Chapter 24 Rocks Marine Headquarters
On the island, within the massive skull-like building, vast amounts of treasure were piled high like mountains.
Under the slightly dim light, a figure sat quietly upon the solitary throne.
His build wasn't tall, yet his terrifying strength was astonishing.
This was the Captain of the Rocks Pirate Crew, the Leader of the Syndicate of Evil, Rocks D. Xebec.
Upon this Great Sea.
A question might have many answers.
But!
If you ask!
Who is the most terrifying monster in this World?
The strongest man on this Great Sea!
Then without a doubt, there is only one answer, and that is Rocks D. Xebec.
He once faced three Marine Admirals from Marine Headquarters alone, fighting one against three without falling into a disadvantage, his name echoed throughout the Great Sea.
This is the most terrifying monster on the Great Sea!
A Marine Admiral is the highest combat strength of the Marines, the face of the World Government.
Yet, even joining forces, they couldn't do anything against a single Pirate.
That was ten years ago, an event that caused the Rocks Pirate Crew, established less than two years prior, to completely stir up the Great Sea and become the primary threat to the World Government.
The Marines and the World Government lost face completely, and voices of doubt arose from within the Member Nations, some disbelieving that the Marines' strength could protect them effectively.
They wanted to cast aside the World Government and establish their own maritime strength.
However, this was not permitted by the World Government; they had always strictly forbidden and suppressed Member Nations from developing maritime forces, even specifically enacting a law to make Member Nations dependent on the World Government.
The premise for this was that the World Government and the Marines could protect the interests of the Member Nations; if not, when losses reached a certain level, this law would naturally be abolished.
It was precisely because of this that, in order to demonstrate their strength, after achieving no results in the war against the Rocks Pirate Crew...
...the World Government and the Marines set their sights on "Grim Reaper" Ye Ge, who was not much weaker than Rocks, planning to first sever an arm of the Rocks Pirate Crew.
Otherwise, the combination of the two monsters had already severely threatened the World Government's ruling status.
For this, the World Government also paid a heavy price.
Afterwards, they even had to face the retaliation of an enraged Rocks.
By exaggerating the death of "Grim Reaper" Ye Ge and deliberately ignoring their losses, the results they presented were sufficient to give the Member Nations an explanation.
Subsequently, relying on the World Government's powerful foundation, they quickly filled the two vacant Admiral positions in the Marines, stabilizing the situation on the Great Sea.
This also avoided turmoil for the World Government; if this precedent were set, the Heavenly Tribute given by the Member Nations to the World Government would definitely decrease, as they would no longer need to rely on the Marines and would have less dependence on the World Government.
And now Rocks is only forty-nine years old.
Compared to ten years ago, his strength is even more terrifying; no one knows what level Rocks has truly reached.
And Rocks D. Xebec, capable of suppressing numerous monsters, is undoubtedly a monster among monsters!
Looking at the incoming news, he tossed the wine bottle in his hand aside.
Rocks D. Xebec's gaze held some expectation, anticipating Hades' arrival.
Hades would eventually come to his side; this was unchangeable.
He knew, and the Marines and World Government also knew.
This was something that could be guessed.
But that was all; Hades was ultimately just Jaeger's son, still just a young fellow.
Based on his relationship with Jaeger, he could still look out for him a bit; after all, he was the child of an old friend, and Pirates also had their code of conduct.
But if Hades was useless, a waste of space, then he shouldn't blame him for being heartless.
Pirates have their rules of survival; if you come to the Rocks Pirate Crew, you must abide by the Rocks Pirate Crew's rules. If you can't display the proper potential, then you're not worth his support.
Even if he was the Son of Jaeger... no, then he wouldn't be worthy of being the Son of Jaeger; his existence would merely bring shame upon Jaeger.
But there's no rush; he also understood Nyx quite well and knew that Nyx, being protective of her son, wouldn't send Hades to his ship so early.
After all, Hades was still too young, only twelve years old now.
Coming to the Rocks Pirate Crew without sufficient strength to back him up, the blows he suffers could very likely leave him completely disheartened.
There were simply too many such Pirates: setting sail with high self-regard, being defeated, joining the Rocks Pirate Crew, and then suffering heavy blows one after another.
Ultimately, their spirits completely collapsed, unable to grow stronger with each setback and persevere.
Without enough spirit to match their talent, they were destined not to grow.
Beneath the vast number of monsters in the Rocks Pirate Crew, there were countless corpses.
As for disheartened, dream-shattered Pirates, they were even more numerous.
...
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"The worst thing has happened." The current Fleet Admiral, Black, sighed, frowning.
"Fleet Admiral, he's just a young fellow. Does he need such importance?" Marine Admiral "Steel Bone" Kong asked, somewhat puzzled.
"There was only one Jaeger, how could another appear?"
"Who can guarantee that won't happen?" Black retorted, "The direct lineage of the Tartarus Family has never produced weaklings, let alone Jaeger's child."
"Even if he can't compare to Jaeger, he will eventually grow into a powerful individual renowned across the Great Sea. How much weaker could he be? Even if he only has half of Jaeger's strength, he would still be an unimaginable formidable enemy, ultimately a threat to us."
"After all, our losses in that war were too great."
Black sighed again. To deal with Jaeger, half of the Marines' high-end combat strength was sacrificed.
They haven't been able to recover even now.
The destructive power of the Death-Death Fruit was truly terrifying, even a nightmare in countless people's hearts.
Coupled with Jaeger's overwhelming strength, it was like a sharp blade piercing the Marines' main artery.
Black, already over seventy years old, had long planned for retirement, but the day of retirement seemed distant.
Before the threat of the Rocks Pirate Crew is removed, he likely won't be able to step down.
Changing commanders during such a period would have significant negative impacts, and furthermore, the Marines currently needed his strength; Kong alone would find it difficult to hold the situation.
It's also possible he might die in battle before then, but he has already prepared himself to die in battle.
Hearing Fleet Admiral Black's explanation, Steel Bone Kong's expression turned solemn; he hadn't taken it seriously at first.
The threat posed by Hades continuously rose in his mind.
Just as Black said, even if Hades couldn't compare to Jaeger, how much weaker could he be?
The threat he posed to the World Government and the Marines surpassed that of most Pirates in the World.
For such a person, they should be eliminated as quickly as possible while he is still young, before he has grown.
He was still too complacent, only focusing on the present and failing to look towards the future, and this was what he lacked.
"Then we must quickly send people to search for Nyx's whereabouts. We must kill that brat before he grows up." Steel Bone Kong said decisively, killing intent already surfacing in his eyes.
"Yes, I've already sent people to do that. The Marine Bases in the New World will be keeping an eye out."
Although he said this, Black didn't hold much hope. Originally, with Hades hiding in the Kronos Kingdom, it was already very difficult for the Marines to accomplish this.
They lost quite a few personnel and couldn't even enter the Royal Palace.
Even the World Government, stronger in this regard, couldn't succeed. What could their Marines possibly do?
Now that he has left, the only place he could possibly go is the Rocks Pirate Crew, an area the Marines currently cannot reach.
It's also too late now to try and intercept the Night Pirates' ship.
(end of chapter)