A dozen minutes later.
Rocks stood amid a mountain of corpses, one hand resting on his sword hilt, gazing at the familiar faces strewn around him.
No sorrow flickered in his eyes—only endless silence.
"Mom! Dad! Sorry! I've got no choice left. Even if it's you blocking my path, I'll have to send you to your deaths..."
"How dare you use my family!! Think that'll make me hold back? I'm already doomed—why would I sit here waiting to die? I'll kill every last one of you!"
"Don't you agree?"
"Moon-head!!"
"Damn it!!" Gringu, his body sliced into several pieces, lay in a pool of blood; no matter how he tried, he couldn't reattach his limbs.
His flesh healed at a crawl.
Around him sprawled other members of the God's Knights.
Five or six of them, all like Gringu—bodies hacked apart, chunks scattered every which way.
Each severed piece was pinned by lingering swirls of powerful Haki, briefly sealed in place.
That suppression crippled Gringu's regeneration; in these moments, recovery was impossible.
Meanwhile,
At the center of God Valley island, atop the towering peak that rose like a natural rampart,
Saturn, leaning on his cane, silently surveyed the burning land below. Reflected in his eyes: chaotic battles raging across every corner.
He could even sense his kin—the Celestial Dragons—half their auras vanishing in an instant.
Yet even so,
He remained motionless, expression unchanged.
A majestic voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Saturn... is Rocks dead?"
"Hard to say. Everything is beyond expectation. One might even say..."
"The sheer devastation has given me a premonition—something new and dangerous is about to sprout."
Saturn gazed into the distance.
Against the sky blackened by smoke and flame, an azure dragon coiled upward.
Below, side by side, Whitebeard and Carlo strode toward Rocks.
On the west coast, the Roger Pirates—having rescued Shakky and looted a fortune—were preparing to withdraw.
A young Marine, infant in arms, still searched for a ship to carry the baby to safety.
Farther north-west, on a stretch of sand,
A simple-minded youth watched soft pads swell on his palms. No fear—only eager anticipation.
"Pirate uncle, with this I can save everyone, right?"
Unease stirred in John's heart, though he couldn't name its source.
He pushed it down and quickly explained the Paw-Paw Fruit's traits to Kuma.
A world-famous treasure hunter like him had certainly studied a Devil Fruit catalogue.
Not only studied—he'd scrutinized it.
He didn't care about the powers.
He cared about the price they fetched.
So he knew every basic quirk of fruits like the Paw-Paw, ready to sell one for a fortune if luck struck.
Never had he imagined that he, a proud treasure hunter, would risk his neck for a bunch of noisy Little Brats,
Or snatch a Devil Fruit and hand it to a kid he'd just met.
John had never thought himself capable of such generosity.
"The Paw-Paw Fruit can repel anything—solid or intangible—so long as you develop it enough."
"Like these people: slap them with your paw pads and you'll shoot them right off the island."
"Where they land depends on where you picture. Remember, you can only send them somewhere you've been. Focus hard on that place before you strike."
"Now, give it a try."
"Mm." Under Ginny and Ivankov's eager gaze, Kuma nervously reached toward an old man.
"Grandpa, I..."
"Thank you, Kuma. I'd given up—thought I was finished. Truly, thank you!"
Tears streamed as the elder clasped Kuma's paw pad.
A soft pop.
The old man vanished before their eyes.
"Amazing!" Ginny gasped. "Where'd you send him, Kuma?"
Kuma grinned. "To my home, the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue. It's safe and peaceful—don't worry."
"We believe you, Kuma! Do as many as you can."
One by one, frantic refugees stepped forward, clasped his hand, and were launched away.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you so much!"
Each heartfelt cry left Ivankov and Ginny in tears.
John watched, his unease growing sharper.
He lifted his eyes to the darkening sky.
"Something bad is coming."
At the mountain peak, the majestic voice rang in Saturn's mind again.
This time it brimmed with killing intent.
"That cannot be allowed!!"
As the icy words fell, Saturn's body warped.
He ballooned in seconds to dozens of meters tall,
A titanic spider with a human face.
Gigantic, rune-laced legs sprouted and punched through the rock beneath.
Black flame clouds wreathed his head like writhing ribbons.
This was Saturn's Gyūki form.
With a spring of eight enormous legs, the transformed Saturn leapt from the summit, plummeting straight toward the valley between two peaks.