Three days and three nights.
This brutal war on God Valley — a battle that could be called the highest-level clash the seas had ever witnessed — raged for three days and three nights without stopping.
...
Three days earlier, the battle had begun when the prime-aged Edward Newgate unleashed the terrifying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, triggering a massive tsunami that threatened to swallow the entire island whole.
Facing that overwhelming wall of destruction, the former Marine Admiral — already one hundred and twelve years old — burned through the last of his life force and released the final Ice Age of his life, freezing the raging sea solid.
But the Navy barely had time to celebrate.
The overlord's fourth division commander of the Rocks Pirates, Shiki, made his move.
With the power of the Float-Float Fruit, he sent more than a hundred pirate ships soaring into the sky, bypassing the Navy's coastal defenses from above.
Days of Marine preparations were rendered useless in an instant.
The tide of war flipped.
The battlefield collapsed into close-quarters chaos.
The monstrous forces of Rocks scattered across God Valley.
Within moments, flames of war engulfed every corner of the island.
The so-called "Divine Island" of the Celestial Dragons was reduced to a living hell.
...
Now, three days later—
God Valley, once home to one of the most magnificent cities in the world, had become a scorched wasteland.
The grand city that once entertained the Celestial Dragons no longer existed.
The island itself was fractured, crumbling into the sea as though it could sink at any moment.
The gunfire and explosions had nearly faded.
The battle was reaching its end.
"Rocks! You've lost!"
Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, covered in blood, roared through the pain.
"Your crew's scattered! They've fled! What can you do alone now? You're at your limit! This war belongs to the Marines!"
Not far from this final battlefield lay the injured forms of Fleet Admiral Kong, "Black Arm" Zephyr, and Sengoku, along with many other Marine elites.
But at this moment, the only Marine still standing with strength left to fight was Garp.
And beside him—
Was not Sengoku.
Nor was it Dean.
It was Gol D. Roger.
One day after the Navy and the Rocks Pirates began their clash, the Roger Pirates had finally arrived on the island.
It was Roger's timely arrival that allowed Dean D. Dollars to leave Rocks to Garp and Roger.
Dean had freed himself to roam the battlefield alone, confronting the division commanders of the Rocks Pirates one by one.
It was precisely because Dean had stepped in across multiple fronts that the Marines were able to secure victory.
For ten years, Dean D. Dollars had been a nightmare for pirates across the seas.
Even the captains of the Rocks Pirates were no exception.
Whitebeard's eye twitched when he saw him.
Shiki's face darkened, cursing under his breath.
Kaido ran the second he spotted him — and when Kaido nearly died, it was Charlotte Linlin who dragged him away to escape.
...
"Wahahaha! What a bunch of useless fools!"
In the center of the battlefield stood Rocks D. Xebec, drenched in blood, dragging his blade across the ground.
"It was my mistake to bring that pack of dead weight into this war!"
He lifted his head.
"But even if I die today… I will still be the overlord who crowned an era!"
His blood-soaked hair whipped wildly in the wind.
His aura surged violently.
He was burning his life force.
This would be his final stand.
Life or death.
"Then I'll start with you two bastards."
Rocks pointed his blade at Roger and Garp.
"Everything… shatters."
His voice was cold — like it came from the depths of hell.
He leapt into the air.
The black blade in his hand swung downward toward the exhausted Roger and Garp.
"Karp!!!"
In the distance, Sengoku dragged his battered body forward across the scorched earth, roaring hoarsely.
"Damn it — don't forget about me!"
At that exact moment—
A thunderous sonic boom tore through the air.
Something faster than sound itself crossed the battlefield in an instant.
It was Dean D. Dollars.
Even after three days of nonstop combat, his presence was still overwhelming.
His body, resilient beyond reason, showed barely a scratch.
Just as the dense white cracks of shattering energy were about to swallow Roger and Garp—
Dean appeared.
His blackened blade slashed forward.
It split apart the web of destruction.
And it cut across Rocks' body.
"Pshh—!"
Blood sprayed through the air.
Not just Rocks'.
Dean's too.
Rocks' near-awakened shattering power was beyond ordinary limits.
Even Dean could not pass through it unscathed.
Though his Armament Haki-coated blade broke through the attack—
His own body cracked like shattered steel.
Like the blade in his hand, fractures spread across him.
Blood burst out like a ruptured dam, splattering across Garp and Roger —
Across their faces…
And their mouths.
For a split second—
Time seemed to freeze.
Then—
Something ignited.
A surge of power erupted from Garp's body.
"ROCKS!!!"
With a roar that shook the heavens, Garp launched himself forward.
His iron fist tore through the air like a falling meteor.
And it slammed into the nearly unconscious Rocks.
BOOM.