Pirate: I have a Hollow living inside me!

"..."

Upon hearing this, Bonnis's pupils contracted slightly.

The other party actually knew the location of their headquarters.

He had already gleaned a lot from those words, his gaze fixed on Lox: "It seems your arrival here was no coincidence. Have you been eyeing the BOSS all along?"

"You are more terrifying than I imagined, black-haired swordsman..."

"It's not that I'm targeting them, it's just that they have someone I want to recruit."

Locke's lips curled into a smile: "I wouldn't mind going to have a talk with them about it..."

Daz Bones is dead, killed by Lox.

Lox was a man of his word; since the other party had chosen death, he would grant their wish…

"Huh? This is..."

The instant after Daz Bones died, Lox clearly felt that abnormal emotion emanating from the Blackwing Archdeacon within him once again…

It wants to devour something!

'Om! '

With some kind of instinctive action, Rocks raised his right hand and reached out to grab something invisible.

However, they missed their target.

But Lox had a vague feeling that something was slipping through his fingers.

If I had been a few seconds faster, I would have been able to grab that thing firmly...

"Could it be a 'demon' within a Devil Fruit user!?"

The sensation on his fingertips was so clear that Lockes didn't think it was an illusion.

Rocks pondered and speculated: "After a Devil Fruit user dies, the Devil Fruit ability disappears from the host and is reborn somewhere on the sea."

"Was that feeling just now the 'devil' or 'essence' of a Devil Fruit that had detached from the user's body?"

"I...no, my abilities allow me to grasp this special being?"

Rocks' eyes flashed: "If I could really do that, wouldn't I possess some of the abilities of the Dark-Dark Fruit?"

This discovery gave Lockes a jolt.

If one could grasp the "essence" of a Devil Fruit, the "devil" aspect, then there would be far too much room for maneuver.

He could obtain the corresponding Devil Fruit by hunting down Devil Fruit users, just like Blackbeard in the original work.

If, later, it turns out that "devouring" a Devil Fruit would be beneficial to him...

Isn't this blatant cheating?

Rocks felt he could now consider himself a "god of the new era"...

This is what God is like.

Able to do things that others cannot...

Rocks slowly exhaled and muttered to himself, "I do need to find some time to try it out, but the Great White Pig Fruit doesn't belong to me after all, and I promised to return it to Yoak."

"Never mind, we'll talk about it when we go to Alabasta..."

Ultimately, Rocks suppressed his desire to try using the Great White Pig Fruit.

He will keep his word and will not break his promise.

Daz Bonis has his own bottom line, and so does Rocks.

At least in this matter, Rocks would not go back on his word; it was by his nature that he was a man of integrity!

Chapter 79 The Little Garden

The ship set sail again, heading in the direction indicated by the record pointer.

"Is this a permanent pointer? Unaffected by magnetism, it only points to a fixed island."

On the deck, Nami was examining another Log Pose in her hand.

Upon seeing the words engraved on it, she exclaimed in surprise, "Alabasta? Oh, that's the final destination of the Yoak caravan."

Nami looked at Rocks: "Where did you find it?"

"Daz Bones," said Lox.

"Oh, Daz Bones? Don't you know him?"

"He's the Crocodile's subordinate who was defeated by Kuina and died at my hands."

"..."

Nami's expression froze.

Her clever little brain quickly came to a conclusion, and she swallowed hard: "Could it be... that the stronghold of Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea... is in Alabasta?"

Lockes snapped his fingers: "Bingo, you guessed right."

Upon hearing Rocks' answer, Nami's eyes widened: "No... it can't be such a coincidence, can it?"

"What a coincidence!"

“Well… well, I don’t think we should go to such a dangerous place just for this Great White Pig Fruit. If you don’t tell me and I don’t tell you, Yoak won’t know that this Devil Fruit exists.”

"I am a man of my word; I will do what I say I will do."

"Why are you so stubborn? These things can be put aside for now, there's no need to rush. There will be time and opportunities later..."

Nami was on the verge of tears.

If she could travel through time, she would never have been tricked by Rocks into boarding this pirate ship.

Just imagine what's going on on this ship!

The name "Rocks" alone could motivate a Marine Admiral to take action.

Rocks killed a Marine Rear Admiral in the East Blue and was given a bounty of 130 million Berries.

Now, not long after setting foot on the Grand Line, he has offended Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and has to go to Crocodile's lair to find him.

Is this reasonable?

This is unreasonable!

"I have to go. I won't be able to rest easy if I don't go. Besides, Crocodile actually rejected my suggestion. I'm furious right now!"

Lox looked very serious.

Alabasta is the island we plan to visit.

He would have gone even if it weren't for the Joak caravan business.

As for Crocodile... we'll have to face him sooner or later. He's got his eye on Robin. If we don't take Crocodile down, how will we get Robin on our ship?

"I'll lower the price for you..."

Nami stopped halfway through her sentence, realizing that her words were too ambiguous; she was an innocent young girl.

You can't say that.

He just looked miserable, as if he was questioning the meaning of life: "Go ahead, go ahead, be busy... being busy is good!"

Kuina, who had stopped her training, walked over and looked at Rocks: "Do you know anything about Crocodile?"

"I do know a little bit about it."

Rocks counted on one hand and said, "The opponent is a Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit user, who will have a greater advantage in a desert kingdom like Alabasta. As for their strength..."

At this point, Locke paused, then shrugged: "I don't really know since I haven't fought him."

In the original work, Crocodile's strength fluctuated.

When he was strong, he could fight Whitebeard; when he was weak, he couldn't even beat the fledgling Rubber Sun God...

Whether it possesses Schrödinger's domineering aura or not depends entirely on Oda's mood.

In summary, strength serves the plot.

However, this is the real world after all, and Rocks really can't say for sure what level Crocodile's strength is at right now...

We'll only know after we've fought it!

Kuina then asked, "Besides Daz Bonis, are there any other noteworthy figures under his command?"

"No, right? The only one we need to pay attention to is Crocodile."

Lockes was also unsure.

This is, after all, three years before the events of the original story; who knows what kind of subordinates Crocodile might have...

"We'll see when we get there."

"Ah."

As the two finalized their plans, Nami leaned back in her chair, looked up at the sky speechlessly, and said, "..."

She's so tired of having a captain and a first mate.

At the tender age of fifteen, she inexplicably wanted to retire...

Can't you even consider how she, a weakling, feels?

Noticing Nami's expression, Rocks straightened his face and adopted the demeanor of a captain: "What are you still doing lying there?"

"If you don't want to become a 'piggy girl,' you still need to do the necessary training, starting with basic physical fitness!"

"Yame!"

Nami protested, but to no avail, and Rocks dragged her to start exercising...

……

Time flies, and three days have passed.

An island came into view ahead of the sailing ship.