I'm a big pirate, and you said I just went out to sea?

Chapter 198 Commission
"What a coincidence, old man, I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Haha, maybe it's not a coincidence."

"Hey you next to me, are you trying to protect those bastards from the Roger Pirates? Even if it's you, I won't give you any face!"

"Oh, you want to fight me beforehand?"

"."

On Baltimore Island, two bursts of Conqueror's Haki surged into the sky, their tangible impact tearing apart the clouds.

Having just greeted Newgate, Munger encountered Lox on Baltimore Island, a place that made him marvel at how small the world truly is.

However, this is not really a coincidence.

After all, Rocks was currently entangled with the Roger Pirates, so once he discovered news of any Roger Pirates members, he would definitely rush there immediately.

As for Monger, it was because of the information provided by Rayleigh that he learned that the Roger Pirates had agreed before their battle with the Rocks Pirates that if anything happened, they would meet up in Baltimore.

At first, Rayleigh hesitated about whether to tell Monger and the others their rendezvous coordinates, but after witnessing firsthand the earth-shattering battle between Monger and Newgate, Rayleigh finally made his decision.

Because he learned from Munger that Rocks was even stronger than Newgate and was proficient in all three types of Haki, with almost no weaknesses.

Among all the top experts, those who excel in physical combat may not be the most well-rounded, but they certainly have the fewest weaknesses and virtually no shortcomings.

Armament Haki that combines offense and defense, Observation Haki that senses presence and can even foresee the future, and the ability to maintain combat power even when severely injured after mastering the Six Powers, the ultimate technique Life Return that allows for rapid recovery, and Conqueror's Haki that can break through Devil Fruit abilities when released at its maximum level!
It can be said that, apart from lacking a Devil Fruit ability, Rocks' fighting style is most similar to Mongo's, completely inheriting Mongo's fighting philosophy.

In this situation, to defeat Rocks, unless the Roger Pirates were stronger than Rocks himself, even if they defeated all the crew members on Rocks' ship, Rocks himself would be an insurmountable mountain for them.

The simplest way to become stronger in a short period of time is to acquire the experience of the strong.

Rayleigh just hadn't expected it.

Rocks arrived at Baltimore Island ahead of everyone else. If the others hadn't escaped beforehand, things would likely have been dangerous.

Unless Monger is willing to shelter them!

The clash of Conqueror's Haki between Monger and Rocks left many of Rocks' crew members breathless. Rayleigh clearly saw that several of his crew members, whose strength was no less than his, had turned pale.

But what about them?
The group of women around Monger all had smiling faces. It was one thing for the female pirates who were already famous on the sea, but even the two female crew members who were obviously not very strong had a nonchalant expression.

As for the reason.

"That bastard Rocks is completely suppressed!"

Baroric's face was grave. Why were they feeling the pressure, while Monger's crew seemed completely unaffected?

The reason is simple.

Monger's Conqueror's Haki completely overwhelmed Rocks' Conqueror's Haki, to the point that Monger's Conqueror's Haki could affect them even after colliding with Rocks' Conqueror's Haki.

Rocks' Conqueror's Haki was completely blocked by Monger's Conqueror's Haki.

The difference in skill level was immediately apparent.

"Haha, just kidding."

Fortunately, the battle did not escalate. Monger was the first to back down, preserving Rocks' dignity as captain.

"I just admire these young lads a bit, but they have their own adventures, so I used this as an excuse to make them owe me a favor."

“I don’t intend to shelter them; I just plan to give them a simple month of training and then see what kind of waves they can make in the new world.”

But it seems—

Monger's Observation Haki swept across the entire island.

"It seems we're a little late."

What is called "training in interpersonal relationships" is essentially just another way of saying "protection".

But Monger had just given him face, now it was Lox's turn to give Monger face.

A month isn't a long time.

Rocks didn't believe that Roger's crew could surpass him after a month of training; that would make the world's top fighters seem too cheap.

