Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

Aladdin and the others, who were standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Chopper's words.

"Straw Hat Captain, since Captain Jinbe is alright, let's head back now!" Aladdin said to Luffy with a smile.

"Okay! Don't worry, we'll take good care of Jinbe!" Luffy nodded and assured him.

Aladdin nodded, then left with his men.

"Luffy, now it's just the cook, you, and me left!" Zoro said after Aladdin and the others left.

"Ah~" Luffy nodded and asked, "How many of them are left?"

"Besides Whitebeard, there's also Vice-Captain Reina, First Division Commander Marco, and Fifth Division Commander Vista over there!" Sanji replied, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"So... we still need to defeat three more people, including Uncle Reina, before we can meet their king... right?" Luffy said in a deep voice.

“That’s right!” Sanji and Zoro exchanged a glance and replied at the same time.

"Hey... cook!" Zoro suddenly chuckled, looked at Sanji, and said, "Are you choosing two captains, or their first mates?"

Sanji's curly eyebrows twitched as he looked at Zoro.

The remaining two captains are Marco, the captain of the First Division who is no less than Katakuri and King, and Vista, the great swordsman. It would be amazing if they could deal with one of them, let alone two.

As for Reina, the vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, he already possesses combat strength at the level of a Yonko (Emperor of the Sea).

Neither of these two targets is easy to deal with.

“Vista is a great swordsman, and you are a swordsman too, so I’ll entrust the two captains to you!” Sanji said to Zoro after thinking for a moment.

"Bullshit! I think that after your body becomes so strange, you might be able to take on two captains without dying!" Zoro raised an eyebrow and replied directly.

The others were speechless.

Because they had both realized that they wanted the other to go on stage first, so that the pressure would fall on the one who went on stage later.

No one is 100% sure they can handle the two captains. If they fail, the next person to fight will have to face one captain plus Reiner in order to ensure Luffy can face Whitebeard unharmed.

In this way, all the pressure falls on the players who come on later.

"Alright, since none of you want to go first, let me go! I've been itching to go for a while now!" Luffy stepped forward and said.

He wasn't just saying it out of anger; he genuinely thought that way: take down the captains first, then deal with Reina, and finally face Whitebeard.

Although this idea is crazy, everyone else knows that Luffy is very likely thinking the same thing.

However, they can't actually let Luffy do that, because if they did, Luffy might never even get to see Whitebeard.

Luffy, in terms of combat strength, is still somewhat inferior to the Four Emperors, but he is not without a chance of defeating the old and frail Whitebeard.

However, after defeating two captains, he would have virtually no chance of winning against Reina, who is also a Yonko.

Therefore, either Zoro or Sanji must defeat Reina for them to win.

"Alright, Luffy, you should stay behind! You perverted cook, if you can't take down Reina... you know the consequences!" Zoro glanced at Sanji and said softly.

What he meant was that he would go on first and try to take down Marco and Vista.

Sanji nodded and said, "If it doesn't work, you can come back after you've worn down Marco's stamina. I'll take care of Marco and Reina!"

Sanji replied with a light laugh.

"Is that so?" Zoro sneered, disembarking from the Sunny without looking back. Once on the island, he said to Sanji, "The three guys behind... I'll take care of them!"

Sanji's expression changed, and he realized why Zoro had gone up first. He planned to take down at least two captains and then wear down Reina's stamina!

Both Sanji and Zoro knew that they were still somewhat inferior to Reina. Not only them, but even Luffy probably couldn't beat Reina right now, so they had to help Luffy eliminate Reina.

"You bastard! If you die... your dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman... will never come true!" Sanji shouted at Zoro from the bow of the Sunny.

Zoro smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry! The title of the world's greatest swordsman can only belong to me!"

Meanwhile, on the Moby Dick's side, after Zoro left the arena, Vista, also a great swordsman, opened his eyes and said, "It's finally my turn to step up!"

Marco smiled and nodded, saying, "That swordsman shouldn't be underestimated, or you might capsize!"

"Shut up!" Vista's lips twitched involuntarily as he said, "You jinx!"

Marco may not be good at healing others, but he's very effective at healing his own teammates!

Chapter 657 Marco's Fury

With Vista's arrival, the ring battle will continue.

Unlike Zoro, Vista has no pressure at all, because in this match, all he needs to do is take Zoro off the field with him.

However, as a great swordsman, Vista also has his own pride, so he can't hold back. At most, after defeating his opponent, he will voluntarily step down, just like the previous captains.

Two swordsmen stood in the middle of the island, ready to fight at any moment, while the captains of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Straw Hat crew slowly surrounded them.

The wounded from the previous battle have been treated, and they don't want to miss the excitement of this battle.

But to their surprise, the battle ended much faster than they had anticipated.

