"Bang..."

  "Damn it..."

  "Curse the Rocks Pirates!"

  Smoke filled the air above the open sea.

  On a battered warship, Rocks D. Xebec sat grinning oern, his sharp teeth bared in a menag smile. Scattered around him y the shattered remnants of broken angelic robots and crab-themed Homies.

  The members of the Fallen Angel Pirates, including the cadre “Flea Man” Rod ordinary crew members Sak and Rufe, were bruised and battered. Bound tightly by the Rocks Pirates, they were tossed onto the deck like sacks of cargo.

  “Yahahaha! You lot aren’t even enough to eain me!” Rocks’ ughter echoed through the salty breeze, his grin wide and sinister.

  “Tell Fallen Angel El to e out here!”

  He was beginning to think he might have overestimated El. The members of the Fallen Angel Pirates seemed painfully average, pletely unremarkable.

  Irospect, it made sense. Most of El’s crew were young—how strong could they really be?

  “Hmph! If Boss El himself came, you’d already be wetting your pants!”

  Rock struggled against his restraints, gring defiantly at Rocks through gritted teeth.

  “How dare you speak of our captain like that? He’s a true pirate, with a bounty exceeding 1.5 billion berries!”

  “Yeah, not like your so-called captain, Fallen Angel El, who only got his bounty that high because he kidnapped a Celestial Dragon!” one of the Rocks Pirates jeered, their voice dripping with pt.

  The cadres of the Rocks Pirates sneered, clearly irritated by El’s bounty surpassing Rocks’ own.

  “He’s just a lucky rookie,” one of them muttered. “Kidnapping a Celestial Dragon and attag Impel Down while the Marines were caught off guard—that’s no real aplishment.”

  “Plenty of us could take down a Marine Admiral, too,” another sneered. “If it were our Captain Rocks, he’d have do without all the drama.”

  Suddenly, a sound cut through the tension:

  "Bo-doop… Bo-doop…"

  The transponder snail on Rock’s body began t.

  One of the Rocks Pirates ha to Rocks, who answered the call with a flick of his finger.

  “Rock, what’s the situation?”

  From the other end came the ed voioss, another cadre of the Fallen Angel Pirates.

  “Moss, I’ve disgraced Boss El!” Rock shouted, his voice raw with frustration as he struggled against his bonds.

  “These guys are to! They destroyed our Homies in one move and captured us…”

  “What?”

  Oher end, Moss paled. He hadn’t expected Rod his team to fall so easily.

  “Apologies,” Rocks interrupted, speaking into the snail with a toothy grin. “We’re the Rocks Pirates. We had a... disagreement with your crew. Why don’t you tell Fallen Angel El that I, Rocks D. Xebec, would like to meet him?”

  “The Rocks Pirates?”

  Moss’s pupils tracted in arm. He had, of course, heard of them. The Rocks Pirates were infamous in the New World, and their captain, Rocks D. Xebec, had a bounty exceeding 1.5 billion berries.

  “Rocks, is it? Hold on…” Moss replied grimly before hanging up abruptly.

  Without hesitatioransformed into a massive Pegornis bird and took flight, rag toward the shores of Cake Isnd. This wasn’t someohey could handle on their own. El o be informed immediately.

  …

  “Rocks?”

  On the shores of Cake Isnd, El listeo Moss’s urge while overseeing the training of Witt, a giant warrior and user of the Kilo-Kilo Fruit.

  El raised an eyebrow, his expression calm yet intrigued.

  “Māmāmāmā! What an arrogant fool,” Linlin snarled, her killing i palpable as she bared her teeth. “Wao go deal with him?”

  “Nihahaha, it’s been ages since I built a tower of heads!”

  Nearby, the voluptuous "Lady Demon" Irma leaned on her crimson scythe, lig her lips with a bloodthirsty grin.

  Though now bound to Linlin’s will as her Bloodborne, Irma had gained signifit power iurn. Alongside her inal Mythical Zoan: Kamaitachi Form, she now possessed abilities from the Mythical Zoan: Vampire Form. Strohan ever, she was eager for blood.

  “If you’re ied, I won’t stop you… but this guy seems dangerous. I’ll go see him myself,” El said, his tone measured but firm.

  Although intelligence suggested Rocks D. Xebec wasn’t a Devil Fruit user, El didn’t dismiss the possibility that Rocks was hiding his true strength—or had retly acquired new powers.

  Before long, the Shapeshifting Witch, Sally, arrived, her face apologetic.

  “I apologize, El-sama. This was an ht in my intelligence.”

  El waved her off.

  “This isn’t your fault. Totto Land is vast, and it’s impossible to establish perfect defenses so quickly. hts are iable.”

  Soon, Hera, the Thunder Cloud, carried El and his selected team into the sky. Guided by the Vivre Cards of Rod his rades, they quickly reached the battle site.

  …

  “Spsh…”

  Waves pped against the hull of the Rocks Pirates’ massive ship, its menag fg billowing in the wind.

  Otered warship nearby, Rod the others y bound and scarred on the deck.

  “Yahahaha, so they’ve arrived?”

  At the reminder of his crew, Rocks looked up, notig the thundercloud approag. His sharp gaze locked on the figures standing upon it, radiating an overwhelming aura.

  His grin widened.

  “Nyahaha, Rocks, is it?”

  High above, Irma sneered, her crimson eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

  “Let’s see what you’re made of!”

  With a burst of wind, she transformed into her Kamaitachi form, demonigs sprouting from her back.

  “Swoosh...”

  In an instant, she vanished, reappearing above the Rocks Pirates’ ship with her crimson scythe gleaming ominously, imbued with advanced Armament Haki.

  “Heh, ing in so aggressively? Trying to make an impression?”

  Rocks sneered, stomping the deck as his figure shot forward like a onball. His fist, ed in powerful Haki, exuded a crushing aura.

  “Boom! Boom!”

  The deafening collision reverberated across the battlefield.

  Bleam