No one knew when it happened—
but CP0's captain, Kakisuki, had already appeared right behind Romu.
His body twisted and expanded into a human-shaped restraint, locking Romu in place like living shackles.
He released Life Return.
Dark-green veins bulged across his skin as he forced out his absolute maximum strength.
His eyes went bloodshot as he roared:
"Sengoku!!"
Sengoku was already prepared.
The single finger he had extended was pointed straight at Romu.
All the golden Buddha-light across his body surged like a tide—compressing into that one finger.
The moment Kakisuki shouted—
Sengoku bellowed:
"Maximum Wheel—Buddha's Punishment of Evil!!"
BOOM!!
As his voice fell, the sky dimmed.
It wasn't pure gold anymore—
it became a glassy, iridescent radiance, like colored crystal.
Then Sengoku raised his arm and pointed from afar.
The beam fired at Romu—who was still bound by the CP0 captain.
There were hundreds of meters between them—
yet in everyone's eyes, that prismatic light left no trail.
It simply arrived.
Anyone could tell: this was a terrifying strike.
Romu—unable to break free in time—lifted his head to the incoming crystal beam.
His thoughts raced at light speed.
His face, however, was strangely calm.
With a single thought—
"Armored—Demonic Face Shield."
As Romu spoke, this time it wasn't only the Wood Dragon.
Even the Wood Titan shifted, riding the wind—
condensing into a blue, fanged demon mask in front of him.
BOOM!!
The instant the mask formed, the crystal beam slammed into it.
At the point of impact, the very space in front of the demon face warped violently, as if a giant invisible hand was twisting the world.
A sharp, brittle crack rang out.
From the mask's center, countless hair-thin white fractures spread.
Those cracks contained a pure annihilating force—
just looking at them made your scalp tighten and your whole body go cold.
All of this sounded complicated—
but it took less than a thousandth of a second.
BOOM!!
The iridescent beam pierced through the demon mask.
It dimmed slightly—then continued forward.
Romu's eyes narrowed.
He felt his body sink—
then his entire body went numb, as if his nerves were cut off.
Even his consciousness seemed to stutter for a split moment.
That was when Whitebeard, Kaido, and Romu's squad finally managed to shout—
"ROMU!!"
"Damn it—Captain Romu!!"
"WATCH OUT!!"
Too late.
In the next instant—
Romu and the CP0 captain behind him were blasted backward like they'd been struck by a falling planet.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
They smashed through dozens of hills, then cratered into the earth.
Rock exploded. Dust swallowed the sky.
At the same time—
Sengoku lost control and dropped from the air, slamming down with a dull impact.
But no one looked at him.
Everyone stood frozen, eyes bulging, mouths hanging open, staring at that storm of dust.
Sengoku coughed—hard—spitting two thick mouthfuls of blood.
He lifted his sleeve to wipe it—
then spat two more mouthfuls and collapsed, trembling on the ground.
"Sengoku!!"
Garp snapped out of it first.
In a few leaps he arrived, grabbed Sengoku, and shook him hard.
"Sengoku! Sengoku!"
They were close—true friends.
Even if Sengoku had slammed Garp's head into the rock earlier, their bond ran deep.
"G-Garp… slow down…"
Sengoku forced his eyes open, stopping him.
He was already emptied out—his whole body weak, nearly collapsing.
Then he grabbed Garp's arm, voice heavy:
"What about Romu?"
"Is he alive?"
Garp didn't answer.
He just turned Sengoku's body toward the crater.
Then he slapped Sengoku's shoulder and grinned:
"Sengoku…"
"Didn't know you were hiding something like that."
"Romu's still lying in the pit."
He didn't watch his strength.
Sengoku coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"GARPPP!!"
Sengoku nearly screamed inside—
Romu didn't kill him, but Garp might.
But then—
his brows slowly relaxed.
His mouth even curved up slightly.
Because across the battlefield—
the Armament coating on the Flower-Tree World began to fade.
The vines and trees slowed.
They were dying.
Romu was dead.
Sengoku's shoulders sank.
The last thread of tension finally slipped out of him.
He exhaled, voice low:
"This was the Five Elders' arrangement."
"Before the war, they declared Romu the second-greatest threat after Rocks."
"Putting me against Romu was their plan."
"And the 'human-bomb' CP0 captain was part of it too."
"Looks like their judgment was right."
"Romu was a massive threat."
"…Shame we lost one CP0."
Garp threw his head back and laughed.
"That kind of agent can die for all I care!"
"As long as Romu's dead!"
He started to slap Sengoku's shoulder again out of habit—
but Sengoku saw it coming this time and dodged.
In the span of moments—
the two loudest centers of the war, Rocks and Romu, had both fallen.
The battlefield went eerily quiet.
Only wind.
Only distant laughter.
On the far-off observation island, the spectators were speechless.
Minutes later, low murmurs began to spread.
"Never thought… the Rocks Pirates would be wiped out this fast."
"Of course. The Marines and World Government are the most terrifying powers in the world."
"Even monsters like Rocks and Romu couldn't change it."
"Damn Roger Pirates—those traitors. If they hadn't played dog for the government, would it have ended this easily?"
