This One, This One, and This One Too

"Oh no... Oh no! Vice Admiral Garp!"

"I'm perfectly fine!"

Facing the panicked Marine who suddenly burst into the office, Garp leaned back in his chair, feet propped on the desk, picking his nose.

The marine was momentarily stunned by Garp's response, but quickly realized what was happening and shouted.

"Vice Admiral Garp, run! Something's happened!"

This is a Marine Base in the New World. After retreating from Hachinosu, they did not return directly to headquarters, but instead rested here.

Garp followed the marines, turning left and right, and entered what looked like a basement.

After descending the stairs and passing through countless branching corridors, they finally came to a place resembling a medical room, with Kong, Sengoku, Tsuru, and others standing outside the door.

"What's wrong?" Garp realized something was amiss.

Sengoku didn't speak, but simply pointed inside, where there was a thick piece of glass as big as a wall.

The interior space was large, with dozens of beds arranged in a row. Some equipment was placed on both sides of the wall, surrounded by pieces of fabric.

When Garp looked in that direction, he was immediately startled.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Several naked people rolled off the bed and knelt on the floor, clutching their heads tightly with their hands, their eyes bloodshot and almost popping out.

Without exception, their mouths were wide open, and blood was flowing from the corners of their mouths.

Even with the glass providing soundproofing, Garp could imagine the agonizing screams; those people were even self-harming, their bodies bleeding profusely.

The next second, a blue beam of light fell!

The ceiling of this underground special laboratory was blasted apart, and a bright blue light shone through, enveloping everyone inside.

They raised their hands high, the glass could no longer block them out, and their heart-wrenching cries echoed throughout the space.

The light came and went quickly; after the pillar of light disappeared through the top, the scene that appeared was enough to make one gasp in horror.

Bones! There's no one left, only bones!

The gray-white skeletons remained frozen in their final pose, motionless for a few seconds, before collapsing to the ground and shattering into pieces.

"... Explain this," Garp said in a low voice.

"Before we left, I had some Quincy captured in the chaos and are conducting blood sampling and biopsy studies in this makeshift laboratory." Sengoku adjusted his glasses.

"I've never heard of such a thing before." Garp's face turned extremely ugly.

"We need to understand this power. You know that guy you fought, right?" Sengoku's tone remained calm and unhurried.

Garp fell silent, remembering Kaya.

"The Quincy's physical structure is already different from that of normal people, but the research is not progressing much. I was planning to bring them to headquarters to study them together with the Quincy prisoners there, but then this happened suddenly," Sengoku said.

Everyone fell silent. Those Quincy had just gone mad seemed possessed.

Just then, the Den Den Den Mushi) rang.

Kong had just received the call when his expression suddenly changed drastically. "Rocks and the others? God Valley? How is that possible!"

Everyone looked at Kong. After saying only a few words, Kong hung up the phone, his expression grim.

"Rocks and his gang have appeared in God Valley! The World Government wants us to send reinforcements immediately!"

Unfortunately, Rocks and his men left too quickly; the World Government's orders only reached the Navy now.

Upon hearing Kong's words, Garp and the others' first reaction was disbelief.

After finishing that battle yesterday, they retreated and temporarily set up a naval branch. How could Rocks and his men have arrived in the West Blue in the blink of an eye?

"Haha! Those damn Celestial Dragons are going to be in trouble!" Garp grinned smugly.

"Garp, you go!" Kong suddenly said.

"What!" Garp's smile vanished.

"We're probably too late to get to the God Valley, but we must send someone..."

"I'm not going! I'm just a lowly Vice Admiral; this is something Admiral should handle."

"Garp!!"

"I don't care! Let whoever wants to go go! Hasn't that old fox Sengoku always wanted to climb the ranks? Let Sengoku go!"

Sengoku, who was standing to the side, coughed lightly a few times.

"No way! That's an order!" Kong roared. "If you dare refuse, I'll dock your pension!"

"Empty! You'll regret it!"

"Garp! I am the Admiral!"

