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On the battlefield—
Rocks D. Xebec vs. Marshal Brownie.
One was the infamous captain of the most feared pirate crew to ever terrorize the seas—the Rocks Pirates. The other was the iron-willed Marshal of Marine Headquarters, the supreme authority of justice on the seas.
Their clash shook the heavens.
The sheer violence of their battle created a hundred-meter-wide exclusion zone. No one—neither Marine nor pirate—dared venture near. The shockwaves alone would flatten anyone who got too close.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clash of their blades resounded like thunder, sending ripples of force across the Valley of the Gods.
They had exchanged hundreds of blows in mere minutes, each one heavy enough to split stone and shatter mountains.
"So many years have passed... and you still haven't improved, Brownie." Rocks grinned savagely, his crimson cloak fluttering behind him.
Their history ran deep.
Brownie had once crossed swords with Rocks in the early days of the latter's rise to infamy. Back then, Brownie was already a formidable force. But now, at the peak of his power, Rocks could tell—his old foe hadn't grown much.
Or rather, he had grown... but not enough.
"You've got some nerve, Rocks," Brownie growled, his tone cold but laced with unease.
He scoffed outwardly, but inside, his heart was pounding.
Because Rocks was even more terrifying than the rumors claimed.
They appeared evenly matched, but Brownie could feel the crushing pressure behind every strike—a suffocating, deathly weight that pushed him back, again and again.
"Hahaha! You bark well, Brownie! But if this is all you've got, then your time's up!"
With that declaration, Rocks unleashed a flurry of slashes, his swordsmanship fast, wild, and honed to perfection—an unholy union of savagery and mastery.
Brownie gritted his teeth. The initial exchange he could match. But Rocks was accelerating—each attack heavier, faster, more precise.
"I won't lose to a damn pirate like you!!" Brownie roared.
He stepped back with force, slamming his foot into the ground—BOOM—shattering the stone beneath him. At the same time, his blade was coated in a dense swirl of Armament Haki, intertwined with Conqueror's Haki so potent that black lightning crackled from the edge.
As Marshal of the Marines, Brownie had trained to the pinnacle of Haki.
He summoned his full power now, turning into a black blur as he dashed forward like a ghost, appearing before Rocks in an instant.
"Die, Rocks!!"
This was it—his ultimate strike. A swing infused with the totality of his swordsmanship, all his will, all his years of war-hardened experience.
The air itself split apart under the weight of the blow.
Rocks grinned, undaunted. "You think that'll finish me?"
He met the attack head-on.
His blade—also coated in advanced Armament and Conqueror's Haki—roared to life as he swung upward with a countering blow.
BOOM!!!
Before the blades even made contact, a titanic explosion tore through the battlefield. The sheer kinetic force ruptured the earth in every direction. Chasms cracked open. Shockwaves flattened forests at the edge of the Valley of the Gods.
A massive dome of blinding white energy expanded outward like a supernova—so dense and charged it warped the air.
"Uwooooahhh!!"
The entire Valley of the Gods trembled. It was as if the island itself had been hit by a natural disaster.
And then, as the light faded—
"Nice power," Rocks said coolly, emerging through the smoke. "But… that's all it is."
With a lightning-quick motion, he twisted his blade and brought it crashing down toward Brownie's abdomen.
"Tch—!!"
Brownie's eyes widened. He immediately channeled every ounce of his Armament Haki around his midsection to block.
But Rocks' slash was too fierce. Too heavy. Too absolute.
SHHLLAAKK!!
The blade struck with thunderous force, slamming into Brownie's reinforced defenses—and tearing right through.
Brownie flew backward like a cannonball, skidding across the ruined ground for dozens of meters. A deep gash ran across his abdomen, blood soaking his uniform.
His boots gouged a trench in the dirt before he finally came to a stop.
"Marshal Brownie!!!"
Cries rang out across the battlefield.
"How… how is this possible!?"
"Marshal Brownie is the strongest man in the Marines!"
"He was wounded so quickly…!"
The morale of the Marine forces took a sharp dive.
Brownie wasn't just a commander. He was a symbol—a living embodiment of absolute justice, a beacon of strength to the World Government.
And now… he was bleeding.
"It can't be..."
"He's too strong... That man... That monster..."
From afar, Vice Admiral Kong stood grim-faced.
"So… this is the true strength of Rocks D. Xebec," he muttered.
At that moment, he felt an icy chill creep down his spine. A man like this could have torn the world apart—if not for the intervention of higher powers.
Kong clenched his fists.
Thank goodness... the World Government had acted.
If not for enlisting the help of the Roger Pirates and Wald Pirates, their entire Navy might've been crushed here today—even with the assistance of CPO's elite commander, Deros.
They would've been slaughtered.
"No wonder… Ayr would follow such a man," Sengoku added, his brow furrowed.
Ayr, the Marine-slaying warrior with Fairy Eyes and meteoric power, was already considered one of the most dangerous individuals by Marine Headquarters.
And yet—even he answered to Rocks.
That alone spoke volumes.
If someone like Ayr, with the might to summon city-destroying meteorites, could see Rocks as his captain... then the scale of Rocks' power was beyond their comprehension.
This was no mere pirate.
This was the man standing at the very top of the world.
And now, everyone had witnessed it.
The Valley of the Gods—once the seat of World Nobles—now belonged to Rocks D. Xebec.
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