"Yeah—Rocks was bullying Kong and Garp earlier. If Romu had exhausted Sengoku, who knows how it would've ended."
"But there's no 'if.' Rocks… lost in the end."
"Once the two biggest pieces on the board fell, Whitebeard and the rest never had a chance."
"So this is 'justice always wins'?"
"Justice my ass. They didn't even spare their own people just to kill Romu."
"That's not justice—that's the World Government."
"Still… what a waste."
"This was the closest battle in history to overturning the world order."
They argued. They cursed. They sighed.
But deep down, they all believed the same thing:
God Valley was decided.
Redfield, however, narrowed his eyes.
His gaze lingered on one man from Roger's crew.
"So…"
"What will you choose next, Roger?"
At the battlefield center—
everyone had stopped fighting.
Rayleigh sheathed his sword and walked to Roger.
"Do we leave now?"
Soon Gaban and Bullet joined behind Roger, waiting for his order.
Roger didn't answer.
He exhaled slowly, one hand pressing his bleeding stomach.
His eyes stayed on Rocks' crater for a long moment.
Rayleigh followed his gaze and sighed.
"That was too dangerous."
"If his Haki blade had been a little higher… this war might still be going."
"Rocks…"
"He truly was the Sea's Overlord."
Roger nodded.
There was excitement he couldn't fully hide.
"Today…"
"We ended an era."
Rayleigh, Gaban, and Bullet froze.
A fierce surge of spirit filled their chests—
then immediately got weighed down by a heavy, bitter feeling as they looked at the Marines and the World Government forces.
A dead rabbit. A grieving fox.
Roger slapped their shoulders, forcing a smile.
"Don't worry."
Then he looked toward Romu's crater—less than a hundred meters away.
"He shouldn't have died."
"He wasn't like Rocks."
"He had the aura of an overlord… and the aura of a king."
"If he'd lived… he might've found a way to change the world that people could actually bear."
His regret wasn't hidden at all.
At the same time—
the elite Rocks Pirates turned deathly pale.
"It's over…"
"Captain and Captain Romu… both…"
"We're finished."
"On their side, only one top fighter died. Roger and Sengoku are just lightly wounded."
"We didn't just lose."
"We're all going to die here…"
They didn't want to believe it.
But ten minutes had passed.
Neither Rocks nor Romu moved.
Both "cores" of the war lay silent at the bottom of their massive craters.
Reality crushed them.
Weapons slipped from trembling fingers.
Clatter—clatter—clatter.
The glory of setting sail from Hachinosu—drinking, laughing, waving blades—was gone.
They looked like hollow shells.
Even the captains were shaken.
Whitebeard drove Murakumogiri into the rock, staring at Romu's crater.
In his ears, he heard Romu's voice from their first drink together:
"I can only handle two cups."
"Drink with me."
Scenes flickered like film—
the bar, the first clash, Hachinosu, their sparring.
Without realizing it, Whitebeard had come to treat Romu as a true friend.
That's why he'd warned him before God Valley.
Whitebeard's nose twitched.
His eyes went distant.
"Romu…"
"I still haven't had a proper drink with you."
Nearby, Shiki's face was rigid, jaw clenched—
he bit his cigar clean in half.
"Romu!!"
"What right do you have to die?!"
"Who's going to wash away my shame now?!"
He wasn't even thinking about survival—
only that if Romu died, Shiki's defeat would never be overturned.
Wang Zhi, John, and Silver Axe cursed and raged.
"I told you God Valley was a trap!"
"Screw treasure—what treasure?!"
"Run?? With Kong, Garp, Zephyr, and CP agents here?"
"We can't run. We're dead."
The Marines and Government forces saw all of it.
And soon, cheers erupted like a tidal wave.
"Victory! We won!"
"Justice prevails!"
"Victory is ours!"
Some raised weapons. Some screamed until hoarse.
Some were so frantic they beat their chests like lunatics.
Because the pressure of Rocks and Romu had been too much.
Rocks' 1v3.
Romu's "battlefield meat grinder" Flower-Tree World.
That fear had been clawing at their nerves.
Now being told it was over—
the emotional whiplash drove them into madness.
Their slaughter was, in truth, an outlet for terror.
Sengoku, having recovered a little, gathered his breath and roared:
"All of you!"
"Pick up your weapons—"
"In the name of Absolute Justice—PURGE THEM!!"
In an instant, Marines surged forward like they'd been injected with adrenaline.
They hacked into the dazed pirates.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The Marines went red-eyed.
Kong and the others sighed.
They understood why.
But they said nothing.
If the fear didn't pour out now, it would rot inside their soldiers later.
Then Kong's voice cut through.
"Enough."
"To be safe—go confirm the bodies."
"Check Rocks and Romu."
Garp and the others nodded grimly.
They split into two groups, walking toward the two craters.
And then—
Just as Sengoku and CP0 were about to reach Romu's crater—
a furious scream exploded from inside.
"Impossible!! Captain Romu can't lose!"
"He's UNBEATABLE!"
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HERE!!"
A heartbeat later—
a beautiful dragon's roar ripped through the sky.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto