"So what you mean is, you ran into a troublesome guy, right?"
On the Transponder Snail, a domineering face somewhat resembling Blackbeard, with striped hair, slowly opened its mouth.
"Ah... yeah."
Whitebeard had nothing to hide. He had always acknowledged true strength.
Just as he was about to say more, the Transponder Snail suddenly flickered.
Then...
It vanished from where it was.
"Nani?!"
Whitebeard's eyes widened. His mouth opened, his face full of disbelief.
But he quickly noticed Ozz's figure.
Wasn't the thing in that man's hand his Transponder Snail?
On the other side, Rocks, who was holding a banquet on Hachinosu, also noticed something strange with the Transponder Snail.
The face that originally had Whitebeard's crescent-shaped mustache suddenly changed.
It became a smiling face with scarlet light bursting from both eyes.
"You... are the troublesome enemy Newgate mentioned, right?"
Rocks grinned and asked with overwhelming dominance, not seeming troubled at all by Whitebeard's final description.
"First time meeting you. My name is Ozz."
Ozz spoke calmly.
"Ozz, huh? Want to join my crew? I'm Rocks!"
"No matter what kind of ambition you have, the Rocks Pirates can accept it!"
Since he had decided to join the Rocks Pirates for a while, Ozz had no reason to hesitate.
"The Rocks Pirates?"
"Well... sure."
Hearing that, a smile appeared on Rocks's domineering face, and he burst into laughter.
"That was unexpectedly easy. But whatever. This is a pirate crew made of monsters, after all!"
Ozz also smiled.
Rocks, huh?
What a domineering man.
In terms of strength, Rocks might be inferior to Imu, since the latter had plotted too deeply and played too dirty. Imu belonged to the category of a rule-based monster.
Rocks, on the other hand, was truly the most imposing and tyrannical man Ozz had ever seen.
In that regard, even Captain Roger, and the future Shanks, could not compare to him in sheer dominance.
One could say he was the existence closest to the "King of the World" among mortals.
"My goal is to take down the Holy Land. If you want to join me, then prepare yourself!"
"As for whether a monster like you will still be willing to lend me a hand when that time comes..."
"Do whatever you want!"
"But if you are willing..."
"Then follow me and take a look at the peak of this world!"
A true overlord of the world would never fear the ambition of his subordinates.
As Ozz listened, even though he had no interest in the game of conquest, he could not help but feel his blood stir.
On this point, even though Ozz's ideals were completely different from Rocks's, he had to admit it.
This was an overlord whose spirit and charisma were not inferior to his own.
A person like this, whether in strength, in the firmness of his ideals, or in the resilience of his emotions, was someone people could look up to and acknowledge from the heart.
The only difference was this.
Rocks's goal was to realize his own ambition. What Ozz wanted was absolute freedom and the joy of life.
What Rocks cared about was his wife and child, his family.
What Ozz cared about was old Gick, who had raised him into adulthood, and the "family" who had accompanied him along the road of life, such as Captain Roger, Buggy, and the others.
As for strength...
Someone with such conviction and spirit could never have weak Conqueror's Haki.
He truly possessed the qualifications to challenge the peak of the world.
Only, at the moment, Ozz was still young.
Rocks had already entered the prime of his life and had begun marching toward the world's ultimate stage.
Thinking about it that way, joining the Rocks Pirates for a while did not seem unacceptable.
With that thought in mind, Ozz joined the Rocks Pirates.
He also wanted to use this chance to truly witness the youthful days of the old-generation pirates.
...
A few days later.
"Shocking! Only in His Twenties, New Captain of the Rocks Pirates!"
"Rocks's Illegitimate Son? Or Roger's Biological Brother?"
"Sea Overlord! Monstrous Rookie Makes His Debut, Bounty of Two Billion Berries!"
"The Marines should go into journalism. Their noses are like dogs..."
Ozz stood on the deck of a Rocks Pirates ship, wearing a black coat and reading the newspaper in his hand.
He was now heading toward Hachinosu together with Whitebeard and the others.
Yet before they had even arrived, his bounty poster had already been made and distributed across the world.
"Amazing! Two billion berries!"
Gick, who had already become Ozz's subordinate, stared at the bounty poster with shining eyes.
The way he looked was as if he was even happier than if he himself had received a high bounty.
Ozz did not comment. He merely smiled faintly.
"Only two billion?"
Kaido, however, looked somewhat indignant. He seemed to still remember the shot Ozz had given him.
Now, seeing Gick so happy, his brows immediately furrowed.
Ozz was the one with the bounty. Why were you jumping around so excitedly?
"Hey! You..."
Although Kaido was still an apprentice, he had already displayed impressive strength. Within the Rocks Pirates, he was firmly positioned as a future captain candidate.
Looking at Gick, who had jumped right in front of him, Kaido immediately grabbed him by the collar in irritation.
"Quiet down, bastard!"
Gick had still been happy a moment ago, but in the next instant, someone grabbed his collar.
And the other party was Kaido, one of the monsters on the ship, someone close to Captain Charlotte Linlin.
His pupils trembled twice, and cold sweat appeared on his face.
Not good...
Just as he grew nervous and prepared himself to be beaten,
Bang!
A large foot suddenly appeared and kicked Kaido squarely in the face, sending him crashing to the deck and plowing out a deep trench.
The young Kaido now had a huge black shoe print on his face, one that matched a dragon's.
The hand gripping Gick's collar also loosened.
That kick was not light.
Even with Kaido's monstrous physique, his eyes rolled white for a brief moment.
Gick fell to the ground and could not help looking toward the man who had stretched out his leg.
At this moment, that man's face no longer carried its usual easygoing smile.
All that remained was frost-cold anger.
Scarlet light burst from Ozz's eyes. If he had not known Kaido had no killing intent toward the old man, this would not have ended with just one kick.
"If you dare trouble him again, I'll kill you."
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