Elsewhere on the island, at the edge of a collapsed mountain ridge.
Newgate strode toward the coast, Murakumogiri slung over his shoulder, his brow furrowed with an impenetrable gloom and irritation.
The transformation of Rocks, the sudden disintegration of the Pirate Crew, the destruction of this island... everything was hammering at his heart.
"Hey——!!!"
A slightly frivolous yet resonant shout came from above and to the side.
Newgate frowned and looked up, only to see a middle-aged man with a bizarre, pineapple-like hairstyle sitting on a small hill nearby, waving at him with a grin.
"The mountain peaks have collapsed to this state... it was you, right? Newgate!" The pineapple-headed man said with exaggerated admiration, then shook his head,
"But it looks like your Pirate Crew has fallen apart right along with it!"
Newgate didn't stop, shot him a cold glance, and said in a deep voice: "Who are you?"
"Oh my, don't be so cold!" The pineapple-headed man leaped down from the hill, landing lightly beside Newgate. He brushed the dust off himself, grinned, and flashed a mouthful of white teeth:
"Let me introduce myself. I am Gram, Captain of the Pineapple Pirate Crew, Pineapple Gram! As you can see,"
He pointed to his signature hairstyle, "Distinctive features!"
He ignored Newgate's increasingly impatient expression, stepped closer, his eyes shining with sincere light:
"I'm your number one fan! I've been following you since you first made a name for yourself on the sea! That heroic spirit, the belief in protecting your companions—that's what a true pirate is!"
Newgate let out an irritated "Tsk," slamming the massive Murakumogiri into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust: "I don't have time for your nonsense. Get lost."
"Don't be so hasty!" Gram raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, his smile undiminished,
"I see you need a ship, right? Your Moby Dick doesn't seem to be nearby? As it happens, my ship, the 'Pineapple', is in that small bay. It's big enough, and fast enough!
How about it? Come with me, and I'll take you out of this hellhole! Consider it a gift for meeting your fan!"
Newgate narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing this guy who had suddenly appeared and claimed to be a fan. In such chaotic times, any inexplicable kindness was worth suspecting.
But he was indeed in urgent need of a ship, and this Gram... although his eyes were flighty, there was no obvious malice or greed.
The roar of battle in the distance intensified again, and the aftermath of a terrifying slash swept over, cutting a nearby patch of surviving forest in half. Newgate hesitated no longer and took a deep look at Gram.
"Lead the way." He was concise.
Gram's eyes lit up: "Alright! Follow me!"
On the other side, in the dense forest near the west coast.
Stussy, Byrnndi World, Kiel Bastar, and others were fleeing toward the coast in a panic, carrying several bags of hastily looted treasure.
Byrnndi World clutched his still-bleeding abdomen, his face pale; Kiel Bastar carried a large bag in silence, and beside him, a "ghost" that was also carrying a bag of treasure floated quietly, a result of his special ability.
Stussy took the lead, her high heels treading quickly over the rugged ground, but her brows were tightly locked, her eyes constantly scanning the chaotic, fleeing crowd around her.
Suddenly, she stopped abruptly, turned, and grabbed Byrnndi World's shoulder, asking urgently:
"Hey! Byrnndi World! Have you seen Newgate?! Where is he?!"
Byrnndi World felt a sharp pain in his wound from her grip, grimaced, shook off her hand, and said irritably:
"How the hell would I know! Who has time to look after others at a time like this! Maybe he's already dead in some corner, or ran off on his own just like that bastard Shiki!"
"Impossible!" Stussy denied it categorically, her beautiful face full of anxiety,
"Newgate is not that kind of person! He must still be somewhere on the island... We have to find him!"
She looked at the others, "Has anyone of you seen him?!"
Kiel Bastar shook his head in silence, and the ghost beside him also drifted slowly from side to side, as if in denial.
The other pirates following them just looked at each other; they were only concerned with saving their own lives and grabbing the treasure in front of them, so how would they notice where Whitebeard went?
Stussy gritted her teeth, glanced at the coast that was close at hand and the few small boats being fought over by pirates, then looked back at the central battlefield deep in the island that kept erupting with terrifying noises, as if swallowing everything, and finally took a look at the treasure in her arms.
"That guy definitely won't go down that easily, these things are more important!"
On the northeast coast, aboard a Marine warship.
