Best part is people can't even lie that it was a sneak attack since Xebec is visibly bruised and huffing implying they actually fought eachother
I don’t know about this.
His “bruises” are the sort of chicken scratch shadings that we are all too used to from modern Oda.
Rocks has a very busy face, design wise, that causes a lot of said chicken scratches. One side has the big long forelock, the other side has the scar/tattoo. He’s got the big eyes with the eyelashes and the wrinkles and the heavy brow. The nose, and then the beard and the lips.
It’s a lot, and the small panels Oda used don’t make it too clear to me exactly what’s happening on his face.
What is clear to me that Rocks is either unhurt, or so minimally hurt that it’s barely worth mentioning. Huff scaling is also terrible, it just shows he’s been running.
I’m still not sure if Rocks has demolished the Admiral in a fight, or if it’s something more shady. I still find the use of language around “murdered” to be a bit off. We see this chapter what he was willing to do to Loki to draw back Harald, and that he has no qualms with hostages. I find it easy to see a situation where he has hostages and uses that to manoeuvre his way to murdering the Admiral.
Would anyone put it past Rocks to do the whole “hands up or he gets it!” with a hostage, then to murder the guy sticking his hands up.