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All eyes in the scene focused on the light screen.
Within the monster's body, an indescribable, terrifying aura began to brew and swell, finally erupting like a long-suppressed volcano!
It was not an attack, not an energy shockwave, but pure, supremely domineering…
Conqueror's Haki!
"Buzz!!!"
The invisible pressure surged outward from the monster like a tangible tidal wave!
The clouds in the sky were torn and shredded as if by an invisible giant hand under the impact of this Haki, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Rubble and dust on the ground were shaken into slight levitation by the Haki.
And those most directly affected were the living people nearby.
"Ughhh!!!"
Pirates and Marines closer to the source—regardless of strength—as long as their wills were even slightly unsteady, all rolled their eyes back, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed in droves.
Even some pirates with bounties over 100 million and Marine Captain-level officers turned deathly pale, legs buckling, barely holding themselves up with their weapons to avoid falling.
"This Haki…"
Whitebeard's gaze sharpened. Murakumogiri slammed heavily into the ground, dispersing the incoming aftershock of Haki: "This is no longer just a matter of 'ability'… This is outright crushing."
Roger's smile also faded. Feeling the oppressive pressure that could still be faintly sensed even through the light screen, he said in a low voice: "It's different from our Conqueror's Haki… It wants to use Haki to directly crush everyone's will."
Garp gritted his teeth, fists clenched tightly, forcibly enduring the impact: "Monster…"
Even after suffering the combined strike that had nearly completely destroyed its body, Imu could still unleash Conqueror's Haki of this level!
This had already surpassed the realm of "strength"—it was more like a display of "authority."
I am the rule. I am the ruler. All who resist shall have their wills extinguished.
This was the message Imu conveyed through the Haki.
As the Haki's impact gradually subsided, the battlefield was left in ruins and littered with the fainted.
On the other side, amid the wreckage, Monkey D. Dragon struggled to climb up from the ground.
The earlier magnetic shock and the aftershock from the six-person combined attack had left him seriously injured—his back burned with pain, and his internal organs churned.
But right now, he couldn't care about any of that.
"The baby…"
Dragon lowered his head toward his embrace, wanting to confirm Shanks' safety.
Then his movements froze.
The red-haired infant who should have been tightly protected against his chest… was gone!
In its place was a rough, scorched piece of wood.
That was something he had desperately grabbed to cushion himself during the earlier explosion, yet now his subconscious had mistaken it for the baby.
"What!!"
Dragon's pupils contracted sharply. A wave of icy panic instantly gripped his heart.
He shot to his feet, ignoring the pain, and frantically scanned the surroundings: "Kid! Where are you?!"
No response.
Only the chaotic roars and screams on the battlefield, along with the terrifying sound of the monster standing up again in the distance.
Dragon's eyes turned red.
He went mad, rummaging through the ruins, shoving aside rubble, digging through piles of corpses, his voice hoarse from desperation: "Don't die! Don't die!"
"I need to atone—please don't die!"
Dragon attached a different significance to Shanks; he regarded this infant as his own redemption, which was why he lost control so completely at the sight of him disappearing…
Meanwhile, not far away in a corner, a red-haired infant lay face-down on the ground. He wasn't crying or fussing—just blinking his big eyes curiously at a nearby treasure chest glinting with golden light.
It was one of the treasures the Celestial Dragons had left behind. The lid had been blasted open in the earlier explosion, revealing the dazzling jewels inside.
The infant stretched out his little hand toward the chest, making "ah-ya" babbling sounds.
Then a large hand reached over and picked up the treasure chest…
It belonged to a member of the Roger Pirates. Amid the chaos, he was responsible for collecting scattered treasures and had coincidentally discovered this chest.
The Roger Pirates crew member hugged the chest and quickly vanished into the chaotic battlefield.
And in the end, Dragon never found Shanks.
As the light screen reached this point, everyone inside God Valley understood.
"So that's how it was…"
Rayleigh pushed up his glasses: "That's how Shanks ended up joining the Roger Pirates."
"Fated connection, huh." Scopper Gaban grinned.
Roger laughed so hard he couldn't close his mouth. He looked at little Shanks in Gloriosa's arms, his eyes full of affection and delight: "Hahaha! So you and I were destined to meet like this! You were meant to be my crewmate! Good! Good! Good!"
And this time, Roger had an additional pleasant surprise.
Little Shamrock was also with him.
