God Valley's edge, west coast.
A line of Marine warships lay anchored a hundred meters offshore.
The shore was packed with slaves and civilians who had escaped from the island.
They stretched desperate hands toward the warships, weeping, shouting, and begging.
"Save us!"
"Let us aboard!"
"Please!"
Yet the commanders aboard the warships remained expressionless, even showing a hint of impatience.
"No! The situation on the island is unclear. Powerful pirates may be hiding among them! For the fleet's safety, we must not approach the shore!"
"Hey! Bring the ship over there! Otherwise, I'll shoot you dead!"
At that moment, a commotion erupted inside the command room of one warship.
Monkey D. Dragon, the young man who had just turned his back on the Marines, was pressing the muzzle of a gun tightly against a Marine officer's temple.
His voice trembled with rage.
"Dragon! You know what you're doing, don't you?!" a Marine general beside him shouted sternly.
"Even if your father is Garp, Headquarters will never tolerate this!"
"Punish me?" Dragon sneered, placing his finger on the trigger without hesitation, his gaze icy.
"Then let them come! But right now, immediately! Bring the ship over there! Save them!"
"Ah! Look!!"
Suddenly, cries of alarm erupted from the Marines on deck, and everyone's attention was drawn to the drastic change deep within the island.
The entire island of God Valley began to shake violently, as though something inside was about to tear it apart!
"How... how could this be..."
This island in the West Blue had been chosen by the Celestial Dragons as "God Valley."
That was because of the two colossal peaks that stood tall as gates of the gods, reaching into the heavens, regarded as sacred symbols.
And now, beneath countless terrified gazes.
Those two peaks, which had stood for who knew how many ages, began to erupt with countless blinding cracks from their middles.
Then, amid a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth.
The mountains split apart, collapsing and toppling over.
Boulders tumbled down, while dust soared into the sky.
Beneath the collapsed peaks lay the core battlefield.
Lin Nuo swept low through the air with Kuma, and the sight before him left him speechless.
Though this place had once been ravaged by war, it had still retained the outlines of some buildings and charred vegetation.
Now, it had become a complete wasteland.
The ground was riddled with massive craters, and every raised structure had been flattened.
It was practically... like landing on the moon.
"Did we succeed?" Kuma looked around nervously.
In Lin Nuo's sight, the once-unrivaled demon had already vanished without a trace.
Only some black fragments the size of fingernails floated in the air.
"It looks like it disappeared."
"...Maybe Kuma won't even need to make a move." Hope rose in Lin Nuo's heart.
"Let's go find them!" Kuma urged.
Lin Nuo nodded. His wings scattered the dust in the air, and he quickly found the "culprits" responsible for all this.
Rocks, Roger, Garp, Linlin, Kaido, Rayleigh, and Gaban lay sprawled across the ground, their breaths weak.
Only Whitebeard still stubbornly supported himself with Murakumogiri, kneeling on one knee.
But he was at the end of his rope as well.
"Hey, Newgate," Roger said with a weak smile as he lay on the ground.
"Why are you still trying to look cool at a time like this... suffering just to save face..."
"Gurararara..." Whitebeard forced out a difficult smile, his voice hoarse.
"Someone... has to stay standing... to welcome victory..."
"Shut up... I'm just... lying down to rest..."
Rocks was sprawled on the ground as well, but he still refused to admit defeat.
The three of them mocked one another, while the relief of surviving the disaster quietly flowed over the ruins.
Other than the three of them and Garp, who was also collapsed but still conscious, everyone else had already fallen unconscious.
Pineapple Shrapnel!
Lin Nuo beat his wings in midair, scattering pure Flame of Regeneration over a wide area like warm raindrops.
It precisely covered every person.
The flames danced as they began nourishing their exhausted bodies.
"This move is going to drain quite a bit of my stamina again..."
Feeling his strength ebb away, Lin Nuo slowly descended from the air.
"But since this is over, it doesn't matter now."
The moment he landed, Kuma's face filled with relieved joy.
"Lin Nuo! My ability... I can use it now! But do I still need to send them flying?"
Lin Nuo smiled and was just about to say, "No, there's no need—"
Before the words could leave his mouth, his expression changed drastically.
An indescribable sense of dread suddenly gripped his heart.
"Urgh..."
Lin Nuo groaned, and the scene before his eyes began to sway and darken.
"Did that move... really consume that much?" Doubt flashed through his mind.
Then he saw the terror on Kuma's face.
He heard the incredulous roars of Whitebeard, Rocks, Roger, and the others.
"How could this be?!"
