After Brook's flying fleet arrived at the port of God Valley, they simply hovered above it quietly. They didn't rush into the Celestial Dragons' palace to plunder, nor did they descend to join the battle and clash with the Navy!
This eased the tyrannical Rocks' mind just a bit. He was afraid that while he was tangled up in a chaotic fight with Devo, Brook's flying fleet would charge in and start looting—that would make all his efforts today for nothing!
To his surprise, Brook was showing a bit of honor, actually willing to wait for him before they charged into God Valley together to plunder the Celestial Dragons' treasures!
Was he being a little unfair in scheming against Brook like this?
But no matter what, he had to get his hands on those few crucial Devil Fruit abilities. Otherwise, he'd never be able to stand against the Hell Pirates, and his own officers would always be a step behind in strength when it came to Devil Fruits!
Brook wasn't waiting out of the goodness of his heart, though. His people were already inside, looting on a massive scale. In fact, he hoped to drag things out here a little longer, giving Stussy and Tenmoku time to grab even more stuff!
Plus, he had his eyes on Navy Admiral Devo, Admiral Candidate Jung, and Navy Elite Vice Admiral Sengoku the Golden Buddha—these were all powerhouses with incredibly strong Devil Fruits!
If he could capture even one, he'd score a top-tier Devil Fruit for himself!
Not to mention, he'd already planned to save Devo's Mythical Zoan for his eldest son, Hades. Now, it looked like the opportunity was finally here.
"Everyone, get ready! We're about to surround and hunt Devo and Golden Buddha Sengoku!"
Brook laughed. The plundering of God Valley was already in Stussy's hands anyway—they could focus on these elite Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit users!
Seeing that Brook still hadn't made a move, Rocks finally relaxed and went all out against Devo. If he could just take down this roadblock, he'd be free to rush in and grab the loot!
Rocks' Observation Haki could sense Brook and his four main fighters' presences—all right here. That kind of Conqueror's Haki aura wasn't something the Clone-Clone Fruit could fake!
So, he knew the Hell Pirates' core forces were all present, and no one had slipped in ahead to loot the Celestial Dragons!
Rocks also didn't believe Brook could defeat Admiral Aokiba and his three body technique experts, plus the Navy's elite troops, so quickly without his main forces!
Rocks had unleashed two secret techniques and even taken a heavy hit from Devo, but now he'd truly been stalled by Devo for over half an hour!
At that moment, the sniper Silva approached and whispered a few words into Brook's ear, instantly lighting up his eyes!
Stussy and the others had already snagged a ton of good stuff, and the Roger Pirates had somehow landed at the hidden port on the back side of God Valley. Who knew how that child of destiny had found the Celestial Dragons' secret escape port!
Meanwhile, Bloodhand Braille and Iron Fist Garp were closing in fast. With all this info coming together, Brook knew it was time to strike!
"Tell Stussy and the others to pull out!"
Brook instructed Antonio to notify Stussy via Den Den Mushi. They'd gotten enough—grab the most valuable items and call it good. The whole crew would head in for a second round of looting soon anyway!
"Yo ho ho! Rocks, you look hurt! As allies, let us handle a tough Navy guy like Devo!!"
Brook and his four fighters charged down all at once. Under Rocks' wary gaze, they straight-up stole the opponent Devo right out from under him!
...
Rocks wasn't dumb—he could tell Brook was drooling over Devo's Form. Truth be told, Rocks was eyeing that Devil Fruit power himself!
Now, with Rocks injured, Brook was shamelessly snatching the kill. If it weren't for the Conqueror's Haki pact binding them, Brook probably would've turned on him right then and there!
Beating a man when he's down was a pirate's specialty, after all!
It pissed him off, but Rocks knew he couldn't flip on Brook now. His face darkened, then suddenly twisted into a grin!
"Brook, I'll leave these Navy scraps to you. I'll head in first and deal with the Celestial Dragons' strongest guards! Boys, let's move!!!"
Rocks immediately ordered his officers to ignore the Navy—leave them to the Hell Pirates. They needed to charge in first and plunder the Celestial Dragons' treasures!
Without waiting for Brook's response, Rocks led the charge into the Celestial Dragons' palace!
The rest of the Rocks Pirates' officers ditched their fights too, swarming in after their captain like a tidal wave. The Navy officers tried to rush over and intercept.
But seeing Admiral Devo getting ganged up on by the Hell Pirates—and looking in dire straits—they couldn't ignore their boss's safety just to protect the Celestial Dragons. One by one, they charged in to relieve Devo!
They'd served with Admiral Devo for a long time, building deep bonds. Deep down, they didn't want to prioritize saving those arrogant, bullying Celestial Dragons first!
Even in those brief ten seconds or so, Devo had already been beaten half to death by Brook and his four fighters. By the time Sengoku rushed in to help, Devo had been deliberately taken down by the long-prepared Hell Pirates!
"Yo ho ho! Take Sengoku down too!!!"
Brook's Seven Star Sword stabbed into Devo's gut, the blade absorbing massive amounts of blood as his aura faded to almost nothing!
Redfield and Whitebeard Newgate spun around and charged at Golden Buddha Sengoku—another rare mythical Zoan Devil Fruit user.
But in the next moment, it would belong to the Hell Pirates!
Sengoku hadn't expected Devo to fall so quickly to Brook's gang-up. Now they were targeting him, and as he struggled to hold on, a Navy warship's oars blurred into afterimages, racing ashore at top speed!
Bloodhand Braille and Iron Fist Garp leaped down using Geppo, rescuing Sengoku and squaring off against the Hell Pirates.
"Yo ho ho~, scoring Devo today is already a win. Let's go loot the Celestial Dragons too!"
Brook didn't bother tangling with these Navy guys any longer. They'd already struck gold today—Rocks was as strong as advertised, taking out two Gods' Knights single-handedly and even wounding Devo, letting the Hell Pirates swoop in for the easy pick!
"Give back Admiral Devo!!!"
Sengoku and Garp shouted, but Brook had already grabbed Devo and retreated to the flying fleet, heading toward the Celestial Dragons' palace.
The Navy could only charge in after them—not just to rescue Admiral Devo, but to protect the many World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons.
Otherwise, if God Valley fell today, it would trigger a massive credibility crisis for the World Government and the Navy!
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Fanfic is finished 955 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg