World

Shiki was deeply resentful over Rayleigh taking Shakuyaku away.

But he was unwilling to hurt Shakuyaku in the fight over her. Otherwise, he would not have stopped the other Rocks Pirates from bombarding Rayleigh just now.

Shiki would not do anything he was not certain of. In that regard, he was much like Annus.

Rayleigh was no weaker than him. On his own, Shiki could not take Shakuyaku back without hurting her.

And if he joined forces with the rest of the Rocks Pirates, how they would divide Shakuyaku after taking her back would become another problem...

So Shiki sought out Kaido and Annus. Only those two had little interest in Shakuyaku.

"Well, Kaido? Interested in helping me take Shakuyaku back? You may be a little weak, but you can at least be useful..."

Those tactless words made the already foul-tempered Kaido swing his spiked club at Shiki again.

"Get lost!"

"Honestly, this guy really is crazy!" Shiki shook his head and turned to Annus. "Annus, what do you say?"

Recruiting Kaido would be a pleasant surprise, but it did not matter if he failed. Annus was the important one.

If they were going to take Shakuyaku, Roger and Gaban would definitely help Rayleigh. That group was far more united than the Rocks Pirates.

If Annus was willing to help, he could hold Roger and Gaban off for the time being, creating an opportunity for Shiki to face Rayleigh one-on-one.

"Did you get a Devil Fruit? Don't try to fob me off with ordinary junk. I want a treasure."

After considering it, Annus asked this question.

"Not yet... But if you help me, I can help you take one later..."

"Don't make empty promises, Shiki. I haven't even settled the score between you, Ochoku, and me yet. Are you trying to use me again?"

Upon hearing there was no Devil Fruit, Annus decisively refused Shiki.

Their conversation, as though no one else existed, stirred an inexplicable rage in Kaido. Ignoring the gap in strength between them, he swung his spiked club and charged in.

But the club that had previously felled an enemy with a single strike now seemed to fail him. He flailed wildly, yet did not land a single hit.

Annus and Shiki both ignored Kaido. Rather than counterattacking, they simply dodged his attacks and continued with what they were doing.

Kaido was both furious and helpless.

Ever since Annus had disappeared, Kaido had vaguely felt as if something important had been stolen from him, leaving him strangely empty.

Yet he clearly had not lost anything, but the feeling continued to haunt him.

"Damn it! What the hell is it?!"

Kaido was certain that what he had lost was not the Devil Fruit he had obtained and then had taken from him, but something else...

The officers of the Rocks Pirates tacitly kept their distance from the frenzied Kaido.

Now was not the time for infighting. Or rather, at this moment, everyone had only one thing on their minds: using every means possible to seize more treasure from this chaotic battlefield.

The Celestial Dragons' treasures were unlike those of ordinary pirates. Every item was a rarity, and they basically never circulated in the world.

Every additional item they obtained might be worth hundreds of millions of Berry!

Faced with the pirates' mad scramble for treasure, the Marines gradually found themselves unable to cope.

"On an island where common sense has failed... what exactly is this so-called justice?" Garp muttered darkly to himself.

He could clearly see that even the Marines had gone mad. Their bullets were no longer aimed solely at pirates.

At the heights of God Valley.

Saturn silently looked down upon the battlefield, now in utter chaos, when he suddenly heard a message from the "Great One."

[Saturn... Is Rocks dead?]

"Who knows... Everything has exceeded expectations... No, it would be more accurate to say that the excessively violent destruction has even given me the feeling that some new crisis may be born from it..."

Saturn answered the voice in his mind in a low tone, deeply weary.

[...I will not allow it to happen.]

After a brief silence, the "Great One's" voice came again.

Saturn's expression shifted. "Do you intend to intervene?"

[Give me your body, Saturn.]

"It would be my honor." Saturn stood and gave the sky a slight bow, showing his respect.

A moment later, an eerie, ominous Haki suddenly blanketed all of God Valley.

[Has it come...?] Annus's expression shifted slightly, and he vanished from where he stood.

Almost at the same time, Roger, Garp, Rocks, and the others also sensed that ominous Haki.

The ominous Haki rapidly moved to a point slightly northwest of the island's center.

That was precisely where Rocks was.

After defeating Garling, that female God's Knight, and a host of demonized clansmen, Rocks was already feeling somewhat exhausted and was currently gasping for breath.

A bolt of lightning struck down beside Rocks, and Whitebeard arrived immediately afterward.

"Why are you back?! Where is my important thing?" Rocks revealed a startled expression upon seeing Annus.

"Don't worry. Yale and Lilith have already left this island, and so has your family." Annus raised his head slightly. "That said, what a terrible form... that monster has."

"The money I owe you for drinks will be written off after this." Whitebeard also stared ahead, his expression grave.

Before them, amid the chaotic battlefield, stood a terrifying figure with a pointed head and a spider-like body, radiating powerful and ominous Haki from its entire body.

"Saint Saturn! What is that?! That form!"

"Urgh! A monster!"

The pirates and Marines who had survived until now were not weak.

They had not been knocked unconscious by that ominous Haki, but being enveloped by it felt terrible all the same. Driven by instinctive fear, everyone retreated.

"This island really is a dream, isn't it?"

Garp also steeled himself. That bizarre form, unlike anything he had ever seen, sent a chill deep into his bones.

"How wonderful! Every day of adventure! I still know far too little!"

Roger was equally astonished. Though he had already traveled around the world once and seen all manner of strange sights, the thing before him was simply not something that should exist in the human world... It clearly seemed to come from the abyss!

He could not help but tremble, while also feeling an indescribable excitement.

"So what exactly is that?" Whitebeard asked.

"You're asking what that is? For now, let's call it... the world!"

Rocks's face was also full of excitement. He knew far, far more than Roger did, and condensed countless words into that single sentence.

"The world?"