Even gods are no nobler than humans

"Darkness Descends!"

Rocks slammed a fist into the Darkness Domain.

The enormous shadow rapidly expanded, then began contracting at incredible speed.

At a certain point, it began collapsing, and horrifying cracks appeared across it.

White light emerged from the darkness, but it was not anyone else's Devil Fruit power.

It was Rocks's Devil Fruit!

"Light is born from darkness. This moment marks the arrival of a new era."

Shane had seen far too many monsters and abnormal things that day.

John, hanging from his dragon whisker, had enjoyed the scenery the entire time.

"Interesting."

John loved this kind of beauty.

"The captain is too crazy!"

Silver Axe was drenched in sweat, while Wang Zhi felt somewhat fortunate to have survived.

If he had maintained his earlier state of merging with the entire island, he would have been finished.

This move of Rocks's would have killed him outright!

In the sky.

Whitebeard and Golden Lion said nothing.

They wondered how they would fare if they took that attack themselves.

Linlin felt somewhat uncomfortable.

She hated this kind of Devil Fruit power. That darkness always made Devil Fruit Users uneasy.

Fortunately, she had been born with a mutated physique.

Even weakening her Lineage Factor could not change her monstrous nature.

"The extent to which he's developed his Devil Fruit is unbelievable!"

"It's as miraculous as Haki lying dormant inside humans."

"Something this wondrous must be related to some property of the human body."

Stussy was making her calculations.

She kept feeling that Haki, Devil Fruits, and humans...

There had to be something connecting them.

What was it?

Talent, or bloodline!

"Is anyone still alive?"

Of course Shane knew Roger and Garp were not dead.

But Rocks's attack was far too astounding, combining an element with Haki.

It inspired fear from the depths of one's heart.

Insisting on putting on a brave face and saying it was nothing would truly be underestimating the strongest man of the era!

"There are always a lucky few."

Rocks returned to the ground and stood atop the ruins.

Shattered statues filled his sight.

That meant they had been petrified before he unleashed the full power of the Dark-Dark Fruit.

Others had fallen to the ground and been petrified after losing consciousness.

That meant the Dark-Dark Fruit had defeated them first.

As the darkness faded.

Light enveloped God Valley once more.

Pirate ships and Marine Battleships made landfall one after another.

Yet no battle cries rang out again.

Because no one knew whether their opponents still existed.

Rocks stepped onto a stone statue.

His gaze looked down upon everything.

As he watched the people before him, he could not help feeling some disdain.

Honestly, there were always people who thought too highly of themselves and dreamed of creating miracles!

"Not dead? Looks like you aren't Devil Fruit Users."

"But you're nearly finished, aren't you? What strength do you have left to keep fighting?"

Rocks stared at the young men before him!

Of course.

They were young only to him and Kong!

Even Kong, Marine Headquarters' greatest fighting force, had fallen.

They were all wounded, already at the end of their rope!

They would not even last a single exchange!

Sengoku, newly promoted to Admiral, was also badly injured because he was a Devil Fruit User.

With Zephyr supporting him by the shoulder, he stared coldly at Rocks.

Not far away.

Several pirates still gripped their blades, gasping for breath.

Aside from them.

All the pirate cannon fodder and ordinary Marines had been defeated!

Boom!

The entire Rocks Pirates descended!

Though the previous day and night of fighting had left them greatly depleted and wounded as well.

That was no reason to fall so easily.

Only crew members and apprentices remained in the Rocks Pirates!

The pirates and Marines standing at the edge of the harbor stopped in their tracks.

At the sight of those corpses and shattered stone statues, their whole bodies trembled.

Despair swiftly devoured everyone's will to fight.

"We lost!"

"Justice lost to the evil Rocks Pirates!"

"There's no hope at this rate! Everyone will be swallowed by darkness, reduced to broken stones and corpses!"

The Marines felt despair filling their hearts.

Though the pirate reinforcements were afraid and dared not approach the battlefield, they were utterly delighted.

"Hahahaha! This is the first time I've heard Marines cry!"

"Where's your justice? Come on! We Rocks Pirates are so scared!"

"Destruction is the ultimate truth of everything! You're welcome to become pirates and join this pirate paradise!"

The pirates cheered and leaped for joy, yet remained where they were.

This alone was enough!

Getting close to the heart of the battle would get them killed!

Every person still standing there was a monster!

Any casual attack could threaten their lives!

God Valley.

There were no civilians or slaves left.

Because apart from those pirates and Marines who would become legends in the future.

There were almost no living people left.

