Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

The burly Barrett nodded silently and walked behind Roger.

"Hahaha... You've worked hard, Barrett!" Roger nodded to Barrett, then strode toward the shore, where he could already see the naval warships approaching.

On the other side, inspired by Rocks, the crew members began shouting slogans, appearing excited on the surface, but what they were really thinking was anyone's guess.

Just as Reina and Newgate were quietly discussing things, Charlotte Linlin and Kaido also exchanged glances, seemingly having reached some tacit agreement.

And so, everyone, each with their own ulterior motives, was forced by Lox's oppressive presence to move together into the valley.

Rocks knew that his crew members were not truly committed to following him at this moment, but once they killed the Celestial Dragons, they would have no way out. The World Government and the Navy would not let them go, and they would have no choice but to serve under him, the King of the World, Rocks.

Therefore, he doesn't care what these people think now. As long as he completes the feat of killing the Celestial Dragons, he will be very close to becoming the King of the World.

Meanwhile, as the Rocks Pirates advanced toward the valley, the Roger Pirates had already laid an ambush ahead.

Roger, while leading Garp towards them, explained the reasons for his actions to him.

"So... Rocks intends to plunge the world into war?" Garp asked, his face grim.

"That's right, even though I'm a pirate! But Garp... this time I hope you can join forces with me to thwart Rocks' plan! This world... cannot be plunged into war!" Roger said earnestly.

Chapter 22: The Great Battle Begins

"Although I'm annoyed by those Celestial Dragons and don't really want to team up with you, for the sake of world peace, we must defeat Rocks!" Garp nodded and said, agreeing to Roger's request for an alliance.

"Don't you have any other personnel in the Navy nearby? Shouldn't Celestial Dragons be escorted by the Navy when they travel?" Roger asked curiously after the agreement was reached.

"I don't know, I never concern myself with the Celestial Dragons!" Garp said with a stern face.

When the two arrived at the ambush point, Rayleigh immediately came over and said, "Let's go, they've spotted us!"

So the two groups didn't hide anything and walked out openly.

"Garp...when did your Navy start cooperating with pirates?" Rocks asked with a grim expression when he saw Garp and Rocks appear.

"Rocks, stop! I won't let you succeed. This world... can't afford to mess around like this!" Garp said calmly.

He had already anticipated facing such criticism when he teamed up with Roger!

"Hahaha..." Rocks laughed maniacally as if he had heard a hilarious joke, then said with a grim face, "I, Rocks D. Xebec, am destined to become the King of the World! Garp, you can't stop me!"

Just as Captain Rocks was speaking to the other party, Reina, standing in the crowd, saw for the first time the future Pirate King, Roger.

"That's Gol D. Roger...?"

"What? You know him?" Newgate asked curiously.

“No, but he’s very strong!” Reina shook his head and said.

"Oh? Is that so?" Newgate looked over with some surprise. He knew that Reina had seen some images when his eyes evolved, so he also began to take an interest in Roger.

Unlike Reina, Roger could sense when a powerful figure like Newgate looked at him, so Roger also looked at Newgate in the crowd and recognized him.

“Whitebeard Edward Newgate!” Roger was curious as to why the other man was looking at him, but his main purpose today was to target Rocks, so he quickly looked away.

"Boom!!" At the forefront, Rocks and Garp broke down in their negotiations and exchanged a punch. The powerful impact made Reina feel an urge to flee immediately.

"Garp... I told you, you can't stop me! Kill them all, break through here, and wipe out those Celestial Dragons!" Rocks roared after forcing Garp back with a punch.

"Rocks D. Giebeck! We won't let you succeed today!" Roger and Garp fought together this time and directly stopped Rocks.

"Shiki the Golden Lion... This road is blocked!" Rayleigh stood in front of Shiki, sword in hand.

He originally wanted to find Whitebeard, but Newgate was pulled behind by Reiner, so he had no choice but to find Shiki, who was charging ahead.

