Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

After Reina showed the two of them around the new ship, Newgate finally spoke up, saying, "Thank you for your hard work. You've been doing so much by yourself!"

Reina had the entire ship renovated by the owner. It didn't need to be luxurious, but the overall style was cozy. If it weren't for the pirate flag hanging overhead, most people wouldn't be able to tell it was a pirate ship once they boarded.

Newgate really liked this style and knew that Reina had put a lot of effort into it, which is why he thanked Reina for his hard work.

"By the way, big brother, take a look at the pirate flag I designed. Are you satisfied?" Reina asked with a smile, pointing to the pirate flag he had drawn from memory.

“Hmm? This bearded man is indeed quite obvious!” Marco nodded seriously, agreeing.

“Of course! Big Brother’s nickname is Whitebeard, so our pirate crew should reflect that. I’ve also thought of a name for the crew: the Whitebeard Pirates. What do you think, Big Brother?” Reina grinned and said.

"What do you think about painting the skull's eyes red?" Newgate asked after thinking for a moment.

Although he was satisfied with the pirate crew, it was essentially a crew he and Reiner had built together, so it only became real when Reiner's characteristics were included.

"Is it because of Akame?" Marco with the pineapple head muttered to himself.

However, Reina shook his head and said, "Thanks, brother! But a pirate crew only needs one soul! This pirate flag represents the soul of a pirate crew, which is the soul of our Whitebeard Pirates. So this flag only needs one feature, which is Whitebeard's feature. Everything else is superfluous!"

Newgate and Marco were both taken aback, but Reina was right; the pirate flag was the soul of a pirate crew.

“Red-eyed skulls are pretty cool, but what you said makes sense!” Marco said, feigning maturity as he squinted.

“Alright, if you have no other objections, then I’ll draw this design on the mainsail!” Reina said, ignoring Marco, since Newgate didn’t object.

"Whitebeard...Red eyes...What will my nickname be from now on? Blonde hair?" Marco touched his blond hair, lost in thought.

"Tch~ Blonde hair? You're more like blond hair! Hmm! Blonde Marco, not bad either!" Reina said to Marco, who had completely turned pale, with an air of superiority.

"Gurarararar..." Newgate laughed loudly as he watched Reina tease Marco, but he didn't interfere. He knew Reina would handle it, and in terms of getting along with others, he even thought he was not as good as Reina.

Reina's painting skills are quite good. In addition, he received a lot of ability exchange coupons as overtime pay. Now he not only has F-level skills such as music, painting, calligraphy, and chess, but he has also learned D-level skills such as cooking, navigation, construction, and medicine.

These skills were of little help to his combat, so Reina referred to them all as life skills.

Moreover, these skills do not have a proficiency level; as long as Reina is willing to buy skill upgrade scrolls from the store, he can upgrade them directly.

However, Reina felt that his current life skills were sufficient, so he did not upgrade any of them, since a basic skill upgrade scroll required 1000 points.

"Clang, clang, clang... Done!" Looking at his masterpiece on the mainsail, which he had spent half the night completing, Reina was extremely satisfied.

"Everything is ready now, and we can officially set sail tomorrow!" Reina clapped his hands and said proudly.

"Why not set sail now?" Marco asked, puzzled.

"Who sets sail in the middle of the night? And there hasn't even been a departure ceremony yet! We can officially set sail after the captain announces the formation of the pirate crew tomorrow!" Reina rolled his eyes at Marco and replied.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Edward Newgate, Reina, and Marco held a simple departure ceremony, after which Edward Newgate officially announced the formation of the Whitebeard Pirates.

This pirate crew, which would later rule the latter half of the Grand Line like an emperor, was thus quietly established.

“If you’re going to be the captain, then I’ll be the first mate, right?” Reina looked at Newgate and asked tentatively.

In his memory, the Whitebeard Pirates did not have a formal vice-captain; the vice-captain's position was held by Marco, the captain of the first division. Therefore, he did not know what Newgate was planning.

Sure enough, after hearing Reina's words, Newgate hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "This pirate crew was founded by you and me, so you're fine as the first mate!"

"Hehehe... So, little Marco, you're now our only crew member... no, I mean, trainee crew member!" Reina pointed at Marco and said smugly.

