Seeing the man before him clearly, Twilight Allen realized it was the exact same figure he had previously seen on a bounty poster.
It was the Captain of the Rocks Pirates, Rocks D.
Xebec.
“Then, the one who swung his sword at me just now must have been Golden Lion Shiki, right?” Allen muttered, looking past Rocks.
He saw one familiar face after another passing before his eyes.
These legendary figures looked down at Allen with all kinds of expressions—some playful, some disdainful, some annoyed, and others genuinely admiring.
While Allen was busy observing these powerful characters he recognized from his past life, the underlings who had heard Rocks’s order rushed past him, charging straight toward the town.
“Roar!
Charge!
The treasure belongs to us!” Allen finally snapped back to reality.
A surge of anxious anger flooded his chest, but he was completely helpless.
Even in his prime, he might not have been able to stop all of them, let alone in his current injured state.
Sure, the people rushing past were just small fry.
But could the small fry of the Rocks Pirates be compared to those of the Alpaca Pirates?
They weren’t even on the same level; some of these underlings were easily stronger than Alpaca Samo.
Thinking about how the kind townspeople who had once helped him would become souls under the blades of these vicious pirates, and that the peaceful town where he had lived for seven years would be reduced to smoking ruins…
Anger, unwillingness, and a torrent of intense emotions flooded Allen’s mind.
Suddenly, a terrifying dark energy spread outward in all directions.
“This is my hometown!
You pieces of trash, stop right there!” Allen roared, a terrifying aura exploding from his body.
The underlings who hadn’t run very far fell to the ground one after another, completely unconscious.
“Anyone who wants to pass must step over my corpse!” Allen declared, staring directly at Rocks with murderous intent.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the others behind their captain revealed looks of pure surprise.
“Conqueror’s Haki?
Well, isn’t that interesting.” Unfortunately, before Rocks could even say a word, Allen’s vision went completely black.
His body gave out, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
“…The youngster just fell asleep!” “Mm…
ugh, where am I?” Waking up from his coma, Allen rubbed his aching body and looked around at his surroundings.
A wooden ceiling and walls came into view.
The faint chirping of birds drifted in from the outside, and a slight, rhythmic swaying beneath him indicated that he was inside a ship’s cabin.
“Damn it, wasn’t I just facing off against the Rocks Pirates?
How did I end up on a ship?” Allen muttered.
Then, a dark thought hit him.
“Wait, has Manuka already been destroyed?” Anxious and angry, Allen ignored the stinging pain in his muscles and scrambled up, wanting to walk out of the cabin to see his current situation.
Just as he stood up, the cabin door suddenly swung open.
Blinding sunlight poured inside, and a massive figure walked through the doorway.
“Gurararara!
You finally awake, brat?
You’ve been asleep for two whole days,” the six-meter-tall middle-aged man laughed, looking down at Allen.
Allen’s eyes widened in surprise.
Isn’t this Whitebeard?
He quickly put the pieces together.
So…
am I on Rocks’s ship right now?
“What’s wrong?
Did you just wake up and lose your memory?
You were pretty impressive when you released your Haki at the Captain,” Whitebeard teased, watching Allen stand there silently with a changing expression.
“Whitebeard Edward Newgate…
my hometown…” Allen ignored the teasing, asking anxiously about the village.
“Oh?
You know who I am?
It seems my reputation is still pretty loud out there,” Whitebeard noted.
“As for your hometown, don’t worry.
It wasn’t destroyed, though all the brewed honey wine was looted.
Hahaha!” Whitebeard knew exactly what Allen wanted to ask.
Hearing that his hometown was safe, Allen felt a massive wave of relief, but he looked at Whitebeard in confusion.
“Why did you guys spare Manuka?
And why spare me?
Was it you who saved me?
Why?” “Save you?
I suppose you could say that.
But it was also your potential that caught Rocks’s interest.
