At this moment, the battle at the center of God Valley had basically turned into a one-sided slaughter.
Pirates were being harvested in waves like wheat.
The Marines were winning everywhere—victory blooming across the entire battlefield.
And the "team captains" were naturally being specially targeted.
Whitebeard and Shiki
First were Whitebeard and Golden Lion Shiki.
The two had just regrouped, forcing themselves back into the fight and trying to claw out a path to survival.
The longer they fought, the heavier their expressions became.
Facing three top-tier powerhouses at nearly the same level, even they couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.
"Gurarararara…"
"I never thought there'd be a day we'd fight side by side."
Whitebeard laughed loudly as he spoke, and the blade of Murakumogiri suddenly lit with a sphere of energy—bright as a full moon.
He swung.
The power of the Tremor Fruit erupted.
Under that violent energy, the air around them fractured into spiderweb cracks, expanding straight toward Tsuru.
Tsuru stepped onto a rock, tapped lightly—and flipped backward in a clean aerial arc, dodging Whitebeard's terrifying strike.
"Hmph."
Shiki snorted.
To him, fighting alongside someone else was humiliation—proof of weakness.
But reality didn't care about pride.
Even while his mouth stayed vicious, his coordination with Whitebeard was flawless.
Whitebeard had just finished a slash and was briefly in a stiff recovery window—
Zephyr's blackened arm was about to smash into Whitebeard's waist.
"Slash Wave!"
Shiki swept both arms.
Two massive golden sword arcs ripped through the air, forcing Zeff back for a moment.
"You rooster… you're actually kinda interesting."
"If we live through this, I'll drink with you once."
"Too bad…"
"Romu won't be there."
Whitebeard clenched a fist.
Moon-white radiance and black Armament coated his sandpot-sized knuckles. He twisted his body and punched Rayleigh's blue sword wave head-on.
CRACK—
The sword wave shattered like a mirror smashed into fragments.
"Don't mention that bastard to me!"
"He ruined my name for life!"
Shiki cursed back.
The two moved in a tight rhythm—attack and cover, footwork weaving, Haki and technique flowing—forming a small "absolute defense zone" within a dozen meters.
But then—
two axes wrapped in black Armament cleaved down from above.
So fast the air screamed from the sonic boom.
It was Gaban of the Roger Pirates—joining the battlefield.
Whitebeard and Shiki's danger sense spiked at the same time.
They leapt away instantly, breaking the knot of combat.
The fighters separated for a brief beat.
"Gaban."
Rayleigh sheathed his sword slightly and greeted him.
Gaban yanked his twin axes free from the ground and nodded.
"Oh? Another 'righteous pirate' shows up."
Shiki's mouth curled. Smoke rings drifted from his cigar.
The contempt on his face was undisguised.
"Gaban!"
Rayleigh barked, raising an arm to stop him.
Both sides fell into a tense standoff.
By now, most pirates around them had been cleaned out.
More and more Marines were converging on Whitebeard and Shiki.
Behind Gaban stood dozens—then hundreds—of officers, even some at Rear Admiral level, along with other Marine elites.
The Vinsmoke family head and several CP powerhouses were also posted nearby.
"It looks like we don't have the fate to be friends…"
Whitebeard said, voice cold.
"You finally get it."
Shiki narrowed his eyes and scanned the encirclement.
On its own, the hundred-man pile-up wasn't the real problem.
But with Zeff, Tsuru, Rayleigh, and now Gaban in play, those hundreds became the last straw.
"Newgate! Shiki!"
"You can't escape."
"Prepare to go to Marineford and face trial!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru called out sharply.
Then she raised her voice to the battlefield:
"Pirates!"
"Drop your weapons!"
"Your captain Rocks has fallen—Captain Romu, Newgate, and Shiki will all be captured!"
"Stop this meaningless resistance!!"
"The freedom you worship…"
"will inevitably fall before the Marines' absolute justice!"
The war wasn't fully over yet.