"Heh heh heh heh... You think you can stop me?" Shiki laughed and charged toward Rayleigh.

Meanwhile, Newgate was also found by Douglas Barrett, and the two got into a fight. Reina couldn't get involved in this level of combat, so he had to stay far away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

"Tch~ Linlin and Kaido are really shameless, actually teaming up to fight Sparky Jabba. But Garp and Roger are also teaming up to fight the captain!" Reina muttered quietly as he watched the chaotic battles on several battlefields from the sidelines.

But at that moment, Reina suddenly spotted someone who, like him, appeared to be fighting, but was actually constantly changing positions.

"Ha~ So it was him!" Reina smiled slightly, recognizing the other man. Then, his eyes darted around, and he shouted loudly in that direction, "Red-nosed brat, how dare you obstruct our captain's important mission! Die!"

"Damn it, who's talking about Red Nose?" Sure enough, Bucky roared angrily after hearing Reina's shout.

"Here I am!" When Bucky turned around, Reina was already beside him and punched Bucky in the face.

"You...bastard! How dare you ambush me!" Bucky wiped the blood from his nose and got up from the ground.

"Hehe... You're an apprentice member of the Roger Pirates, right? Coincidentally, I'm also an apprentice member of the Rocks Pirates. Let's see... who's stronger! If I'm not careful... I might kill you!" Reina said with a smile.

He always felt like he was playing a villain when he said those words, but if he had to find the most suitable opponent on this battlefield, it would definitely be Bucky.

"How dare you underestimate me... You'll regret it when I take your head!" Bucky, having seen his share of big scenes with Roger, remained completely calm and composed.

"Is that so?" Reina chuckled and took a step forward, charging directly at Bucky.

Seeing this, Bucky swung his short knife at Reina, who easily dodged it and then kicked Bucky in the stomach, sending him flying again.

"Is that all the strength you have?" Reina shook his head, saying with a hint of disappointment.

"Damn it!" Bucky scrambled to his feet and charged at Reina.

Reina neither dodged nor evaded, allowing Bucky to stab him directly.

"Hahahaha... kid, let's see if you don't die this time!" Bucky laughed gleefully as he saw that he had stabbed Reina.

"Is that so?" Reina looked at Bucky with a sinister smile, as if nothing had happened.

"Bucky...watch out!" At that moment, a red-haired boy rushed over, but he was a step too slow. Bucky was kicked directly in the head by Reina and flew away.

Shanks looked at Reina with a serious expression, standing between him and Bucky, afraid that Reina would continue to pursue Bucky.

"Redhead, state your name!" Reina said in a deep voice, looking at the nervous Shanks.

Although Reina recognized the person in front of him at first glance, he still asked the question because...

This feeling of showing off in front of some important person in the future... it's just so great.

Shanks took a deep breath, looked at Reina with a sense of formidable danger, and said in a deep voice, "Shanks, an apprentice crew member of the Roger Pirates! Who are you?"

"When you are able to defeat me, I will tell you!" Before he finished speaking, Reina attacked Shanks directly.

"Clang~~"

Reina's fist was blocked by Shanks' short sword. Shanks' basic skills were much more solid than Bucky's, so Reina was not surprised at all that his fist was blocked.

"Not bad!" Reina said with a light laugh after dodging Shanks' counterattack.

"Is that so? I'm not just good!" Shanks stared at Reiner and launched another attack.

Faced with Shanks' attack, Reyner did not dodge, but threw a punch directly. When his fist made contact with the short sword, Shanks felt as if he had hit cotton, and did not feel like he had hit his opponent at all.

Although he was surprised, he did not panic. Instead, he immediately retreated and dodged Reina's subsequent attacks.

"I just saw how you defeated Bucky... Do you want to use the same trick on me?" Shanks said calmly after dodging Reina's attack, without being smug.

"They can guess my abilities after just one meeting? Are all geniuses like this?" Reina thought to himself.

