Heaven's Judgment

Devil Fruits had a realm known as "Awakening," representing a user developing their fruit ability to its ultimate limit.

It was an exceedingly rare ability. Not only did it require grueling training, it might also require some special "opportunity," so every awakened user was a top-tier powerhouse.

In the original timeline, this concept was first brought up by Crocodile regarding Zoans in Impel Down, then explained in detail by Doflamingo regarding Paramecias during the Dressrosa arc.

Different types of Devil Fruits produced entirely different effects after Awakening.

Paramecias affected the surrounding environment, while Zoans strengthened the user's body.

The Awakening of a Logia could permanently alter the natural environment over a vast area, even granting complete control over and command of the element represented by the user.

"Heaven's Judgment" was the ultimate killing move Annus had developed based on the Awakening of his Devil Fruit ability.

In the original timeline, even before Awakening, Enel had been able to discharge electricity to stimulate the electrodes within thunderclouds and call down lightning upon designated areas.

He had even used the thunderclouds created by the Ark Maxim to unleash wide-area techniques such as Mamaragan and Raigo, attacks capable of destroying islands.

But Annus's mastery of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit far surpassed Enel's!

By continuously releasing ultra-high voltage into the air, he used the immense heat generated by the current to warm the air and create powerful updrafts. These updrafts carried ionized air particles—condensation nuclei—high into the sky, where they cooled and caused water vapor to condense into clouds.

Then, after the clouds formed, he used his control over electromagnetic fields to impose a powerful electric field within them.

This electric field forcibly separated the charges of ice crystals and water droplets within the clouds. The lighter, positively charged particles rose, while the heavier, negatively charged ones sank.

Once the positive and negative charges accumulated to a certain degree, electrical discharge would occur within the clouds or toward the ground...

It sounded complicated... but in short, this was the strongest lightning attack Annus could currently unleash!

Roger and Garp had clearly sensed the breath of death. After briefly holding back the transformed Rocks, they hurriedly fled to either side!

At the same time, from the vortex-like hollow at the heart of the massive black thundercloud, a blazing white bolt of lightning crashed down!

And as it descended, it was empowered by Annus's Conqueror's Haki!

The transformed Rocks raised his head and looked toward the sky flooded with white lightning. In one-thousandth of a second—or even less—Heaven's Judgment engulfed him!

The blazing lightning lasted nearly ten full seconds before slowly dissipating. When it finally faded, the ground where the transformed Rocks had been standing had completely vanished, replaced by an enormous crater!

The island's foundation had been annihilated by that terrifying lightning strike. Plants, rock, earth, and living creatures within several hundred meters had all vanished from the world, while black seawater surged backward through the deep pit...

"Hey, hey, hey! Annus! Were you trying to kill us?!"

Garp and Roger cursed at Annus as he slowly descended. That lightning strike had left them shaken.

"Still, after taking an attack like that, that guy should be down, right?"

That lightning strike could destroy an entire island. It surpassed ordinary imagination, no longer seeming like something a Devil Fruit user could unleash, but more like divine punishment from an apocalyptic myth!

Yet something even more shocking appeared before Roger and Garp. The transformed Rocks emerged once more from the sea currents within that deep crater!

Though his clothes were tattered, his entire body charred black, and wisps of white smoke curled from him, leaving him looking utterly miserable, he was undoubtedly still alive!

"What kind of monster is he?"

Even Roger and Garp, both always called monsters themselves, could not help but sigh from the bottom of their hearts.

"Still not enough?"

Annus panted heavily as he landed before Garp and Roger.

That strike had consumed a massive amount of stamina. Even he could no longer maintain his usual ease.

"Even that level of lightning did nothing. How the hell are we supposed to kill this monster?" Roger complained.

"No... it wasn't completely ineffective. At the very least, the Conqueror's Haki Coating around him has weakened considerably! If we press on in one go, we can break through it completely!" Annus analyzed calmly.

"Pwahahaha! Sounds like a good plan! But... do you still have the strength?" Garp clenched his fists and spoke in a low voice.

"Don't underestimate me, Garp. I can still unleash at least three attacks on the level of that last one!"

While the transformed Rocks fought Annus and the other two, people throughout God Valley witnessed that apocalyptic lightning and abandoned any thought of continuing to fight over treasure, desperately fleeing toward the coast.

