"Perish!"
Rocks was very satisfied. More precisely, the Devil was very satisfied.
Now this was good!
Human greed and ambition, the desire to possess everything.
This was the very essence of the sea's mad workings.
That was precisely why Devil Fruits had been born from lineage factors.
Were the endlessly changing fruit abilities not creations of human imagination?
Boom!
The throne exploded.
Rocks merged into the Dark Throne, and Darkness Tentacles reached across God Valley in an instant.
Absorbing, pulling without end.
Until everyone was utterly obliterated.
Life existed for only an instant.
Before he died, Rocks would exhaust the last of his Devil Fruit's power!
He would demonstrate his final worth!
"Darkness is everywhere!"
Rocks opened his mouth, and a Darkness Devil appeared in God Valley.
That Devil towered far above giants. Even Saint Saturn in his Mythical Zoan form could not compare.
God Valley, already narrow, now looked even more as though it were being devoured by a Devil wedged inside it.
Rocks sacrificed himself to the Devil, his life burning away to destruction at that very moment.
Darkness detonated everyone's lineage factors.
The Devil Fruit users were the first to feel as though lightning had struck them.
Pfft!
"Damn it! It hurts too much!"
Kaido swore he would never forget Rocks, that damned captain, for the rest of his life.
Even on the verge of death, he still had to torment his own crew.
His internal organs churned at once, and the pain sent him collapsing to the ground.
"Damn it, that lunatic Rocks."
Streusen thrust his sword into the cliff, the pain making his already tiny body suffer even more.
"Rocks!!"
Linlin wanted nothing more than to hack him to pieces. So much for her Iron Balloon-her defenses kept being broken, all because of Rocks's targeted attacks.
"A fruit power like this shouldn't even exist. Fuck!"
Golden Lion had truly had enough. As a flying pirate, this was the first time he had been pinned to the ground, forced to endure the pain without coughing up blood, since that would only worsen his injuries.
"A fruit's abilities depend on their development. He must be this Devil Fruit's most perfect host in history."
Whitebeard remained where he was, standing with his blade in hand.
Did it hurt?
Of course, but what good would crying out in pain do?
Wang Zhi and Silver Axe really wanted to get a few hits in on this captain.
In fact, the Rocks Pirates were suffering the most.
The Roger Pirates were largely unaffected, while the Marine Headquarters powerhouses Sengoku and Tsuru had Garp and Zephyr protecting them.
Even if they were seriously injured, someone would still rescue them later.
Captain John gave up resisting and simply lay on the ground to await death.
He did not think he could withstand Rocks's strongest fruit attack before his death.
Blood seeped through the skin all over his body, all because of darkness erosion annihilating and tearing at his lineage factors.
"Shane, how come you're fine, brat?"
John noticed that Shane was merely leaning against the Oak Barrel.
"It actually hurts a lot. I just can't be bothered to say it."
Shane gave him an offhand excuse.
In truth, he felt no pain whatsoever inside his body. Was Rocks doing this deliberately?
Why?
Logically, an indiscriminate attack at a time like this would unleash the greatest possible power.
No.
Shane fixed his eyes on Rocks, who had become a giant of darkness.
The current Rocks seemed more like a Devil. The one who had spoken in the darkness earlier was Rocks, but the one who made this decision might not have been!
Was it the Dark-Dark Fruit's Devil Soul?
Had it instinctively chosen not to erode Shane?
Why?
Shane lifted the Oak Barrel and gulped down the wine inside.
Suddenly, the earth was torn apart.
Gravity dragged everything away, including the wine Shane had taken a few mouthfuls of.
At that moment, Shane was dragged up as well, leaving him no choice but to punch a hole and grab a crack in the ground.
Rocks looked down upon the earth. To him, everything was merely teeming darkness.
At that moment, whether people or objects in God Valley.
Whether stone statues or living beings, all were swallowed by that darkness.
From outside, the original vortex of darkness appeared to expand rapidly.
After swelling violently, it abruptly froze.
Whoosh!
Seen from the sea.
The vortex of darkness rapidly contracted until it tore everything in God Valley into itself.
The pain people felt was completely different from the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's vibrations.
It was devouring and tearing!
The colossal whirlpool on the sea's surface was even more terrifying.
Stussy had seized a warship earlier, but now the whirlpool kept drawing it in, about to sink it into the sea.
She stared at God Valley in the distance, unable to believe anyone could still be alive.
Let it all be destroyed. This isn't so bad!
At least without Marine Headquarters, she could live with fewer restraints from now on.
Presumably, without the shelter of the Rocks Pirates, she would have to drift from place to place again.
Just thinking about it made her feel miserable.
While Stussy was thinking this.
Seawater slid across her face.
The scene at God Valley was reflected in her eyes, clear as water.
God Valley, which had gone from expansion to contraction in less than a second, suddenly exploded.
Destroyed!
That possibility was the first thing that came to Stussy's mind.
Then the whirlpool slowed slightly, signifying that the gravitational pull had vanished.
The darkness disappeared.
God Valley returned to normal, though no buildings remained, only shattered rocks.
And the nearly collapsed Deep Valley.
"What happened over there?"
"Did Rocks win? That was his attack just now, wasn't it?"
"I almost thought the world was ending. That guy really is going to rule the world!"
While people harbored doubts.
Things inside God Valley were completely different.
Figures fell from the sky, one after another.
Shane slammed heavily into a mountain wall.
The few powerful fighters who had survived the war turned back once again.
Only to feel a chill down their backs!
A faint light swept incongruously through God Valley.
They felt their hair stand on end. Their Observation Haki and instincts told them.
Rocks was not dead!
How was that possible? No matter how powerful a life-form was, it could not still be alive.
But when Shane turned back, utterly weakened.
A living human stood in the enormous crater at the very heart of God Valley.
Rocks!
His eyes shone with a crystalline light, like those of a newborn infant.
As everyone turned back, gravely wounded, their hearts pounded like drums.
Why!
Was this monster still not dead?
"You're all very afraid."
Brilliance burst from Rocks's eyes.
He grinned.
Boom!
Wild Haki erupted from his entire body.
Conqueror's Haki, dark as night, washed over them like the most terrifying towering waves.
"Trying to kill me is nothing but a fool's dream!"
"I am Rocks, the King of the World!"
"Hahahahaha, I am immortal!"
Rocks laughed madly, yet cracks appeared across his skin one after another.
The Haki was so oppressive that they could not breathe.
Shane withstood the Haki's impact, staring at Rocks in utter shock.
Roger and Garp rose again, staggering as they prepared to fight.
They did not know how they could win next if Rocks was still alive!
Until Rocks's Haki took a step forward.
He stared at Shane outside the crater.
He pointed one hand at the young man.
"You must have felt it, haven't you? The darkness's special favor toward you."
"There's no escaping it. Powerful Devil Fruits actively seek out hosts."
"No matter where it is reborn, it will find you!"
"That is the splendor of fate!"
"Shane!"
"The darkness has already settled on you. What choice will you make?"
Rocks's words thundered in everyone's ears.
Until Rocks's Haki suddenly plummeted.
As he walked up to Shane, step by step, his Haki disappeared as well.
Rocks stood in place, staring intently at Shane with radiant eyes.
His Devil ability vanished, and his three types of Haki were exhausted.
He remained frozen in place, in the posture of taking a step forward.
At the final moment of his life.
Rocks's corpse made a cracking sound.
He turned to stone where he stood, his mouth still stretched into a grin, laughing madly.
His unruly hair solidified at that moment as well, like a Sea Demon returned from hell.
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