Good News, Fate Had Changed!

"Paramecia: Reaction Fruit... What a troublesome ability..."

John became increasingly certain that Pete was the traitor who had stabbed him in the back and killed him in fate.

Within a certain range, the Reaction Fruit could speed up or slow down the reactions of all living beings or specified targets.

To outsiders, someone whose reactions had been slowed looked just like they had been hit by the Slow-Slow Fruit's slowing beam.

And the victim would not even react before being killed!

If not for Haki transcending all else, the Reaction Fruit's ability would have been invincible!

But even if sufficiently powerful Haki could dispel abnormal states caused by Devil Fruits, there was one crucial prerequisite...

You had to consciously activate your Haki!

Unfortunately, the Reaction Fruit could even affect thought.

If you did not even have the thought of using Haki, how could you dispel the abnormal state caused by the Reaction Fruit?

So... if you were not prepared beforehand and got hit by the Reaction Fruit, you were finished!

"Should I strike first?"

John recalled a saying—before others could harm me, I would kill them first!

"Still, if Rocks survives this time, there will be no need to get rid of Pete."

"If Rocks still dies, can killing Pete really change fate?"

"Fuck!"

Outskirts of God Valley Town

"Be good. Don't make a sound, no matter what. Just hold on a little longer."

Dragon held two red-haired infants in his arms as he staggered through the jungle, his pounding heart leaving him tense to the extreme.

He had stumbled upon the two infants after accidentally running into town. Taking advantage of the Celestial Dragons' panicked retreat after being frightened by the pirates, he had rescued them.

This was the only thing Dragon could do with all his strength right now.

"Which way are the Marine warships?"

As he ran, Dragon stopped and swept his gaze around the surrounding jungle in confusion and anxiety.

No matter which way he looked, all the trees seemed identical. He could not tell the difference at all.

"What should I do?"

Dragon clenched his teeth, hating his own helplessness beyond measure.

He had only joined the Marines not long ago. Before he had even received any special training, he had been hauled here aboard a warship.

And before that, his father had left him to fend for himself in the Goa Kingdom. Inheriting the same mischievous temperament, he had not properly studied either.

Now that he was trapped in the jungle, he had no skills whatsoever to determine direction.

Dragon deeply regretted being so playful and not studying seriously.

"Found him. The Marine who took the babies."

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind him out of nowhere, startling Dragon into turning around.

The newcomer was a woman with twin horns, half-black and half-white hair, and sharp teeth. She held a Den Den Mushi in her right hand and a cigar in her left.

"A pirate?"

Dragon frowned, decisively turned around, and ran.

The Celestial Dragons were devils, but that did not mean pirates could be trusted!

"Still running?"

Watching Dragon's retreating back, Chaychitz Maffey opened her sharp-toothed mouth, light gathering within it.

After a brief charge, she fired a laser with a Biu.

Locked on by Observation Haki, the laser accurately struck Dragon's right shoulder, piercing through flesh and continuing into the distant jungle before triggering a violent explosion.

The intense pain sent Dragon's nerves into spasms, causing him to briefly lose consciousness as the blast wave knocked his stiffly leaning body forward onto the ground.

In the final second before falling, Dragon instinctively shifted his body slightly to avoid crushing the two infants in his arms.

Finally, as Dragon fell, the two infants rolled from his arms and landed on the grass.

"Done. The children are in hand."

"Thanks to you, Maffey! Otherwise, Garling would have killed me!"

"Remember, you owe me a favor."

Maffey hung up the call, stepped forward, and picked up one of the red-haired infants to inspect.

"That Garling actually had two children without anyone noticing. It really doesn't fit his usual cold demeanor."

After her surprise passed, Maffey turned her gaze toward Dragon, who lay prone on the ground and was gradually regaining consciousness.

"You're quite the strange one. Should I call you a kidnapper who abducts children, or a 'righteous' Marine?"

"Wait!"

Dragon forced his heavy body to move through sheer will, raising an arm toward the infant Maffey held in her hand.

"These two children are my 'redemption,' my redemption for taking part in this insane slaughter game and throwing in my lot with people like you!"

"Heh!"

Maffey sneered at Dragon's repentance, flicked away her cigar, and drew the longsword hanging at her waist.

She gripped the hilt in reverse, the blade pointing downward as it hovered above Dragon's head.

"Your greatest sin was defying the will of us Celestial Dragons!"

"Farewell, foolish young man."

Dragon tilted his head and watched the descending blade from the corner of his eye, a trace of relief unexpectedly rising in his heart.

"So this is my end. Thinking of those who died, this is merely the retribution I deserve..."

Sizzle—

Just as the sword was about to sever Dragon's neck, dense purple arcs of electricity suddenly appeared across the blade.

Maffey only felt as though the sword in her hand had come alive. It froze in midair, refusing to fall no matter what she did.

"Damn it! What the—"

Before she could finish, a purple-haired figure came flying sideways out of the jungle.

John extended the hand he had held behind his lower back, his right palm facing forward, and slammed straight into Maffey's cheek, carrying her in a blur deep into the jungle.

Along the way, Maffey's body smashed through tree after tree, carving out an open path through the forest.

"Fuck!"

John continued ramming Maffey forward by the head, unable to stop himself from cursing.

He had not actually just arrived. He had reached the area seven or eight seconds earlier and watched helplessly as Dragon's shoulder was pierced by the laser.

He remembered that, in the original course of fate, Newgate and Linlin were supposed to pass by, conveniently run over Maffey like a speed bump, and cut her down, indirectly saving Dragon.

But during the seven or eight seconds he had waited, there had been no sign of Newgate or Linlin nearby. Through Mantra, he had even heard that the two were still far away.

Good news, fate had changed!

Bad news, he still could not resist stepping in.

"Why am I so kind? Fafafafafa!"

John suddenly tightened his grip and hurled Maffey, head and body together, toward the coastline.

Maffey instantly shot through the jungle like a cannonball, plowing a straight path before crashing into a warship anchored along the shore.

The warship's ammunition depot exploded from the violent impact, flames soaring into the sky as shockwaves rolled outward.

John did not even look at the destruction he had caused. He immediately turned around and flew back.

"I was clearly looking for Teach, yet I somehow 'mistakenly' came to Dragon. Has that casino-like streak of bad luck started acting up again?"