The bloody winds of naval battle have faded. The once massive black sails are now torn to shreds, hanging crookedly from the mainmast.

The cries of agony from the battle had long since died down; few survivors remained amidst the burning blue flames.

Kodo leaned against the half-burnt side of the gunwale, his scimitar still dripping blood, a large gash in the blade, and his wounds still bleeding.

He lifted his eyelids slightly. As far as he could see, almost all of his own men were dead or wounded, and the ship was also damaged and slowly sinking.

Kodo kicked it, and an empty bucket rolled twice before crashing into a lying corpse.

That was his deputy who had followed him for three years. His body was tattered and covered in blood, and his limbs were nowhere to be found.

"I never imagined that after almost three years in the New World, I would suddenly collapse here today," Kodo muttered to himself.

A series of footsteps interrupted his musings. When he looked up, he saw a group of men wielding glowing bows and arrows.

These were the people who called themselves Quincy. They met at sea and suddenly launched an attack without saying a word.

"The infamous pirate swordsman Kodo, has finally fallen to our sacred arrows," said the man carrying a greatsword, seemingly the leader of the opposing side.

The others were itching to get started... no, they were itching to get their bows drawn, as if they couldn't wait to make their move.

Kodo didn't respond, but just looked up at the sky.

He felt his eyes were playing tricks on him; during the fiercest artillery battle, half the sky was black, but now a faint blue light was appearing above.

The next second... it struck down like lightning!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kodo's eyes widened as all the creatures in front of him were enveloped in light, emitting chilling screams.

"Aaaaaah~"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!"

"Aaaaaaahh..."

One Quincy after another fell, some dying instantly, others lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.

The burly man leading the group gritted his teeth, looked up at the sky, and seemed to want to say something, but then that sentence suddenly echoed in his mind.

What do I need to give in return?

... everything about you.

He realized that from the beginning, what that person needed was not companions and subordinates, but nourishment.

Clang!

The heavy sword, the size of a door, crashed onto the deck. Sege's powerful body began to dissipate; one of his arms vanished, and the rest of his strength dissipated.

Sege lost all strength and collapsed to the ground, seemingly dead, yet also seemingly still breathing.

Suddenly, all was calm; the world suddenly fell silent.

The wind seemed to have picked up, whipping around the torn sail ropes. The mainmast snapped and then slowly tilted to one side, crashing onto the sea with a thunderous roar, the splashing waves hitting our feet.

Kodo stared at the scene before him, forgetting to breathe and losing the ability to think.

The waves lapping gently against the ship's hull, like the end of a carnival, leaving behind a sea of blood and a deathly silence on board.

Hachinosu, a certain street.

"I've already told you, I'm used to doing things on my own, I'm not joining you guys..."

Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!

A horrific scream interrupted the man's refusal.

He stared wide-eyed ahead.

The Quincy group that had been relentlessly pursuing him and hoping he would join them was suddenly enveloped by a blue pillar of light.

No, it's not just these people!

This strange phenomenon occurred throughout Hachinosu, with beams of light rising from the ground.

Those chosen were all Quincy!

"Basard..." The leading female Quincy reached out her hand to Basard, but her beautiful face and mature body had completely disappeared.

Whether male or female, all were stripped of their flesh and blood in the light, turning into skeletons!

Some people even turned into a handful of ashes.

"Eileen?!"

Basard broke out in a cold sweat, shocked and terrified.

Why! Why did they single him out? Everyone else I knew, the Quincy, was dead.

He suddenly raised his head and looked up at the sky.

That was the direction from which the light came, and it eventually returned along the same path, carrying a special energy that caused ripples to spread through the air.

He recognized it; it was the Quincy's Spiritual Power, the origin of everything for the Quincy species.

At that moment, my feelings underwent a subtle change.

"Why..."

Basard suddenly raised his head and the Roar.

"Why take a child's life! Aren't Quincy all your bloodlines?"

"To you... Your Majesty!"

"What are we to you?!"