God Valley: Starting by Stealing a Kill

"Quick! Run faster!"

A trembling shout rang out at the edge of the jungle.

Ivankov.

He had yet to become the Okama King. He was only a young man with determination written across his face, desperately running through gunfire with the equally young Kuma and Ginny at his side.

Behind the three of them was the hellish scene at the heart of God Valley.

The wild laughter of the Celestial Dragons, the screams of slaves.

And the horn that announced the beginning of the "Human Hunting Game."

"The plan... the plan has to succeed!" Ivankov's teeth were chattering.

"Find that place. Find that fish-man!"

They crossed patch after patch of dense brush before finally reaching a clearing.

A towering fish-man slave was already waiting there.

Without wasting words, the fish-man opened his mouth full of sharp teeth and bit down fiercely on the shackles around Ivankov and Kuma.

Crack. The restraints broke apart.

"Those are some fine teeth!" Ivankov praised.

Just as the fish-man turned toward Ginny to do the same for her.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several shells crashed down nearby. The explosions flung up dirt and rubble, and thick smoke swallowed the group.

The sudden thunderous blasts and smoke concealed another set of footsteps.

"Oh? There are high-grade rabbits here!"

As the smoke thinned slightly, a Celestial Dragon wearing a transparent bubble helmet and a bloated spacesuit appeared nearby.

He aimed his pistol at Ivankov, who had just broken free of his collar and had not even had time to rejoice.

A dull sound came not from the gun's muzzle, but from the huge crater beside the Celestial Dragon, where a shell had struck.

The dirt churned as a brown hand suddenly shot out and gripped the edge of the crater.

The next moment, a figure with black wings on his back crawled out of the hole.

He shook his head, and his gaze immediately landed on the nearby Celestial Dragon holding a gun.

Then he caught sight of Ivankov and the others discussing their plan in the distance.

Lin Nuo immediately understood the situation.

Without the slightest hesitation.

One hand pierced through the Celestial Dragon's chest from behind as though it were paper.

The pistol fell from his hand. The Celestial Dragon's cruel grin froze, his entire body convulsing as he could not even turn around.

Lin Nuo expressionlessly pulled back his hand and let the bloated corpse collapse.

After dealing with the Celestial Dragon, he seemed to sense something.

He turned and looked toward the woods nearby.

A Marine had a black gun barrel aimed at him.

The man holding the gun was Dragon in his younger days.

It seemed that after crossing over, he had not only encountered the legendary instance of God Valley, but had also accidentally stolen the future Revolutionary Army leader's kill?

This Celestial Dragon had originally been taken down by Dragon.

"Sorry, I stole your kill."

Lin Nuo gave a French salute—the gesture of surrender.

What could he do? When faced with a divine punching bag like this, anyone who could resist hitting him was a saint.

Dragon stiffened. He gave this man, who had suddenly grown out of the ground and punched through a Celestial Dragon, a long look filled with shock and scrutiny.

Then, without any response, he quickly vanished into the shadows of the forest.

Lin Nuo understood.

The wheels of history had merely shifted slightly.

He had killed a Celestial Dragon, yet Dragon had not attacked him. That meant Dragon had already drawn a clear line between himself and the Marines. His later actions should proceed just as they had in the anime from Lin Nuo's previous life.

"Y-you... who are you?!"

As the smoke completely cleared, Ivankov spotted the conspicuous Lin Nuo and shouted warily.

Lin Nuo turned around and looked at these future great figures.

But at this moment, they were merely three young people struggling in desperate circumstances.

He pointed to the pair of black wings on his back. "Lunarians."

"We're on the same side."

When he crossed over, the system had given him a chance to choose his race. He had coveted this race, with both looks and potential, for a long time in his previous life.

So he had chosen it without hesitation as his starting race.

"Lunarians?!" Ivankov cried out.

He seemed to have heard of this race of gods that had been erased by the World Government.

Looking at the Celestial Dragon's corpse at Lin Nuo's feet, his wariness quickly turned into acceptance.

Lin Nuo then improvised a rather miserable backstory for himself.

With the Marines' racial massacre serving as proof, everyone deeply empathized after learning the circumstances and immediately invited him to join their escape plan.