Otherwise, even if I had spoken up, it wouldn’t have done any good,” Whitebeard explained, recalling the scene from two days ago.
Right after Allen had fallen unconscious, Shiki had looked at Rocks, feeling completely speechless.
“What the hell, Captain, should I just cut him down?” Rocks had looked down at the unconscious Allen with hesitation.
Seeing that Shiki wanted to kill the boy, Whitebeard stepped forward.
“Captain, you saw it too.
This kid has great potential.
How about we bring him onto the ship?” Allen’s absolute refusal to take a single step back to protect his village had earned Whitebeard’s genuine approval.
After thinking it over for a moment, Rocks agreed.
“Alright, let’s do as Newgate says.
This kid is qualified to be my subordinate.” Just then, a group of townspeople had run out from the village.
Some were holding pots and pans, while others brandished brooms and mops.
“Pirates, don’t hurt Allen!
We can give you all our brewed wine!
This village doesn’t have much money anyway, so I’m sure you wouldn’t look down on it,” Natsu shouted, stepping out from the crowd.
His legs were shaking violently as he spoke to Rocks.
Rocks and some of his officers looked thoroughly annoyed, especially Charlotte Linlin, who was only thinking about sweets.
“Are you pieces of trash trying to bargain with me?
If I kill you all, the wine will still be ours.
Besides, what I really want is dessert!” Linlin snapped, gripping Napoleon.
She was ready to step forward and wipe out the villagers.
“W-We can give you desserts too!
You can take whatever you want, as long as you don’t hurt Allen and the villagers!” Natsu’s legs shook even faster.
Whitebeard looked over at Linlin, who was ready to strike.
Since Rocks showed no intention of stopping her, Whitebeard made a suggestion to his captain.
“Captain, as long as this village stands, Allen won’t betray us.
There’s no need to wipe them all out.” After hearing Whitebeard’s point, Rocks thought it over and decided to have his men carry Allen onto the ship.
“Boys, go wake up the trash that passed out, grab the wine, and let’s go.” “Mamamama!
And the desserts!
Remember to bring every last bit!” Linlin instructed her team members, pleased that she was getting her sweets.
Seeing that the pirates were carrying Allen away, Natsu shouted anxiously, “Where…
where are you taking Allen?” Shiki glared back at Natsu with a fierce, terrifying expression.
“Hmm?” Natsu instantly lost his courage to speak, his legs trembling so fast they were a complete blur.
“Don’t worry, old man.
They won’t hurt the kid,” Whitebeard said comfortingly to Natsu before turning around.
Back in the present, Allen took a deep breath.
“I see.
I still have to thank you, Brother Newgate.” Hearing about the townspeople’s brave actions brought a warm feeling to his heart.
“No need for that.
If you want to thank someone, go thank those villagers,” Whitebeard waved his hand casually.
Grumble…
grumble…
An incredibly loud, awkward sound suddenly echoed from Allen’s stomach.
He looked down at his belly, then scratched his head in embarrassment.
“Uh, Brother Newgate, do you have anything to eat?” “Gurararara!
Follow me, brat,” Whitebeard smiled warmly.
After stuffing his face and filling his stomach, Allen followed Whitebeard straight to the Captain’s quarters.
Golden Lion and Charlotte Linlin were already inside, and Rocks was sitting comfortably in the main seat.
Allen didn’t spot Silver Axe, Ochoku, John, or any of the other major officers.
It seemed they hadn’t set sail with Rocks for this specific raid on the Marine branch.
“Brat, do you want to join my pirate crew?” Rocks asked.
His tone left absolutely no room for an argument.
Allen knew that if he said no, he would probably be carried out and thrown into the sea on the spot.
“Sure, I’ll join.
And thank you, Captain, for sparing Manuka,” Allen replied calmly.
“Hahahaha!
Kid, you’ve made a wise choice!
I will lead you all to become the rulers of the entire world!” Rocks laughed arrogantly, his voice echoing through the room.