According to the original course shown in the light screen, this child would have been taken by the God's Knights—but now, he was safe and sound in Shakky's arms.
Both children had been "saved."
But at this moment, no one was in the mood to share Roger's joy.
Because the scene on the light screen had already shifted to something far crueler, far more heart-wrenching.
"I can see…"
The monster had fully recovered. It slowly turned toward the forest.
Imu's hollow, icy voice slithered into Rocks' ears like a venomous snake: "Someone is running through the forest…"
Rocks' entire body stiffened.
"Hey! You bastard… don't tell me!"
Rocks realized something. He whipped his head around toward the depths of the forest—the direction Eris had fled with Teach.
Imu didn't tease further and spoke the words that made Rocks' heart stop: "The new Davy… your wife and son are desperately, desperately trying to stay alive."
The tone was flat, yet carried a cat-toying-with-mouse kind of mockery and cruelty.
In that instant, a clear crack appeared in the unbreakable "will" deep within Rocks.
He could ignore his subordinates' betrayals, face any powerful enemy head-on, place his ambitions above everything…
But Eris and Teach were the only soft, untouchable reverse scales in the depths of his heart.
"Get the hell away from me!!! What do you want?!!!"
Rocks exploded in complete fury!
"Crack—!!!"
A massive gash was cleaved into the monster's torso, but Imu seemed completely unconcerned.
Two pitch-black, razor-sharp "tentacles" suddenly shot out from the monster's wound, moving so fast that even Rocks couldn't fully react!
Pfft! Pfft!
Two soft sounds.
The tentacles pierced straight through Rocks' chest.
Not from behind, but from the front—precisely avoiding all vital organs, like two black spikes nailing him in midair.
The entire scene fell deathly silent.
"Rocks!!!"
Whitebeard, Kaido, Roger, and Garp roared simultaneously, rushing forward.
But the next moment, everyone froze.
Because Rocks… appeared completely unharmed?
No blood, no scream of pain—even his expression showed no agony.
The two tentacles were like illusory shadows passing through his body, causing no physical damage whatsoever.
"Mmm… I didn't do anything at all." Imu's voice carried a bizarre trace of "gentleness."
Rocks looked down at the black tentacles in his chest, then up at the face right in front of him, curling his lips into a mocking sneer: "Hey, what kind of disgusting trick is this now? It doesn't even hurt."
As he spoke, Rocks even reached out, attempting to touch the black tentacles.
But the instant his fingertips were about to make contact…
Rocks' body suddenly trembled violently!
It wasn't external injury, nor searing pain, but an alien sensation surging from the depths of his soul—like countless insects burrowing into his marrow!
Something was madly pouring into his body along those black tentacles!
Outside the light screen, at the God Valley site.
Everyone held their breath, eyes locked on the eerie scene in the image.
Gloriosa covered her mouth, Buckingham clutched tightly at Whitebeard's coat hem, Eris trembled all over while clutching Teach in her arms so hard her nails nearly dug into her own flesh.
Shakky held Shamrock, brows furrowed tightly, a powerful sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
"That black stuff… what is it 'pouring' into Rocks' body?"
Rayleigh's voice was unusually grave.
"It's not energy… not poison…" Scopper Gaban gripped his axe tighter: "It's something far more disgusting…"
In the scene, Imu's hollow voice rang out again—this time carrying a near "pleasurable" cruelty: "The executioner will be you…"
"The murderer who exterminates this race… will also be you…"
"Go… go slaughter your own wife and child…"
These words pierced everyone's eardrums like icy poison needles.
"You idiot!!!"
Rocks roared hoarsely, veins bulging on his forehead: "How could something like that ever happen!!!"
But before he finished speaking, the two black tentacles in his chest suddenly began trembling and writhing intensely!
Immediately after, Rocks' entire body convulsed violently as if electrocuted!
He opened his mouth and let out a scream that no longer sounded human—piercingly shrill to the extreme!!!
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
That scream was mixed with pain, rage, despair, and a kind of… breakdown as something was forcibly stripped away and polluted!
And amid the scream, everyone clearly saw…
Rocks' teeth beginning to sharpen and turn stark white, like those of a beast.
The human, rational, arrogant light in his eyes was visibly fading at a speed the eye could follow.
In its place emerged a chaotic, frenzied, destruction-craving bestiality!
"Domi · Reversi."
Imu's voice fell like a final judgment, pronouncing the last syllable.
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