River of Death

Drip... drip...

The sound of water droplets falling reached his ears. Rocks abruptly sat up, gasping for breath after opening his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings.

Blood had gathered into a river, painting everything around him a dark crimson. Faintly, he could still seem to see the image of God Valley in the sky.

"Garp... Roger... Nereus... I should thank you for stopping my rampage, but this really was a... terrible ending."

His memories surfaced one by one as Rocks began recalling his final experiences.

"But where is this... I'm already dead... so this is... hell?"

"If you want to go to hell, I can point you in the right direction."

"Nereus?!"

That familiar voice startled Rocks. When he turned around, he found an extravagant-looking chair behind him that had appeared at some unknown point.

Nereus sat there, yet Rocks had failed to notice when he had appeared.

"My senses really did decline after death... But how did you die too? With your ability, you shouldn't have ended up here even if you died dozens or hundreds of times.

"But you... after doing so many good things, it seems a little unfair for you to come to hell with me."

"You have a lot of questions. Simply put, you're dead now, but not completely dead. This isn't hell either.

"It's a space created by my ability. Most of the people I've killed are here. I call it the River of Death."

The River of Death—the river of the dead. The reason Nereus always drew his opponents' blood after killing them was because blood was both the currency and the vessel of souls.

Those drained dry by Nereus would have their souls enter the River of Death, becoming part of it and subject to Nereus's commands.

If necessary, every soul could become a substitute sacrifice for Nereus. Even if someone exhausted all their strength to kill Nereus once, he would still revive at full health.

Unless they first slaughtered every soul within the Blood River.

Nereus had not explained exactly what the River of Death was to Rocks, but Rocks had his own sense of it. He could feel that his strength seemed unchanged, and he could still wield his original combat power.

"Tell me... you didn't prepare this in advance, did you? Were you planning to put me in this River of Death of yours to increase your fighting strength?"

Rocks looked at Nereus, seemingly convinced that this handsome man was secretly devious. Other Pirates might covet treasure, but Nereus seemed to covet souls.

"No, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Originally, I only wanted to study how to kill those ghostly things. I didn't expect you to be the one who got controlled.

"But I did gain some good news from it. Although that ability acts on the body, it seems that dying once clears it away.

"Garp and Roger were unclear about it. How exactly were you controlled?"

This was Nereus's final test result. Whether it was the Holy Knights' members or the controlled Rocks, Nereus could sense something similar within them.

The difference was that blackened Rocks's body had been contaminated, while the Holy Knights' souls seemed to have been contaminated.

In theory, if he pulled those souls into the River of Death and destroyed them, he could kill them completely.

But under such circumstances, if he absorbed those controlled souls, their master, Imu, would notice.

Nereus did not want Imu to know he possessed this ability yet.

Whether the Five Elders or the Holy Knights' members, they were all expendable to Imu. Killing a few would bring little gain and only make Imu more wary.

That was why he had not done so. Before gaining the ability to kill Imu outright, he still needed to keep a few cards hidden.

Rocks's body had been contaminated, but his soul was still clean enough. That was why he had been drawn into the River of Death.

If Rocks could provide a more detailed answer, it would also help Nereus refine his speculation.

"I can't explain it clearly. This thing is complicated, but I'll give you some advice: it would be best not to get hurt by that thing. That ghostly thing in Mary Geoise... isn't easy to deal with."

Rocks recalled for a moment, but that was all he could offer in the end.

He could be certain that Black-Turn Domination was not an ability one could use whenever one wished. Certain prerequisites had to be met before it could be used, but Rocks could not determine what those conditions were.

"Perhaps you're right. A long-term plan really is necessary. As for that person's circumstances... I'll tell you once I've sorted out my thoughts."

"You're in a state of death now. Do you want me to send you on your way?"

Control of the River of Death lay in Nereus's hands. Since he could draw souls in, he could naturally release them as well and return them to freedom.

Whether that freedom meant dispersal, reincarnation, or something else, Nereus did not know.

"Release... I only have one question. Does your plan include getting rid of that rat king hiding in the gutter?"

"Of course."

"Then forget it. Those bastards set me up like that—I won't let it go so generously. I'll consider it my contribution to your cause.

"When the day comes that you're ready, remember to remind me, Nereus... 'Captain.'"

When he said "Captain," Rocks's tone became strange, as though he were teasing him.

The comparison was not far off. After all, within this flowing river of blood, Nereus was the only one capable of controlling the current. Calling him the "captain" here was hardly strange.

In any case, Rocks intended to remain here for now and wait for the decisive battle Nereus had spoken of.

Nereus would not refuse combat power of this level. The two had reached a new agreement for cooperation.

With a shift of thought, Nereus's consciousness left the River of Death within his body and returned to rain-soaked God Valley. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as though he were suppressing something.

Before Nereus left the River of Death, Rocks had said one more thing to him: remind Harald that Imu seemed to be preparing to make a move against him.

As for his wife and child, Rocks had not mentioned them. He knew that after his death, the Rocks Pirates would inevitably fall apart. A monster like Nereus, meanwhile, might draw the World Government's attention.

Asking him to look after them would only bring greater trouble.

Yet in Nereus's view, it could only be said that the Pirates of Beehive Island each had their own sexual frustrations. The others targeted Shakky, while Rocks perhaps targeted Harald.

After all, the person Rocks could never forget always included that giant.

"Hah... hah... Say, Garp, after this, you probably can't stay in the Marines anymore, can you? Want to come over to my side?

"And Nereus, why don't you consider it too? I've always wanted a Fish-Man companion."

Even though he had not collapsed from exhaustion, Roger was in poor condition, gasping heavily. Yet he still had the leisure to recruit Garp and Nereus.

It seemed that as long as they agreed, Roger would not care about what had happened before.

"What kind of joke is that? If I quit, who's going to protect the soldiers?"

Garp rejected Roger's offer. Nereus had even less intention of responding to the invitation, directly beating his wings and flying away into the distance.

As for Rocks's corpse, Nereus did not touch it. Rocks's soul was already inside his River of Death, so the body was no longer that important.

Besides, Rocks had been the greatest target of the God Valley Incident. If they could not find Rocks's body, it would instead cause unnecessary trouble.

Roger also withdrew under the cover of his companions. Though they had joined forces briefly, they would still be enemies the next time they met.

Thus, the God Valley Incident in the West Blue came to an end.

The incident was classified as an absolute S-rank secret. Marine Headquarters, Marine G-11 Branch, and CP6 retained certain records of it.

Apart from that, the list of Hunting Game participants, the host location of God Valley, and its geographical location, area, and population information were all erased.

Casualties caused by the incident—unknown.