Roger Was Stunned-I Became the Scapegoat

Lei Yin echoed above God Valley.

The sound waves rolled through the heavy curtain of rain like tangible logs.

Roger gripped the Ace Greatsword. Black Armament Haki clung tightly to the blade.

Garp's iron fist slammed into the blade. Sparks exploded into a dazzling white light.

Roger's legs were planted in the muddy water. The mud instantly rose above his knees, and the ground beneath him cracked across a wide area.

The words "Nicely done" rolled over like a thunderclap.

Roger froze in place. He raised his head as rainwater streamed from his straw hat, blurring his vision.

Rainwater ran into his mouth. He spat out a mouthful of mud-laced saliva.

"When did I ever form an alliance with you?!" Roger cursed furiously.

Half his voice was drowned out by the thunder. His face was full of confusion, and his two tufts of black beard trembled with anger.

Garp gritted his teeth. He increased the force behind his fist by another thirty percent.

"What are you pretending for?! You bastard, your appetite's pretty damn big!" The veins on Garp's neck bulged.

The iron fist forcibly pressed Roger's greatsword down three inches. The web between Roger's thumb and forefinger split open, blood spilling from the wound.

At the edge of the abyss, Rocks was falling.

His feet hung in midair, and his body had lost its balance. Sea wind surged upward from the bottom of the gorge, sending a chill across his back.

Rektol's voice poured into his ears. Rocks's mind rang with a loud buzz.

The red-sailed ship had charged into the formation out of control. Roger had blocked his retreat. Rektol had dug a tunnel and raided his home base.

A complete chain of conspiracy locked into place in his mind.

"Roger!" Rocks's eyes seemed to split open. Blood flowed down his cheeks.

He had gone completely mad.

Rocks stopped dodging. He abandoned every defensive stance entirely.

Garp's other fist came crashing over with a sonic boom. It slammed viciously into Rocks's left ribs.

"Crack."

The sound of several bones breaking was clearly audible. His chest caved inward.

Rocks spewed a large mouthful of black blood filled with fragments of his organs. The blood sprayed through the air and was scattered by the rain.

He endured the punch head-on. Riding the force of the violent recoil, he forcibly twisted his body in midair.

Like a starving wolf driven into a dead end, he lunged straight at Roger.

The rapier in his hand was stained with blood. Black Conqueror's Haki poured recklessly into the blade.

The tip of the sword tore through the curtain of rain. Ignoring Garp chasing him from behind, Rocks stabbed at Roger again and again like a madman.

"Die! Just die for me!" Blood-filled phlegm clogged Rocks's throat, making his voice shrill.

Roger was caught off guard.

He swung his sword to knock away the rapier while retreating. A long cut split open the red shirt over his chest.

Rocks's rapier pierced Roger's left shoulder. Roger grunted, then kicked Rocks away.

Garp's iron fist followed close behind, sweeping past Roger's back. Roger spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed into the muddy water, skidding more than ten meters.

"You old bastard, have you gone crazy?! I don't even know that brat!" Roger grabbed the mud and climbed to his feet. His straw hat had long since flown off somewhere.

Rocks did not hear a word of it. Every thrust of his rapier targeted Roger's heart and throat.

On the other side of the battlefield.

A gigantic golden Buddha stood amid the ruins. Its golden radiance illuminated the rainy night around it.

Sengoku slapped away more than a dozen pirates. Like kites with their strings cut, they crashed into stone pillars, their bones shattering.

He withdrew his hand and pushed up the frog glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Lei Yin's intelligence allowed the wise general to make a judgment instantly.

Roger's protection of the slaves was only a pretense. His real goal was to tie down the main battlefield so the Charlotte Family could rob the Celestial Dragons' treasury!

This was the true plot of the Pirate King!

"Pass down my order!" Sengoku's booming voice drowned out the rumbling artillery fire.

"Reassign our forces! Have the entire army concentrate fire on the Roger Pirates! We absolutely cannot let them succeed!"

Signal flares shot into the sky. Red light exploded across the rainy night.

The heavy cannons on several main warships rapidly rotated their gears. Every pitch-black barrel turned toward Roger's red-sailed ship.

Countless marines carried long rifles and charged toward the pirates through ankle-deep mud, shouting as they advanced. Three vice admirals drew their swords and surrounded the ship in a triangular formation. Sword energy carved long white waves through the rainwater.

The guards of God's Knights received the order as well. They abandoned their struggle with the remnants of the Rocks Pirates and turned their weapons around.

