Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Has anyone seen John?" Wang Zhi asked with some doubt after looking around during dinner.

"John? I haven't seen him. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all day!"

"Maybe they're resting in their cabin? Send someone to check on them. Have they stopped eating?"

The crew members shook their heads, indicating that they had not seen John.

As Reina ate grilled fish and drank wine, a thought suddenly struck him, reminding him of what he had witnessed the previous night. However, he knew that it was not his place to intervene in such matters, so he remained silent.

"Oh no! John is missing! He's not in his room!" A crew member who had gone to look for John rushed in, looking very anxious.

"what?"

"Gone? How is that possible? How can a living person just disappear on a ship?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the crew members who had gone to look for John.

"I'm going to find the captain. Everyone stay here and don't wander off!" Wang Zhi's expression changed as he stood up and said.

This is just a place for ordinary crew members to eat. The officers rarely come here to eat; they usually stay in their own rooms unless they are in a good mood.

Soon after, the captain ordered everyone to gather on the deck, because John had indeed disappeared.

"Captain, there are no signs of a struggle in the cabin, and one of the lifeboats is missing. We suspect he left on a lifeboat himself!" Silver Axe said directly to Lockes after checking the cabin.

"That bastard... he couldn't have betrayed us, could he?" Shiki said with a gloomy expression.

“Mama~ Betraying your comrades is a serious crime! Captain... how do we resolve this?” Charlotte Linlin also asked.

"Navigator... change course immediately, target xxx, xxx!" Rocks said after a moment's thought.

Everyone was puzzled. Did the captain know where John had gone?

“That’s where I keep my treasures. Besides me, only John knows about it! If he really betrayed me, that should be the first place he goes!” Locke said in a deep voice.

"What? That bastard isn't after the captain's treasure, is he?" Shiki exclaimed in shock.

No one knows exactly how much treasure Rocks possessed, but everyone knows it must have been enormous; describing it as richer than a nation wouldn't be an exaggeration.

The navigator immediately changed course and headed toward the coordinates in the sky above Lox.

"Captain, why don't I go ahead first? If that bastard really betrayed us, it will take time to move the treasure. Maybe I can intercept him!" Shiki the Golden Lion said after thinking for a moment.

"No need. From now on, the cadres will take turns keeping watch at night to prevent any mistakes!" After saying this, Lockes went straight back to the second floor.

Reina felt something was strange. After leaving Alcatraz, Captain Rocks seemed to be planning something, but he hadn't told the crew.

Being betrayed by a high-ranking officer like John is a major event for any pirate crew, but if it weren't for the fact that it involved Rocks' treasure, Reina felt that the captain probably wouldn't have bothered with it.

In the evening, after finishing his day's work and receiving his wages and overtime pay, Reina went to the stern of the ship again.

"Brother Newgate, are you on night duty tonight?" Reina asked with a smile when he saw Edward Newgate sitting at the stern.

“Hmm! I have a feeling something’s off with the captain! He doesn’t seem to be planning to deal with John!” Newgate nodded and said.

After looking around, Reina walked over to Newgate and whispered, "I saw John last night! Late at night, he lowered the lifeboats alone from the stern!"

"Huh? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Newgate was taken aback and looked at Reina with some surprise.

“John is the captain’s confidant. I thought the captain had sent him on some secret mission! So I pretended not to see it!” Reina scratched the back of his head and said, “I didn’t say anything today because I was afraid the captain would misunderstand. If the captain knew that I saw it yesterday but didn’t say anything, he might kill me in his anger!”

“You did the right thing, forget about it! You didn’t see anything last night!” Newgate nodded and said.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I didn't tell anyone except Brother Newgate! But Brother Newgate, did you notice? The captain seems to have changed completely since he left Alcatraz!" Reina said tentatively.

"Don't ask questions. You'd better not know things you shouldn't know!" Newgate glanced at Reina and said softly.

"It seems that you know something, brother! That's good. I was afraid that no one would know about the captain's affairs, which would be terrible, since the lives of everyone on this ship are in the captain's hands!" Reina breathed a sigh of relief and said.

"What do you know? Where did you find out?" Newgate asked, surprised.

