LRAB Chapter 78: What's the difference between you and me?
Chapter 78: What's the difference between you and me?
Chapter 79: What's the difference between you and me?
Inside the empty Elbaf royal court, three men stood in a triangular formation atop the sea.
Harald's gaze swept between Oro and Lox, and a loud laugh broke the brief silence: "Haha, Oro, no need for introductions, Lox and I are old friends."
"Oh?" Oro feigned surprise, releasing Harald's shoulder and jumping down. "Harald, you know Lox too?"
Harald raised his hand and touched his thick, coarse beard, explaining to Oro, "It was seven years ago, the year before you officially set sail. If I remember correctly, it was 1485 in the Sea Calendar."
"At that time, I was struggling to find a way to better integrate Elbaf into the outside world. Feeling frustrated, I climbed the red earth alone and went to Mary Geoise."
"I wanted to see for myself what the so-called center of world power was really like, and I also wanted to talk to the people in charge of the world government. It was there that I met Rocks by chance."
The moment Harald finished speaking, Lox, who had been staring intently at Oro, suddenly burst into a loud shout, his voice booming throughout the royal court: "Orikum Oro!"
This shout immediately alerted Lingling, who had been guarding the side and rear. A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes. She slightly adjusted the giant axe on her shoulder, lowered her body slightly, and assumed a posture ready to exert force at any moment.
On the other side, Newgate, though his expression was relatively calm, tightened his grip on the huge sword Murakumogiri, his knuckles turning slightly white.
Oro seemed oblivious to the sudden tension. He gestured to Harald not to speak, then calmly took two steps forward to face Lox directly.
Auro, still wearing that enigmatic, indifferent expression, asked, "Oh dear, Lox, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"
Lox's displeased gaze swept over Harald, who looked puzzled, then over Lingling and Newgate, who were poised to attack, before finally fixing on Auro's indifferent face: "Come on, let's go outside. Find a spacious place, one-on-one, just the two of us. Anyone want to try?"
Upon hearing this, Oro let out a very soft "heh" from his nose, his tone somewhat nonchalant: "Just fighting is so boring. Don't pirates all like to bet? Since we're going to fight, why don't we bet on something to add some excitement?"
Lox narrowed his eyes, his emotions flickering. He was silent for two seconds before saying in a deep voice, "Fine! I'll bet you! I want you to tell me by your own mouth which damned guy leaked my whereabouts to you!"
'
Lox didn't believe that the other party had actually predicted his arrival in Elbaf; he was absolutely certain that one of his men had betrayed him and tipped off this blond-haired kid.
Oro seemed to have anticipated this, and casually snapped his fingers: "Alright. Well then, my bet is—"
He paused, then clearly uttered a name: "I need to know where David Jones is."
The moment the name "Davis Jones" left Oro's mouth, the muscles on Rocks' face visibly stiffened, and even his pupils contracted for a fleeting instant.
Lockes forcibly suppressed the turmoil surging in his heart and sneered in a somewhat stiff tone: "Davis Jones? That sea monster who became a legend eight hundred years ago?"
"Hahaha! Orichum, are you still a child who hasn't grown up? How can you believe in such a far-fetched fairy tale?"
"Don't make such a ridiculous joke! How would I possibly know where he is!"
Oro ignored his taunts, his golden pupils staring directly into Lox's eyes: "Don't know? It's alright."
"I believe there must be someone in the David family who knows. Since you say you don't know, let's change the bet."
Auro observed Lox's reaction, then slowly stated his second wager: "I want a map to the island called God Valley, or a permanent pointer will do."
"Don't tell me you don't have one, Rocks-D! Giebeck."
When Oro pronounced the distinctive middle name "D" clearly, Harald, who was standing next to him, was stunned.
His massive head turned towards Lox, and he repeated the letter in a low voice: "D?"
The giant king's gaze toward Rocks held a complexity he had never shown before.
Lox met Auro's gaze without flinching, instead glaring back fiercely, his eyes as menacing as those of an enraged beast.
Lox spoke slowly and deliberately: "Knowing too much, knowing too early, may not be a good thing for you—Oricum—Oro."
Oro raised his head slightly, his eyes and the calm smile on his face unchanged: "Agreeing is enough, no need for all this irrelevant talk, Lox."
"Hmph!" Lockes let out a heavy snort, turned around abruptly, and strode out of the palace: "I originally just wanted to teach you a simple lesson, but now—ha, we need to find a place where it won't affect Elbaf."
When Rocks stepped out of the palace gates, the Rocks Pirates' executives, led by Wang Zhi, hurriedly arrived at the palace gates, panting heavily.
Before Wang Zhi, the leader, could even speak, he was shoved aside by Lockes, whose face was grim.
Wang Zhi stumbled a few steps, his face full of astonishment, but he didn't dare to ask a single question.
Watching Lox's menacing figure gradually disappear into the distance, Oro turned around and whispered a few words to Lingling and Newgate.
Lingling pouted somewhat reluctantly, while Newgate nodded steadily, indicating that he understood.
Auro then politely declined and thanked Harald for his offer to mediate, and then walked out of the palace.
On an unnamed island in the waters near Elbaf, two menacing figures confront each other.
"At first, I thought that all those little tricks you pulled were just revenge for the small thing I did, which involved me leading my men to attack a merchant ship from the Kingdom of Jaya."
"What I didn't expect was that you would actually set your sights on David."
Rocks slowly drew his sword from his waist, his tone extremely unfriendly, seemingly truly enraged:
-
"Orikum Oro, put away your inappropriate thoughts. Neither Davy Jones, nor the Davy Clan, nor God Valley are people you can touch!"
"Ha, Rocks, you haven't become the King of the World yet? Do you think you're Davy Jones?"
Oro's body and everything around him began to slowly emit a golden light: "And what do you mean by attacking a merchant ship is a trivial matter?"
"In the past six months alone, you have attacked more than 30 islands, and the legitimate settlements and fleets of the Kingdom of Gaya have been attacked by you no less than 20 times in the past five years!"
"Tell me! Rocks D. Xebec! Even if you become the King of the World, what difference will there be between you and the Celestial Dragons!"
"Brainless scum and ambitious scum?"
Rocks chuckled softly, then sprang into action, the ground beneath his feet cracking open. A sky full of Conqueror's Haki lightning converged on the longsword in his hand, and he slashed fiercely at Auro!
"Orikum Oro! You think you're some kind of good guy?! Ridiculous!"