Only one man gave chase without hesitation—Iron Fist Garp. Bloody Hand Braver and Golden Buddha Sengoku, after a moment's hesitation, turned back to rescue the Celestial Dragons first.
The war reignited in full force.
Without Rocks to keep their momentum, his pirates were quickly overwhelmed. The Navy's best—the admiral candidates Bloody Hand Braver and Youge, alongside vice admirals Sengoku and Zephyr—pressed forward like a tide. Each was a powerhouse in his own right. Within moments, they had crushed the Rocks Pirates blocking the palaces and freed several Celestial Dragons from captivity.
The freed nobles revealed their true nature immediately. They jeered, whipped, and even mutilated the corpses of fallen pirates to vent their fury. Worse, they executed slaves who had tried to flee, shooting them down in cold blood. Many navy officers frowned but said nothing, choosing instead to push deeper into the palace to protect more nobles.
"Haha! I remember you—your name is Sengoku, isn't it?!" one Celestial Dragon, his robes splattered with blood from whipping a pirate and killing several slaves, turned to the vice admiral. "You saved me. Kill the rest of these vermin, and I'll see you promoted to admiral myself!"
The words made Bloody Hand Braver and Youge stiffen. They masked their expressions quickly, but irritation flickered in their eyes.
The situation was urgent. Unless they rescued more Celestial Dragons, all their efforts would amount to nothing—and worse, they would shoulder the blame. Yet the promise hung heavy in the air. Admiral Kong was set to ascend as Fleet Admiral in the coming years, and with Coss Davo possibly lost to Brook, at least two admiral seats would open. If Sengoku gained the backing of the Celestial Dragons and the Fleet Admiral both, he could leapfrog straight past them into an admiral's chair.
Jealousy simmered beneath their disciplined facades.
"Saint Jefferson, this battlefield is far too dangerous," Sengoku answered evenly. "We'll arrange for you to be escorted to the warships at once. Please withdraw to Marijoa for your safety."
Though his tone was calm, Sengoku understood perfectly. The Celestial Dragons were brutal tyrants, but he could not offend them. If he wanted to rise high enough to change the world, he had to play their game for now.
"Yes, yes—escort us quickly!" Jefferson Saint stammered, terror written across his face. He had no intention of dying here. Before leaving, however, he barked one last command, his voice trembling with fury.
"Kill every last pirate and return all my treasures! Someone knocked me unconscious and looted my vault. Find them, or I'll have their skin torn off and nailed to the gates of Marijoa!"
With the first group of nobles evacuated, Bloody Hand Braver and Youge turned their attention back to the chaos. The Valley of the Gods had descended into madness. Pirates, navy, and slaves surged through the burning palaces, each group clashing with the other.
Captain John and Silver Axe intercepted over a dozen Celestial Dragons, stripping them of everything of value. But their frustration grew. Not one Devil Fruit had surfaced.
Impossible. The Celestial Dragons hoarded Devil Fruits like baubles, even giving them to slaves. Yet no matter how many nobles they captured, none carried the prize Rocks demanded.
Suddenly, a surge of killing intent split the air.
Dark matter swirled around Rocks as he cornered the Roger Pirates, his face twisted with fury.
"Hand over everything you stole!"
Roger's men staggered back under the pressure. They had managed to plunder the central palace, and Rocks was convinced they had taken the Devil Fruits.
"If you want treasure, take it! We'll give it back!" Roger drew his sword Ace, crossing blades with Rocks. Within seconds, he realized the truth—he was hopelessly outmatched. Rocks' sheer ferocity humbled him.
All that mattered was the red Poneglyph rubbing secured in his coat. Treasure meant nothing compared to his crew's lives.
"I don't want your gold," Rocks snarled. "Give me the Devil Fruits. Now!"
Roger's brow furrowed. "We don't have them!"
The crew exchanged bewildered glances. They had taken scrolls, artifacts, and rubbings, but no Devil Fruits.
"Lies!" Rocks roared, unleashing a slash of blackened sword energy that ripped through the palace. The Roger Pirates reeled. Against Rocks alone, they stood no chance.
