Dragons.
Kill one of them and your bounty would skyrocket—over a billion would be child's play.
"Higher bounty, bigger fame…"
Hope flared in Fūgetsu Kisaburō; to let Kozaburo and Miss Shiori hear of him,
he'd get onto a wanted poster and earn a huge bounty as fast as possible.
He set himself a new goal.
Become a Great Pirate with a bounty above five hundred million Berries!
—Elsewhere.
Perhaps Rocks's shifting attitude left Stussy uneasy.
She feared being thrown off the ship—or worse, killed by Rocks!
The longer she stayed aboard, the more she saw how much Rocks valued Fang Huo.
Rocks wouldn't allow any woman who could sway Fang Huo.
So Stussy dropped her last reservations and devoted herself to winning Fang Huo.
She couldn't lag in strength either; she had to surpass Long Bread and Maron and never rank last.
Stussy's change brought a faint smile to Fang Huo's lips.
Looks like he'd be eating well soon!
Sure, the woman's mind and ambition had minor flaws, but she was gorgeous—waste not, want not.
If her jealousy stayed out of hand, Fang Huo wouldn't mind using the seven star demon sword to bend her will—or turn her into a vampire thrall.
After all, in the future her clone, Stussy, would wield the Bat-Bat Fruit, Zoan Type.
That clone's ability proved clones could eat Devil Fruits too.
Fang Huo glanced at the powerhouses around him; someday he'd have to secure that cloning tech...