Chapter 81: Meeting Objective
The cruel training began.
Compared to the other members on Hachinosu, such behavior was simply an anomaly.
After all, the experiences of these Pirates were nothing in Hades' eyes.
At this time, not many people paid attention to them either.
Time was becoming increasingly pressing.
The Rocks Pirates' counterattack was about to erupt.
To survive, one must become stronger.
The grand banquet lasted for a full three days.
Hades quickly and decisively brought four Pirates under his command.
Unlike Hades' expectations, the other Cadres of the Rocks Pirates didn't seem in a hurry to recruit talent.
Everyone had their own arrogance.
Most were waiting for others to come to them and pledge allegiance voluntarily.
Hades understood this approach but did not approve of it.
For the development of a Faction, early accumulation was particularly important.
There were too many young and potential Pirates in the Rocks Pirates.
Most would only make a move after these Pirates had grown up and become famous enough to be valued by them.
By then, these Pirates who had grown up would also have more confidence – the confidence to choose, and the confidence to refuse.
Those who hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit might quickly rise to prominence with a powerful Devil Fruit Ability.
In the current New World, was there any place with more opportunities to obtain Devil Fruits than the Rocks Pirates?
No!
The choice of the future dominant Pirate overlord, "Blackbeard" Marshall D.
Teach, was a common occurrence in the Rocks Pirates at this time.
There were simply too many ambitious individuals.
Hades only understood this situation later.
And many young Pirates who had just joined the Rocks Pirates weren't in a hurry to join under any specific Cadre; they were still observing.
They also needed time to gain sufficient understanding of these Cadres of the Rocks Pirates before choosing the one most beneficial to them.
Each Great Pirate had a different style of action and personality, so naturally, one would choose the one they could be comfortable with.
The principle that people choose good rulers to serve, just as birds choose good trees to nest in, was an instinctive choice for many.
This also gave Hades an opportunity.
Volibear, a Bear Mink Tribe member.
Seamus, a Great White Shark Fish-Man.
"Porcupine" Barkley, "Cobra" Woshi.
Volibear and Seamus's strength was not particularly high, only ranking in the middle among this batch of newcomers who joined the Rocks Pirates.
They were likely just newcomers who had recently gone to sea, without even a bounty, and happened to catch this opportunity.
One was thirteen years old, the other twelve.
Even being in the middle rank represented their potential.
The Pirates who could join the Rocks Pirates were not weak in strength.
At the Recruitment Convention, Hades also saw their relatively outstanding performance.
Although still quite green, they had sufficient growth potential.
More importantly, Hades highly valued the Mink Tribe and Fish-Man Island behind them.
For two unknown young Pirates, Hades' recruitment was simply a pleasant surprise.
Although there were many Variant Races in the Rocks Pirates, they were subtly ostracized by others, especially the weaker ones, like the Mink Tribe and Fish-Man Tribe who didn't resemble humans.
They hadn't expected to be noticed by this young monster, so they naturally wouldn't refuse.
For these inconspicuous Pirates, joining a unit as quickly as possible was the most important thing.
Without strength or background, no one would care even if they were killed.
"Porcupine" Barkley and "Cobra" Woshi were newcomers with bounties close to 100 million Beli.
They possessed greater strength than Orton and Batista, and they were also ability users.
Barkley was a Zoan Type Pig-Pig Fruit Porcupine Form Ability User.
Woshi was a Zoan Type Snake-Snake Fruit Cobra Form Ability User.
But this didn't mean their ultimate achievements would be greater than Orton and theirs.
As ability users, they inherently held an advantage.
Their recruitment also didn't cause much of a stir.
In front of Hades, the absolute gap prevented any ambition to surpass him from arising in their hearts.
For Hades to personally recruit them showed great recognition.
A week after the banquet began, the atmosphere across Hachinosu Island suddenly changed.
The aura of war began to spread, enveloping the entire New World.
The Rocks Pirates continuously mobilized personnel, gathering military strength.
The Marines constantly dispatched intelligence agents to investigate the Rocks Pirates' actions and layout.
If they could know the Rocks Pirates' objective earlier, they could respond sooner.
The contest between the Marines and the Rocks Pirates was, to a large extent, a contest of Intelligence Force.
A sense of tension permeated the air.
Inside the tall, skull-like building on Hachinosu, which also served as the Rocks Pirates' Meeting Hall.
Powerful Pirates were all present: the Four Kings, John, Silver Axe, Wang Zhi, Shiki, Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and many other key members who could be called monsters.
Hades was also present, relatively inconspicuous among them, standing in a corner.
Karsus stood behind him and slightly to the side.
He exchanged glances with Ike, Calloway, Ba'er, and others, waiting for the meeting to begin.
Crisp footsteps echoed, and Rocks D.
Xebec's figure emerged from the dark corridor.
In his hand, he held a rolled-up map four meters long.
He came to the head seat, slapped the map onto the table, and slowly unrolled it.
What was revealed before everyone was a World Map.
It included the First Half of the Grand Line, the New World, the Four Seas, the Red Line, and even marked the Marines' military strength deployment in the New World.
This map was very detailed, with many scribbled marks on it, likely representing their roles in this operation.
Within the chaos of the Rocks Pirates, there was an extreme order.
At critical moments, they could maximize the Rocks Pirates' strength, which was precisely why they could maintain suppression over the Marines.
This operation also had a complete plan.
Through the map, Hades could roughly determine the Rocks Pirates' target.
The New World powerhouse nation, Stone Country.
Bairden Kingdom, Washington Kingdom, Adams Kingdom, George Kingdom.
Lincoln Kingdom and Wilson Kingdom in the First Half of the Grand Line.
Theodore Kingdom in the East Blue, Harrison Kingdom in the West Blue, Warren Kingdom in the South Blue, Herbert Kingdom in the North Blue.
At a glance, the number of World Government Member Nations marked with red crosses reached eleven.
Five were in the New World, two in Paradise, and four were spread across the Four Seas.
This showed the scale of the Rocks Pirates' upcoming major move.
Among them, Stone Country was a famous powerhouse nation in the New World, rich in ores and stone materials.
Most of the stone materials needed for World Government construction were directly supplied by Stone Country.
Hades was not familiar with the other Member Nations, but any country that could pay Heavenly Tribute was generally not bad, especially those targeted by the Rocks Pirates.
There were no Marine Bases marked on the map.
For Pirates, dealing with the Marines was a thankless task.
It was difficult to ignite the passion for battle, and in most cases, they would conserve their strength during combat.
However, targeting Member Nations was different.
Each Member Nation contained astonishing wealth.
Pirates were greedy; wealth and plunder were eternal themes.
To obtain wealth, they could erupt with the highest battle passion and fighting spirit.
Even if the Marines arrived later, they would fight with all their might to protect the treasure they had obtained.
The Rocks Pirates truly had a precise grasp of the Pirates' mindset.
The planning behind this must have involved analysis from the Intelligence Organization.
The Rocks Pirates' Intelligence Organization controlled significant Intelligence Force and also served some staff function.
Only in this way could the Rocks Pirates' strength be maximized.
Managing a massive organization like the Rocks Pirates relied on more than just strength.
It also required the use of some clever techniques.
However, this did not mean that the Rocks Pirates would not attack the Marines.
(end of chapter)