Even though Roger was angry, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't defeat Rocks, so he could only swallow his frustration.
"I say, Captain, don't have any bad ideas, otherwise, our voyage will end here."
Seeing his Captain's annoyed look, Rayleigh kindly reminded him.
He was truly afraid that Roger would lose his mind and lead their Roger Pirates to fight the Rocks Pirates.
If that really happened, their Roger Pirates might be completely wiped out, and the entire Pirate Crew's voyage would end there.
"Hahahaha, Rayleigh, don't worry. As long as I'm not confident in defeating Rocks, I won't do anything stupid."
Roger laughed heartily.
Although Roger was sometimes foolish and stubborn, he wasn't someone without a brain.
Knowing that he couldn't contend, yet still stubbornly charging forward – that kind of idiot wouldn't live long in this cruel World.
"That's good, that's good. It's just that your expression was a bit dangerous just now."
Rayleigh breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease seeing that Roger's rationality was still intact.
"Yo, the Rocks Pirates have a new face. What a young monster! Becoming an executive officers at sixteen, his future is limitless! It would be great if we could poach him for our Pirate Crew."
Roger said in surprise as he looked at the wanted poster for the Rocks Pirates's executive officers.
"Forget it. The Rocks Pirates are much stronger than our Pirate Crew. How could you possibly poach him? Be realistic, alright?"
Rayleigh said, covering his forehead.
"I say, Rayleigh, you're boosting their prestige a bit too much. What's wrong with our Pirate Crew? Our Pirate Crew are the freest Pirate Crew in the entire World."
Roger said loudly.
"Yes, yes. Now the Pirate Crew barely have enough money for a feast. As the Captain, shouldn't you be thinking about how to increase our Pirate Crew's income? Otherwise, in half a month, we'll all be starving."
Rayleigh said helplessly.
"Hahaha, Rayleigh, you're the Vice Captain who manages our Pirate Crew's finances. You should be the one to figure this out. To celebrate the Rocks Pirates's new young executive officers, let's have a feast!"
Roger turned his head away from Rayleigh and laughed heartily.
On Stella Island, a prosperous island near the Red Line, Nox's master, Louis, was living in seclusion, leading a normal life.
"Nox, it seems you're a lot closer to your goal!"
Louis looked at the newspaper in his hand, which had a picture of Nox.
Standing around Nox were the other executive officerss of the Rocks Pirates and Rocks himself. The newspaper's headline was "Rocks Pirates's New executive officers Nox"!
Beehive Island
After the feast, most of the Pirates on the island were completely drunk, even Whitebeard, who had been leeching drinks from Nox earlier, was lying on the ground, snoring loudly.
The entire Beehive Island, which had been lively and noisy during the feast, suddenly became quiet.
After eating and drinking his fill, Nox got up and left, returning to his own ship. He didn't have the habit of sleeping on the floor.
"Senior Brother, you're back!!!"
Even though it was already midnight, many of the Senior apprentice brothers and Lesley hadn't slept and were waiting for Nox to return.
Now that they saw Nox was back, they were happy and also relieved of their worries.
"I've already joined the Rocks Pirates and become an executive officers of the Rocks Pirates. From now on, if you encounter anyone causing trouble on Beehive Island and you can't defeat them, just mention my name!"
Looking at these Senior apprentice brothers, although their strength was weak, he wouldn't dislike them, nor would he abandon them because of it.
After all, in this World, these Senior apprentice brothers were the ones who grew up with him. For them, Nox had a special feeling.
He also hoped that in the future, when he reached the peak of the sword road and the peak of the World, there would be people to share that joy with him and accompany him in overlooking the scenery of the entire World.
"An executive officers of the Rocks Pirates? That's great, Senior Brother!!"
"Long live Senior Brother!!"
"Senior Brother is too amazing!!"
"..."
Because Nox had told them all to stay on the ship before, they didn't know the news that Nox had become an executive officers of the Rocks Pirates, which is why they were so happy when they heard the news now.
"Alright, go get some rest."
Nox waved his hand, telling them all to rest. Even if they weren't tired, Nox was very tired.
He had fought John with all his might for an entire day, and he had reached his limit. Although his injuries and physical strength had recovered, he was still mentally exhausted.
Seeing that Nox was going to rest, Lesley considerately followed him in. She wanted to serve Nox well so that he could rest better.
The next morning, his biological clock woke Nox up on time. After getting up, he covered the still-sleeping Lesley with the blanket and then walked out of the room.
"This is the first time I've fought someone stronger than me with all my might. After just one battle, I feel like my strength has improved a lot, and my Busoshoku Haki has become thicker, harder, and more condensed than before."
"No wonder people say that fighting strong opponents is the fastest way to improve one's strength."
Clearly seeing his own progress, Nox couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
No wonder Luffy in the original story improved so quickly. Every time, he was beaten to near death by his enemies.
Then, after recovering, he would be much stronger than before and would then defeat the enemy.
And after defeating the enemy, he would once again be on the verge of death, and after being saved again, his strength would once again skyrocket.
This experience of fighting, being on the verge of death, recovering, greatly increasing in strength, defeating the enemy, being on the verge of death, recovering again, and greatly increasing in strength.
If you didn't know better, you'd think Luffy had a Saiyan physique, where his combat power would increase every time he was injured and recovered.
"However, this kind of battle doesn't happen every time. This time was an exception."
Trying to improve strength through this method is simply not something that happens often in reality.
Reality is not a novel plot. Nox himself would not gamble his life on the chance that those stronger than him couldn't kill him.