A commotion suddenly erupted!
"Dragon!! What are you doing?! Put down your weapon!! Calm down!!"
A Marine Colonel was being pinned firmly to the deck by Dragon's foot, the muzzle of the flintlock in the latter's hand coldly pressed against the Colonel. The surrounding soldiers held their weapons but were afraid to act, not daring to step forward.
Dragon's eyes burned with unprecedented anger and determination. He scanned his bewildered Marine colleagues, his voice somewhat hoarse but every word resonant:
"You are the ones!! What the hell are you doing?! Do you know who you are accomplices to right now?! Look at the shore!! Look at them!!"
His other hand pointed outside the ship's rail, to the devastated area on the shore. A group of "survivors" gathered there, completely different from any pirate or Marine—
They were in rags, their eyes hollow and fearful, covered in wounds and smoke, as if they had been baptized by artillery fire.
There were emaciated old people, children clinging tightly to their mothers' necks, too scared to cry out loud, women still bearing the marks of chains...
They were the original "residents" of God Valley, the "prey" in the Celestial Dragons' "human hunt" game, the most innocent victims of this sinful celebration.
"Get them on the ship!! Now!! Immediately!!" Dragon roared at the Colonel under his foot, and at all the Marines,
"Everyone who can still move, go help!! Get these people, every single one of them!! Bring them onto this ship, and leave this hell!!"
The Colonel was deathly pale under the muzzle of the gun, but still tried to maintain the "dignity" of a Marine officer, trembling:
"Dragon... you are disobeying Orders!! This is mutiny!! This matter... will absolutely not end just like this..."
"That suits me just fine——!!!" Dragon abruptly cut him off, pressing the muzzle hard against him. In his eyes, there was no longer any reverence for so-called "Order", only the fierce flame of justice breaking out of its cocoon,
"If the 'Orders' of the Marine and the World Government mean watching innocents die before our eyes, if it means acting as accomplices to evil, then, I, Dragon, will rebel against such things, so what?!"
"From now on, this ship listens to me!!" His gaze was like lightning, sweeping over the face of every soldier,
"Whoever objects, I will execute!! And then, we go save people!!"
The deck was dead silent, with only the roar of the collapsing island in the distance and the sound of the waves.
Some young soldiers looked at the tragic figures on the shore, then at Dragon, whose eyes were resolute and who seemed like a new person, and the hands holding their guns slowly lowered.
...
On the oro jackson, everyone except Roger had arrived.
"first mate!! Mr. Gaban!! Where are you going?!" The Crew members looked in astonishment as Rayleigh and Gaban vaulted over the side.
Rayleigh and Gaban ran toward the center of the island, shouting without looking back: "Absolutely do not follow us!! Take the ship out, and wait on the sea!!"
"But the Captain..." a Crew member said anxiously.
"That's exactly why he's still there!!" Rayleigh said decisively,
"That guy Roger never fights a battle he isn't sure about, nor would he easily say he might not come back. But the fact that he told us to leave first means that even he doesn't have the certainty of victory, and has even prepared for the worst!!"
He looked toward the island, where the sky was tearing apart, the earth was roaring, and three terrifying auras were entangled like the eye of a storm:
"We cannot let him face that kind of thing alone. At the very least... we must see the outcome with our own eyes, or... bring him back!!"
Various factions were evacuating in an emergency, and a government warship had set sail, quietly moving away.
Inside the bridge, Imu, possessing the body of Satan Saint, was looking back indifferently through the large porthole at the island that was gradually deforming and sinking amidst fire, thick smoke, collapse, and intense energy flashes. There was no expression on Satan Saint's face, only coldness.
[That island, along with everything that happened on it...] Imu's will echoed calmly, [shall be treated as if it never existed.]
[That is how it shall be.]
Imu, possessing Satan's body, ordered the start of the command to erase everything related to "God Valley".
All records, data, and participant lists concerning "God Valley" would be thoroughly erased.
Afterward, the "God Valley Incident" was classified as an S-rank absolute secret.
Marineford G-11 branch and CP6 had top-secret missions and special Reward records: destroying the "human hunt" contestant roster, destroying the island's location, area, and population information, and setting the death toll for this incident as "unknown".
A major event that shocked the world and should have stirred up monstrous waves was thus silently pressed down by an invisible hand.
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