Where the Blood Went

Normally, if a Pirate with a Bounty of several hundred million died in the West Blue, it would definitely count as major news.

Even after the Beli had gone through a period of inflation, a Bounty exceeding one hundred million was still an indirect recognition of their strength.

Such Pirates were not mere cannon fodder even in the New World. At the very least, they were NPCs with names worth mentioning.

But in the current God Valley region, this was insignificant. Pirates stronger than Valentine were everywhere, and all of them were advancing toward God Valley.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid fierce cannon fire, a warship sank into the sea in smoke off the eastern waters of God Valley, drawing the attention of the Marines stationed on the island.

"It's the Rocks Pirates!!!"

"No! Not just them! Many infamous Pirates are coming too!!"

One fluttering Pirate flag after another marked the identities of the incoming Pirates. Forget ordinary soldiers—even officers of rear admiral rank felt a sense of foreboding rise within them.

"Fire! Fire! Stop them! Don't let them land!!"

Boom! Boom!

The other warships adjusted their angles and poured firepower onto the Rocks Pirates' vessel charging at the front.

But the effect was minimal. The Rocks Pirates' ship was several times larger than those massive warships, and it had been built from the finest materials.

No one aboard even bothered to intercept the attacks. Relying on its sheer size and durability, the Rocks Pirates' vessel withstood the Marine bombardment, charged forward, and directly rammed over and crushed the warships in its path.

Then it stormed straight onto the shore.

"Useless, Marines! Rocks Pirates, follow me!"

Rocks took the lead and charged onto the island first, while the Pirates' landing stirred up panic among the Celestial Dragons.

"This is terrible!! The Pirates are here! What are you Marines even good for?!"

"If we so much as suffer a scratch, every last one of you will be hanged!!"

Yet this was only the beginning. Before the Marine officer responsible for receiving intelligence could issue any orders, one piece of terrible news after another arrived from all around him.

"Report! Pirates have been spotted on the west coast. It's the Roger Pirates! They've already landed as well!"

"Report, the north coast..."

"Report! The Celestial Dragons are demanding..."

Message after message left the Marines on the island overwhelmed. Let alone him, even his entire fleet combined might not have been able to deal with a single senior officer from one of the Pirate crews being announced over the broadcast.

And now, Pirate crews like these were appearing in clusters, as though the end of the world had arrived.

Not to mention that they were responsible for the Celestial Dragons' safety. Those Celestial Dragons certainly would not make things easy for them.

One moment, they demanded that the slaves be taken away. The next, they demanded that the prizes be protected.

For these Marines, the only piece of good news was that there were still some elites among the Celestial Dragons.

Garling, the current commander of the Holy Knights, knew full well that these Marines could not handle the invading Pirates. He therefore took over the fight against the Pirates and only had the Marines handle the evacuation of the other Celestial Dragons.

The Marine reinforcements led by Garp also landed soon afterward, giving the Marines on the island a flicker of hope.

But no matter what, the island had already been completely engulfed by war. With forces from every side crossing paths while harboring their own schemes, God Valley had become a nightmare battlefield with nowhere to escape.

And the source of an attack was not necessarily an enemy.

"Newgate! You bastard, was that attack just now aimed at me?!"

"Who slashed you? Wasn't I slashing an enemy?"

Facing Charlotte Linlin's accusation, Whitebeard offered his explanation and pointed at the Holy Knights member beside him whom he had cut in half at the waist, proving that he had not struck the wrong target.

But that explanation was not enough to convince Charlotte Linlin.

"You think I'm an idiot?! I almost died there! Do you want to settle who's stronger here and now?!"

"No interest. Just how many Marines are on this island? How many Pirates have landed?!"

A group of Pirates seeking fame had tacitly launched attacks on the Rocks Pirates' members, while the members of the Rocks Pirates gradually split into several groups and temporarily joined forces at different locations.

Though even their own crewmates were hardly trustworthy, they could at least be of some help.

"Rocks vanished without a trace, but why is that guy Nereus gone too?! Babel! Where did he go?! Don't tell me he went ahead to snatch Shakky?"

Kogarashi and Oto left afterimages as Golden Lion swung them. Every strike was accompanied by a flying slash, yet the enemies before him seemed endless.

He had just killed one group when another would emerge the moment he turned around.

Golden Lion had a rough idea where the others were, but Nereus, who had left the group midway, remained a mystery.

Golden Lion could not help asking Babel, who was also a Fish-Man.

"How would I know something like that? Big Brother doesn't need to tell me where he's going! But don't judge Big Brother with that head of yours full of filthy thoughts! He must be handling something important!"

Babel sent an enemy at his side flying with a punch, but Golden Lion seemed to have latched onto the wrong point.

"You called my Shakky filthy thoughts? Has your taste gone wrong too, you bastard?!"

"Stop arguing! Isn't Nereus over in that direction?!"

Kaido pointed toward one side of the island. Though nothing could be seen there, the people present all looked down at their feet in unspoken agreement.

The corpses of the Pirates who had just been killed while attacking them were undergoing a strange change. The blood inside their bodies seemed to have been drawn by some mysterious force, flowing out through their wounds.

The blood gathered into a river and flowed eerily in one direction, as if something were drawing it in.

"Nereus has started using his ability again."

In Kaido's understanding, only Nereus could manipulate blood within a certain range like this, and only he would do such a thing.

"I remember that guy saying this ability only works on the dead, right? By the way, what does he absorb so much blood for every time? To fill his stomach?"

"Who knows? Blood is the currency of the soul... I think that's what he said. Always so mysterious."

The others aboard the ship had interacted with Nereus to varying degrees and knew a little about him, but now was not the time to discuss his ability. Compared to that, the treasure ahead was more important.

At the same time, on the other side of God Valley, Nereus had also landed on the island. He was currently in the Zoan user's human-beast form.

Broad bat wings spread from his back, and his pupils had taken on a faint crimson hue.

But unlike when he had sparred with Rocks, a segment of blood-red Flame Clouds floated behind him as well.

These Flame Clouds were no decoration. With the update of the era, they were the special mark of a Zoan user's awakening!