Dense ranks of marines and knights surged toward the Roger Pirates like a tidal wave.

Rayleigh had just cut down a charging rear admiral with one slash.

He turned his head and froze.

People surrounded him on every side. White marine uniforms, the silver armor of God's Knights, and even the red headscarves of the Rocks Pirates.

The three forces charged at them like madmen, attacking them in unspoken agreement.

Cannonballs fell around the Oro Jackson like hail. Pillars of water shot into the sky.

"Roger, what the hell did you do?!" Rayleigh cursed furiously.

He tightened his grip on his long sword. Several gaps had appeared along the blade.

Gaban bit down on half a waterlogged cigar and swung both axes, smashing a solid iron cannonball to pieces.

"That damned brat! He used us as a shield!" Gaban shook the rain from his axes.

The Roger Pirates had originally possessed only one ship. Now they were being forced to bear ninety percent of the firepower on the battlefield.

The underlings did not even have time to scream before dense volleys of spears pierced them.

Roger was at the very front, locked in a deadly struggle between Rocks's desperate attacks and Garp's iron fists.

He did not even have a chance to run.

The battlefield had descended into utter chaos.

Mud mixed with severed limbs flowed across the central plaza of God Valley. People fell every second. Blood seeped into the soil, staining the island dark red.

Yet hundreds of meters underground,

there was only a stifling, oppressive silence.

The air in the underground passage had grown murky from being buried so deeply. The stench of soil mixed with the smell of engine oil, swirling through the narrow space.

Tremors occasionally came from overhead. The aftershocks of Conqueror's Haki clashing above caused loose fragments of stone to patter down.

Rektol walked at the very back of the group.

He casually threw the broken Den Den Mushi at his feet. His military boot crushed it, shattering the snail shell. Green fluid splattered across the dirt.

His face remained as cold and hard as ever.

The more chaotic things became above, the steadier his actions were below.

Cold droplets seeped from the rock layers and struck Rektol's neck. He did not wipe them away.

"Big Brother, those people from Roger's crew are probably being blasted to pieces by now." Katakuri walked ahead.

He was bare-chested. His voice sounded muffled beneath his gas mask.

Katakuri had just smashed apart a huge granite boulder blocking the way with one punch. The bandages around his fist had worn through, revealing strips of raw red flesh.

Rektol flicked a speck of dust from his cuff.

"Roger's tough. He won't die. Garp won't let him die that easily, either."

Rektol stared into the pitch-black passage ahead. "They can wear each other down."

He only cared about what he wanted.

At the very front, Cracker had both hands pressed against the control panel.

The copper wires connected to the panel were frighteningly hot, spitting and crackling with sparks.

His chubby face was covered in sweat. The sweat washed through the mud and dust, drawing several black streaks across his face.

The Fine Steel drill at the bottom of the warship bored furiously through the rock. The heat generated by the friction roasted the surrounding walls until they glowed red.

"Big Brother, the rock layer has changed!"

Cracker suddenly shouted. His voice was as hoarse as a drake's.

"The soil ahead is too hard! The drill can't get through!"

As he shouted, the warship's control panel sounded an alarm. A red light flashed.

The Fine Steel drill let out a crisp clack. It had jammed firmly into the rock layer ahead.

The intense recoil made the entire warship lurch violently. Katakuri staggered and only remained standing by bracing himself against the stone wall with one hand.

Rektol moved his short legs and strode past Cracker.

He walked to the very front of the passage.

The All-Knowing Eye pierced through the soil ahead, revealing a bright field of vision.

"Stop. We're here." Rektol waved his hand.

He looked at the final barrier before him. It was less than a meter thick.

Rektol raised his right foot.

The heart in his chest suddenly squeezed out a violent surge of blood and vital energy.

Blue lightning wrapped around his military boot as he kicked the rock before him with tremendous force.

Boom!

The one-meter-thick rock layer shattered like a biscuit. Massive chunks of stone collapsed inward, sending dust billowing everywhere.

A breath of stale air sealed away for a long time, carrying a faint sandalwood fragrance, poured out through the opening.

Rektol waved away the dust before his eyes and stepped out of the underground passage over the broken stones.

A door appeared before the Charlotte Family.

The door stood more than ten meters tall. It was entirely made of dark-red Adam Wood, its grain radiating an indestructible quality.

At the exact center of the door,

a huge hoofprint emblem of the Celestial Dragons had been cast in Pure Gold.