"Did you see that? Celestial Dragons are nothing more than flesh and blood like us. They don't have three heads or six arms. With just a little help, you can do what happened today too.
"The key is whether you have the courage to do it—and to bear the consequences!"
The longer one remained within the Gravity Field, the greater its effects became. At first, it merely made movement difficult, but as time passed, Elatin's body began to suffer a strange numbness. However, he had not yet lost consciousness.
Elatin could see a group of people outside the Gravity Field seemingly celebrating something.
"You damn lowborn filth, how dare you..."
Elatin wanted to speak, but at some point, he had already lost control of his tongue. The smoke released when the Lotus Trap exploded had yet to disperse.
After his gas mask was slashed apart, the poisonous smoke began invading his mouth and nose. Before losing consciousness, the last thing Elatin saw was a shoe sole rapidly growing larger.
"Anyone want to give him a stomp? Once we leave here, you'll have to consider the consequences before doing something like this. You might never get another chance."
The exoskeleton on Oran's body could emit a special Hex Energy Field, which happened to offset the restrictions of the Gravity Field. Thus, even before the Gravity Field was deactivated, he could move freely within it.
To be safe, Oran gave Elatin another anesthetic injection, eliminating any chance of him waking up midway, before shutting down the Gravity Field.
"I will!"
Oran's words were still rather shocking on these seas. Knocking down a Celestial Dragon and then trampling him beneath one's feet had already shattered the worldview of those around them once again.
They had been so stunned that they failed to realize that the suggestion to "give him a stomp" was equally shocking. In the end, Ginny was the first to step forward, kicking the Celestial Dragon straight in the head.
After nine years of slavery, she loathed this group to the bone. A few stomps were nowhere near enough to vent the resentment in her heart.
Ginny had opened the floodgates. The natives of God Valley were still somewhat hesitant, but the slaves could no longer hold themselves back.
"You bastard, you damned thing! Do you know how we've lived all these years?!"
"Give me back my family! Give them back!"
Amid furious curses, countless fists and feet rained down on him. These people had finally found the courage to kick a man when he was down, though their blows did little real damage.
Celestial Dragons were not only morally bankrupt, but had also developed outrageously thick skins. Even if they were beaten with spiked clubs, they would not suffer fatal injuries anytime soon.
Soon, Elatin's clothes were stripped off as well, and the agents who had died here earlier received the same treatment.
After piecing together several complete outfits, Ivankov's action squad found people of similar builds and had them change into the disguises. They planned to approach the center of the island and see if they could snatch some fruits, increasing the odds of success.
Oran, meanwhile, carried the unconscious Elatin back to their original base. Shak had just sent word that, through the efforts of the craftsmen, construction of the device had finally been completed.
Both plans had entered their final stages, and God Valley had invisibly become the eye of the world's storm.
"Pirates! Fire! Fire!"
At the outskirts of God Valley, the cannons aboard the warships poured out firepower like mad. The dense mass of pirate ships before them made the Marines' hearts tighten. Every one of these pirates was notorious; none of them were easy prey.
"What's going on? Why are there so many pirates?!"
The Marine in charge of lookout duty was drenched in sweat. Since joining the Marines, this was the first time he had ever seen so many pirates.
At first, the warships could still hold back some pirate vessels. But when a special flag appeared over the sea, that fragile balance vanished in an instant.
"R... R... It's the Rocks Pirates! I repeat, the Rocks Pirates have appeared on the eastern side of the island! Requesting reinforcements!!!"
A burning skull replaced the "o" in Rocks as Rocks' signature pirate flag began fluttering in the wind. As the strongest pirate of this era, his appearance alone shattered the confidence of some Marines.
That kind of monster was not something they could stop. Worse still, there was not just one monster, but an entire ship full of them.
"Useless Marines! Rocks Pirates, everyone, charge with me!"
On the flagship of the Rocks Pirates, a long-haired man stood at the bow. With a mere raise of his hand, a warship was utterly smashed apart by the sword slash he unleashed. Not seeing any of those familiar powerful Marines, Rocks' face was filled with contempt.
He did not even wait for the ship to dock before charging out.
"Hey, hold it, Rocks! Since when did we become your subordinates? You bastard."
After Rocks, one towering figure after another emerged: Whitebeard, Big Mom, Golden Lion, Kaido, John, Ochoku, Silver Axe...
Some were famous pirates who had made their names long ago, while others were lesser-known apprentices. Yet every last one of them was a monster.
"That idiot Rocks definitely forgot what our original objective was. We need to figure it out quickly."
"Newgate! Who are you trying to act like a boss for?! Watch me send every one of you flying!"
"Mamamama~ Mamamama~ Who cares what Rocks is thinking? Why not just secretly grab the goods and run? Do you really want to risk your lives here? The information said the treasure is at the center of the island."
The Rocks Pirates had a very peculiar makeup. To outsiders, they appeared to be a single unit, but in truth, none of them accepted the others. Still, driven by their shared interests, they began advancing toward the island's center.
"The Rocks Pirates have landed!"
"It's the Roger Pirates! They've appeared too! Pirates are everywhere! We can't hold them back!"
Without support from top-tier fighters, the Marines' defensive line crumbled at the first blow. These Marines, originally tasked with suppressing the island's civilians, simply could not handle battles of this level.
"All Marines, go protect the Celestial Dragons! Organize their orderly evacuation! The Divine Knights will deal with the enemies here!"
The reason the Marines' top fighters had not accompanied them was simple: the Celestial Dragons and the World Government had their own high-end combat forces. At this moment, Gringo took on the responsibility of dealing with these monsters.
"Has everyone returned?"
"Reporting to Saint Gringo, everyone except Saint Elatin's team has returned."
"Elatin... What is he dawdling over at a time like this..."
"Gringo! This is bad! Elatin's Vivre Card... has disintegrated!"
"What did you say?!"
When the words of another Celestial Dragon reached his ears, Gringo suspected that he had misheard something.
The crafting method of a Vivre Card was extremely special. Fire could not ignite it, water could not soak through it, and no matter how finely it was torn, it would never vanish into thin air. Only one circumstance could reduce it to ashes.
That meant the owner of the Vivre Card was dead!
Before you continue