“Big brother, who is our captain? He’s the man who’s going to be the King of the World, but is being the King of the World so easy? Let’s not even talk about the Navy, the World Government is a deep and murky place! I’ll just say one thing… if the captain drags us into a decisive battle with the Navy, you must take me and run away immediately!” Reina shook his head and said.

Newgate gave Reiner a meaningful look and said, "You don't seem to trust the captain?"

"I was forced to join the crew! Captain Rocks may be powerful, and the Rocks Pirates may be powerful, but in my eyes, they are all just illusions, easily shattered! Perhaps it is precisely because of the strength of our pirate crew that the captain has misunderstood something!"

"Brother, look at this! If it were a life-or-death battle, who on board would actually fight to the death? We're all gathered here for nothing but profit! If anything goes wrong, our pirate crew will fall apart in an instant!"

Reina shook his head and said.

Newgate frowned at Reiner but didn't say anything.

Chapter 18: A Sparring Match with Whitebeard

"Captain, target island spotted!" the lookout shouted from the high observation platform.

Three days had passed since John, the cadre, defected, and they finally arrived at the place where Rocks had buried his treasure.

Of course, the journey was not peaceful. Perhaps because of John's betrayal, Rocks harbored a rage in his heart. Wherever they went, whether it was the navy or pirates, they were all sunk to the bottom of the sea by the Rocks Pirates.

When passing by a small island, Rocks robbed the town of all its food and water. However, before leaving, Reina secretly left a lot of food in a room. As for how many people that food could save, Reina really didn't know.

This incident caused Reina to completely lose hope in Rocks. He had been struggling with whether or not to stop the God Valley incident, but now it seems that the destruction of the Rocks Pirates made some sense.

So from that day on, he began to think about what path he should take in the future.

The best way is to start his own crew and work alone. With the memories in his mind, he can find many geniuses who are still teenagers or have not yet been born. As long as he finds them and trains them well, forming a pirate crew will not be a problem.

However, this is also where the problem lies. Many people he knows are not even born yet at this point in time, or have not yet had their own opportunities. If his arbitrary interference causes their lives to change, it might backfire.

Furthermore, forming your own pirate crew might take some time, since pirate crews aren't something you can just start doing on a whim.

Another option is to join a pirate crew. In the current timeline, joining the future Pirate King Roger's pirate crew is a good choice.

Moreover, the Roger Pirates were definitely there during the God Valley Incident, so he might have had a chance!

Besides Roger's pirate crew, he was confident he could get involved with the future Three Emperors and even Shiki's pirate crew. However, they hadn't established their own pirate crews yet, so like establishing his own, it might take some time.

Just as Reina was pondering this, Captain Rocks returned to the pirate ship with a dark expression.

“That traitor John has already moved all the treasure, and it doesn’t look like he did it in a hurry these past few days; he’s been planning this for a long time!” Rocks was in a terrible mood. The loss of his accumulated treasure would greatly affect his subsequent plans.

“What? That guy… how dare he do this! Captain, let me find him… and bring him back!” Silver Axe, who was on good terms with John, immediately stepped forward and said.

Rocks glanced at him, shook his head, and said, "Release the message that John has betrayed the Rocks Pirates. Anyone who kills him or brings him to me will receive a reward!"

He rejected Silver Axe's offer and did not allow anyone to leave to capture John.

John's betrayal had a very significant impact on Lox.

"Why did the captain let that guy go? Isn't betraying your crew the most serious crime among pirates?" After Rocks left, the crew members discussed among themselves.

They also thought that Locke's decision not to let Silver Axe pursue John was an act of letting John go free.

Only Reina sensed that Lox no longer trusted Silver Axe. He feared that Silver Axe's visit to John was a pretense, and that their true intention was to share his treasure.

After departing from the island where the treasure was buried, Reina could clearly sense that the atmosphere on the ship was getting worse and worse. Until one day, Rocks announced that he had received news that the Celestial Dragons were on an island with a large amount of gold and slaves, and they were going to rob the Celestial Dragons now!

This news frightened some of the crew members on the ship. After all, the Celestial Dragons were the world's nobles who ruled the entire world, and going against them was tantamount to making enemies of the world, which made them feel uneasy.

Reina was one of them. He knew very well that the reason for the God Valley incident was that Rocks planned to rob the Celestial Dragons and their slaves, but was defeated by Garp and Roger working together.