Since Mongo has said so, Rocks doesn't mind giving the Roger Pirates a month.

However, this is all predicated on the absence of any unforeseen events.

If it were according to Monger's original plan, he would spend a month training the Roger Pirates, then make the Roger Pirates owe him a favor, and then let them fight the Rocks Pirates.

As the protagonist who originally started the Great Pirate Era, Mongo didn't believe that Roger would easily fall into Rocks' hands. If that really happened, it could only mean that he misjudged Roger.

Unfortunately, before his plan could be implemented, something unexpected happened.

The inhabitants of Baltimore Island have disappeared!
As a member state of the World Government, Baltimore Island has a small but still large permanent population of 100,000.

But without his knowledge.

One hundred thousand Baltimore residents vanished without a trace of their struggle.

"If that kid named Roger hadn't been lucky, he'd probably be mixed up with the residents of Baltimore right now, and have been captured by the World Government."

"Probably."

The only way Mongols could send away 100,000 Baltimore residents silently and without attracting their attention was through Im's teleportation array.

Can a teleportation array transport so many people?

Monger didn't know, but he was certain that Im had her own purpose in taking away the residents of Baltimore, just as she conquered Wano Country to covet its samurai strength.

She abducted the inhabitants of Baltimore, most likely for a similar purpose.

But the inhabitants of Baltimore were just a group of scientists who were not good at fighting.

"the scientist?"

Monger had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but he couldn't be sure yet.

In Munger's memory, the most famous scientist in Baltimore was Vegapunk, who would later be known as the world's greatest brain.

If the World Government wanted to kidnap Vegapunk from the future, Monger could understand, after all, Vegapunk was a genius who could single-handedly advance the level of science and technology by hundreds of years.

In the future, he may even be able to mass-produce near-general level powerhouses.

Like Munger before he turned seventy.

In the future, it may only be able to barely match a Seraph built by Vegapunk.

But that's all in the future.

Vegapunk at this time is just a kid in his early teens.

No matter how talented he was, the things that ten-year-old Vegapunk could do were extremely limited.

This is why Monger tried to recruit Baltimore into his camp, but didn't specifically seek out Vegapunk.

By the time Vegapunk can finally put his intelligence to use, it will have been a long time since Mongols and Im finished their decisive battle.

Even without Vegapunk, Baltimore still gathered some of the world's top scientists, and its development level was at least decades ahead of the rest of the world.

Technologies like steam turbines mostly originated in Baltimore.

Keep in mind that the White Wolf Pirates' Millennium Falcon was still just a sailing ship.

Therefore, Im must have taken these scientists away because he needed them to do something.

"Unfortunately, we arrived too late."

Monger shook his head. As the White Wolf Pirates officially became enemies of the World Government, the World Government's true strength was slowly being revealed.

Although they knew that Im must have a purpose in kidnapping the scientists from Baltimore, they were powerless to stop Im.

Because they didn't even know where Im had taken these scientists.

"Since we can't find Gol D. Roger, it seems there's no need for us to have a conflict. Rocks, you can't just take your anger out on a crew member because you can't find the captain, can you?"

"Humph!"

Although he wanted to say that Rayleigh was no ordinary crew member, but the vice-captain of the Roger Pirates, he had already decided to give Monger face, so he naturally wouldn't care whether Rayleigh stayed or left.

Anyway, he's just a nobody with a bounty of less than 100 million Berries.

That is because of Monge.

That's why Rocks was willing to take a second look at Rayleigh, wanting to see what was different about him, after all, Munger's eye for talent was notoriously sharp.

Any male crew member who boarded Monger's ship, even the weakest of them, Zephyr, possessed strength approaching 200 million Berries, not to mention graduates like him and Newgate.

Although Rocks spared Rayleigh out of consideration for Monger, Rayleigh was anything but happy.

Because his captain has gone missing!
We agreed to meet in Baltimore, and if anything unexpected happens, we will definitely leave a message so that we can be found.