"Tch~" Marco pouted, somewhat annoyed, but he couldn't refute it at all.

“In addition to that, I now also serve as the ship’s navigator, helmsman, shipwright, ship doctor, cook, sailor, musician, and combatant! As for you… you’ll serve as a sailor and lookout!” Reina nodded and continued.

Marco stared at Reina, mouth agape, somewhat incredulous. What did this guy do? Holding so many positions at once? Was it interesting?

Edward Newgate, the Whitebeard, was somewhat speechless, but he knew that Reina was very serious about his position and work in the pirate crew, so he didn't refute him. After all, Reina was the most serious pirate, even praised by Captain Rocks.

"You...you hold so many positions? Can you do all of them?" Marco asked, puzzled, after regaining his senses.

“Yes! I know all of these. Once we get more people with these skills on the ship, I won’t have to take on so many positions. And if you want to learn, I can teach you!” Reina nodded and said earnestly.

Although Marco was somewhat skeptical, seeing that Newgate did not object, he stopped questioning it.

Seeing that things were settled, Reina nodded in satisfaction.

He didn't care about these things, but the problem was that the system disagreed!

If he didn't hold these positions, these tasks wouldn't count as working hours. Now that he holds these positions, these tasks count as working hours!

After setting sail, Reina was busy again. Marco had no experience and couldn't help much. Although operating a triangular sailboat wasn't difficult, Reina still had a lot to do.

Reina glanced at the record pointer beside the wheel, then beckoned to the somewhat bewildered Marco and said, "Little guy, come here!"

"First mate, what is it?" Marco walked over hesitantly and asked cautiously.

He was indeed a little frightened just now. It turned out that what Reina said was true. After Captain Newgate said "set sail," he sat on the ship's side and looked at the sea. Reina did everything by himself.

"You don't need to call me first mate, you can call me second uncle, I don't mind!" Reina joked with a smile.

“Yes, First Mate!” Marco replied, head bowed.

"Okay~ whatever you want. Do you recognize this?" Reina shrugged indifferently, then pointed to the record pointer next to the ship's wheel and asked.

“I know, this is the log pointer, telling us the direction to the next island!” Marco nodded and replied.

"Very good, the helm is yours now. Keep the ship moving in the direction the needle points. I have other things to attend to. Call me if you encounter any problems! Do you have any questions?"

"no problem!"

Marco pursed his lips and said firmly.

He needs to demonstrate his value.

"Very good, young man, I'll leave this to you!" Reina patted Marco on the shoulder with satisfaction and said with a smile.

He has other work to do, so he can set aside two hours for exercise.

Just as the Whitebeard Pirates officially set sail, on a small island not far from them, the Roger Pirates were also preparing to set sail.

"Shanks, come quick!" Bucky with the red nose found his friend Shanks, holding a stack of wanted posters, and shouted loudly.

"What's wrong, Bucky?" Shanks replied in a low voice.

"Look, it's that guy!" Buggy handed Shanks the top wanted poster, which featured Reina with his Sharingan activated.

"Red eyes... Reina! It's that guy... but why are his eyes red?" Shanks recognized Reina, who had defeated him, at a glance, but he was still puzzled when he saw Reina's eyes.

"I asked around, and it seems that's also that guy's ability. This means that he didn't use his full strength when he fought us that day! A bounty of thirty million on his first try, that guy is really strong!" Bucky said with a hint of worry.

Shanks clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, saying, "Next time I see him... I will definitely defeat him!"

“That’s right, next time I see him, I’ll definitely take his head. How dare he humiliate me like that!” Bucky nodded, sounding somewhat indignant.

"Oh? You want to take him down? I heard the Rocks Pirates have disbanded, and he left with Whitebeard Edward Newgate! He got a bounty on his head because he single-handedly took down a Navy warship and defeated a Navy lieutenant who had a Devil Fruit ability!" Vice-Captain Rayleigh happened to be passing by and saw the bounty poster in Buggy's hand, and said with a smile.

"What? One person took down a warship?" Bucky and Shanks exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Rayleigh nodded and said, "He's a formidable enemy. If you want to defeat him, you'll need to work even harder!"

"Phew~ I will definitely defeat him!" Reina left a deep impression on Shanks after being beaten so badly by someone his own age for the first time.