"Rayner, what are you worried about?" Sensing Rayner's unease, Newgate asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Hehehehe... Kid, you're not worried about the Celestial Dragons, are you? Don't worry, they're just trash. As long as we act quickly, kill them, and leave, there won't be any problems!" Shiki the Golden Lion said with a sneer.

“No, Brother Newgate, I have a feeling this operation won’t go so smoothly! You know my abilities are strange; I don’t even know where they come from myself, so I have complete faith in my premonition!” Reina shook his head and said.

Newgate and Skeeter exchanged glances. They sensed a seriousness in Reiner's words, as if he wasn't joking with them.

"Kid, explain yourself clearly. Is there something unexpected going on with this operation? Is someone tipping off the Navy?" Shiki the Golden Lion asked, squinting.

John's betrayal created a tense atmosphere on the ship. The slightest disturbance made everyone nervous. Even Shiki the Golden Lion subconsciously thought about this possibility.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a tough battle, so I want to train more now so that I can survive in the battles to come!” Reina sighed and said.

He dared not reveal the matter, otherwise, if others knew that he had the ability to predict the future, it would be a disaster for him.

"Hehehehe... Don't worry, I'll protect you. If you die, where will you find someone as fun as you?" Shiki the Golden Lion patted Reina's shoulder with a smile and said cheerfully.

As for Newgate, who was standing to the side, he nodded thoughtfully. Combining what Reina had told him earlier, he seemed to understand something.

Time passed slowly. Although the atmosphere on the ship was still somewhat unpleasant, it had improved compared to before. However, Reina ignored these things and spent all his time practicing physical skills, except for sleeping and working.

Finally, on the thirtieth day, I maxed out my proficiency in basic physical techniques.

"Phew~ Time to buy skill upgrade tickets!" Looking at his already 100/100 basic physical proficiency, Reina directly purchased skill upgrade tickets from the shop.

After using the skill upgrade ticket, he felt his body become warm, and the physical strength he had lost from training his physical skills was slowly recovering.

"This feeling... my physical abilities are indeed improving, and the Black Emperor's abilities have become even stronger!" Reina clenched his fist, feeling the changes in his body, and was extremely happy.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Reina frowned again. As his physical abilities improved, Black Emperor's power also increased. However, as his power increased, his control over it decreased.

"Phew~ I'll try to fully master the ability before the big battle!" Reina moved his body to get more used to it.

The best way to fully master an ability is naturally to use it constantly, but the current atmosphere on the ship prevents him from sparring with the crew. So, after thinking for a while, Reina went to the cabin to find Edward Newgate.

“I see. Then let’s go to the stern! I’ll control my strength!” Newgate nodded and agreed to Reiner’s request after learning what he wanted.

So the two went to the stern, where Newgate began to accompany Reina to try and train his Black King abilities.

"Not bad! You actually absorbed my punch just now!" Newgate said with some surprise, looking at the motionless Reina.

Although he didn't use his full strength just now, normally Reina wouldn't be able to completely absorb that kind of force.

"Phew~ It can still be strengthened a little more, but it's almost at its limit! Brother Newgate, please wait a moment, let me digest this energy first!" Reina waved his hand and said.

His ability to convert energy into physical strength is far inferior to his physical training, so he usually trains his body by practicing physical techniques rather than absorbing energy to convert it.

Moreover, practicing physical techniques also trains one's willpower, so Reina prefers to train on his own rather than using his abilities to convert them.

Of course, this is also because his energy conversion speed is too slow. If he could convert energy in one or two seconds like the real Black Emperor, who would be foolish enough to cultivate on their own?

"Whoo~"

After completing the energy conversion, Reina exhaled, stood up, and said to Newgate, "Big brother, I'm going to attack!"

"Gurrah... Come on! Let me see how much you've improved!" Newgate waved to Reina, indicating that he could attack at will.

"Bang bang bang..."

Reina took a step forward and charged directly at Newgate. He didn't activate his Sharingan; this wasn't a battle, he was just practicing and improving his Black Emperor abilities.

However, no matter how Reina attacked, Newgate seemed to know what was going on. Sometimes, before Reina even made a move, Newgate's arm would already be there waiting for him, making it look as if Reina had gone up to Newgate to fight him.