The edges of God Valley were shrouded in smoke and gunpowder.
Young Kaido, having recently eaten the Fish-Fish Fruit in God Valley, hadn't yet mastered its powers. Now, in a half-dragonized form, he rampaged through the ruins, claws bared, spewing weak bursts of flame from his mouth while his tail sent a few hapless Marines flying.
Rhett crouched in the bloody mist, chin resting on his palm, watching the "little worm" with amusement. Already half-dragonized right after eating it, huh?
Oh-ho, isn't this the future "Strongest Creature"? Why does he look so… dumb right now?
"Hey, brat." Rhett's voice suddenly echoed from all directions, making Kaido jolt in surprise, his draconic head whipping around.
"Who?! Show yourself!"
"Your daddy."
*WHOOSH!* A whip of condensed blood mist lashed out—right onto Kaido's scaly backside!
"ROOOAAAR—!!" Kaido howled, his massive body twisting in pain, nearly toppling into the sea.
Rhett's figure flickered in and out of the mist, grinning like a bastard. "Little worm, your captain Rocks is about to get his ass handed to him. Aren't you gonna help?"
Kaido's eyes blazed with fury. "Of course I am! But you damn—"
"But you're too weak." Rhett cut him off. The blood mist suddenly coalesced into a massive hand, clamping around Kaido's throat. "Can't even use Haki properly, and you call yourself the 'Strongest Creature'?"
Kaido thrashed wildly, claws tearing at the mist—but it was like striking cotton.
"Captain Rocks… I'm coming!"
Just as he roared—
*SHLICK!*
A tendril of crimson mist slithered around his ankle.
"Huh? What the—ROOOAAARGH!!!"
Kaido's eyes bulged as searing pain erupted from his ankle. His flesh visibly rotted away at an alarming rate!
"Blood Mist: Bone Erosion!"
Rhett's voice echoed again, dripping with malice.
Kaido kicked wildly, but the mist clung like a curse, eating through muscle and bone, creeping further up his body.
The stronger the creature, the more the mist can drain.
"Bastard! Face me!!"
Kaido swung his spiked club—only to scatter empty mist.
"Tsk tsk, is that it?"
Rhett materialized briefly, twirling a blood-mist staff in his hand.
"Oi, brat, didn't your captain teach you—to keep your Observation Haki active at all times?"
Before Kaido could react—
*THWACK!!!*
The staff cracked against the back of his skull.
"Guh—!"
Darkness swallowed Kaido's vision. His scales didn't even have time to harden before he faceplanted into the dirt.
Rhett strolled over, nudging the unconscious dragon with his foot.
"Tsk tsk tsk. The future 'Strongest Creature'? Right now, you're just a dumbass who got knocked out by a sneak attack."
He crouched down, casually swiping the treasure Kaido had looted earlier, then used the blood mist to carve a message into his back:
"Was here~"
Beating Oden to the punch, heh.
Suddenly, a shockwave nearly sent Rhett flying. He whipped his head toward the main battlefield.
"You… really think this is enough to KILL ME?!!!"
Rocks rose slowly from the wreckage, blood dripping from his tattered robes—yet nothing could mask the suffocating pressure radiating from him.
His Conqueror's Haki was no longer wild. It had condensed into pitch-black lightning, coiling around his body, distorting the very air under its weight.
Garp's fists trembled. Roger's blade dipped slightly. They felt it—this man's willpower was reaching unprecedented heights.
"I am the king who will overturn this world… You are nothing but pebbles in the path of destiny!"
Rocks' pupils darkened completely. His Conqueror's Haki no longer lashed out in waves—it became a *domain*, engulfing the entire battlefield!
—*"Tyrant's Realm: Endless Abyss!"*
In an instant, every powerhouse present—Roger, Garp, Rayleigh, Gaban—all staggered under an invisible force, their movements slowing!
"Observation Haki… disrupted?!" Rayleigh's composure cracked for the first time.
"Not disrupted." Roger grinned, eyes blazing. "*Suppressed!*"
Rocks' Conqueror's Haki had transcended mere intimidation—it could *temporarily suppress* his enemies' senses and movements!
The spiral tattoo on Rocks' chest began spinning violently, like a bottomless black hole. Rubble, seawater, even light itself—everything was being devoured!
—*"Maelstrom: Divine Devourer!"*
God Valley began collapsing. The ground split into endless chasms, seawater surged inward, and the sky tore open with black fissures!
"He's absorbing the entire island!" Rhett's blood mist was being violently pulled away, his face paling. "This bastard… He's trying to drag everyone down with him!"
Rocks' body started crumbling—yet his laughter grew more deranged.
"Kuhahaha! Roger! Garp! You think you've won?!"
"The World Government… Celestial Dragons… the D. Clan… You're all just puppets of fate!"
"My will… will NEVER disappear!"
His flesh disintegrated, but his Conqueror's Haki solidified into a towering black shadow, piercing the heavens!
—*"One day… someone will inherit my ambition! And DESTROY this world!"*
Rhett took one look and *bolted*.
Oh hey, a treasure chest—yoink.
Rayleigh and the others were already retreating to the Oro Jackson.
Rhett's mist churned violently, fighting against the black hole's pull. If he stopped now, the ship would be shredded. He compressed the mist into a shield around the vessel—Damn, I've burned more stamina in this one moment than in the past three days combined.
The crew unleashed their own Conqueror's Haki to resist the annihilation, but the ship remained anchored near God Valley. Their captain was still inside—they wouldn't leave.
The moment the first shockwave passed, Rayleigh and Rhett *blitzed* back toward the island, while Gaban stayed to defend the ship.
"NOW! *GODLY AVOIDANCE!!*" Roger roared, his blade wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, slashing straight for Rocks' throat!
"*Galaxy Impact!*" Garp's fist compressed the air into a vacuum!
"*Underworld: Final Judgment!*" Rayleigh's sword cleaved through the darkness!
"*Mist God Style: Eternal Night!*" Rhett's blood mist morphed into countless blades, sealing Rocks' escape!
—*BOOOOOOM!!!*
In the cataclysmic explosion, Rocks' figure vanished completely.
God Valley… sank beneath the waves.
The Rocks Pirates, seeing their captain fall, scattered. The Marines could only watch—both sides were spent, barely standing.
The crew leaped onto floating debris—what remained of Marine warships shattered by the shockwaves. Rhett's gaze flickered.
Huh. The Science Defense God's still alive.
Damn, this old fossil's resilient. Not bad.
The elder looked at the Roger Pirates. "The World Government owes you a debt. Your bounties will be revoked. Our gratitude for your assistance."
(Rhett, in full Jerry-from-Tom-and-Jerry mode, points at the elder.) "Look at him, thanking us and everything."
At this point, he wasn't even questioning why the Roger Pirates had shown up. Without them, Rocks might've succeeded. No conspiracy theory could explain this—it defied logic.
The Roger Pirates had *zero reason to risk their lives for the World Government. This favor was massive*.
But no way in hell would the elders kneel in thanks. Rhett was fine with that. This kind of leverage? We can do whatever the hell we want now.
As long as the Roger Pirates don't uncover the world's truths too soon… they'll be untouchable. Like ancient Warlords, but without the obligations.