Tsuru's goal was clear: crush their will, reduce unnecessary Marine casualties.
As her words rang out, surviving pirates across the battlefield turned toward Whitebeard and Shiki.
When they saw even the two strongest remaining captains surrounded—
bloodied faces shifted.
Then their eyes drifted instinctively toward the two craters:
One guarded by Roger and Kong.
The other where Sengoku and Garp were still beating Kaido into the ground.
In truth, the moment Rocks and Romu went down, everyone had already sensed this ending.
But hearing it declared out loud hit differently.
And when pirates looked around—
white uniforms everywhere.
In front. Behind. Left. Right.
Despair seeped into their bones.
Many pirates' will to fight started draining away.
"What a sinister woman."
Shiki sneered.
To him, psychological warfare was "small-minded."
Whitebeard's face, however, darkened like a storm.
He remembered exactly what the Five Elders had said before leaving—how they'd decided things.
He didn't think it was wrong.
Marines and pirates were born enemies.
In a pirate's world, every extra day alive was profit.
If you die, you die.
But he refused to be killed after having his pride stripped away.
A pirate's pride was not something you erased before the executioner's blade.
Murakumogiri slammed into the ground.
A shockwave burst outward.
"If you want war—then war!"
"I am a pirate!"
"Whether I live or die… is decided by me!!"
The standoff shattered.
They crashed back into battle.
But the moment exchanges resumed, Whitebeard and Shiki's faces turned ugly.
Earlier, they could trade blows with Zeff and the others largely because Rayleigh kept half a foot out.
Now?
Shiki's mockery had lit Gaban up—his strikes were lethal.
Whitebeard's sweat poured.
He'd fought for too long, using the Tremor Fruit at high frequency.
His stamina was draining fast.
Then Zephyr's heavy punch came again.
Whitebeard couldn't dodge in time. He narrowed his eyes and met it with a quake-coated fist.
CRACK—
Their fists clashed across distance, shredding the air intocracks, whipping up violent shockwinds.
"And here's another one, Newgate!"
Gaban raised both axes, dragging a black tide of Haki, and chopped down at Whitebeard's back.
Shiki tried to shift for support—
but Rayleigh didn't "take it easy" anymore.
His palms flashed with the cleansing glow of the Wash-Wash Fruit as he pressed in.
"Damn it!"
Shiki cursed, eyes bloodshot.
And Whitebeard still couldn't fully avoid the axe.
THUD!
A clean hit to the center of his back.
Even with Armament, Gaban wasn't ordinary—blood spilled in a harsh red line.
Compared to them, the situation for Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, and John was even worse.
Wang Zhi was carved with blade marks, his yellow clothes turned into a horrifying "blood robe."
Silver Axe's mask was shattered on one side; the exposed half of his body was drenched.
Captain John had fewer wounds, but his right cheekbone was gone—half his face caved.
As for ordinary pirates—
there was nothing to say.
Fewer than one in ten remained.
Missing arms and legs were "minor."
Half heads, pierced torsos, intestines spilling—bodies everywhere.
It was pure massacre.
Kaido's Side
On the other side, Garp punched again.
Kaido—who'd just struggled up—was smashed back into the ground, bursting rock.
A chunk of his long dragon body was battered open.
Blood streamed down his scales.
Even one of his golden horns snapped.
"Monster…"
"This thing's vitality is literally monstrous!"
Sengoku muttered.
From the start until now, he and Garp had struck Kaido dozens of times.
Every time they beat him into pulp and cratered him into the earth.
And still… he wouldn't die.
Every time it looked like he was done, he kept clinging to life with one last breath.
"Even if… you beat me today…"
"Even if you… kill me…"
"…I'm still Captain Romu's squad leader…"
Kaido forced his head up, voice shredded by blood.
He tried to open his eyes—only to realize they were sealed shut by blood.
Sengoku's heart tightened.
"This kind of monster…"
"We can't let him live!"
Garp nodded grimly.
Even without using full power before, those dozens of blows could've shattered an island.
