"Why can't it be me, Marine?"
"..."
Dragon was left momentarily speechless by the question. His lips moved slightly, but he didn't know how to answer.
The order to massacre the island had come from the World Government, and the ones responsible for carrying it out were the Marines.
In that case, a pirate saving people here didn't seem all that unacceptable.
While Dragon was unable to respond, Nereus was also observing him. He was young, and his face lacked the mark known as the "slipper print."
But there was no doubt. This man was the one who would go on to found the Revolutionary Army.
Although the Revolutionary Army was, to a large extent, a makeshift organization, over these long years it had at least become one of the very few groups opposed to the Celestial Dragons.
"Judging by your expression, I suppose before today you knew nothing about any of this, right?"
"Then tell me, Marine!"
"After seeing all this with your own eyes, do you think your Marines still deserve to carry the word 'justice' on their back?!"
Justice was the Marines' slogan. Every Marine had shouted that word countless times during their days as recruits, yet now it stabbed at Dragon's ears like needles.
The belief in justice that he had once held without the slightest doubt had, at this moment, turned into a colossal joke.
"He's actually a good Marine. He was the one who saved me on the island…"
"He even bandaged my wounds…"
"But… it was this gentleman who let us board the ship…"
The civilians of God Valley couldn't quite make sense of the situation either. They normally didn't pay much attention to huge bounties; at most occasionally hearing others talk about them.
All they knew was who had helped them when they were driven into a desperate straits.
After Dragon dropped the weapon in his hand, they no longer pointed their guns at him either.
And it was at that moment that an extremely violent gust of air suddenly erupted from the central region of God Valley.
The sails creaked violently as they were buffeted by the wind, the ropes instantly tightening like bowstrings, and the entire ship began to sway noticeably from side to side.
Within this airflow were several strands of overwhelmingly powerful Haki pressure, eerily mixed with an indescribable, chilling aura.
Immediately after, the massive cliff on one side of God Valley collapsed with a loud rumble, and the thick clouds hanging high in the sky were forcibly torn open by an invisible power, ripping a huge gap through them.
There was no doubt that under the shockwaves of the fierce clash between these peak-of-the-world powerhouses, the innocent sky had once again become a victim of collateral damage.
"You can choose to roll off the ship right now, or go help sail it. Handling a medium-sized warship is quite different from a large one."
In the past, Nereus and the others had always directly seized large warships, so they were very familiar with controlling them.
Switching to a slightly smaller warship actually felt a bit unfamiliar.
"You… aren't you going to kill me?"
"I don't kill just anyone. Come to think of it, I haven't really paid attention to how the Marines describe me these days. If I get the chance, I'd actually like to hear you tell me about it."
Nereus didn't continue to pay Dragon any mind. He could no longer see any ordinary people or slaves in the surrounding area, so it was naturally time for the ship to set sail.
As for Nereus himself, he spread his wings and flew toward the source of that strange aura.
As for whether Dragon would cause any trouble…
Even if Nereus knew nothing about Dragon, he wouldn't care. The man was simply too weak. Barbell could crush him to death without any effort.
"Stop staring, kid. Boss has already left. Since the Boss didn't kill you, as long as you don't cause trouble, I won't touch you either. Get to work!"
Dragon didn't say anything. He silently walked beneath the mast and began adjusting the angle of the sails.
"Grab a ship immediately! Get out of here!"
"Huh? Boss Kyo, isn't there still Rocks' ship?"
"You idiot, with things like this, who would go back?!"
As Nereus made his way toward the center of the island, the other pirates, trailing a step behind, also began preparing to seize ships and retreat.
Silver Axe was only one of them; most of the others made similar plans.
"Shihahaha! This is the end of the Rocks Pirates!"
For someone like Golden Lion, who already possessed the ability to fly, retreating was even more simple. He didn't need a ship at all and simply carried his stuff as he flew off into the distance.
Forming groups to hitch rides was even more common. Gloriosa managed to get aboard Roger's pirate ship, while Whitebeard received an invitation from Polo Gram.
He claimed to be an admirer of Whitebeard, and a genuine one at that, and his appearance bore an almost identical resemblance to Marco.
Meanwhile, in the central region of God Valley, Garp and Roger were facing off against Rocks.
More precisely, they were facing Rocks, who had already been turned into a demon by Imu's Domi Reversi.
Rocks was in a very abnormal state at this moment. Not only had two additional pairs of fangs grown in his mouth, but demonic wings had also sprouted from his back.
This was Imu's ability: once certain conditions were met, he could control others in this manner.
[Please… kill me…]
This was Rocks' plea at this moment. Completely controlled, he couldn't speak aloud, yet both Roger and Garp heard those words.
"I'm telling you, Roger, you heard it too, right?"
"Yeah."
"Roger, I originally planned to take you and Rocks down in one fell swoop here."
"I only wanted to grab Shakuyaku and the treasures, then run!"
The two complained at the same time, yet without any prior agreement, both threw off the coats they were wearing.
"So, the two of us are teaming up for now?"
"I'm a hundred times unwilling, but we really can't just ignore this guy…"
Thus, Garp and Roger formed a temporary alliance. But the problem was that even together, the current Rocks was far from easy to deal with. If anything, the two of them were the first to be sent flying.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"
At that moment, Nereus also arrived at the core battlefield. In Nereus's recollection, Roger and Garp were indeed supposed to team up, but the mutated Rocks was the part Nereus didn't know about.
Upon seeing Nereus arrive, Roger was startled, then said to Garp beside him:
"Garp! What exactly are these black monsters of your World Government?! How did even this guy get controlled?!
Is your so-called justice a joke or what?!"
"Ahem… I second that, but let's not worry about that right now. Think about how we're going to deal with these two guys first!"
Vampire wings and demonic wings were nearly impossible to distinguish even upon close inspection. Nereus's appearance here caused Roger and Garp to form a misunderstanding that he, too, had been controlled.
One Rocks was nearly enough to take their lives. If you added another Nereus on the same level as Rocks…
Then they'd better start figuring out how to escape.
"You two idiots… do you both have polio and Alzheimer at the same time?! You don't even remember that I'm a Devil Fruit user?!"
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