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"Bru bru bru…"
At this moment in God Valley, a Den Den Mushi suddenly rang in Saint Jaygarcia Saturn's hand. The moment it connected came an urgent situation report…
"Saint Jaygarcia Saturn… crowds in many countries have seen strange content and are starting to riot. Some Marines have even joined in!"
"And there are newspapers too—some people who didn't see the content are rioting as well…"
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, a World Government agent began reporting the situation.
But before he could finish speaking, the crowd discovered him, and the call was abruptly cut off…
Some rejoiced, others grieved. The faces of all Five Elders turned ashen. They wanted to do something, but they had no way to act!
Moreover, upon hearing about the newspapers, the Five Elders immediately scanned their surroundings but found nothing out of place. None of the pirates had any Den Den Mushi equipment…
At this time, Morgans was hiding among the pirates. Hearing that his news was spreading, he immediately snickered to himself.
It was now impossible for the World Government to hide it. The whole world would come to know of their atrocities—the paper could no longer contain the fire!
"Brothers, these old fogeys look really pissed off! Hahahaha!"
"Serves them right… let them choke on it!"
"They played it fancy, still trying to hide—I'd like to see how they cover this one up!"
…
The pirates began cheering at this moment. Though it had nothing to do with them directly, seeing the Five Elders unhappy made them delighted…
Just as the pirates started shouting and celebrating excitedly, the battle on the light screen reached its final conclusion!
Everyone shut their mouths, quietly watching their captains in this ultimate endgame…
"Roar...woo..."
The demon Rocks let out low, meaningless growls, his gaze locking onto the two men who had risen once more.
In those eyes, the savagery remained, but in the deepest depths flickered an extreme pain and… longing.
"Hey… Rocks!"
Garp took a deep breath, his fists once more coated in pitch-black Armament Haki.
This time, the Armament Haki was so profound it seemed to absorb even light, with faint, dense red-black lightning faintly coursing and leaping across it!
Yet Garp's tone had become unprecedentedly gentle, carrying a trace of barely perceptible complexity: "I don't know how to comfort you, and I don't know exactly what tragedy happened to you…"
Taking step after step, Garp advanced toward the demon, his strides heavy yet resolute.
"But there is one thing—this old man knows for sure!"
Garp's voice suddenly rose sharply, ringing with rock-like clangor: "I understand the unwillingness in your heart!
I understand you'd rather die than become someone else's puppet or tool ever again! Right?! Rocks D. Xebec!!!"
As if in response to his words, scalding tears surged once more from the demon Rocks' grotesque face!
The tears washed away the blood and grime on his cheeks.
On that twisted visage, there now clearly appeared an extremely human expression of ultimate pain, unwillingness, regret, and… a pleading for release.
He was crying.
For ambitions that could never be realized, for guilt that could never be redeemed, for the fall that could never be reversed, and for this fate that destroyed everything.
"Don't cry, you idiot!!!"
Roger's voice rang out at the same time!
He spun Ace in his hand, compressing every last bit of his Haki without reservation, condensing it all at the blade's tip!
The blade trembled violently, emitting a buzzing hum; the surrounding space began to distort!
Roger covered his face, actually feeling a touch of reluctance toward the sobbing Rocks…
"ROAR!!"
The demon Rocks let out the most wretched, most painful, and most resolute roar since the battle began!
It no longer used those bizarre slashes. Instead, it retracted all the dark energy back into its body. Then—like the most primal beast, and the most resolute warrior!
Dragging its broken body, it transformed into a blazing black comet and launched a final charge toward Roger and Garp!
It too was longing for an end!
"Now!!!"
Roger and Garp shouted in unison!
"Fire God's Kagutsuchi · Ace!!!"
Roger fused his lifetime's swordsmanship, Haki, and will into this single slash!
The blade light cut forth—not with grand spectacle, but like the very first spark, or a piercing beam of wisdom that penetrated the void!
It struck straight toward the center of the demon Rocks' chest—without vast momentum, only extreme condensation and penetration!
"Infinitum · Explosion!!!"
Garp poured every ounce of strength into his iron fist!
This punch was no longer merely physical impact—it was a torrent of will, the ultimate counterstrike of "protection" against "corrosion" and "control"!
Where the fist edge passed, space let out low wails; the pitch-black fist shadow seemed to become a star bringing finality!
Together with Roger's blade tip, from different angles, they simultaneously hammered toward the same target!
Blade and fist converged before the demon Rocks' chest!
No earth-shattering explosion.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
The demon Rocks' charging momentum abruptly halted. Roger's blade and Garp's fist both sank into that single point on its chest.
Immediately after…
"Crack… crack crack…"
Fine cracking sounds rang from within the demon Rocks' body—starting faint, then rapidly growing dense and loud!
The grotesque black patterns on its surface melted and disintegrated like ice and snow under sunlight!
The pitch-black substance covering its body developed countless web-like cracks, peeling off in large chunks!
Finally revealing the original skin beneath—now pale as paper, riddled with bizarre black marks.
"Roar… ugh…"
The demon Rocks opened its mouth as if trying to speak, but only a hoarse rasp emerged.
The emptiness in its eyes was completely extinguished, replaced by a pair gradually regaining clarity—yet filled with endless exhaustion and a trace of finally attained peace. These were Rocks' eyes.
Those eyes looked at Roger one last time, then at Garp.
No hatred, no unwillingness—only deep apology and silent gratitude.
"BOOM!!!"
A final, small-scale explosion occurred.
This was not a destructive shockwave, but rather a diffusion of purifying and releasing energy.
The battlefield was buried. The reverted-to-human Rocks lay on the ground; Garp collapsed unconscious nearby; Roger leaned against a rock and also fainted…
At this moment, only Rocks had regained consciousness, but his body was on the verge of collapse—he couldn't move at all.
"Has it been undone? The curse… still alive… this island?"
Rocks marveled inwardly, wanting to speak but unable to open his mouth no matter what.
At that moment, three ghostly figures emerged amid the pouring rain. From their shadows alone, Rocks knew their identities…
God's Knights—Saint Garling, Saint Sommers, and Saint Maffey—were sweeping the battlefield. Any who weren't quite dead yet were finished off by these three!
Seeing these three appear, the eyes of Rocks outside the light screen gradually turned ice-cold. It seemed his life was, after all, destined to end in death…
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