"Hmph! Knowing something doesn't necessarily mean you know how to deal with it. Kid, if you're careless, you'll end up like that red-nosed guy!" Reina sneered in response.

"You...who...who are you talking about...who is Big Red Nose...?" Bucky, who was lying on the ground, slowly got up and stood up after hearing Reina's words.

"He can still get up?" Reina was shocked. Just now, he didn't rely solely on his own strength, but also on the energy accumulated in his body. He released it all at once. Although he didn't fully absorb the energy, it was still very powerful.

If it were an ordinary person, taking that kick from Reina would definitely result in serious injury or unconsciousness, if not death. I never expected that Bucky would be able to get up.

"Bucky, are you alright?" Shanks asked with a beaming smile when he saw Bucky wake up.

"Don't be careless. There's something strange about this kid's body. He should be a Devil Fruit user. Be careful!" Buggy whispered, looking at Shanks who was standing in front of him to protect him.

Although he and Shanks like to argue when they have nothing to do, they are the kind of couple who love and hate each other.

"Ready? I'm about to attack!" Reina said with a smile as he saw the two standing side by side.

Such opportunities to torment future powerhouses are rare, and Reina felt extremely satisfied.

"Kid, just you wait! You'll be crying later!" Bucky isn't one to suffer a loss, and even if he can't win a fight, he won't easily admit defeat verbally.

Reina smiled slightly, stopped talking, and attacked Shanks directly. Although Bucky could stand up now, he was basically no longer a threat, so his first target was naturally young Shanks.

"Bang!" Shanks blocked Reina's attack again, but that strange feeling returned, as if his strength had failed to hit the opponent at all.

The two fought with lightning speed, but Shanks could feel a strange sensation every time they clashed.

After recovering some of his strength, Bucky joined the battle.

Reina, facing two opponents alone, was initially hit by Shanks, but after being hit, Reina showed no signs of being hit, as if Shanks hadn't actually hit him.

"Not good, Bucky, get back!" The strange feeling was getting stronger and stronger, making Shanks afraid to use his full strength. He kept a close eye on Reina. Just now, when Shanks blocked Reina's fist, he actually felt the feeling of a clash of strength that he hadn't felt in a long time. He knew that this was not because the other party's ability had a problem, but because the other party was about to take action.

“A very keen sense, but didn’t I tell you? Knowing is one thing, cracking is another…” Reina suddenly appeared next to Shanks, extending only a finger and poking him.

For some reason, Shanks's intuition told him that he couldn't touch that finger, but he had no choice but to use his short sword to block Reyner's finger.

"Bang~"

"Splash~~"

"boom!"

The short sword that first made contact with Reyner was shattered into pieces, followed by a tremendous force that sent Shanks flying.

"???" Buggy looked at Shanks flying away with a puzzled expression. It was just a finger. Was it really necessary to be so exaggerated?

If he hadn't been so familiar with Shanks, he would have suspected that the other person was acting against him.

"Cough cough cough... I see... I understand your ability now!" Shanks coughed a few times after being knocked away, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, struggled to his feet, and said.

"Oh? Didn't you say that before? I thought you already knew about my abilities, but I didn't expect you to find out only now. It seems I overestimated you!" Reina said with a wicked smile.

Chapter 23 Reina vs. Shanks

"Shanks, what nonsense are you talking about! Get your act together!" Bucky, who was standing to the side, hadn't even figured out what was going on and shouted loudly.

"No... Buggy! His ability isn't simple. He can absorb the damage we inflict on him and then release it again after accumulating to a certain level! Cough cough... That's why we felt like we weren't hitting our target when we attacked him before!" Shanks coughed a few more times as he spoke, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth again.

Reina's all-out attack just now has already caused him considerable injury.

"What? Absorb damage and then release it? How are we supposed to fight like this?" Upon hearing this, Bucky immediately considered retreating.

This ability is simply unsolvable; you can't hurt him at all, and he can even counterattack after absorbing the damage.