Treasure was important, but only if one lived long enough to spend it.

"Go seize a ship! We're leaving the island!" Xiong commanded his men.

"Huh? What about Rocks's ship?" Xiong's pirate subordinates froze.

"Idiots, who's going back there?!"

In Xiong's eyes, the Rocks Pirates could already disband. He had achieved his objective, and Rocks no longer had any use to him.

"Jihahaha! This is the end!! Rocks Pirates!!"

Elsewhere, after Shiki defeated Ganzi, who had been planning to ambush him, and seized a huge amount of treasure, he too gleefully prepared to fly away from God Valley.

He had long believed the Rocks Pirates should disband. They had merely lacked an opportunity, and now the time had clearly come.

A pirate crew whose members guarded against one another and lacked trust could never last.

"Hurry to the coast!! The island is about to collapse!"

The other pirates also abandoned their treasure one after another, caring only about escaping this island that was on the verge of collapse.

"Hold on tight! Roger won't stop fighting until we get out!"

Rayleigh held Shakuyaku in his arms as he fled the island alongside his companions.

"That Haki is very abnormal!"

Even Shakuyaku had sensed the immense and abnormal aura of the transformed Rocks.

"Let me get on your ship too!"

Gloriosa ran over.

"Huh?" Gaban was startled.

"Kaido, do you want that Azure Dragon Fruit? Annus has it!"

Charlotte Linlin, who had previously been defeated by the transformed Rocks, was also preparing to leave the island with Kaido. Before they parted, Linlin told Kaido where the Azure Dragon Fruit was.

"What? Annus was the one who took it... It doesn't matter. I'll form a pirate crew where 'violence' does the talking later. As long as I defeat Annus, I can take that Devil Fruit back!"

Upon hearing that, Kaido finally understood the source of the emptiness in his heart. But he did not care. He believed that as long as he defeated Annus, he could reclaim what was his.

"Stop dawdling, Linlin! Hurry up and move the treasure! We're leaving!"

At the side, Streusen urged Charlotte Linlin.

"Newgate! The pirate crew has fallen apart!"

In a mountain forest somewhere, a pineapple-headed man called out to Whitebeard, who was preparing to leave.

"Who are you?"

Whitebeard turned around. After failing to stop the transformed Rocks for Annus, he had directly chosen to leave.

"I'm Gram! Your fan! You don't have a ship to board anymore, right? Join forces with me!"

The pineapple-headed man smiled, acting as though they had known each other forever.

"You're in the way. Get lost."

Whitebeard gave the pineapple-headed man a glance and spoke coldly.

"Hey! Where's Newgate?"

After gathering enough treasure and jewelry, Buckin was also preparing to flee and asked Ganzi beside her.

"How should I know?! Stop asking me!"

Ganzi was in a foul mood as well. His failed ambush on Shiki had cost him a huge amount of treasure.

Kiel Baster, caught between the two of them, did not take part in their conversation at all.

And in a corner unnoticed by everyone, in the southeast of the island, a World Government ship quietly departed God Valley before anyone else.

"That island... treat it as though it never existed!"

Imu, possessing Saturn's body, gave the order to the officers aboard the warship.

The intense collision of Conqueror's Haki tore a massive abyss through the sky above God Valley. Even the climate had turned harsh. Torrential rain poured down, yet it could not extinguish the raging fires that had spread across the entire island.

Beneath a cliff that had not yet collapsed, the battle between Annus's group of three and the transformed Rocks had reached its final stage.

Annus, Garp, and Roger all understood that if they competed with Rocks in his transformed state through sheer endurance, they would undoubtedly lose.

Under Black Transformation Domination, Rocks seemed to possess endless stamina, able to keep Conqueror's Haki Coating around his body at all times while remaining at his peak condition.

Therefore, there was only one way to kill a Rocks like this.

They had to use a Conqueror's Haki assault that surpassed their limits to tear open the defensive Conqueror's Haki around Rocks's body!

"Let's finish this quickly!"

The moment he spoke, Annus flashed forward!

"We're going, Garp!" Roger had already gathered his attack. "Fire Kagutsuchi: Keishi!"

"Try not to hit us by mistake again, Annus..." Garp finally threw his fist. "Infinite Fist Bone!"