If not for fate's hand, they would have perished then and there.
Charging into the fray came Garp. The vice admiral had abandoned his chase of Brook's fleet, drawn instead by the clash of Conqueror's Haki.
It was madness—one Navy hero, one rising pirate king, and one tyrant overlord colliding in a storm of willpower.
For the first time, Roger's body erupted in blood-red steam, his life force igniting as he invoked the secret technique of the D. Together with Garp, he barely managed to check Rocks' rampage.
Their clash shook the island.
Meanwhile, the chaos deepened. Shiki, laughing like a madman, lifted entire palaces into the sky with his Devil Fruit. Uju ferried stolen treasures back toward Golden Island, its hold bursting with spoils.
Brook pressed his crew harder, his voice sharp. "There's no time! Take everything we can. The Navy's reinforcements are almost here!"
Everywhere, fire and blood. Officers of the Rocks Pirates, dragging captured Celestial Dragons, collided with naval forces. The Hell Pirates, in the middle of their plunder, crashed into both sides.
Kaido, Oden, and Fisher Tiger roared as they charged straight at Captain John's captives, determined to seize Celestial Dragons of their own.
Blades, fists, and Devil Fruit powers erupted in a maelstrom. Friend and foe blurred.
At last, even the Rocks cadres faltered. Unwilling to tangle with Brook's fighters in such chaos, they abandoned their noble hostages and fled with their loot.
That left the Navy. Faced with enraged pirates and terrified nobles, the admirals gritted their teeth and fought to the death. For the honor of the Celestial Dragons. For the survival of the world government.
And the Valley of the Gods drowned in chaos.
----------
Admiral candidates Bloody Hand Braver and Youge pressed forward together, blades flashing as they fought Brook to the death. Not far away, Golden Buddha Sengoku locked horns with Whitebeard Newgate, their titanic clashes shaking the palaces to their foundations.
Black Arm Zephyr battled fiercely with Redfield. The two had already traded hundreds of blows, and Zephyr's survival came only because two elite vice admirals rushed in to support him. Without them, he would have fallen long ago beneath the thunderous wrath of the Red Count.
Elsewhere, Shiki the Golden Lion focused entirely on seizing the Celestial Dragons' palaces, ignoring the battles raging around him. Charlotte Linlin, surrounded by three vice admirals, fought like a juggernaut, her iron balloon body shrugging off their combined attacks as she laughed and drove them back with her Emperor Blade.
"Hahaha! I've never seen so much gold in my life!"
Golden Pirate Woonan cackled, his crew hauling ingots and gilded ornaments out of the ruined halls. He knew then he had made the right choice in joining the Hell Pirates—alone, he never would have had the chance to plunder such splendor.
"Give me the merit points! Over here!"
Byrnndi World fired his pistol, each shot transformed into a massive cannonball by the power of the Moa Moa no Mi. Two rear admirals already lay dead from his barrage. His grin was bloodied, several teeth missing, but he showed no fear as he hunted stronger prey.
Suddenly, a roar split the battlefield.
"I killed a Celestial Dragon! Hahahaha!"
Kaido the Beast tore through the navy's defenses, shrugging off bullets and blades as he charged like a rabid animal. Before the horrified eyes of CP agents, navy officers, and even freed slaves, he seized a richly dressed noble and ripped him in half.
"Die, villain!"
Several navy officers struck back, swords piercing into Kaido's flesh.
"Argh!"
Kaido snarled in pain, but his fury only mounted. He tore the weapons from his body, blood spraying as he smashed the officers aside with a single swing of his mace. His aura surged higher, pressing against the limits of his will.
"Not enough!" he roared, eyes bloodshot. Kaido lunged again, aiming for another Celestial Dragon. To him, killing these so-called gods had become an obsession—the trigger he needed to awaken his Conqueror's Haki.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Beside him, Kozuki Oden charged in with the twin blades Yama and Ame-no-Habesaki, while Fisher Tiger pummeled forward with his seastone gloves. The three tore a path straight through the navy's ranks, a spearhead of sheer madness aimed at the nobles.
