Chapter 22: Rats in the Dark, The Powerful Nyx
"Who is it?" Nyx gritted her teeth, a chill emanating from her body, the air seemingly freezing over.
Nyx knew Hades's ability. His naturally awakened Observation Haki allowed him to sense emotions, and after development, to determine if others held ill will towards him.
Even without ill will, certain special emotions could expose whether they harbored ulterior motives.
To a certain extent, Hades could guess what they were roughly thinking.
Even if they hid it very deeply, he could still discern some clues.
Coincidentally, Hades had studied psychology for a period in his past life.
Coupled with his practice of Observation Haki over the years, his grasp of emotions had reached a profound level.
Observation Haki enveloped the entire Pirate Crew, and the varied faces of the crew members seemed to appear before Hades.
No matter how good their outward facade, before Hades, mentally, they were completely exposed.
In other words, there were spies sent by other forces on her ship.
As pirates, traitors were the most hated, yet also the most unavoidable.
It was not uncommon for a pirate ship to change hands multiple times on The Great Sea.
But this undoubtedly touched Nyx's nerves, especially considering Hades was currently on her ship.
If the information leaked and they were targeted by the World Government and the Marines, it would be troublesome.
This was something she absolutely did not want to see.
How could she allow it?
Before they could even jump out, the entire ship was quickly enveloped by dense shadows, forming a Shadow Domain that sealed off any means of escape.
"Kill him!"
Unable to hide any longer, the leading Agent gritted his teeth and let out a roar, acting decisively.
That needle-like gaze made him understand the truth.
Although he didn't know why his identity had been exposed, at this moment, he could only fight with his life.
As agents, they had an instinctive sensitivity to aura and gaze. They were certain that they had been targeted by Hades.
They were merely agents trained by the World Government; while their strength was decent, that was all it was.
They simply couldn't compare to a great pirate like Nyx.
Nyx's threat wasn't significant enough for the World Government to attach so much importance to, sending a small number of CP0 agents.
Even if Nyx were killed, it wouldn't affect the situation on the Great Sea much.
Furthermore, Nyx herself was very vigilant; she only needed cannon fodder. If their strength were too high, they would be suspected.
For them, Nyx was an insurmountable existence.
Especially now that Nyx had sealed off the entire ship, they had no possibility of escaping, which also meant the failure of their infiltration mission.
However, as long as they killed Nyx's son, everything would be worth it.
But how could that be possible?
Things wouldn't happen the way they imagined; this was merely a beautiful fantasy before death.
The entire ship had already transformed into Nyx's shadow domain. Tentacles emerged from the shadows, instantly binding their bodies, leaving them utterly unable to resist.
"Pierce!"
The next moment, Shadow Spears directly pierced through their bodies, taking their lives.
Even if they had learned Armament Haki, they couldn't cover their entire bodies.
The entire process, from start to finish, took only a few seconds.
The strength displayed by Nyx was astonishing. Within the Rocks Pirates, no one dared to underestimate this woman.
The Night-Night Fruit's ability allowed her to manipulate shadows at will, especially at night, when the ability's effect could be maximized.
She could even transform into a shadow and move quickly within shadows, making her movements ghostly and unpredictable.
Compared to other Logia types, she had quite a few advantages.
Being able to hide in shadows at any time, such an ability inherently put her in an invincible position.
Even when facing opponents stronger than her, she could stall for a long time without being defeated, and she could leave the battlefield whenever she wanted.
Relying on the Night-Night Fruit's ability, even though the Marines had attempted to encircle and suppress Nyx multiple times, Nyx ultimately escaped each time, and the Marines themselves suffered considerable losses.
Secretly, Nyx also held the title of "Queen of the Night." Of course, she was most widely known as the wife of "\"Death God\" Ye Ge."
After all, Jaeger's aura was too strong and still held immense influence to this day.
This could be considered a minor incident, easily extinguished by Nyx.
The sky turned blue again, the enveloping shadows disappeared, retracted into Nyx's body.
The other crew members on the ship dared not look at them, their fear undisguised, diligently going about their own business.
As for what happened? What Hades and the others said? They didn't know, and they didn't want to know.
Nyx didn't care either. Among these members, there were no particularly powerful individuals; to her, they were just cannon fodder.
Yes, in the Rocks Pirates.
If you weren't an official member, you were just an ant.
There were countless ordinary members who were essentially cannon fodder, available in any quantity, like consumables. If they were gone, more could be recruited.
Even if they died, no one cared, and if they were killed by other members, no one would stand up for them.
Only by becoming an official member could one be considered a person in the Rocks Pirates.
The title of "cadre" was merely something added by the pirates below them.
After all, they had always considered themselves members of the Rocks Pirates.
But their own strength wasn't recognized, so they could only attach themselves to the subordinates of those powerful individuals.
Therefore, those who could become cadres were basically great pirates with bounties of several hundred million, powerful individuals who were lone wolves, leaders of small groups, or captains of Affiliated Pirate Groups.
Death was very common in the Rocks Pirates; mutual killing was a frequent occurrence.
In short, strength was paramount. As long as you possessed strength, killed your superior, and achieved an 'underling surpasses boss' scenario, you could easily take someone else's position.
There were countless pirates wanting to join the Rocks Pirates, fighting tooth and nail for a spot.
Every time the Pirate Crew suffered losses, personnel would be replenished within a short time.
Although the competition was fierce, with these powerful individuals leading the way, they could share a large amount of treasure every time.
Just as Rocks promised when he founded the Rocks Pirates, following him meant making big money.
The entire New World, vast stretches of Land, nominally belonged to the Rocks Pirates. Countless Islands flew the flag of the Rocks Pirates.
Even the chaotic Underworld Forces had to pay protection fees when facing the Rocks Pirates.
They even maintained close ties with the Rocks Pirates.
The tributes from these Islands and forces alone were enough to support the development of the Rocks Pirates.
Compared to its initial savage growth, the Rocks Pirates now possessed a rich foundation.
At least in terms of Intelligence Force, they could even slightly surpass the World Government and the Marines.
There were indeed capable individuals among them.
(end of chapter)