Endless blade shadows and fists blazed a path to victory for Annus, cracking the flawless Conqueror's Haki surrounding the transformed Rocks...

Then Annus flashed above the transformed Rocks and unleashed his final strike. Empowered by fully unleashed Conqueror's Haki, the golden spear pierced through the transformed Rocks's heart!

"Ragnarok!"

[Tha... nk you...]

Rocks's voice reached the minds of Annus, Garp, and Roger at the same time, while his demonic form melted away like snow.

Rocks returned to normal, and the torrential rain washed the blood and tears from his body.

Though he lay on the ground unable to move, looking half-dead, he was undoubtedly still clinging to life.

"Has the curse been lifted?"

Rocks himself was not the only one to notice. Annus and the other two noticed it as well: the effects of Black Transformation Domination had vanished at some point.

Could it be that once the cursed person was killed, the effects of Black Transformation Domination would disappear?

Annus speculated as he walked over to Rocks.

"You owe me your life, Rocks."

He pulled the weakened Rocks up and helped him lean against a piece of shattered rock.

"Cough, cough... Thanks... Annus..."

Rocks coughed violently, displaying exhaustion he had never shown before. He looked toward Roger and Garp, who were panting heavily after spending enormous amounts of stamina.

"No matter what, thank you for stopping me when I went berserk..."

Annus snorted. "Thanks alone won't cut it. I went through so much trouble to save you. From now on, you have to follow my command."

"I will..." Rocks gave a bitter smile. Even if he wanted to refuse Annus's command now, he had no way to do so. He was completely unable to move.

"Hahaha! No need to thank us! We took Shakuyaku away anyway!" Roger smiled. "What are you planning to do next? Garp, if you can't get by in the Marines, come aboard my ship?"

"Are you kidding me?! If I leave, who'll protect the Marines?" Garp rejected Roger without a second thought.

After exchanging a few more words, the four went their separate ways.

The island had already been left riddled with devastation by the great battle. The towering cliffs on both sides had collapsed one after another, and Annus had blasted a hole hundreds of meters wide through the island's center. It could sink at any moment.

As a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, Annus could leave the island through the air using elementalization. But if he wanted to bring Rocks along, he would have to seize a ship.

Furthermore, due to the enormous commotion caused by the previous battle, everyone on the island had fled toward the coast without prior agreement. There were not many ships left by the shore.

"Annus... are my wife and child still alive?"

After recovering a little strength, Rocks immediately asked the question that concerned him most.

"Don't worry, they're alive... Speaking of which, you nearly killed my subordinate!"

"Cough, cough... Sorry. In that situation, I couldn't control my body at all..."

The two spoke as they traveled, but just as they were about to escape the burning forest, Annus suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Rocks froze.

Annus did not answer. His gaze fell upon a young Marine lying unconscious on the ground several steps away.

"What a gift from fate, to run into him here..."

Annus casually hoisted the Marine onto his shoulder.

If he had been an ordinary Marine, Annus naturally would not have wasted time saving him.

But this Marine was none other than Dragon, whom Lilith had knocked unconscious.

Because Lilith had hit him too hard, Dragon had remained asleep the entire time. Even the great battle involving Annus and the others had failed to wake him.

"Worororo... You still have the mood to save a Marine brat? Annus, when did you become so boring?"

"A brat? What if I told you he's Garp's son?"

"Hah?!"

Annus smiled and ignored the shocked Rocks, turning to look toward one side of the forest.

"Rocks, have you recovered some strength?"

"What is it?"

"Stay here and watch this Marine... Those defeated, mangy dogs apparently don't want to see us escape."

As Annus spoke, three figures emerged side by side from the forest on that side.

"Persistent gutter rats..."

Rocks scoffed.

The three figures were none other than Garling, Maffy, and Somaz.

They had remained on the island under Imu's orders in case anything unexpected happened. They had not expected the transformed Rocks to truly be defeated.

"Bloodline of the Davy Clan, you cannot leave this island. Surrender without resistance, Calamity!"

Garling drew his sword and pointed it at Annus as he shouted.

Garling's group had already been hiding in the shadows when Rocks was defeated.

The reason they had waited until now to act was to wait for this moment, after Annus had parted ways with Roger and Garp, when he was isolated and without support.