As they spoke, several immense, oppressive auras rose simultaneously from the eastern and western sides of the island!

The entire sky seemed to darken.

"They're... here!" Ginny, who had been bent over tinkering with an old Transponder Snail, raised her head.

"The message has been sent. Rocks and Roger... they've both landed!"

"Good. We'll split into two groups." Ivankov made his decision at once, his eyes blazing with a desperate light.

"Ginny, go with everyone else. Find a way to create chaos and search for any slaves still alive."

"Remember, your own life comes first!"

He looked at Kuma. "The two of us will steal the prizes."

"According to the information Ginny got, there are two powerful Devil Fruits among this competition's prizes! One is a Fish-Fish Fruit that can fly, and the other is a Paw-Paw Fruit with miraculous powers!"

"If we get them, we'll have a much better chance of escaping!"

Lin Nuo grew more excited upon hearing this.

The plot was developing in the same direction as the anime settings from his previous life.

"I'll go with you too." He stepped forward voluntarily. "I've seen the encyclopedia and know what the Fish-Fish Fruit and Paw-Paw Fruit look like. I can help you identify them."

Ivankov's gaze fell on Lin Nuo's tall body, and he nodded without hesitation. "Good! Your strength is exactly what we need too!"

He looked at Kuma again, and hope flared in both their eyes.

Looking at these three young people who would one day stir up towering waves, Lin Nuo encouraged them, "Don't worry. All of us will make it out alive!"

The group immediately split into two parties and, like droplets merging into the sea, quickly vanished into the increasingly chaotic battlefield.

Along the way, Lin Nuo felt the power flowing through his blood, and his thoughts drifted far away.

He knew very clearly what he had chosen.

Choosing the Lunarians meant choosing to stand in absolute opposition to Imu, the king of the world and the mastermind behind the massacre.

To fight Imu, racial talent alone was far from enough.

He needed Haki. He needed Conqueror's Haki that stood above all others!

High-level Haki could not be obtained through hard training alone. It required a spark of talent, and even more, an opportunity granted by fate.

The Mythical Zoan Fruit on God Valley was the crucial spark that could ignite that flame!

The flames of the Lunarians, combined with the flames of the Phoenix...

What form would that take?

He wanted to test it with his own hands!

A warship flying the flag of the Rocks Pirates, like a sea beast, brutally smashed through the Marine warships blocking its way and charged straight onto the beach.

At the bow stood a group of demon-like figures with proud, imposing stances.

Rocks, Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, Kaido...

Every single name was enough to make the seas tremble.

The numerous Marines blocking their path were torn to pieces in a single exchange before these monsters.

With unstoppable force, the Rocks Pirates completed their landing from the eastern side!

Almost at the same time, on the opposite shore, Gol D. Roger led his crew onto the land of God Valley with equal unstoppable momentum.

"Brothers! Save Shakky!" Roger raised Ace high, his laughter bold and wild.

Besides these two legendary pirate crews, countless pirate crews drawn by the champion's prizes and the chaos also swarmed in.

"Grab Shakky! Grab Shakky! Fuck it, grab Shakky!"

The entirety of God Valley had completely become a boiling furnace of war.

"Those damned pirate scum have ruined our game." Figarland Garling, the commander of God's Knights, cursed with a livid expression.

"You lot, prioritize protecting the nobles!"

"Move faster!"

He roared at the panicked Marine soldiers beside him.

The Marines barely managed to form up, trying to protect the Celestial Dragons who were scattering in all directions, crying for their fathers and mothers.

But under the assault of the two raging currents known as Rocks and Roger, their defenses quickly collapsed into a one-sided rout.

A cannonball fell from the sky and struck with precision into a group of charging pirates.

The enormous shockwave instantly sent countless pirates flying.

From within the smoke, a man wearing a Marine vice admiral's coat and built like a mountain crashed heavily to the ground, shattering the earth beneath him.

When the retreating Marines recognized the newcomer, their morale immediately surged. They raised their weapons and shouted.

"Reinforcements are here!"

"Whoa! It's Vice Admiral Garp!!"

The man clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking like popping beans. His battle-hungry roar rang across the entire beach:

"Roger!!! Where are you!!!"

Monkey D. Garp had arrived!