Drip... drip...
The sound of falling water echoed in his ears.
Rocks suddenly sat upright, gasping sharply as he opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
Blood had gathered into a flowing river.
Everything around him carried a dark crimson hue, and faintly above, he could still make out the shattered image of God Valley in the sky.
"Garp... Roger... Nereus... I should thank you for stopping my rampage. But this really is... a terrible ending."
Fragments of memory returned one after another.
Rocks recalled the final moments before his death.
"But where is this... I died... so this is... hell?"
"If you want hell, I can point you in the right direction." 😏
"Nereus?!"
That familiar voice made Rocks turn sharply.
At some unknown moment, a luxurious-looking chair had appeared behind him.
Nereus sat there calmly.
And astonishingly—
Rocks had not sensed when he arrived at all.
"So perception really dulls after death... But how did you die too? With your ability, even dying dozens or hundreds of times shouldn't send you here.
Though... considering how many 'good deeds' you've done, ending up in hell with me feels a little unfair."
"You ask too many questions. Simply put—you're dead, but not completely dead. And this isn't hell.
This is a space created by my ability.
Most of those I kill end up here.
I call it the River of Death." 🩸
The River of Death.
A river of the dead.
This was why Nereus always absorbed blood after killing opponents:
Blood was currency for souls.
Blood was also the vessel of souls.
Those drained dry by Nereus had their souls drawn into the River of Death, becoming part of it and subject to his command.
If necessary—
every soul there could become a substitute death for him.
Even if someone killed Nereus with all their strength, he could still return at full health.
Unless every soul within the blood river was destroyed first.
Nereus did not explain all this in detail.
But Rocks understood enough instinctively.
He could feel that his strength had not diminished at all.
He could still wield his original power.
"So... let me guess.
Were you planning all along to drag me into this river and use me as extra combat power?" 😐
Rocks looked at Nereus suspiciously.
Other pirates coveted treasure.
Nereus, apparently, coveted souls.
"No. This was an impulse decision.
Originally I only wanted to study how to kill those ghost-like things.
I didn't expect you to be the one controlled.
Still, I learned something useful:
That power affects the body—but death clears it.
Garp and Roger explained poorly.
How exactly were you controlled?"
That was Nereus's true purpose here.
Whether the Holy Knights or the controlled Rocks—
he sensed something similar in both.
The difference:
Rocks's body had been contaminated.
The Holy Knights' souls seemed contaminated.
In theory, dragging those souls into the River of Death and destroying them would kill them completely.
But doing so would alert their master—
Imu.
And Nereus did not want Imu learning he possessed such an ability yet.
To Imu, the Five Elders and Holy Knights were expendable pieces.
Killing a few changed nothing strategically—
it would only make Imu more cautious.
So he had deliberately refrained.
Until he possessed the means to decisively kill Imu,
certain cards had to remain hidden. ♟️
Rocks's body had been tainted.
But his soul remained clean enough to enter the River of Death.
If Rocks could explain more, Nereus's understanding would improve.
"I can't explain it clearly. It's complicated.
But take one warning—
don't let that thing wound you.
That monster in Mary Geoise... is not easy to deal with."
Rocks thought for a while before answering.
He was certain of one thing:
The blackened domination could not be used freely.
Certain conditions had to be fulfilled first.
But what those conditions were—
he did not know.
"Perhaps you're right. This really does require a long-term plan.
As for that thing... I'll think carefully before I tell you more."
"You are technically dead now.
Want me to release you?"
Nereus controlled the River of Death.
If he could pull souls in,
he could also release them.
What happened after release—
dissolution, reincarnation, or something else—
even Nereus did not know.
"Release... I only have one question.
Your plan—
does it include killing that rat king hiding in the gutter?"
"Of course."
"Then forget release.
After being played like this by those bastards, I'm not generous enough to let it go.
Consider me lending you my strength.
When the day comes—
remind me, Nereus...
Captain." ⚓
The way Rocks said captain carried obvious amusement.
Yet the title fit.
In this flowing blood river, Nereus alone controlled its current.
Calling him captain was not strange at all.
In any case, Rocks intended to remain here—
waiting for the final war Nereus spoke of.
And Nereus had no reason to refuse strength of this level.
Thus they formed a new alliance.
With a shift of thought, Nereus withdrew his consciousness from the River of Death.
Rainstorm.
God Valley.
Reality returned.
And his mouth twitched slightly, as though suppressing something.
Before Nereus left the River, Rocks had added one final message:
Warn Harald. Imu seems ready to move against him.
As for wife and child—
Rocks had not mentioned them.
He understood that after his death, the Rocks Pirates would inevitably collapse.
And someone like Nereus—
a monster already watched by the World Government—
would only bring more danger if asked to intervene.
Still, in Nereus's view, the pirates on Hachinosu all had their own strange obsessions.
Others fixated on Shakky.
Rocks, perhaps, fixated on Harald.
After all, Harald was always included whenever Rocks mentioned those he could not forget. 😑
"Hah... hah... Garp, after this, you probably can't stay in the Marines, right?
Want to join me instead?
And Nereus—you too. I've always wanted a fishman crewmate." 😅
Though not completely exhausted, Roger looked terrible.
He breathed heavily—
yet still found time to recruit both of them.
As if agreeing would erase everything that had happened before.
"What nonsense. If I quit, who protects the soldiers?"
Garp rejected Roger immediately.
Nereus ignored the invitation entirely.
Without another word, he spread his wings and flew away into the distance.
As for Rocks's corpse—
Nereus left it untouched.
The soul already resided in the River of Death.
The body no longer mattered.
And more importantly—
the World Government's greatest target here had been Rocks himself.
If the body disappeared, it would only create unnecessary suspicion.
Roger also withdrew under his crew's protection.
Though they had cooperated briefly—
next time they met,
they would still be enemies.
Thus—
the God Valley Incident of the West Blue came to an end.
It was classified as an S-Class Absolute Secret.
Limited records remained only in:
Marine HeadquartersMarine G-11 BranchCipher Pol 6
Everything else—
the hunting game participants,
the location of God Valley,
its size,
its population,
—all were erased.
Casualties caused by the incident: Unknown. 📜