The four Lunarians, their black wings ablaze, dove into the fray as well. Their flames burned brighter than ever, their fury unquenchable as they hurled themselves at the oppressors who had enslaved their kin.
Even Redfield broke away from Zephyr's defense line, streaking like crimson lightning toward the cluster of nobles.
"Stop them!" Zephyr bellowed, his fists bloodied as he and the vice admirals tried to hold Redfield back. But the Red Count was relentless, the power of the Thunder Fruit propelling him forward like a storm.
Just as the nobles' screams reached a fever pitch, a dazzling white light cut through the chaos. With a thunderous cry, Admiral Hoss descended in his full form, the double-winged unicorn holy horse, and intercepted Redfield head-on.
"Yohohoho~! Hoss, you're finally here!" Brook's laughter rang out like a death knell.
"Underworld Devil Cry—Blizzard Slash!"
The Seven-Star Demon Sword sang, its edge glowing with icy-green light. A blizzard of spectral blades erupted, and in the blink of an eye, a crimson spray followed.
Bloody Hand Braver's scream tore through the battlefield. One of his arms spiraled through the air, severed cleanly, frozen solid before it even hit the ground.
Brook's figure blurred, kicking Braver away as he stepped past him and squared off against Hoss once more. The admiral's holy light clashed against Brook's spectral darkness, their rivalry reigniting with savage intensity.
Brook's eyes glinted coldly. He had already captured Coss Davo. Now his ambition soared higher. He wanted Hoss as well.
"Brook!!! I'll kill you!!!" Braver howled, clutching at the stump of his arm. His hands—the source of his name, the symbol of his reputation—were ruined. His dreams of becoming an admiral, perhaps even Fleet Admiral, were shattered in an instant.
But the wound was worse than crippling. Frostbite had spread along the cut, necrotic and permanent. His strength was halved, his career over.
"Yohoho… pathetic," Brook sneered. "You thought you could stand against me? You're not even in the same league. Garp outclasses you by far. A master of fists is one thing, but without a Devil Fruit, without vision—you're nothing."
Rage and despair twisted Braver's face. He staggered toward his severed palm, trying desperately to salvage it, but even he knew the truth. He was finished.
"Brook!" Admiral Hoss's roar shook the sky. "You've slaughtered nobles and maimed my comrades. Even if you hide in the New World, there will be no place left for you!"
"Then I'll be waiting," Brook replied, voice icy. "From this day, there's no turning back. The Navy, the World Government… every last one of you will fall."
His words echoed like a death sentence. Killing Rothschild Saint had already sealed his fate, but now, with the Valley of the Gods drenched in noble blood, there was no possibility of reconciliation.
"Kill them all!" Brook commanded, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "Leave no one alive!"
The Hell Pirates roared in unison, redoubling their assault. Kaido's mace came down like a mountain, splattering another Celestial Dragon across the cobblestones. Oden's blades cut through guards, and Tiger's fists crushed marines in seastone gauntlets. The Lunarians burned everything in their path, their black wings blazing like torches of vengeance.
Charlotte Linlin howled with laughter, draining souls as she carved through vice admirals. Whitebeard bellowed as his quake shattered towers. Shiki hurled palaces skyward, golden rubble raining down.
The Rocks Pirates, seeing Brook holding the navy at bay, abandoned their resistance and flooded deeper into the Celestial Dragons' palaces, plundering with abandon. John and Silver Axe carried off crates of treasure, their greed unchecked.
"I will awaken my Conqueror's Haki today!" Kaido shouted, his aura swelling as he shattered another defense line.
"Save us! Admiral Hoss, save us!" a noble shrieked, groveling on the ground, his jewels clattering.
But salvation never came. Kaido's mace swung down, and the noble's head burst apart like an overripe fruit.
The second Celestial Dragon fell, torn apart before the eyes of the world.
Admiral Hoss's fury boiled over. His wings spread wide, light blazing from his horn. Yet every time he tried to break through, Brook stood in his path, sword raised, laughter echoing through the chaos.
The fall of the Celestial Dragons had begun.
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