In another part of the sea, Shiki the Golden Lion was sitting on a pirate ship converted from a warship, drinking red wine and smoking a cigar.

"Captain...this is the latest bounty poster!" A pirate handed over a stack of bounty posters.

Shiki hadn't planned to look at it, but after seeing the bounty poster at the top, he put down his wine glass and picked it up.

"Thirty million? Reina! You're starting to become famous worldwide, huh? Hahahaha... Looks like the ocean won't be too boring from now on!" Shiki laughed loudly, holding Reina's bounty poster.

As Reina's bounty spread throughout the world, the former Rocks Pirates crew members were all incredibly surprised. Although they knew that with Reina's strength, it was only natural that he would be wanted, they did not expect it to happen so quickly.

"Mama~~ Reina! As expected of the guy I chose, he's really something!" Charlotte Linlin said with a laugh, holding Reina's bounty poster.

"Hmph~ Just an ungrateful brat! Linlin, it seems Newgate has already started making his move. I'll part ways with you right here!" Kaido glanced at Reiner's bounty poster and said disdainfully.

He only saw Whitebeard Newgate; Reiner was not even worth his attention. Although Reiner was talented, he was not a threat to him at the moment.

"Kaido~ Aren't you really coming with me? If we join forces, we can conquer this sea very quickly!" Charlotte Linlin asked with a smile.

"Gulp... glug... I'll be the captain!" Kaido said after taking a big gulp of wine.

"Alright! Have a pleasant voyage then..."

Chapter 28 Marco's Devil Fruit Ability

"boom!"

Marco was knocked to the ground again by Reina's punch, but he quickly got back up. However, even just standing there was a struggle for him.

"Alright, go and rest! Continuing like this isn't good for your health!" Seeing Marco swaying precariously, Reina shook his head and said.

Newgate, who was sitting at the helm controlling the ship, glanced at Marco and frowned slightly.

"Hoo~ Hoo~ It's not over yet! I can continue!" Marco shouted at Reina.

Reina shook his head, just about to say something, when he suddenly saw some blue flames rising from Marco's body, and then he saw that his injuries were rapidly healing.

"A Devil Fruit user?" Reina exclaimed, feigning surprise.

He knew that Marco was a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with the Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan type, Phoenix form, but he didn't know that Marco had already obtained the fruit at this time, so his surprise wasn't entirely feigned.

Newgate, who was at the helm, also showed a surprised expression.

When he first met Marco, he sensed a faint power within him, but he was mostly just pitying the child.

Marco, who had no parents, was squatting alone on a street corner. He looked pale and thin from hunger, so he went up to Marco and asked if he would like to go with him. Unexpectedly, he was pleasantly surprised.

After the outburst, Marco did not continue his attack on Reina, but instead turned and left somewhat dejectedly.

"Hey kid, why are you leaving? Couldn't you have continued?" Reina asked, somewhat puzzled.

Marco pointed to the blue flames on his body and the changes in his appearance, and said with a slightly numb tone, "Aren't you afraid of my appearance? They all say I'm a cursed child!"

"Pfft, hahaha... What nonsense are you talking about? Idiot, this is a power called a Devil Fruit! Although it can also be said to be a cursed power, that curse only applies to you. Haven't you noticed that you can no longer touch seawater?" Reina was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Newgate over there also curled the corners of his mouth slightly. It is true that Devil Fruit users, especially children who accidentally eat Devil Fruits, are easily misunderstood by those who do not know.

"A...Devil Fruit?" Marco asked in surprise, "Like your eyes?"

“No, you and I are different!” Reina shook his head and said.

Marco, whose eyes had been shining with hope, had his eyes dim instantly upon hearing Reina's answer.

“Of course mine is different from yours! My ability… is a true ability from hell! But you are different. Haven’t you ever eaten a strange-looking fruit that tasted terrible?” Reina said with a slight smirk.

"A fruit that tastes awful...?" Marco seemed confused, but then suddenly seemed to remember something and nodded immediately, saying, "That's right. Once I was so hungry that I went to the shore to look for things that people had thrown away to exchange for food. I found a piece of fruit that had been washed ashore by the waves, and it really did taste awful!"