However, from the moment he left until now, Rayleigh has not found any information left by anyone else.

"Speaking of which, you should have Vivre Cards, right?"

Monger's voice startled Rayleigh, who then quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. It was Roger's Vivre Card, radiating vitality and pointing in a certain direction.

"Huh, it's not in Mary Geoise?"

Monger glanced at the Vivre Card in Rayleigh's hand and said with some surprise.

He had assumed that Im would take the residents of Baltimore to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, but it turned out that he hadn't.

If it's facing Mary Geoise, the Vivre Card will tilt slightly upwards, since Mary Geoise is located at the top of the Red Line.

However, the Vivre Card in Rayleigh's hand was pointing straight in one direction.

The so-called "life card" is a piece of paper made by mixing a person's fingernail into the material. It represents the owner's life force, and the torn pieces will point to each other.

In the New World, pirates generally have their own Vivre Cards, and Mongo is no exception. Including Mongo, all the crew members of the White Wolf Pirates have made Vivre Cards so that they can contact each other and find each other.

"Looks like we have something to do."

If they couldn't find the scientists taken away by Im, that would be one thing, but now that they have, if they remain indifferent, wouldn't that be tantamount to aiding the enemy?

If the enemy gets stronger but I don't get stronger, then it's the same as me getting weaker.

That being the case.

Then let's find a way to prevent the enemy from getting stronger!
"Lox, are you interested in doing me this favor?"

"Tsk, what do I care about whether these scientists live or die?"

"Haha, but you need to hone your skills in battle now, right?"

Monger said with a smile, "The World Government won't fight you for no reason. Even if they do, they'll just crush you the first time they see you."

It’s different in the past.

In the past, the World Government basically adopted a hands-off approach towards top-tier powerhouses like Rocks.

In their eyes, humans are like weeds; once you cut one crop, another will grow back.

The same applies to top-tier experts.

Since that's the case, instead of wasting time and effort dealing with those top-tier experts, it's better to let them fight for territory among themselves and get bogged down in internal strife.

In any case, it is basically impossible for top-level experts to unite. As long as there are not enough top-level experts, they cannot pose a threat to them.

However, the arrival of Munger forced them to change their approach.

Monger's power has already posed a serious threat to the World Government, and the Rocks Pirates, to which Rocks belong, have also been regarded by the World Government as part of Monger's power.

Monger can't be killed, but Rocks is much weaker than Monger. If we seize the opportunity, we can completely crush Rocks.

Knowing this, Rocks never provoked the World Government.

Including Newgate.

They all received intelligence that Hines Oran was on vacation, which is why they tried to fight Hines Oran. If anything went wrong, Newgate wouldn't hesitate to run away when necessary.

But this is all because Munger wasn't with them.

Once Im activates the teleportation circle, Monger can easily break its effect unless Im himself is present.

If all else fails, it wouldn't be too difficult for Munger to run away with a group of people.

Of course, Monger wouldn't break the unspoken agreement so easily.

At most, he could give Rocks a bit of his own domineering aura to prevent Im from having to temporarily increase manpower. If Im really sent out too many troops when fighting Rocks, then don't blame Mung for going straight to Mary Geoise.

"Go ahead and cause a scene. Although there are some risks involved, since I've asked you to do this for me, I won't let that woman bother you."

He will not act with Lox.

While Rocks went to rescue the scientists in Baltimore, Munger stayed in the Sabaody Archipelago, ready to come at any time.

Monger probably figured out why Im had gathered these scientists.

But there was no Vegapunk.

Can a few ordinary scientists really restart that terrifying weapon?

Monger was not optimistic.

However, even if those scientists cannot do it, Munger does not intend to give up on rescuing them.

after all.

“A little merman has gambled most of her savings on this business. If the residents of Baltimore don’t come back, she’ll have no choice but to obediently return to Merman Island as a waitress.”

(End of this chapter)