They originally thought that, like the previous match, it would take at least a day to determine the winner, but before evening, the two had already decided the winner.

Besides the island that Ace and Jinbe had leveled, now littered with numerous crisscrossing sword marks, Vista lay dead in a pool of blood, while Zoro, who was standing, was also covered in blood.

"Save them!" Reina said softly, frowning.

Vista lost, and lost somewhat inexplicably. At least in Reina's opinion, Vista shouldn't have lost so decisively.

"Gurararara... you stupid son!" Whitebeard just laughed and cursed as he watched Vista fall, without saying anything more.

“Vista has no will to fight! If a swordsman loses in his sword intent, he will naturally lose the battle!” Marco shook his head and said.

Although he wasn't a swordsman, he understood.

Zoro is under pressure to win and has ambition in his heart, which is why he can forge ahead.

But Vista didn't. Apart from the glory of Whitebeard, Vista had no desire for victory.

Reina shook his head and said, "It seems I haven't trained you enough!"

Upon hearing Reina's words, the surrounding captains all changed color.

Their training intensity is already terrifying. Although Reina rarely pays attention to their training now, when Reina notices it again, that's when they need to intensify their efforts.

"Gurararara... Reina, this has nothing to do with training! They're just too comfortable!" Whitebeard said with a laugh.

“No…it’s just that the training volume isn’t enough! If the training volume were enough to kill them, they wouldn’t take it so lightly!” Reina replied earnestly.

This time, not only the captains were affected, but even Whitebeard's lips twitched involuntarily.

Because they knew that many times Reina would suddenly disappear and then suddenly reappear; according to Reina himself, he was going to train.

However, he returned several times in a near-death state.

"Anyway... let's finish the match first! After everything is over, I'll revise the training plan! Marco... if you also lose... I'll double the training volume I've already set!" Reina said, looking at Marco.

Marco, who always looks like he hasn't woken up yet, widened his eyes to their maximum upon hearing this.

If he really lost the battle, wouldn't the captains tear him apart? But this matter has nothing to do with him at all!

But when Marco went on the field, they discovered that Zoro, who was covered in blood, hadn't left the field. Although the Straw Hat crew looked worried, they didn't go up to take Zoro away.

"Do you want to fight again?" Marco asked, his face darkening as he approached Zoro.

Zoro didn't waste any words, he just nodded.

"Hehe..." Marco chuckled softly and said nothing more.

Anyone who knows him well knows that he's already angry.

He understood Zoro's meaning and knew why the Straw Hat crew made this choice—because they wanted to challenge their father.

However, in Marco's opinion, the other party was overestimating themselves.

Whether it's a normal challenge or the rules of the pirates, they have already made a great deal of concessions to bring about this arena battle.

Even so, the other party showed no gratitude whatsoever and still wanted to challenge their captain.

In that case, Marco decided that he would be the one to tell the other party just how big the gap between them really was.

At that moment, he understood why Reina was angry.

It's not because Bistan was defeated, nor because Bistan lacked the will to win, but because... Zoro is still standing here!

"So are you really ready?" Marco asked softly, looking at the indomitable swordsman before him.

His question was simple, but the meaning was very clear.

If Zoro insists on staying here, then Marco won't hold back.

"Hoo~" Zoro took a deep breath and assumed a fighting stance once again; that was his answer.

"Very good!" Marco didn't waste any words. He leaped up and transformed into the phoenix half-beast form, skipping the testing process altogether.

"Oh!"

With a simple, direct contact, Zoro was kicked more than ten meters away by Marco.

Although he used his weapon to block Marco's foot, the powerful force still sent him flying.

After a battle with the great swordsman, Zoro still had the ability to move, but he no longer had enough strength to withstand Marco's attacks.

Even so, Marco's offensive did not stop. Taking advantage of Zoro's retreat, he rushed forward and launched another attack.

Off the field, watching Zoro's retreating defeat, Sanji, with a cigarette in his mouth, glanced at Luffy, his lips twitching, but he didn't say anything.

The current situation reminded him of when he was still in the East Blue, when Luffy watched Zoro fight against the world's greatest swordsman in the same way.

"Huff~ Huff~" Zoro, panting heavily, looked at Marco who was attacking again. This time, he did not choose to dodge, but launched an attack directly.

"boom!"

Marco dodged Zoro's slash and kicked him in the chest, sending Zoro flying. Two of the three swords in Zoro's hand even fell to the ground.

For swordsmen, the longsword in their hands is their life, and they will never give it up, not even in the end.

Even so, Marco did not stop attacking. Instead, he spread his wings and attacked Zoro again.

He was already different from his usual self.

Normally, he would stop because the other party would have lost the ability to resist.

But things are different now. The other party insulted the Whitebeard Pirates. One person actually dared to challenge two division commanders, so they must be prepared to pay the price.