Yet Kaido was still talking.
Unbelievable.
Garp's fist darkened—an ominous black sheen.
He was going to finish it.
Roger Steps In
But then—
a figure flashed from the direction of Rocks' crater and landed between Kaido and the Marines.
It was Roger.
He ignored Sengoku and Garp and spoke directly to Kaido.
"Right?"
"Do you want to join my crew?"
Sengoku's gaze immediately turned hostile.
Garp jumped in front of Roger, digging his nose like always, and asked:
"What's the meaning of this??"
Roger didn't answer him.
He simply asked again, patient and steady:
"Do you want to join the Roger Pirates?"
"As captain, I'm officially inviting you."
Sengoku couldn't hold back.
"Roger."
"Are you breaking our agreement?"
His voice went cold.
If Roger said yes, Sengoku would move instantly.
Garp's tone hardened too, the joking gone.
"Watch your limits."
He and Roger were close—and it was Garp who'd pulled Roger into this operation.
He didn't want this turning into a disaster… at least not now.
Roger finally snorted.
"Marines… are you misunderstanding something?"
He removed his hand from his bleeding wound and spoke with open disdain.
"The Roger Pirates cooperated with you for one reason—"
"to crush that madman Rocks' nightmare."
"Since when did that make us your allies?"
As he spoke, his eyes flicked toward Rayleigh and the others.
Sengoku understood immediately:
Rocks is down. If the Marines turn on Roger now… the Roger Pirates will instantly ally with Newgate and Shiki.
Sengoku's face tightened.
"You're threatening us?"
"And what if I am?"
Roger's mustache twitched.
His logic was simple:
He refused to let the Marines and the World Government wipe out every elite pirate here.
Not just Kaido—Newgate and Shiki too.
Roger didn't want them dying here.
He wanted them to have a way out—
and he also wanted a way out for himself and Rayleigh later.
If pirate power collapsed overnight…
the next "Rocks" the world would hunt would be Roger.
"Get lost! Cough—get the hell away from me!!"
While they deadlocked, Kaido spat blood and cursed.
"You want me to betray my captain?"
"Pah!"
"Dream on!"
He forced his dragon head up and spat straight into Roger's face—basically giving him a full-body wash.
"I said it."
"Even if I die—"
"I'm still Captain Romu's squad leader—Kaido!"
"Hahahahaha—!"
Garp burst out laughing, not even trying to hold it in.
Even Sengoku's mouth twitched.
He cleared his throat and muttered:
"You can try again."
Roger, thick-skinned as he was, still felt awkward.
I'm helping you, you idiot—why are you spitting on me?!
He couldn't exactly explain it out loud:
"Joining" was just a pretext to get you out alive.
But at this point, it was pointless.
Roger sighed, glanced at Kaido and Sengoku, and walked away with Ace in hand.
That delay gave Kaido's wounds time to recover again.
And Sengoku didn't notice—
Kaido's massive tail whipped suddenly.
WHAM!!
Sengoku—still weak—was smashed and sent flying, crashing through several small hills, and only stopping near Rocks' crater.
"Kaido!!"
Garp's expression snapped cold.
He swung.
Kaido's crater deepened by two meters.
Scales scattered.
This blow was much heavier than before.
Kaido finally blacked out.
"…Whew. Finally dealt with that stubborn idiot."
Everyone exhaled.
With this nuisance handled, they could focus on finishing Whitebeard and the rest.
The war was nearly done.
The Black Thing Inside Rocks' Crater
But then—
something no one expected happened.
Sengoku—who'd been flung near Rocks' crater—suddenly paled.
His eyes widened as he turned his head sharply.
Inside Rocks' crater, several black, rope-like strands had emerged—like thick IV tubes.
They stretched out—
connecting Rocks' crater to Romu's crater.
As if linking the two pits into one system.
Sengoku and Garp's expressions changed instantly—shock and fury crashing together.
They shouted at the same time:
"Not good!!!!!"
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