Chapter 31: River of Death
Drip... drip...
The sound of dripping water echoed in his ears. Rocks bolted upright, gasping for breath as he opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings.
Blood had pooled into a river, and everything around him was tinged with a dark crimson hue. Faintly, in the sky, he could still make out the scenery of God Valley.
"Garp... Roger... Nereus... I should thank you for stopping my rampage, but this is truly a... terrible ending."
Memories of what happened before surfaced one by one, and Rocks began to recall his final experiences.
"But where is this... I'm already dead... so is this... hell?"
"If you want to go to hell, I can point you in the right direction."
"Nereus?!"
The familiar voice by his ear startled Rocks. He turned around to see a seemingly luxurious chair had appeared behind him at some point.
Nereus was sitting there, yet Rocks hadn't noticed when he had appeared at all.
"Perception really drops after death... But why are you dead too? With your ability, even if you died dozens or hundreds of times, you shouldn't be here.
Though... for a guy like you who did so many good deeds to end up in hell with me, it seems a bit unfair."
"You have a lot of questions. Simply put: you are dead now, but not completely dead. And this isn't hell.
This is a space formed by my ability. Most people killed by me are here. I call this place the River of Death."
The River of Death—the river of the dead. This was the reason Nereus always drained his opponents' blood after killing them. Blood is the currency of the soul, and also its vessel.
Those whose blood was drained by Nereus would have their souls enter the River of Death, becoming a part of it and subject to Nereus's commands.
If needed, every soul could become a substitute life for Nereus. Even if an opponent exhausted all their strength to kill Nereus once, Nereus would still revive at full health.
Unless they first slaughtered every soul within the river of blood.
Nereus didn't explain exactly what the River of Death was to Rocks, but Rocks had his own intuition. He could feel that his strength didn't seem to have changed; he could still unleash his original combat power.
"Say... did you plan this all along? Taking me into your River of Death to boost your combat power?"
Rocks looked at Nereus, feeling that this refined-looking man was rotten to the core. Other pirates coveted treasure, but Nereus seemed to covet souls.
"No, this was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. Originally, I just wanted to research how to kill those ghostly things. I didn't expect you to be the one controlled.
But it gave me good news. Although that ability affects the body, it seems dying once clears it.
Garp and Roger were very vague. How exactly were you controlled?"
This was the final result of Nereus's testing. Whether it was the members of the God's Knights or the controlled Rocks, Nereus could sense something similar.
The difference was that the blackened Rocks had his body contaminated, while the God's Knights seemed to have their souls contaminated.
Theoretically, pulling those souls into the River of Death and destroying them would thoroughly kill them.
But in that case, if he absorbed those controlled souls, their master Imu would notice.
Nereus didn't want Imu to know he had this ability yet.
Whether it was the Five Elders or the God's Knights, they were all expendables to Imu. Killing a few wouldn't yield much but would only make Imu more vigilant.
So he hadn't done anything in that regard. Before he had the ability to kill Imu definitively, he still needed to keep some cards hidden.
Rocks's body was corrupted, but his soul remained clean enough, which was why he was sucked into the River of Death.
If Rocks could provide a more detailed answer, it would also help Nereus refine his theories.
"I can't explain it clearly. It's complicated. But a piece of advice: don't let that thing wound you. That ghost in Mary Geoise... isn't easy to deal with."
Rocks recalled for a moment, but in the end, he could only give this answer.
He was certain that the ability of black corruption and domination wasn't something that could be used at will. Using it required fulfilling certain prerequisites, but Rocks couldn't be sure what those conditions were.
"Maybe you're right. A long-term plan is indeed needed. Regarding that guy's situation... I'll tell you when I've figured it out."
"You are currently in a state of death. Do you want me to release you?"
Control of the River of Death lay in Nereus's hands. Nereus could suck souls in, so naturally, he could release them to return to freedom.
Whether this "freedom" meant dissipation or reincarnation, Nereus didn't know.
"Release... I only have one question. Does your plan include taking out that rat king in the gutter?"
"Of course."
"Then forget it. Being played by those bastards like this... I won't be generous enough to let it slide. Consider it my contribution to your cause.
When you're ready for that day, remember to remind me, Nereus... 'Captain'."
When saying "Captain," Rocks's tone became strange, as if he were teasing.
The analogy wasn't far off. After all, within this flowing river of blood, Nereus was the only one who could control the current. Calling him the "Captain" here wasn't strange.
Regardless, Rocks intended to stay here for now, waiting for the decisive battle Nereus spoke of.
Nereus wouldn't refuse combat power of this level. The two sides had essentially reached a new cooperation agreement.
...
With a shift of thought, Nereus's consciousness left the River of Death inside him and returned to the pouring rain of God Valley. His mouth twitched slightly, as if suppressing something.
Before Nereus left the River of Death, Rocks said one more thing to him: ask Nereus to warn Harald that Imu seemed ready to make a move on him.
As for his wife and child, Rocks surprisingly didn't mention them. Rocks knew well that after his death, the Rocks Pirates would inevitably fall apart. A monster like Nereus, however, might attract the World Government's attention.
Asking him to take care of them might cause even bigger trouble.
However, in Nereus's view, it seemed the pirates on Hachinosu each had their own sexual repressions. Others were fixated on Shakky, while Rocks might be fixated on Harald.
After all, the people Rocks constantly thought about always seemed to include this Giant.
"Huff... huff... Say, Garp, after all this, you probably can't continue in the Marines, right? Want to join my side?
And you, Nereus. Want to consider it too? I've always wanted a Fish-man partner."
Even though he hadn't collapsed from exhaustion, Roger was in bad shape, gasping for breath. Yet he still had the leisure to recruit Garp and Nereus.
It seemed that as long as they agreed, Roger wouldn't care about what happened before at all.
"What kind of joke is that? If I quit, who will protect the soldiers?"
Garp rejected Roger's words. Nereus didn't even acknowledge the invitation, simply flapping his wings and flying away into the distance.
As for Rocks's remains, Nereus didn't touch them. The opponent's soul was already in his River of Death, so the body was no longer that important.
Moreover, in the God Valley Incident, the biggest target for the opposing side was Rocks. Not finding Rocks's corpse would only cause unnecessary trouble.
Roger also retreated with his crew's support. Although they had teamed up briefly, next time they met, they would still be enemies.
Thus, the God Valley Incident in the West Blue came to a close.
The incident was classified as an S-Class Absolute Secret. Marine Headquarters, Marine Branch G-11, and CP6 retained some records of it.
Aside from that, the participant list of the "Hunting Game," the location of God Valley, its geography, area, and population information were all erased.
Casualties caused by the incident: Unknown.