The first round of the Davy Back Fight ended with Ren’s overwhelming victory.
With the vice-captain battle concluded, it was time for the second round—the captain’s showdown.
“That’s right!
There’s still another round.
The odds may be slim, but there’s still hope!”
“Newgate, don’t worry!
Captain Banna will definitely win you back!”
“Once we’ve gambled this round, we’ll never gamble again!”
The pirates of the Brothers Pirates spoke one after another.
The pressure immediately fell upon Captain Banna.
His forehead was covered in sweat, and cold sweat soaked through his back.
Not to mention that his opponent was Rocks, the man with a 1.5 billion Berries bounty.
His chances of winning were practically nonexistent.
And even if he actually won, even if they set that aside—
He didn’t want to take Newgate back after finally getting rid of him.
Newgate’s prestige aboard the ship was simply too great.
It had already seriously threatened his position as captain.
Who knew when Newgate might…
Smack!
Smack!
Captain Banna suddenly slapped his own cheeks and forced himself to regain his composure.
At this point, he was already riding a tiger and couldn’t get off.
All he could do was fight first and worry about the rest later.
“Come on!”
Captain Banna strode forward.
Unlike his overconfident younger brother, he transformed the moment he stepped onto the battlefield, revealing his strongest form.
His original height of just over two meters rapidly swelled, quickly surpassing ten meters.
Sharp fangs and pointed claws grew rapidly, while even his skin turned green…
Before long, Captain Banna had transformed into a terrifying monster with a green face, vicious fangs, and a monstrous physique.
What kind of ability was this?
Ren couldn’t help but stare.
The Hulk?!
Reality proved that Captain Banna hadn’t actually transformed into the Hulk.
Because the real Hulk wouldn’t be unable to withstand even a single slash from Rocks.
With a thunderous boom, Captain Banna, now transformed into a green giant monster, was struck head-on by Rocks’ hammer-like sword technique.
One hit.
KO!
There were no surprises whatsoever.
The hearts of the Brothers Pirates, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died completely.
Sure enough, they should never have accepted this Davy Back Fight from the very beginning.
Now they had lost both rounds.
They had not only lost their woman, but also suffered the loss of their soldiers.
While everyone was in a state of panic and frustration, Rocks spoke.
“Looks like we won this round as well.”
“Then, what I’m going to take from your side is…”
Rocks’ gaze swept across the crowd one person at a time.
Gulp~
Gulp, gulp~
The pirates of the Brothers Pirates nervously swallowed.
They were somewhat frightened.
But at the same time, they were also a little expectant.
To be chosen by Rocks was enough to prove that one’s abilities were impressive.
Besides, joining Rocks together with Newgate seemed like it might offer a brighter future.
However, completely beyond everyone’s expectations, Rocks didn’t choose any of them.
His finger suddenly shifted direction.
It pointed toward the pirate ship anchored by the shore.
“What I want to take is your ship!”
Rocks grinned.
Out on this vast ocean, without a ship, one couldn’t even take a single step.
The pirate ship they had previously taken had been wrecked while descending from Sky Island, which was why they had become stranded on this uninhabited island.
Now that a bunch of suckers had practically delivered a ship to their doorstep, naturally they weren’t going to let the opportunity slip away.
“What did you say?!”
Hearing Rocks’ words, the members of the Brothers Pirates stood stunned for quite some time before finally coming back to their senses.
One by one, they became extremely agitated.
“You…
you want to take our ship?!”
“If we give you our ship, then what are we supposed to do?”
“Are you kidding?
You never said this was allowed beforehand!”
“….”
“Shut up!!!”
Rocks’ thunderous roar erupted.
His powerful Haki leaked out, instantly silencing the noisy crowd.
“Everything I’ve done is completely in accordance with the rules of the Davy Back Fight.”
“A pirate ship is also within the scope of what can be seized.”
“If anyone has a problem with that, I can send him to the bottom of the sea right now and let him ask Davy Jones himself.”
Under Rocks’ overwhelming Haki, the pirates fell silent as cicadas in winter.
They didn’t even dare breathe too loudly.
In the end, all they could do was sullenly unload their belongings from the ship.
If they were any slower, they feared they wouldn’t even get to keep their luggage.
Only after watching their own pirate ship sail farther and farther away in someone else’s hands did the members of the Brothers Pirates finally dare to speak.
“Damn it!
They’re nothing but a bunch of thieves!”
“They did it on purpose!
They deliberately used that golden Armstrong Cannon to lure us here, all so they could steal our ship!”
“It’s all because the captain and the others were too reckless.
If we’d refused from the beginning, then we wouldn’t have…”
“And Newgate!
What a heartless bastard!”
“He actually just stood there and watched!
If you’re brothers, you should at least help!”
The pirates who normally called one another brothers were now cursing and blaming each other, each trying to shift responsibility.
At the stern of the pirate ship, Newgate had originally intended to say a final goodbye to his “brothers.”
But after hearing their complaints, he could only let out a deep sigh.
“Wahahaha!
Newgate, don’t worry.”
“On my ship, you don’t need to worry about being schemed against and abandoned by your captain like before.”
“Because no matter how strong you become, I’ll always be stronger than you!”
Rocks laughed loudly.
“Shut up, Rocks.
Even if I board your ship, that doesn’t mean I’m your subordinate!”
Newgate replied without the slightest trace of politeness.
“Wahahaha!
What a stubborn man, Newgate.”
“But I like it.”
Rocks didn’t mind Newgate’s attitude in the slightest.
After all, the man was already his.
“All right, boys!”
“To celebrate Newgate joining us, let’s have a banquet!”
“Ohhhhhh!!!”
Black Bear Big Bear and Brown Bear Little Bear shouted together.
“Looks like there’s going to be more work for us.”
Ren shook his head.
He walked straight over, picked up the two golden lure rods lying on the deck, and lowered them into the sea.
Sizzle, sizzle~
The originally calm surface of the sea began boiling as if a pot had suddenly exploded.
Before long, one sea fish after another floated belly-up to the surface.
Among them was even a gigantic Sea Beast.
Two lure rods, a mountain of fish.
The netizens really hadn’t lied about this one.
That night.
The banquet celebrating Whitebeard’s joining the crew began as scheduled.
After several rounds of drinks and plenty of food, the young Whitebeard—Newgate—finally let himself go completely.
He cut ties with the past and welcomed a new journey.
“Newgate, what’s the fun in just drinking?”
“Come on, let’s play finger guessing!”
Ren, who was equally drunk, called out to him.
“What’s finger guessing?
I don’t know how.”
Newgate shook his head.
“No problem.
I’ll teach you.”
Ren patted his chest confidently.
Having only just learned the rules of the game, Newgate was naturally no match for an experienced player like Ren.
He quickly lost and had to drink.
Just then, a pleasant mechanical notification sounded beside Ren’s ear.
[Congratulations, Host!
You have defeated the Gura Gura no Mi ability user.]
[Paramecia-Type Gura Gura no Mi successfully recorded.]
Ren: “???”
I defeated Newgate?
When did that happen?
How come I didn’t know about it?
Ren was completely bewildered.
For a moment, he simply froze in place.
It wasn’t until he saw the Gura Gura no Mi added to his Devil Fruit section that he finally confirmed this wasn’t an illusion.
So…
Winning at finger guessing counted as a victory too!
The system’s condition for recording a Devil Fruit—”defeat”—wasn’t limited to defeating an ability user through physical combat.
As long as he competed against an ability user and won, he could fulfill the requirement.
As for what kind of competition it was, there were no restrictions.
“This is really…”
Brilliant!