God Valley's Finale! The Fruits' Final Destinations

On Hachinosu's beach, the civilians' cries gradually subsided. Ginny and several people willing to help settled them into hastily erected shelters and handed out food and water. In the castle infirmary, Moria lay in a hospital bed while King bandaged the whip wounds on his shoulder. At the training ground, Bullet smashed wooden posts with one punch apiece, as if venting his frustration over the fight he hadn't finished at God Valley. Kuma sat by the sea, watching the sunset, the pads on his palms still faintly red.

In the warehouse, Lin Yuan and Kaido stood facing each other.

The box containing the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon sat on a wooden table between them. It was open, and the dark red fruit lay quietly on velvet, its surface covered in scale-like bumps. Light faintly swirled inside it, as if something were sleeping within.

Kaido reached out, picked up the fruit, and held it before his eyes.

"Wororororo..." He laughed, unable to contain the excitement in his voice. "I've finally got you."

"Eat it." Lin Yuan leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets. "Don't choke."

Kaido opened his mouth and took a big bite.

His face twisted instantly. It tasted awful, like spoiled rubber and rotten bananas boiled into a paste and left to sit for three days and nights. But he didn't spit it out. He chewed twice and swallowed.

"Tastes like fucking shit."

"All Devil Fruits are like that," Lin Yuan said. "How do you feel?"

Kaido closed his eyes, feeling the power surging inside him. A hot current spread from his stomach to every limb and bone, like magma flowing through his veins. His skin began to burn, his heartbeat quickened, and his breathing grew heavy.

"Something... is trying to get out..."

His body began to transform.

Azure dragon scales appeared on his skin, spreading from his arms to his shoulders, then from his shoulders to his chest. His body swelled a size larger, stretching his clothes tight. The muscles on his back bulged, and his spine cracked. A thick dragon tail emerged from his tailbone and slammed into the warehouse wall, leaving a crack. His hands turned into dragon claws, with nails sharp as knives and knuckles as thick as hammers.

"Aah!"

Kaido threw back his head and roared, the cry of a dragon mingling with his voice. His eyes became dark golden slits, his pupils contracting like a snake's. A terrifying aura burst out of him—not Conqueror's Haki, but something more primal, the pressure of the king of beasts.

Then he fell.

Kaido's towering body hit the ground with a thud. Dragon scales still flickered in and out of sight on his skin, and his tail lashed the floor unconsciously. He had passed out.

Lin Yuan crouched down and checked his breathing. It was steady, and his heartbeat was strong.

"The fruit's power is too strong. His body is adjusting," he muttered. "He should be fine."

He stood, walked to the warehouse entrance, and shouted outside, "King! Come keep an eye on Kaido!"

King came over from the infirmary, the flames on his back dancing in the twilight.

"He ate it?"

"He did. Passed out. Stay with him and call me when he wakes up."

King nodded, entered the warehouse, and sat down beside Kaido.

Lin Yuan walked out of the warehouse and stood on the steps, looking out at the distant sea. The sun had already sunk completely below the horizon, leaving a dark red streak in the sky, like a bloodstain left by the slaughter at God Valley.

Ginny came over from the beach with a list in her hand.

"The civilians are settled. Four hundred and thirty-seven, every last one accounted for."

"Anyone willing to stay?"

"I asked. A little over two hundred want to stay. The rest want to leave when it's safe." Ginny paused. "Some also asked if they could join us."

Lin Yuan thought it over.

"Anyone willing to work can stay. Those who want to fight can train first. Not just anyone can go onto a battlefield."

Ginny made a note on the list, then looked up at him.

"Lin Yuan, how do you think things are at God Valley... now?"

Lin Yuan looked into the distance and fell silent for a moment.

"Soon. It's time to wrap things up."

God Valley.

After Lin Yuan's retreat gate closed, the various forces on the battlefield entered the final stage of reaping the spoils.

Garp was the first to reach the prize warehouse.

He pushed open the half-closed iron door and went inside. The warehouse was a mess. Of the five boxes, three were already empty, and two more were open. The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu and the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix lay quietly on velvet, giving off a faint sheen in the dim light.

Garp glanced at the two boxes, then at the labels still attached to the empty ones: Azure Dragon, Tremor-Tremor, Gravity.

"Three were taken..." he said quietly. "That brat works fast."

Rather than grab the fruits right away, he went to the back of the warehouse and pushed open a small door. Behind it was a secret passage leading into the palace. No sooner had he entered than he heard footsteps from the other end.

Someone was coming.

Garp stepped back into the warehouse and stood in the center, arms folded, waiting.

The passage door opened, and a burly man walked out. He wore a black coat, had two flintlock pistols tucked at his waist, and wore an unsettling smile.

Rocks D. Xebec.

The two men looked at each other.

"Garp," Rocks said.

"Rocks," Garp said.

The air froze for an instant.

Rocks looked past Garp at the two open boxes. The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu and the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix were still there.

"Two," Rocks said. "Perfect."

"Which one do you want?" Garp asked.

"The Phoenix," Rocks said. "For a brat on Newgate's ship. His name's Marco. I can tell he'll be strong someday."

"I'll take the Daibutsu," Garp said. "That kid Sengoku's better suited to it than I am."

They held each other's gaze for a second, then moved at the same time.

