The outskirts of God Valley were shrouded in smoke and flames.
A young Kaido, having recently consumed the Fish-Fish Fruit, was still far from mastering its power. Now partially transformed into a dragon, he rampaged through the ruins, flailing wildly. Wisps of immature heat breath puffed from his maw, and his tail sent several Navy grunts flying.
Ritter crouched in a haze of blood mist, chin resting on his hand as he studied the "little lizard" with amusement.
So this is the so-called 'strongest creature' of the future? Huh… why does he look so goofy right now?
"Hey, brat," Ritter's voice echoed from all directions, startling Kaido, who whipped his dragon head around.
"Who's there?! Come out!"
A whip formed from condensed blood mist lashed across Kaido's dragon rump.
Kaido let out a pained howl and twisted midair, nearly tumbling into the sea. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
Ritter's figure flickered in and out of the blood fog, grinning wickedly.
"Little lizard, your captain Rocks is getting his ass handed to him. Aren't you going to help?"
Kaido's eyes flared with rage. "Of course I am, you bastard! But you—"
"But you're too weak."
Ritter cut him off, and in a flash, the blood mist morphed into a giant hand that clamped tightly around Kaido's long neck.
"You don't even know how to use Haki. And you're supposed to be the 'strongest creature'?"
Kaido thrashed frantically, claws tearing through the mist, but it was like swiping at clouds.
"Captain Rocks… I'm coming to help!" he roared—
But just then, something tightened around his ankle.
A crimson wisp of mist silently coiled itself around his leg.
"Huh? What the—AAARGH!!!"
Kaido's eyes bulged as searing pain erupted from his ankle. His scales began to rot away, the flesh beneath melting visibly.
"Blood Mist: Bone-Eater!"
Ritter's voice carried through the haze, tinged with cruel amusement.
Kaido kicked and flailed, but the blood mist clung to him like a curse, eating away at his body and creeping steadily upwards.
Ritter could feel the influx of life force flooding in—
The stronger the creature, the more the mist could drain.
"Bastard! Come out here and fight me!"
Kaido swung his kanabō furiously, but struck only mist.
"Tsk tsk, that's all you've got?"
Ritter's silhouette shimmered in the fog, a rod of condensed blood swirling in his hand.
"Oi, brat did your captain never teach you to keep your Observation Haki up at all times?"
Before Kaido could respond—
A blunt strike landed squarely on the back of his dragon skull.
Kaido's vision went black. His scales hadn't even hardened in time. Face-first, he crashed into the dirt.
Ritter sauntered over and gave the unconscious dragon a casual kick.
"Tsk, tsk. The future 'strongest creature'? You're just a big dumb lizard who got clobbered from behind."
He crouched down, filched a treasure Kaido had stolen earlier, and used his mist to etch glowing words into Kaido's scaly back:
Ha! Beat Oden to it. Got my name in first.
Suddenly, a blast of air nearly knocked Ritter off his feet. He turned toward the main battlefield.
"You all... think you can kill me... that easily!?"
Rocks D. Xebec slowly rose from the ruins, blood dripping from his tattered robes. But even that couldn't mask the suffocating pressure radiating from him.
His Conqueror's Haki no longer surged wildly it had condensed into tangible black lightning, coiling around him. The very air distorted under the weight of his aura.
Garp's fists trembled. Roger's blade lowered ever so slightly. They could feel it Rocks was climbing to a level of ferocity no one had ever seen.
"I am the king who will overturn the world... You are nothing but relics of a dying age!"
Rocks's pupils turned pitch-black. His Conqueror's Haki no longer just intimidated it transformed into a domain.
"Sovereign Realm: Endless Eclipse!"
In an instant, everyone caught within it Roger, Garp, Rayleigh, Jaba all felt an invisible force weigh them down. Their movements lagged for just a second.
"My Observation Haki... it's being interfered with?!" Rayleigh's rare look of shock said it all.
"No…" Roger grinned, eyes burning with battle-lust. "It's being suppressed."
Rocks's Haki had transcended mere intimidation. It could now override his enemies' perception and reflexes, if only for a moment.
At the center of his chest, the swirling spiral tattoo began to spin wildly, like a bottomless black hole. It started devouring everything around it ruins, seawater, even light itself.
"Grand Maelstrom: Devourer of God Valley!"
The entire island began to collapse. Fissures split the earth, seawater surged in, and the sky tore open in streaks of black void.
"He's absorbing the whole island!"
Ritter's blood mist was being pulled toward the vortex. His face darkened.
"This lunatic... he's going for a suicide play!"
Rocks's body began to break apart, but his laughter only grew more manic.
"Kuahahaha! Roger! Garp! You think you've won?!"
"World Government… Celestial Dragons… those with the Will of D… You're all puppets of fate!"
"My will... shall never perish!"
His body disintegrated, but his Haki coalesced into a colossal shadow, hurtling toward the heavens.
"One day... someone will inherit my ambition... and tear this world apart!"
Ritter turned and bolted.
Grabbing a treasure chest on the way out, of course.
The Roger Pirates and the others rushed back toward the Oro Jackson. Ritter condensed his mist into a shield, straining to protect the ship from the vortex's pull. He had never spent this much stamina in such a short burst not even over the past three days combined.
Everyone around released waves of Conqueror's Haki, trying to counteract the sheer destructive force of Rocks's final technique. But the Oro Jackson was wedged dangerously close to God Valley's edge.
Their captain was still on the battlefield. Retreat wasn't an option.
Once the first shockwave subsided, Rayleigh and Ritter immediately dashed back in. Jaba stayed behind to defend the ship.
"Now!" Roger shouted.
His Ace blade glowed with Conqueror's Haki and sliced toward Rocks's throat.
"Fist of the Galaxy!" Garp's punch compressed the air itself into vacuum.
"Endblade of the Dark King!" Rayleigh's sword cleaved through the blackness.
"Fog Deity Style: Eternal Night!" Ritter's mist transformed into countless bloodied blades, sealing off Rocks's retreat.
In an explosion that shook the seas, Rocks's form was swallowed whole.
The remaining Rocks Pirates fled in disarray. The Navy, drained of all strength, could only watch. No one had the power to pursue anymore.
Everyone climbed onto floating planks what remained of the Navy ships had been blown to pieces.
Ritter swept his eyes over the wreckage.
Oh? The Scientific Defense Warlord was still alive.
That cockroach really could survive anything. Not bad.
The Warlord gazed at the Roger Pirates. "The World Government owes you a great debt. Your bounties will be rescinded. Thank you for your assistance."
Ritter, in his Jerry form, pointed at the Five Elders and muttered, "See? Told you he'd have to thank us."
At this point, the Warlord no longer cared why the Roger Pirates had even shown up. If they hadn't, Rocks might've succeeded. There was no way to spin that into a conspiracy it just didn't make sense.
The Roger Pirates had zero obligation to help the World Government. This was a favor too immense to ignore.
Of course, the old geezers in the Government would never kneel and thank them.
But Ritter didn't mind. That kind of leverage would be very useful someday.
So long as the Roger Pirates didn't push too far into the world's darkest truths, they could now roam the seas freely like a prehistorically sanctioned version of the Seven Warlords, but without the strings attached.
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