Whitebeard stood shoulder to shoulder with Rocks.
Two towering figures planted themselves there.
Facing them—
The King of the World.
The Five Elders.
The Holy Knights.
The absolute monsters at the very peak of this world.
Yet the aura surrounding the two men surged upward without the slightest sign of being suppressed.
Instead, they were like two blades on the verge of leaving their sheaths.
Edges exposed.
Defying the heavenly pressure ahead.
Silence.
Only the wind whispering over piles of corpses broke the stillness.
The air stretched tight like a drawn string.
Rocks suddenly tilted his head and glanced at Newgate beside him.
His already grim face suddenly split open, revealing white teeth.
"Newgate."
His voice carried a teasing edge, shattering the suffocating silence.
"The guys across from us… aren't small fry."
"Each one's a monster."
"You sure you want to stay here? There might not be anything in it for you this time."
Whitebeard didn't even look at him.
His gaze remained locked on the figures ahead.
He simply hoisted the massive naginata Murakumogiri onto his shoulder.
The motion was bold and effortless.
"Gurararara… quit the nonsense, Rocks!"
His voice was heavy, filled with authority.
"I've drunk plenty of your booze while sailing on your ship!"
"My drinks weren't free!"
No extra words.
One line—the booze wasn't free—was a promise heavier than a mountain.
A bond worth staking one's life on.
But just as the battle was about to erupt—
ROOOAAARRR!!!
A thunderous dragon's roar exploded from the sky.
The cry split through the battlefield like lightning.
Everyone looked up.
Rocks.
Whitebeard.
Even Im and the Five Elders.
The sky darkened.
A massive azure dragon blocked out the light, coiling above the two men.
The ferocious dragon head.
Iron-hard scales.
Eyes burning with violet flame.
All proclaimed the pinnacle of a creature's power.
Kaido.
Kaido, who had just obtained the Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon.
He was utterly ecstatic.
His colossal body rolled wildly through the air, stirring storms.
The terrifying lineup below—the forces capable of overturning the world—didn't seem to matter to him at all.
To Kaido, none of that mattered as much as the new power he had just gained.
"Big Brother Rocks! Big Brother Newgate!"
The dragon's voice boomed with youthful excitement.
Like a child eager to show off a brand-new toy.
"Look! Look at this!"
"I finally… finally have a Devil Fruit ability! Hahahaha!"
His enormous head dipped down, nearly poking Rocks and Whitebeard in the forehead.
His dragon eyes sparkled with pure joy, waiting to be praised.
Seeing Kaido acting like a fool, the tension on Rocks' face finally eased.
He looked up at the massive dragon head, and the madness in his smile softened with warmth.
"Congratulations, Kaido."
His voice wasn't loud, but Kaido heard every word clearly.
"Haven't seen you this happy in a long time."
A simple greeting.
No praise for power.
No judgment of strength.
Yet Kaido blinked his massive eyes.
The satisfaction of being acknowledged made him roar with excitement.
On the other side, Whitebeard ignored Kaido's boasting entirely.
He simply lifted his gaze and scanned the formation of the Five Elders and the Holy Knights.
Then he withdrew his gaze, resting Murakumogiri on his shoulder as he spoke to Rocks.
"Rocks, you sure have a lot of enemies."
He grinned, his teeth stained with blood.
"But that's fine…"
"Now we can finally have a proper fight!"
Hearing Whitebeard's words, the smile on Rocks' face slowly faded.
He looked forward again.
The last trace of warmth vanished from his eyes.
What remained—
Was a blade sharp enough to cut down gods.
"Don't get careless, Newgate."
His voice was low and hoarse.
Heavy enough to tighten every heart nearby.
"The ones we're facing now…"
"…are probably the strongest the World Government has produced in eight hundred years."
Rocks.
Whitebeard.
Kaido.
Two future Emperors of the sea stood assembled beside their captain.
Their terrifying aura—the kind that seemed ready to punch a hole through the world itself—finally made the King of the World look at them directly.
The Saturn possessed by Im swept his inhuman gaze across Rocks and Whitebeard, then glanced at the azure dragon in the sky.
At last, his eyes returned to Rocks.
Slowly—
He spoke.
His voice held no emotion.
Neither loud nor soft.
Yet it carried the force of law itself, echoing clearly across the battlefield and into every ear.
A divine decree.
"Rocks."
Im—speaking through Saturn—called the pirate overlord by name.
"Mu will give you a chance."
The moment those words fell, the entire battlefield froze.
Rocks and Whitebeard.
Even the Five Elders and Garling behind Im looked stunned.
None of them understood why the supreme ruler of the world would say such a thing in a situation meant to guarantee Rocks' death.
Im ignored their shock.
His empty gaze remained fixed on Rocks as he continued to pronounce his "grace."
"Submit to Mu."
"You will not only live."
"Even your Davie Clan will no longer be hunted."
"Mu will grant you the status of a Celestial Dragon."
"You will become one of the World Nobles, enjoying divine glory."
"And your position will stand beneath Mu alone—above all others."
BOOM!!!
The sudden offer.
The unimaginable terms.
It exploded in everyone's minds like a nuclear blast.
Become…
A Celestial Dragon?
A World Noble?
This was recruitment?
An invitation from a god.
For a man whose ultimate ambition was to become the King of the World—
It was a deadly temptation.
The battlefield fell completely silent.
Every gaze locked onto the man with black hair draped over his shoulders, his body covered in wounds.
Even Kaido, who had been excited moments earlier, reverted to human form and landed behind Rocks.
He stood beside Whitebeard, one on each side.
Both watched Rocks quietly.
In their eyes—
There was no urging.
No worry.
No doubt.
Only absolute trust.
As if no matter what decision Rocks made—fight or surrender—they would follow him to the end.
Time seemed to stretch.
The moment froze upon Rocks' unreadable face.
A faint smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.
But within those bottomless eyes—
Was a silent abyss.
No one could tell what he was thinking.