Not to fight. To take the fruits.

Garp reached out and picked up the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu, while Rocks picked up the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix. They each took one, and neither tried to snatch the other's.

"You're not going to stop me?" Rocks asked.

"Why would I?" Garp tucked the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu inside his clothes. "My job is to protect the Celestial Dragons, not fight over fruits. You've already killed two of them. I got here too late."

Rocks laughed.

"Then how are you going to explain yourself when you get back?"

"If I can't, I won't." Garp turned and headed for the warehouse door. "It's not the first time, anyway."

He took a few steps, then stopped without turning around.

"Rocks."

"Hmm?"

"You killed Celestial Dragons today. The World Government won't let this go."

"When have they ever let anything go?" Rocks slipped the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix into his coat pocket. "Let them come."

Garp said nothing more and walked out of the warehouse.

Rocks stood in the center of the warehouse, watching Garp leave. The smile on his face slowly faded.

"Garp... I really can't figure you out."

He turned and left through the secret passage as well.

Outside the palace.

Sengoku stood at the entrance to the command post, his face ashen. He held a battle report that had just arrived: two Celestial Dragons dead and one wounded, the entire guard force wiped out, CP0 suffering heavy losses, three Holy Knights killed, and the Rocks Pirates escaping unscathed.

Tsuru came over and handed him a cup of tea.

"Have some tea."

"I can't stomach it." Sengoku took the cup but didn't drink. "Two Celestial Dragons are dead. This is a major incident."

"And?"

"And someone has to take the blame." Sengoku put the cup down. "The Navy, CP0, or the Holy Knights. Whatever happens, we can't say the World Government failed to protect them."

Tsuru fell silent for a moment.

"What are you going to do?"

Sengoku took out a golden-yellow fruit that Garp had just pressed into his hands. Its surface bore a pattern of a Buddha seated on a lotus, and it gave off a faint golden glow.

"Garp grabbed it from the warehouse. The Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Buddha Form." Sengoku looked at the fruit and fell silent for a long time. "He told me to eat it."

"Will you?"

"Yes," Sengoku said. "Once I eat it, I'll be stronger. If I'm stronger, I can take down more pirates. If I take down more pirates, the World Government won't pursue what happened today."

Tsuru glanced at him but said nothing.

Sengoku brought the fruit to his mouth and took a bite.

His face twisted for an instant. It tasted awful. But he swallowed, then took a second bite, and a third. After eating the whole fruit, he closed his eyes and felt the power surging inside him.

A golden light shone from his body.

His body began to swell, stretching his clothes apart as his skin turned gold. The enormous phantom of a Buddha appeared behind him, its golden radiance illuminating half the sky. The surrounding Navy soldiers fell to their knees. Some covered their eyes, afraid to look directly at it, while others muttered under their breath.

Sengoku opened his eyes. They had turned gold.

"The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu... not bad."

Out at sea.

The Rocks Pirates' massive ship sailed slowly away from God Valley. On deck, the officers rested. Golden Lion sat on the railing, playing with a floating stone as he continued to adjust to the powers of the Press-Press Fruit. Whitebeard leaned against the mast with a bowl of liquor in his hand, white light occasionally flashing over his fist. Big Mom ate desserts in the cabin, with Homies standing on her shoulders.

Rocks walked up to Whitebeard, pulled the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix from his pocket, and tossed it to him.

"Here."

Whitebeard caught the fruit and looked at it.

"Phoenix?"

"For that brat on your ship," Rocks said. "The one called Marco."

Whitebeard fell silent for a moment.

"How do you know he'll be strong someday?"

"I can still judge a person's potential." Rocks turned around. "You too. Sooner or later, you'll leave my ship and become a captain yourself. When that happens, you'll need your own crew."

Whitebeard neither denied nor admitted it. He simply tucked the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix inside his clothes.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Rocks walked into the cabin. "It's not like I can eat a second one anyway."

The massive ship sailed farther and farther away. God Valley grew smaller in the twilight until it became a dark shadow on the horizon.

On the observation deck of the island palace, Saint Mjosgard was still slumped on the ground, trembling all over. Navy soldiers cleared the battlefield, carrying away the bodies one by one. CP0 agents tallied their losses, each looking grimmer than the last. Sengoku stood at the entrance to the command post, the golden afterglow of the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu still lingering on his body.

The Roger Pirates' Oro Jackson had also sailed away from God Valley. Roger stood at the bow, looking in the direction the Rocks Pirates had gone, and took a swig of liquor.

"Rayleigh."

"Hmm?"

"That space brat, the one called Lin Yuan," Roger said. "He was the first to clear out the warehouse today."

"I know."

"He also brought Kaido, Bullet, Kuma, King, and Moria." Roger smiled. "Five of them, six counting himself. They snatched the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon right under the noses of Rocks and the Navy."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying..." Roger tossed the bottle into the sea. "There's going to be another madman on these seas."

Rayleigh didn't reply. He simply pushed up his glasses.

The sea breeze continued to blow. In the sky above God Valley, the rift torn open by Conqueror's Haki finally closed. Dark clouds gathered again, blotting out the last light of the setting sun. Fires still burned on the island, but no one was fighting anymore.

And so the God Valley Incident came to an end.

(End of Chapter 42)