Landing on God Valley!

Bang—

The gunshot rang out, and a graze appeared on Dragon's right arm as he ran. His flesh split open, and blood quickly began to flow.

Dragon came to a stop and nervously looked in the direction the bullet had come from.

From behind a large tree, a Celestial Dragon slowly emerged with four Cipher Pol agents in black suits surrounding him, his steps arrogant.

"Hey, Marine! Who gave you permission to be here?"

Saint Rimoshifu Max, his hair tied in a topknot and his face ugly, raised his haughty chin and pointed his gun at Dragon.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Dragon's forehead. He opened his mouth helplessly, but had no idea what to say.

Even though his faith in "justice" had crumbled, the belief that the Celestial Dragons were descendants of the Creator still bound him deeply.

Having grown up as an ordinary person, he still held an instinctive fear of the Celestial Dragons.

"Whatever. Since you showed up here, you're prey!"

Saint Max gave a savage grin, his index finger pressing down to pull the trigger.

At the same time, in the jungle.

A scruffy man in a long double-breasted military uniform, with long orange hair and thick body hair, stood beneath a large tree and kicked its trunk again and again.

"How did you climb so high? I've already laid down some 'thorns' to cushion your fall! Jump down!"

"N-No!"

A child cowered tremblingly on a branch, swaying with the trunk as it shook from the kicks.

His parents had taught him that everyone was kind and gentle, so the young child could not understand why the man below was being so cruel.

"Please stop! That's my child!"

The child's father knelt beneath the tree and kept begging the orange-haired man, only making him more excited as he laughed madly.

This was no ordinary man. He was Saint Shepherd Somaz, a member of God's Knights!

"More pitiful! More tragic!"

Somaz's eyes behind his sunglasses were bloodshot, filled with pathological exhilaration.

When he kicked the tree trunk once more, the child curled up on the branch finally lost his balance and toppled toward the thorns below.

"It's okay! I'll catch you!"

The child's father lunged forward and caught his child, and the two of them fell into the thorns together.

The father was pierced through by the thorns and died on the spot, yet even as he breathed his last, he kept both hands raised high, holding his child away from danger.

"Ah~ How touching!"

Somaz raised a hand to his forehead, the cruelty in his eyes deepening as thorns extended from his body and coiled toward the child held aloft by his father's corpse.

Boom—

A sudden, thunderous explosion erupted.

The thorns controlled by Somaz froze in midair, and he turned to look toward the eastern side of the island.

None of the Celestial Dragons participating in the hunting game used shoulder-fired cannons, and an explosion that violent could only have come from a warship.

That meant only one thing: something had happened on the eastern shore!

Somaz reluctantly abandoned the child and ran toward the eastern coast with a grim face.

Elsewhere.

Just as Max fired, the sudden violent explosion startled him, causing his gun muzzle to veer sharply off target.

Dragon ignored the missed bullet and decisively ran in the direction opposite the explosion—toward the western side of the island.

The Dragon of today was not yet the future leader of the Revolutionary Army, only a seventeen-year-old boy fresh out of the gate.

In terms of fighting strength, he was not even as strong as sixteen-year-old Luffy before he set sail!

Even so, Dragon did not merely want to survive. He wanted to do something for the civilians being slaughtered on the island.

Eastern coastline.

Ships flying skull flags rammed into the island one after another, smashing the Marine warships that had formed an iron wall into pieces with unstoppable force.

Like the civilians hunted on the island, the Marines were butchered by the pirates as easily as chopping vegetables.

"I-It's the Rocks Pirates!"

"Not just them—famous pirates are coming one after another..."

The remaining warships had been broadcasting the situation to the unaware Celestial Dragons within the island one second, only to be cleaved into fragments by a magnificent slash that seemed to split heaven and earth the next.

The Rocks Pirates' flagship crashed headlong into the burning wreckage, and figures leaped from the deck onto the sandy shore.

The instant John landed, he smashed a liquor bottle over the head of a Marine rear admiral who was getting up from the ground. Armament Haki coated the blow, turning the man's head into a spray of blood.

"How ironic. The Marines helped the Celestial Dragons chop civilians up like vegetables, and now the Marines themselves have become vegetables to be slaughtered at will."

His Mantra had covered the entire island, and every last bit of that hellish scene had entered his mind.

Even though he had grown accustomed to blood and death over the years with his former self, the misery on the island still made his heart convulse uncontrollably.

Even beasts was not enough to describe one ten-thousandth of the Celestial Dragons' depravity!

"Hey! Men!"

A flash of concern passed through Rocks's eyes. He raised his Western sword, Eclipse, and shouted.

"Shakky, treasure, and Devil Fruits are all here. There's no benefit in us fighting among ourselves and killing each other."

"Let's establish a temporary alliance first. We'll split the treasure evenly after we return. No objections, you bastards?"

As soon as Rocks finished speaking, the officers voiced their opinions one after another.

"Shakky can't be shared!"

"Obviously, whoever helps the most will be the one Shakky falls for!"

"Do whatever you want. I'm only worried about her safety as a friend. But if she falls in love with me because of it, that wouldn't be bad either..."

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Newgate!"

"You idiots, even if the world turns upside down, Shakky won't spare any of you a second glance!"

"Linlin, are you really giving the Devil Fruit to me?"

John coldly swept his gaze over this group of repressed fools. He had no interest in continuing this act with them.

He understood that the dull emptiness of long voyages could make people unbearably lonely, enough to make even a sow seem pretty.

But a man needed some backbone. If someone didn't fancy him, he should just tell her to get lost!

"Enough! Find Shakky first, then you can keep arguing!"

Rocks had no patience for their bickering. He drew his sword and charged into the dense jungle ahead, taking the lead.

John hurried after him, his eyes flashing as he proposed a plan.

"Rocks, focus on saving her. Leave anyone in our way to me."

"John, you..."

Rocks turned to look at John running at his right side. After a brief pause, he grinned.

"Alright! Thanks!"

"No need to thank me for a great favor. If you want to thank me, stay alive first!"

John tossed out those words and suddenly accelerated toward the enemy approaching from ahead.

The newcomer wore the double-breasted military uniform of God's Knights. He had long orange hair and thick body hair, looking utterly unkempt.

John recognized this man. He was Saint Shepherd Somaz!

At the same time, rather than fearing John and Rocks, Somaz approached them with an excited expression.

"You lowly pirates, become prey in my game too!"