Judging You by Human Standards Was Indeed My Mistake

"Why couldn't it be me, Marine?"

"..."

Dragon was left speechless for a moment. His lips moved slightly, but he had no idea how to answer that question.

The World Government had ordered the slaughter on this island, and the Marines had been responsible for enforcing it.

Then the pirates saving people here did not seem so unacceptable after all.

When Dragon could not answer, Nereus studied him as well. Though he was young and lacked the mark known as a "slipper print" on his face,

there was no doubt that this man was the one who would establish the Revolutionary Army.

Although the Revolutionary Army was largely a ragtag outfit, over the long years that followed, it had become one of the few organizations opposed to the Celestial Dragons.

"Judging by the way you look now, you probably knew nothing about any of this before today, did you?"

"Then tell me, Marine!"

"After seeing all this with your own eyes, do you think your Marines still deserve to bear the word justice?!"

Justice was the Marines' slogan. Every Marine had shouted that word countless times as a recruit, but now it pierced Dragon's ears like needles.

The faith he had once held without question in justice had become a colossal joke at this moment.

"He's actually a good Marine. He was the one who saved me on the island..."

"He even bandaged my wounds..."

"But... this gentleman was the one who let us board the ship..."

The civilians of God Valley could not make sense of the situation either. They normally paid little attention to enormous Bounties, at most occasionally hearing someone mention them.

They only knew who had helped them when they had been at the end of their rope.

After Dragon dropped the weapon in his hand, they no longer pointed their guns at him.

It was then that an extremely violent gust suddenly erupted from the central region of God Valley.

The sails creaked violently under the wind, the ropes instantly drawing taut like bowstrings, and the entire ship began swaying noticeably from side to side.

Several overwhelmingly powerful Haki pressures were contained within that current, strangely mixed with an indescribable chill.

Then, a massive cliff on one side of God Valley collapsed with a thunderous roar, while the heavy clouds high in the sky were forcibly torn open by an invisible force, leaving behind a huge rift.

There was no doubt that beneath the aftermath of the fierce clash between these powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of the world, the innocent sky had once again become collateral damage.

"You can either get off this ship now, or help sail it. Handling a medium-sized warship is quite different from handling a large one."

In the past, Nereus and the others had always directly seized large warships, so they were very familiar with controlling them.

When it came to smaller warships, they were actually somewhat unaccustomed to them.

"You... aren't going to kill me?"

"I don't kill just anyone. Come to think of it, I haven't paid attention to how the Marines have been describing me lately. If I get the chance, I'd like to hear you tell me."

Nereus did not continue paying attention to Dragon. He could no longer see any ordinary people or slaves nearby, so it was time for the ship to set sail.

Nereus himself spread his wings and flew toward the source of that strange aura.

As for whether Dragon would cause any trouble...

Even if Nereus knew nothing about Dragon, he would not care about him. The other man was simply too weak; Babel could crush him to death without any effort.

"Stop staring, kid. Big Brother has already left. Since Big Brother didn't kill you, I won't lay a hand on you as long as you don't cause trouble. Get to work!"

Dragon said nothing. He merely walked beneath the mast and began adjusting the angle of the sails.

"Seize a ship immediately! Get out of here!"

"Huh? Brother Fierce, isn't Rocks' ship still there?"

"Idiot, who would go back at a time like this?!"

As Nereus headed toward the center of the island, the other pirates also began preparing to seize ships and flee, though they were a step behind him.

Silver Axe was only one of them. The others had more or less made similar plans.

"Jihahahaha! The Rocks Pirates end here!"

Golden Lion, who could fly himself, found escaping even more convenient. He did not need a ship at all and simply flew into the distance with his belongings.

There were even more groups boarding ships together. Gloriosa had slipped aboard Roger's pirate ship, while Whitebeard received an invitation from Paul Graham.

He called himself a Whitebeard admirer, but he was a genuine admirer. In appearance, he was almost identical to Marco.

Meanwhile, in the core area of God Valley, Garp and Roger were fighting Rocks.

More precisely, they were facing a demonized Rocks who had fallen under Imu's Black-Turn Domination.

Rocks was in a very abnormal state. Not only had two pairs of fangs appeared in his mouth, but demonic wings had also sprouted from his back.

This was Imu's ability. Once certain conditions were met, Imu could use this method to control someone.

[Please, kill me...]

That was Rocks' plea at this moment. Under control, he could not speak at all, but both Roger and Garp heard those words.

"I say, Roger, you heard it too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Garp, I originally planned to take down both you and Rocks in one go here."

"I only wanted to snatch Shakky and the treasure, then run away!"

The two complained at the same time, yet tacitly threw off the coats draped over their shoulders.

"So we're joining forces for now?"

"I hate the idea, but we really can't ignore this guy..."

Garp and Roger thus formed an alliance, but the problem was that even together, the current Rocks was not so easy to deal with. Instead, the two of them were sent flying first.

"Can someone tell me what exactly is going on here?"

At that moment, Nereus also arrived at this central battlefield. In Nereus' memories, Roger and Garp really would join forces, but the mutated Rocks was the part Nereus did not understand.

Upon seeing Nereus arrive, Roger was startled. He then said to Garp beside him, "Garp! What the hell is that black monster of your World Government? How did even this guy get controlled? Is your justice just a joke?!"

"Cough, cough... I agree, but don't worry about that first. Think about how we're going to deal with these two!"

Even upon close inspection, it was difficult to tell the difference between vampire wings and demon wings. Nereus' appearance here seemed to give Roger and Garp the mistaken impression that he had been controlled as well.

One Rocks was already nearly the death of them. If they had to add a Nereus on the same level as Rocks...

then they would have to start figuring out how to escape.

"You two idiots... do you both have polio and senile dementia at the same time?! Have you forgotten that I'm an ability user?!"