The houses were ruins, and the corpses were part of those ruins too.

Just as everyone held their breath.

Tsuru, also a Devil Fruit User but protected by Garp, began to panic.

"Garp! Garp!"

She discovered that Garp had collapsed and lay sprawled on the ground with his eyes closed.

Lying head-to-head with him was Roger, likewise sprawled out, his face covered by his straw hat.

"Roger!"

The state of the two men made even Rayleigh frown.

They were all worried that something had happened to their friends.

Right now, those two were their last hope!

"You'll fall just like those two!"

"Next, we'll devour the West Blue, North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, Grand Line, New World, and finally the Red Line!"

"Our footsteps will reach every corner of the world."

"Until the world sinks completely into despair and madness, and everyone becomes a pirate!"

As Rocks spoke and laughed, Haki coated his fists once more.

Yet an exhausted figure rose to his feet.

He had lived a very long time and had always carried himself arrogantly.

Dragging his utterly exhausted body, he walked up to Rocks.

His cane thrust toward Rocks in the same motion!

He seemed to be trying to preserve his last shred of dignity.

"Saint Garling!"

Saint Saturn shouted, glaring furiously at Rocks.

"The Five Elders!"

Rocks seized the cane with one hand and swiftly petrified it!

The darkness at his feet surged toward Saint Saturn, swallowing him.

Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki wound around his fist simultaneously.

"God-Slaying Slash!"

Saint Garling unleashed his final sword strike. They would defend the pride of the Celestial Dragons.

"We are the gods who created the world! You despicable pirate, you damned D!"

Rocks seized Saint Saturn's cane and drove it into his heart.

Blood kept spilling from his mouth, yet he continued struggling and cursing furiously.

Saint Garling's slash was long past the strength of his prime.

Rocks caught it with one hand, then swiftly used Dark Water to seize him by the neck.

Haki erupted in an instant!

"Even gods!"

"Are no nobler than humans!"

Rocks unleashed his Haki in a frenzy, overwhelming the gravely wounded Saint Saturn, who was restrained by his Devil Fruit power!

The relentlessly surging Haki became a dark tide.

Saint Garling tried to resist with his own dark-red Conqueror's Haki.

But Rocks's overwhelming presence suppressed him, until the Haki assault rendered him completely unconscious.

"Why should gods exist in a human world?"

"Absurd!"

Rocks unleashed his Haki at full power.

The dark tide became a ferocious deluge, madly destroying God Valley.

The pirates and Marines who had just landed on the shore were knocked unconscious outright.

Barely able to breathe, Sengoku tried to resist with Conqueror's Haki.

Rayleigh stood at the front, also striking back with Conqueror's Haki.

But Rocks was like a towering mountain.

They were merely gullies at its foot, utterly unable to contend with him.

By comparison.

The crew of the Rocks Pirates were all shaken.

After fighting for a day and a night, they all felt drained.

Yet the King of the World still had the strength for a major battle!

Shane felt the strongest Conqueror's Haki of this era.

A savage beast seemed to stir within his own body as well.

It was not fear, but surging excitement!

The powerful fighters around him were all blocking with Haki to avoid being caught in Rocks's assault.

Shane maintained his heightened state through his human-beast form and Stussy's potion.

Faint traces of Haki sparked like scattered stars.

Whitebeard formed a shield from Haki and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Golden Lion simply piled up massive rocks into a towering wall.

And yet.

Rocks was still unleashing blasts of Haki.

He intended to crush everyone's hope completely!

At that moment.

It was no longer just the ordinary Marines who despaired.

As Rocks stood on Saint Saturn's back.

His hair writhed like snakes.

Even the Marine Admirals felt despair.

"They're not dead."

Shane fused his Haki with purple lightning and withstood it with his freakishly powerful physique.

Even then, he had to shelter behind Whitebeard's defenses, just like Stussy.

That showed how desperate things were for the Roger Pirates and Marine Headquarters.

Amid that desperate situation.

Rocks's gaze was the first to change.

Then the looks in Whitebeard's, Golden Lion's, Rayleigh's, and Sengoku's eyes all changed.

"That bastard Roger isn't dead?"

Linlin wanted nothing more than to go over and finish him off.

"Garp is moving!"

Wang Zhi had taken a few punches during the melee too, and he still remembered them.

Kaido, who was also an apprentice, looked toward Shane in shock. "You've awakened your Haki!"

"Just like you said, I grasped that thread inside the human body."

As Shane answered.

Someone burst into loud laughter, drawing everyone's attention.