...
Flight, arguments, and the fires of war
Above the light screen, the image began to split and jump—like shattered mirror fragments—reflecting the final chaos and choices in every corner of God Valley.
At the coastline, beside Roger's Oro Jackson.
"Nice ship. Mind if I come aboard too?"
A voice laced with playful mockery suddenly rang out.
Scopper Gaban whipped his head around to see a tall, slender figure step forward. Those deep blue eyes still shone brightly, carrying a strange glow of someone who had survived the ordeal.
"Gloriosa?!"
Gaban was extremely surprised by her appearance, but considering Shakky, he couldn't very well refuse…
At the edge of a forest somewhere in God Valley.
"Did you hear that, Kaido?! This is a debt of gratitude for life! One day you'll have to repay me!"
Big Mom—Linlin—stood with hands on hips. Though her elaborate dress was torn in several places and her face bore traces of smoke and soot…
her presence remained imposing as she shouted at Kaido.
Kaido had already reverted to human form. His aura was unstable, but the untamed, defiant light in his pupils hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
"Idiot…"
Kaido spat a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva, his voice hoarse: "I won this Devil Fruit contest. That's the fact."
Kaido grinned, flashing a mocking, feral smile: "Linlin, watch closely. I will build a pirate crew stronger and purer than the Rocks Pirates!
A monster legion that believes only in strength and violence—one that will make the entire world tremble!"
Just as Big Mom was about to respond to Kaido's grand ambition, Streusen interrupted from nearby…
"Linlin! This isn't the time to argue!"
Streusen poked his head out from behind a pile of buried treasure chests, shouting anxiously.
Several obviously valuable chests were already stacked beside him: "Hurry and help!
We have to grab as much of this treasure as possible before the Marines or any other bastards catch on…
This island could collapse completely at any moment!"
Linlin glanced at the distant battlefield center where terrifying roars and Haki fluctuations continued unabated, then glared at the defiant Kaido. Finally, she huffed angrily, turned, and walked toward Streusen.
Her massive hands effortlessly lifted two heavy treasure chests and slung them over her shoulders.
"Kaido! You remember this—one day I'll make you repay this debt!!"
Big Mom tossed out one last line before following Streusen and striding off toward the coast.
Kaido watched Linlin's departing back, then looked toward the battlefield. Complex emotions flickered in his eyes—
a trace of chill at Rocks' ultimate fate, deep wariness toward that twisted power, and… an ever-clearer thirst and ambition for his own path forward.
He pressed a hand to his deepest wound. The stage of God Valley no longer belonged to him…
But the seas of the future—he would stir up far greater storms.
No one paid any more attention to the great battle at the center.
Roger and Garp's powerful alliance had already fallen into a despair-inducing grueling fight against the demon Rocks' inhuman, terrifying strength.
Every clash was fraught with peril; every attack struggled to inflict real damage, while their own stamina and Haki drained at terrifying speed.
On the other side of the island, Whitebeard—Edward Newgate—shouldered his naginata Murakumogiri and silently gazed toward the distant, constantly rumbling battlefield center.
After encountering Polo Gram, he had lingered no longer. With one final glance toward the battlefield, he hoisted Murakumogiri onto his shoulder and strode toward the coast.
The conviction in his heart—to build a "family"-style pirate crew and protect those important to him—had become even clearer and firmer after witnessing Rocks' tragedy.
Not far away, Stussy was anxiously looking around while transporting the last few treasure chests.
"Where's Newgate? He was just here!"
She shouted to Ganju and Basda nearby.
But how could they possibly know Newgate's whereabouts? With no choice, Stussy could only leave the area first…
At the main battlefield's coast.
The atmosphere was equally tense to the extreme, but the reason wasn't the distant demon—it was fierce internal conflict.
"Dragon! What the hell are you doing?! Put the gun down! Calm down!"
A Marine captain roared at Monkey D. Dragon. The surrounding Marines held their weapons raised but didn't dare act rashly; their faces were filled with shock and bewilderment.
Dragon's eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, his once-crisp uniform covered in bloodstains and dust.
He had just frantically searched the chaotic battlefield edges and ruins but found no trace of Shanks.
Extreme worry, self-blame, and rage at this absurd and cruel "hunt" had completely ignited the long-suppressed flame in his heart.
"Calm down?! You people are the ones… what the hell have you been doing?! Do you even know whose accomplices you are?! Bastards!!!"
Dragon's voice was hoarse and ferocious; the gun barrel remained locked on his superior.
The officer's face turned deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down, but his eyes burned with anger and humiliation: "Dragon! Have you lost your mind?! This is mutiny…"
"Shut up!"
Dragon cut him off sharply: "The ones being massacred, abandoned here to die… is that the 'justice' you all keep preaching?! This is nothing but aiding demons!!!"
He jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes sweeping over every Marine aiming guns at him, his voice like colliding ice: "I'll say it again! Immediately organize people—get every survivor still alive on this coast,
whether slave or civilian, onto the warships! Right now! Immediately!"
"Dragon! You don't have that authority!" the held-at-gunpoint officer shrieked.
"Authority?"
Dragon sneered, finger tightening on the trigger: "My authority is right here! Anyone who dares say no—I'll shoot them dead!"
His words struck like a hammer on every Marine's heart.
Distant roars and terrifying Haki aftershocks kept coming, reminding them the deadly threat was right at hand.
The desire to survive, combined with fear of Dragon's all-or-nothing madness, ultimately outweighed blind obedience to orders.
Some lower-ranking Marines—especially the young soldiers who had witnessed parts of the slaughter and already harbored doubts—began to waver in their resolve.
"Do what he says!"
A Marine officer whose conscience hadn't died bit his teeth and waved the order: "Hurry! Get everyone who can still move onto the ships!"
""Follow the order! You want to die here?!"" a lieutenant colonel roared.
Under the dual pressure of Dragon's gun and the instinct for survival, the Marines finally diverted some manpower!
They began searching for and carrying the huddled, wounded, numb-eyed survivors along the coast.
The officer held at gunpoint trembled with rage. Once the barrel was lowered, he pointed at Dragon, voice distorted by extreme fury: "Monkey D. Dragon! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because your old man is Vice Admiral Garp!
What happened today—we will not let this go!"
Dragon slowly lowered the gun. The mad flame in his eyes receded slightly, replaced by a bone-deep coldness and disappointment.
He didn't even bother glancing at the officer again. He only looked at the survivors being half-dragged, half-carried onto the warships by Marine soldiers, his voice eerily calm: "Just as I wanted."
He had completely lost faith in this so-called "justice" institution.
Even arguing was superfluous now.
At that moment—
"BOOM!!!"
A dull, terrifying roar far heavier and more horrifying than any before erupted from the central area of God Valley!
Immediately after came a heart-palpitating sensation of energy suddenly contracting—as if the entire island's "sound" and "light" were drained away in an instant!
Then—absolute, deathly silence. The roaring at the battlefield center stopped abruptly.
...