The blind man Fujitora, possessing the Gravity Fruit, would often use his Supreme Grade Blade, Yakuza Kasen, as a walking stick. That was somewhat of an eccentricity.
Of course, maybe Fujitora Issho just wanted to stay grounded and not draw attention to himself.
But Ignis was different. Now that he had Rocks watching his back, he wasn't afraid of exposing his abilities at all.
He liked to show off, to reveal his prowess in front of others, and it was effortless and convenient...
With so many references from anime and novel worlds, Ignis's understanding of the Gravity ability was probably on a whole other dimension compared to Fujitora.
This kind of development, like anti-gravity and weight reduction, were considered basic moves.
Developing this Gravity ability further could even make it more powerful than the Float-Float Fruit.
"Gravity? That ability is indeed not bad!"
Newgate had a deep understanding of Devil Fruits, having encountered many weak and bizarre ability users.
He was grateful that his Tremor-Tremor ability was strong enough. After all, a person could only eat one Devil Fruit in their lifetime.
If he had gotten some weak ability, it would have been a loss.
He would also have lost the ability to swim, becoming a land-lubber.
That was a considerable blow for pirates who lived and fought on the sea.
"Newgate, welcome aboard. Actually, as long as you're strong enough, this guy, Rocks, is fairly easy to get along with."
"And congratulations, you've joined the world's top pirate crew. You're about to see the truth of this world and the peak monsters in it."
"Your future life will be hundreds, thousands of times more exciting than your current one."
Seeing Newgate drink the medical ointment he had offered, Ignis spoke in a good mood.
"The truth of the world?"
Newgate raised an eyebrow, looking doubtfully at Ignis. He was just an ordinary pirate and didn't really care about the truth of the world.
"You'll find out in the future."
Ignis floated back with Newgate.
"Vohahaha! Convinced yet, Edward Newgate!"
Rocks looked at the Newgate. If he wasn't convinced, Rocks would beat him until he completely surrendered.
He might even annihilate the entire White Whale Pirate to force Newgate's submission.
"Let them go. I'll come aboard your ship."
Newgate glanced at Captain Vaghar, who was playing stupid, and sighed inwardly.
He suddenly realized that interacting with this captain wasn't as comfortable as interacting with this guy Ignis.
"Vohahaha, I don't want them either!"
"Then let's declare this Davy Back Fight over!"
"Vaghar! Are you dead or not? If not, come over here and end this game!"
"I am a man who greatly respects contract."
Rocks agreed to Newgate's request in a good mood and shouted at the playing-dead Vaghar.
"Not dead, not dead! I'm coming right now!"
Vaghar quickly scrambled up and crawled over.
Seeing Vaghar's behavior, Newgate sighed again. The bond of several years sailing together quickly dissipated.
In truth, as his strength grew daily, Vaghar had already developed a hint of caution towards him.
After all, incidents of vice captains and executives seizing power weren't uncommon on this sea.
To maintain Vaghar's authority as captain, he had even deliberately hidden most of his strength.
'Maybe leaving now was a good choice.'
'Just as Ignis had said, my future wasn't with the White Whale Pirate.'
"Vohahaha! I declare this Davy Back Fight over. From now on, Edward Newgate is my crewmate."
Rocks announced loudly, and Vaghar quickly nodded, not daring to raise the slightest objection.
It was already very merciful of Rocks not to also take their pirate ship and Jolly Roger.
"Now get lost!"
Rocks waved his hand dismissively, shooing away the weakling pirates of the White Whale.
Newgate watched the White Whale Pirate ships slowly disappear into the sea, feeling a sense of loss, yet also a feeling of being reborn.
He looked at the powerful Rocks. Perhaps, besides finding his own family, he now had another goal.
To become stronger. Strong enough to fight Rocks and even defeat him!
"Vohahaha! That look in your eyes! Want to beat me? I'll be waiting!"
Seeing the determined look in Newgate's eyes, Rocks didn't feel threatened or try to suppress him. Instead, he encouraged him.
He felt that without the suppression of a useless captain like Vaghar, this young giant would soon awaken his Conqueror's Haki.
"I will!"
Newgate met Rocks's gaze without fear. His powerful resolve seemed to surge wildly, like a dragon entering the sea.
If Captain Vaghar was a shallow shore, limiting Newgate's growth in resolve, then Captain Rocks was an ocean. Newgate could grow freely and still not see Rocks's limits.
"Vohahaha! If you can't enhance your strength, I won't even want you around!"
"Train hard. I'll take you all to see the peak of this world."
Rocks laughed heartily, increasingly satisfied with this new member, Newgate.
His Rocks Pirates, with Ignis the prophet for strategy and Newgate the Tremor-Tremor user for combat, would surely rise even faster!
"To welcome Newgate aboard, let's have a banquet!"
"Newgate, these are Barbel and Sunbell. Everyone here is an official member of the Rocks Pirates!"
Ignis fully played the role of the Great Strategist, helping Newgate quickly integrate into the crew.
Now that the newly formed Rocks Pirates hadn't completely devolved into a pure "might makes right" culture, and these new crewmates were still relatively normal, Ignis felt he could still try to influence things.
After all, Ignis planned to stay with the Rocks Pirates for a very long time.
He didn't want the Rocks Pirates to be constantly fighting amongst themselves!
Newgate greeted Barbel and Sunbell.
Sunbell was very friendly, but Barbel's eyes were full of challenge.
His goal was to make a name for himself on the sea, to become a great villain like Rocks, someone the World Government feared.
As the boss of Fish-Man District, he always felt he was superior to humans.
He couldn't beat the monster Rocks, but there was no reason he couldn't beat this young giant.
"Bwahaha! How about a spar sometime, young giant!"
Barbel directly challenged Newgate.
Rocks was very happy to see this kind of competitive atmosphere. Conflict could lead to growth, so he didn't stop it.
"From now on, we'll have a banquet for every new executive that comes aboard. And no talking trash that spoils the banquet."
Ignis raised an eyebrow at the brute Barbel.
'What kind of pirate crew issues a challenge to a new member on the very first day?'
"Great Strategist, this isn't trash talk. I'm serious. Rocks said on this ship, might makes right."
"We need to figure out where everyone stands, right?"
"It determines how much of the loot we get!"
Barbel did respect Ignis the prophet a bit, but that didn't mean he would treat later-joining members the same way.
"Vohahaha, Barbel is right."
Not only did Rocks not stop it, he even fanned the flames, casting a mischievous grin at Ignis.
He seemed to be thinking of some bad idea, looking for an excuse to beat Ignis up again!
"Well, fight whenever you're free, then, Newgate. Don't hold back. Just hit hard as Rocks does."
"And just call Captain Rocks by his name. He doesn't care about those little formalities."
Ignis spread his hands. Well, he probably couldn't change Rocks's old tradition of might makes right. It was Rocks's will and principle.