"Lin Nuo—!!"
His hearing dulled, while his vision rapidly narrowed and darkened.
The second before he completely lost consciousness, Lin Nuo instinctively lowered his head and looked at his chest—
A spear condensed from dark energy had, at some unknown point, pierced through his heart.
Its tip protruded from his back, dripping burning blue flames.
"I told you..."
A cold will once again echoed clearly in the minds of everyone present.
"Nothing... you do... will matter..."
The black fragments on the ground, once believed to be "ashes," were now being pulled together by countless writhing threads.
A demon several times smaller grew from the earth.
"Damn it—!!"
Rocks' eyes widened with fury as he struggled to rise, but his overdrawn body made him collapse again helplessly.
He could only watch as Imu's body swelled and expanded once more under the infusion of black energy!
"Damn it! Is this guy... really impossible to kill?!"
Garp roared, smashing his fist into the ground, yet he could barely gather the strength to stand.
Roger tried to rise as well, only to aggravate his wounds and cough up a mouthful of blood.
Imu's newly reformed spider-like limb aimed at the fallen Rocks and stabbed down fiercely!
"Not a chance!!" Whitebeard forcibly drew a breath and swung Murakumogiri to block it!
Clang—
But how could his current strength contend with Imu's?
Murakumogiri was easily knocked aside, and the sharp edge of the limb tore a massive wound across his chest.
Newgate was violently flung away, crashing to the ground, unable to rise again!
"I will... completely erase... Davy's bloodline..."
"And... everything... that happened here..."
Several black spears shot up from the ground around Lin Nuo.
They pierced through Kuma, who was holding up his palms and desperately rushing toward Lin Nuo.
Kuma's body was pinned in midair, blood streaming down the spears.
"Kuma—!!"
"Lin Nuo—!!"
In the distance, Rocks, Roger, and Garp, who had only just managed to stand under Lin Nuo's flames, let out low roars.
They gripped their weapons tightly, but their arms trembled violently from weakness.
The final moment had arrived.
The four exchanged a glance. No words were needed; their wills collided in the air.
They were prepared to burn away the last of their strength and fight Imu to the death.
However, just as all hope seemed lost—
A sudden change occurred.
Lin Nuo, whose heart had been pierced by a black spear and who should have been completely devoid of life.
The flames on his body, which had dimmed away.
Suddenly reignited with an incomprehensibly violent burst!
"!..."
Imu's will visibly wavered. It tried to increase its power and completely snuff out this stubborn spark.
But the flames were not suppressed. Instead, they blazed even more fiercely.
Lin Nuo's body began undergoing an unbelievable transformation.
His flesh-and-blood body was transforming into the purest fire element!
His body rapidly swelled as though inflated, surpassing ten meters, then twenty meters in the blink of an eye.
Behind him, a pair of enormous flaming wings spread out, blotting out the sky.
Centered on him, a vast blue domain formed.
Within the domain, even the scorched earth and shattered stones were assimilated, dancing and burning with pure blue flames.
Rocks and the others, within the domain, discovered in shock.
These blue flames were not only healing their wounds, but replenishing their stamina as well.
"Rocks, this is...?"
Whitebeard felt the warm current surging through his body and looked in disbelief at the colossal flaming bird.
"This form..."
Roger dragged his weakened body closer, his expression incomparably grave.
"It should be a Devil Fruit... Awakening."
"Awakening?" Rocks asked urgently. "Does that mean Lin Nuo is out of danger now?"
Roger shook his head, his eyes fixed tightly on the flaming beast that was wildly exchanging attacks with Imu.
Imu's attacks constantly tore enormous holes through its body.
Yet with a flow of flames, it returned to normal.
"No, from what I can see..." Roger's voice was heavy.
"The creature within those flames can no longer be considered entirely Lin Nuo himself."
He looked at Rocks and spoke of that ancient legend regarding Devil Fruits.
"You've heard of it too, Rocks."
"Every Zoan Devil Fruit contains an independent 'will.' They are imprisoned within the fruit."
"Awakening often occurs when an ability user's life faces an extreme threat, when the limits of their body and spirit are broken through again and again."
"At that moment, the user's own will becomes extremely weak due to injury and exhaustion..."
Roger's tone grew lower, carrying grave seriousness.
"And the sleeping 'beast' will within the fruit will seize the chance to awaken and begin fighting for control of the body."
"In other words, if Lin Nuo cannot win this war of wills and suppress the Phoenix's will..."
"Then the 'animal' within the fruit will turn the tables, completely take over his body, and from then on... replace his personality!"
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