Chapter 31 - Chapter 30: Kill Me

In Nereus's impression, neither Garp nor Roger had ever been particularly normal people.

Doing absurd things on impulse was entirely in character for both of them.

He simply had not expected that this condition had started so early... 😑

"So you can still talk normally. Then you really aren't being controlled..."

"Nereus, the situation here is complicated. If you were controlled too, we'd truly be finished."

They had fought him before.

They knew exactly what level Nereus stood at.

One Rocks was already enough to push them to the edge—

if Nereus joined him...

Worse still, God Valley was now covered by rain.

And under rain, Nereus's combat power became even more terrifying. 🌧️

Though Nereus could hardly be called an ally, a clear-minded Nereus at least listened when people spoke.

That alone made him far preferable to a controlled monster.

Yet neither of them seemed to have fully processed his earlier insult.

Garp relaxed after confirming Nereus looked completely different from Rocks.

Roger greeted him—

but then both suddenly focused on something else.

"Wait—who are you calling crippled?!"

"And what do you mean senile dementia?! Am I that old?!" 😠

"...Sigh."

Nereus did not answer.

Instead, he covered his face with one hand.

At this moment, he felt he had made a major mistake:

Judging these two by normal human intelligence standards had indeed been inappropriate.

Just moments ago, Garp and Roger had been blasted back—

but Rocks had also been thrown away.

Now Rocks rose again and swung his blade straight at Nereus.

Boom!

A thunderous impact rang out.

Nereus blocked the descending blade with both claws—

and instantly sensed the changes in Rocks.

"Greater strength than before... reason nearly gone, but combat instinct remains. Haki hasn't diminished either... though something else has mixed into it."

"Be careful! He's not the Rocks you knew anymore!"

Roger slashed from the flank.

Though he failed to break through Rocks's Haki defense, the strike forced Rocks backward again.

[Nereus... kill me... I'm begging you... with Roger and Garp helping... you can do it...]

As Rocks staggered back, Nereus heard the voice.

More precisely—

he heard Rocks's thoughts.

This ability was commonly called the Voice of All Things.

Certain people possessed it naturally.

Those who did could hear sounds ordinary people could not:

Zunesha.

Sea Kings.

And voices beyond normal speech.

Roger and Garp both had this ability, which was why they could hear Rocks begging for death.

Nereus possessed it as well.

He often communicated with the fighting fish and sea beasts he raised—

something exceptionally rare even among fishmen.

Unlike mermaids, who naturally communicated with fish, most fishmen could not understand sea creatures at all.

Only a tiny number could.

And Nereus's listening ability was rarer still. 🌊

"Kill you... Xebec... I see now. So that's why... How ironic."

At last, Nereus understood why Roger and Garp had joined forces here.

"You heard Rocks too, didn't you? Then cooperate for now! His state is completely wrong!"

"What exactly happened to him?"

Originally, Nereus had returned intending to fight the Celestial Dragons who possessed the same immortality as the Holy Knights—

to study that immortality.

But now he had discovered something far worse.

If someone of Rocks's level could be controlled like this—

then future plans had to change.

Before any major move, a way to avoid this control had to be found.

"Earlier we encountered some black thing. After Rocks fought it, he became like this.

As for what it was—I don't know."

Roger assumed Nereus's words meant agreement to cooperate and quickly explained.

"That giant spider was one of the Five Elders. Saturn, I think.

As for the black shadow... I don't know either."

Garp added what little he knew.

But what they did not know—

Nereus did.

He remembered well that the highest confirmed casualty among the Five Elders had come directly from Imu.

Those seemingly immortal elders—

under a single thought from Imu—

had withered into dry bones.

The black shadow Roger and Garp described could only be Imu.

There was no other answer.

Even without knowing the full truth of God Valley, past memory and present clues made the conclusion obvious.

Before they could continue speaking—

Rocks moved again.

Boom!

Still under blackened control, he swung a crushing slash at all three of them.

His body obeyed only one command:

Destroy every living thing on the island.

All three evaded—

but the remaining mountain of God Valley trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.

"Fist Bone Impact!"

"Divine Departure!" ⚡

Garp's shockwave and Roger's slash landed together.

Again Rocks was driven back.

Again no fatal injury appeared.

Instead, the aftershock completely shattered God Valley's last standing mountain.

The island itself began breaking apart.

"That still didn't work... Armament Haki is no weaker than Devil Fruit power. Both our attacks carried Conqueror's infusion—it should have worked..."

"His defense is also Conqueror's Haki. Our attacks are being canceled out. If this drags on, we lose. We can't outlast that monster."

Garp answered Roger while breathing heavily.

A prolonged battle only worked when both sides were near equal.

And Rocks had clearly exceeded that limit.

"The quality of your Haki isn't enough. You can't pierce his defense like that.

One more time.

Fuse your Haki together.

If you can wear down even part of Rocks's defense—

I can break through." 🔥

A blood-red vortex condensed in Nereus's hand.

Large quantities of Conqueror's Haki compressed tighter and tighter—

forming something like a rotating drill.

In a true one-on-one, even Nereus would struggle to decide victory here.

But with Garp and Roger assisting—

everything changed.

"How ugly... Xebec..."

Tears ran down Rocks's face.

Strange growls escaped his throat.

And inside Nereus's mind, Rocks's voice had reduced to only three words:

[Kill me...]

In this condition—

death itself was mercy.

"Seems there's no other choice. Nereus—don't miss! Fire God Kagutsuchi: Wisdom Blade!"

"Infinite... Fist Bone!" 💥

Fist shadows and sword light struck together.

At last, the invisible armor around Rocks cracked.

Unlike the original timeline, because Nereus had joined, Garp and Roger did not pour out every last drop of Haki.

They still retained some strength.

But this was enough.

"Blood Kill: Hell Piercer!"

The balance shattered.

Facing Nereus's assault, Rocks could no longer defend.

The Haki concentrated at Nereus's claws pierced straight through Rocks's chest.

[Th...ank... you...]

The unnatural force left his body.

His consciousness finally began returning.

But in those final seconds—

it seemed Rocks heard one final word:

"Dead River." 🩸