Heartbeats, breathing, the sound of shattered stone, and the destructive roar of darkness annihilating everything.
Shane listened to it all, and the sounds in his ears gradually quieted.
His whole body had grown much thinner and weaker.
He struggled free of the rock wall, and the pain deep in his soul finally vanished.
His torn and battered body touched the ground again, and he even had the illusion of having survived a catastrophe.
Unfortunately, there was no food, or Shane could have healed faster.
His body truly was in no condition to fight now.
The moon had not fully withdrawn.
The morning sun was already trying to rise in the east.
Shane stood alone in the canyon.
Sunlight poured gently into the cup that was God Valley, like orange juice.
Shane was the first to drink it, and a sense of intoxication coursed through him.
All that remained was the dark sphere before him, filling half of God Valley.
Not a sound came from within. Only the things being torn apart and destroyed around it made any noise.
The Kurozumi Siblings dispelled their barrier and stared at the scene before them, still shaken.
The waves were gradually settling.
Another great wave of pirates and Marines landed, stepping over bodies whose fate was unknown.
They headed toward the heart of the battlefield.
"There's a God Valley resident over there who's almost starved to death!"
Some Marines spotted Shane.
"Leave him! Our orders are to protect the Celestial Dragons!"
"Are you sure anyone's still alive? That huge black sphere swallowed everything."
"Our mission is to rescue all the Celestial Dragons. Nothing else matters!"
The Marines charged, while some pirates slipped in amid the confusion, trying to find treasure.
Shane, however, knew that every last one of them was doomed.
The monsters in their eyes were about to make their entrance again!
"Sis, they're not dead!"
Kurozumi Semimaru looked astonished and hurriedly raised a barrier to defend himself.
"It's useless! Devil Fruit powers won't work against Rocks!"
Despite saying that, Kurozumi Higurashi promptly hid behind the barrier.
Shane walked through the valley without a care.
Whenever someone attacked, he evaded them effortlessly.
When bullets flew his way, he avoided them with no more than a sway of his body.
"Kid! When the captain releases the darkness in a moment, everything will blast outward! You'd better stay put!"
Wang Zhi was the most cautious of all, and even tried to persuade Shane.
"Hungry! Not afraid of pain."
Shane did not care at all. He only wanted to find food.
"Bread. The Celestial Dragons' storehouse."
John sat atop a huge Oak Barrel.
He held an enormous beer mug and drank deeply.
Shane looked up at him.
The two could be considered kindred spirits: one loved drinking, the other loved eating.
Beneath the oak barrel.
Plenty of food was piled in wooden crates.
Shane plunged headfirst into it and began gulping down great mouthfuls.
"Drink! Drink your fill!"
John raised his mug toward the morning sun.
When the first ray of sunlight reached the darkness in God Valley.
Shane, still devouring food, felt the earth shake.
Then a powerful shock wave came from behind him.
Rocks had released his darkness!
Everything that the darkness had pulled in was released.
The resulting force was enough to sweep through the entire valley.
The Marines, whose battle cries had shaken the sky, had only just charged in pursuit when the blast sent them flying.
"Hahahahaha!"
"I told you, no one gets an exception."
"If you want to live, you'll have to be the last one standing."
Rocks's voice had a sinister magnetism as it rang throughout the valley.
The response rang in the ears of all the reinforcements.
By the sunlight, they saw a particularly horrifying sight.
Buildings shattered in great numbers, and stones and gold rained from the sky.
Saint Saturn of the Five Elders had yet to regain consciousness when he was gravely injured in his sleep.
Saint Garling fell from the sky, along with the Celestial Dragons of the Holy Knights.
Those pillars of the Marines, their strongest fighting forces, were nothing more than defeated men whom Rocks had severely wounded.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the others were also covered in blood.
No one could remain uninvolved. This battle could have only one victor in the end.
Rocks knew some would refuse to accept it, each harboring their own intentions.
So what!
He would suppress and affect them all with the Dark-Dark Fruit, then shatter their last hope.
He alone could be the victor!
"Run!"
Hope shattered completely.
The people who had landed on God Valley hurriedly turned to retreat.
There was nothing left. They were certain to face death.
The sea, and even the entire world, belonged to Rocks!
"Trying to leave? I haven't given you permission!"
Rocks's ambition and madness unleashed the power of the Love-Love Fruit's other side.
The surging Devil Fruit power petrified every reinforcement on the island!
Stone statues stood in the distance, each facing the opposite direction.
They struggled, suffered, and were helpless.
Outside God Valley.
The last reinforcements aboard the warships felt their scalps prickle.
They had never imagined fear could feel so real.
God Valley before them was nothing short of a forbidden zone for humans.
Corpses piled like mountains.
Countless stone statues.
Vast amounts of debris crashing down from the sky.
One great figure after another, hailed as legends, had ended up wounded or dead.
What could ordinary people like them possibly do?
"Why does this world have a monster like Rocks? Why!"
"I just want to go home alive! Is that wrong?"
"Please, can we turn the ship around? I want to live!"
Despair conquered everyone completely.
Before this.
Rocks had crushed his opponents with this same despair time and again.
Everywhere he went was conquered, which was why he could be called the King of the World.
Rocks, who possessed everything a pirate could have, was challenging the entire world.
The end had already come.
All people could do was hold their breath and make death less painful.
"Shut up, Rocks!"
Garp crawled out of the rubble, covered in blood from his forehead to his feet.
His fists were even bloodier, but as someone without a Devil Fruit power, this was already his limit.
"Stay out there and watch!"
"How could justice fall so easily!"
"I, Garp, will smash everything with my Iron Fist!"
Garp stood up, no longer even knowing what he was saying.
Fight. All that remained was fighting!
The more desperate the moment, the more the strong had to swing their fists at those stronger than themselves.
"Hey, Rayleigh!"
Roger stood with both feet on the shattered stones, breaking the ground beneath him.
Blood dripped from his blade.
Behind him, Rayleigh, who had withstood Rocks's heavy punch, was working to steady his breathing.
"I said I'd turn the world upside down, and I said I'd never die!"
Roger turned to look at Rocks.
His presence vanished into thin air once again.
He wielded Haki with near-perfect skill, seeming to disappear even while standing before others.
"Of course! We're going to work toward that goal together!"
"Roger! Cut our opponent down again!"
Rayleigh raised his long blade, saluting his captain as the vice-captain.
The gravely wounded members of the Roger Pirates raised their swords one after another.
They were an elite pirate crew who yearned for freedom and adventure.
They would not have reinforcements like the Rocks Pirates or Marine Headquarters.
They could rely only on one another.
"Rocks! What comes next will be the darkest hour of your life!"
Roger casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Within God Valley.
Only the three of them still had the strength to keep fighting.
Whitebeard and Golden Lion stood guard on one side of God Valley.
On the other side were Shane and Captain John.
Perhaps it was a twist of fate.
Yet it also divided entirely different eras.
As Shane feasted, color gradually returned to his face.
He turned his head.
Bathed in sunlight, Roger looked back.
He already had stubble that year, but he was still much more clean-shaven than the familiar, heavily mustached man he would later become.
Drops of blood along his jawline yielded to gravity.
Shane turned around.
Their eyes met.
John seemed like a spectator, taking everything in without saying another word.
"Kid! There's still a lot of confusion in your eyes."
"If you have nowhere to return to on the sea, come aboard my pirate ship."
"After all, the Rocks Pirates are about to fall apart!"
Roger gave Shane a confident smile.
It seemed more like absolute confidence in his own strength.
This time.
Victory and defeat, life and death, would be decided!
Before you continue