In normal times, the death of a pirate with a bounty in the hundreds of millions would have been a major event in the West Sea.
Even after periods of inflation in Beli, a bounty exceeding one hundred million still served as a clear acknowledgment of a pirate’s strength.
Such pirates were not mere cannon fodder even in the New World—they were at least recognizable, named NPC-level figures.
But in the current God Valley region, this incident was insignificant.
Pirates far stronger than Valentin were everywhere, all converging toward God Valley as their destination.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Amid the deafening bombardment, in the eastern waters of God Valley, a warship sank into the sea under a cloud of smoke, immediately drawing the attention of the Marines stationed on the island.
“It’s the Rocks Pirates!!!”
“No!
Not just them!
There are many other infamous pirates approaching as well!!”
Waving pirate flags marked the identities of these incoming crews.
Not only ordinary soldiers—even officers at the rank of Vice Admiral felt a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.
“Fire!
Fire!
Stop them!
Don’t let them land!!”
BOOM!
BOOM!
The other warships adjusted their angles and unleashed concentrated fire toward the lead ship of the Rocks Pirates.
But the effect was minimal.
The Rocks Pirates’ vessels were several times the size of standard Marine warships and built from the finest materials available.
The crew didn’t even bother to intervene.
Relying purely on their scale and durability, the ships forced their way through the barrage, smashing straight through the Marine vessels ahead—crushing and overturning them as they advanced.
They immediately charged straight onto the shore.
“Useless, Marines!
Follow me—Rocks Pirates, move out!”
Rocks led the charge himself, the first to rush onto the island.
The pirates’ landing immediately threw the Celestial Dragons into chaos.
“Something’s wrong!!
Pirates are here!
What are you Marines even doing?!”
“If we suffer even the slightest injury, all of you will be executed by hanging!!”
But that was only the beginning.
Before the Marine intelligence officer in charge could even issue proper orders, report after report poured in from every direction.
“Report!
Pirates sighted on the west coast—Roger Pirates!
They’ve landed as well!”
“Report, north coast…”
“Report!
The Celestial Dragons demand—”
One disaster after another left the Marines on the island scrambling.
Forget dealing with it—this fleet alone couldn’t even guarantee victory against a single major officer from those pirate crews broadcasting their arrival.
And now, crews of that caliber were appearing all at once, as if the world itself were ending.
Not to mention their duty was to protect the Celestial Dragons—who were anything but cooperative.
One moment they demanded slaves be brought over, the next they insisted on securing “prizes.”
For the Marines, the only small relief was that among the Celestial Dragons, there were at least a few competent figures.
Garling, current commander of the God’s Knights, understood clearly that the Marines alone could not handle the incoming pirates.
He took over direct command of the battle against the pirates, leaving the Marines to manage the evacuation of the other Celestial Dragons.
Marines reinforcements led by Garp soon landed as well, giving the troops on the island a brief surge of hope.
But regardless of that, the island had already been completely engulfed in war.
With multiple factions colliding in chaotic entanglement, God Valley had become a nightmare battlefield with no escape.
And worse—some of the attacks weren’t even coming from enemies.
“Newgate!
Was that strike aimed at me just now?!”
“I didn’t swing at you!
I was attacking enemies, wasn’t I?”
In response to Charlotte Linlin’s accusation, Whitebeard gave his explanation and pointed at a member of the God’s Knights he had just cut in half, proving he hadn’t made a mistake.
But that reasoning did not convince Linlin in the slightest.
“You’re lying!
I almost died back there!
You want to settle this with me here?!”
“No interest in that.
How many Marines are on this island?
And how many pirate crews have landed?!”
Pirates seeking fame and fortune had all independently begun attacking members of the Rocks Pirates, while the Rocks Pirates themselves had split into multiple groups and temporarily formed alliances at different locations across the battlefield.
Although even his crewmates weren’t exactly trustworthy, they were still useful enough to help out in a pinch.
“Rocks has vanished, and Nereus is gone too?!
Barbel!
Where did he go?!
Don’t tell me he went after Shakky first?!”
With Kogarashi and Oto in hand, Golden Lion Shiki swung so fast the blades left afterimages.
Every strike unleashed a flying slash—but the enemies in front of him seemed endless.
He would cut down one group, only for another to appear immediately after.
He still had a rough idea of where everyone else was, but Nereus—who had left the group mid-way—was especially unpredictable.
Shiki couldn’t help but ask Barbel, the only other fish-man nearby.
“How would I know?
Big Brother doesn’t need to report where he goes to me!
And don’t go projecting your filthy, dirty-minded nonsense onto him!
He’s definitely doing something important!”
Barbel punched away an enemy from the side, though Shiki seemed to completely miss the point.
“You’re calling my Shakky ‘filthy nonsense’?
Your taste is the one that’s messed up!!”
“Shut it!
Nereus is over there!”
Kaido pointed toward one side of the island.
Though nothing was visible there, everyone present simultaneously turned their gaze downward.
The corpses of pirates they had just killed while attacking them had begun to change in a strange way.
The blood inside their bodies seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force, flowing out from their wounds.
It gathered like a river, moving unnaturally in a single direction—as if something was guiding it.
“Nereus is activating his ability again.”
In Kaido’s understanding, only Nereus could manipulate blood within a certain range—and only he would do something like this.
“If I remember right, that guy said this ability only works on the dead, right?
What’s he even collecting that much blood for?
Eating it?”
“Who knows?
‘Blood is the currency of the soul’… I think he said something like that.
Always so mysterious.”
The others on the ship had all interacted with Nereus to some extent and understood him at least vaguely.
But this wasn’t the time to analyze his abilities—compared to that, the treasure ahead mattered far more.
Meanwhile, on the other side of God Valley, Nereus had already landed on the island.
At this moment, he was in his Zoan hybrid form.
Massive bat-like wings spread out behind him, and his pupils had taken on a faint crimson hue.
But unlike his earlier clash with Rocks, there was now a stream of blood-red flame-like clouds floating behind him.
These “flame clouds” were not decoration—they were the distinctive sign of awakened Zoan abilities after the latest system upgrade.