Hearing Aokiba's words, Brook let out a booming laugh.
"As long as I don't die, I've got no need for a grave! As long as I don't age, I've got no twilight years!"
Brook sneered, tossing the corpse of Braille toward the rear ranks of the Marine musketeers. Instantly, someone stepped forward to collect the body of the fallen Admiral candidate.
"You won't even spare the dead?!"
Aokiba, the ever-righteous Marine, snapped, his fury boiling over into recklessness. The caution he once held for Brook vanished—now, all he wanted was to take down this vile pirate who'd sparked a world-shaking war, desecrating souls and corpses alike.
In his decades of service, Aokiba had never encountered a pirate as despicable, as utterly devoid of humanity's moral compass, as Brook.
"Waste not, want not!" Brook shot back, his tone icy. "I'm thinking you lot could keep each other company in my underworld hell!"
Brook's heart was cold as stone. Enemies deserved no mercy—only the ruthless chill of winter. For family, though, he'd offer the warmth of spring.
Riding his Cloud Hera, Brook shot forward at blinding speed, closing in on the winged unicorn that was Aokiba. He'd already claimed the horned devil of Devo—now it was Aokiba's turn to fall.
This was his chance to cripple the Marines, to drive them out of the New World for good.
"Admiral Aokiba, we need to retreat!"
Golden Buddha Sengoku saw the writing on the wall. If they didn't pull back now, they'd all be buried here.
"You go! I'll cover the rear!"
Aokiba's gaze softened as he looked at Sengoku, Zephyr, and the other promising young Marines. They were the Navy's future—too vital to lose in this slaughter.
Let him bear the weight of this disaster.
Back at Marine Headquarters, he'd face the Celestial Dragons' wrath anyway. Too many of their kind had perished here, and he'd take the blame for his misjudgment of the enemy's strength.
"Neighhh!"
In his half-beast form, Aokiba soared through the sky, unleashing his awakened ability. A massive, radiant winged unicorn—over ten meters tall—materialized before Brook, its horn blazing with holy light that shot toward him with blinding speed.
"Even if your holy light counters my soul attacks and the Seven Star Sword's ghostly aura, I've still got my three types of Haki!"
Brook's Seven Star Sword shed its eerie, malevolent energy, now cloaked in Armament and Conqueror's Haki. He swung it with ferocious precision, clashing head-on with Aokiba's holy light.
"Fall back, Jung, Zephyr!"
Sengoku seized command, the day's losses too catastrophic to ignore. Even Admiral Devo had been captured. If Aokiba and the rest fell here, the Marines' top ranks would be gutted.
"Yohohoho! You think you can just walk away?"
Golden Lion Shiki, battered and bloodied, his golden robes in tatters, grinned wickedly. Jung wasn't faring much better, sporting his own share of wounds. It seemed Shiki's duel with the Admiral candidate was a dead-even match.
Redfield, meanwhile, let Zephyr slip away. The martial artist wasn't worth the effort—better to help Brook take down Aokiba quickly.
…
Whether by design or chance, Rocks and his crew seemed to pull the chaotic 3D battlefield toward Brook's position, turning the atmosphere thick with tension and intrigue.
Rocks locked his gaze on Kaido and Oden, the two young upstarts who'd awakened their Conqueror's Haki. His mood was as dark as a storm cloud.
None of his own officers had awakened Conqueror's Haki, yet they were busy looting treasures and hauling them back to their ship. It infuriated him to no end.
Worse still, he hadn't secured a single Devil Fruit—the very prize he'd come for. Seeing the piles of Celestial Dragon corpses, he realized Brook had outmaneuvered him again.
"Brook, those Devil Fruits you snatched from the Celestial Dragons—don't you owe me half?"
Rocks' eyes burned with rage. He'd been thoroughly outplayed, his long-laid plans reduced to nothing but a dowry for Brook.
"What're you talking about, Rocks? You got here before us! You're asking me for loot? I should be the one demanding a cut of your haul!"
Brook's face was a mask of confusion, but inside, he was smirking. Did Rocks really think he'd cough up what he'd already claimed? Not a chance.
"Brook, don't play dumb! I know you! You're planning to hog it all, aren't you?"
Rocks had initially suspected Roger's crew, but their men showed no signs of carrying Devil Fruits. With so many Celestial Dragons dead, the truth was clear: Brook was the culprit.
"I don't know what you're on about! All I know is a bunch of Celestial Dragons got away, and your Captain John and Miss Buckin are walking away with their pockets stuffed. Or are you saying you want to break our alliance?"
Brook's voice dripped with mockery. Rocks' arrival had let Aokiba slip back to the Marine lines, which only fueled Brook's irritation.
If Rocks had shown up just ten minutes later, Aokiba would've been in the Hell Pirates' grasp.
"Well, well, Roger! You're here too? Looks like you made out pretty well!"
Before Rocks could respond, Brook pivoted, calling out to Roger's crew. They'd snuck onto the island quietly—surely they'd nabbed something valuable.
Garp, meanwhile, rejoined the Marine ranks. The battlefield now split into four factions, with Roger's crew—the weakest—edging closer to Brook's Hell Pirates.
"Ahem, just some gold, silver, and a rubbing," Roger admitted with a sheepish chuckle. His crew had indeed tried to slip away with their haul, fully aware it encroached on the interests of Rocks' and Brook's crews.
"A new rubbing, huh? Any red Poneglyphs in there?"
Brook pressed Roger, knowing the man wouldn't risk God Valley without a serious prize in sight.
"How'd you know?!" Roger's eyes widened. It was his first encounter with a red Poneglyph.
"Are you all ignoring me?!"
Rocks' Conqueror's Haki erupted in a furious wave, his patience for Brook's games at its limit. He itched to tear apart this greedy, backstabbing skeleton who wouldn't share a single top-tier Devil Fruit.
Aokiba seized the moment to pull the Marines back, letting the pirates tear into each other while awaiting reinforcements from Marine Headquarters. Then, they'd strike at the Hell Pirates—the real threat.
The Hell Pirates weren't just packing seven Conqueror's Haki users; they'd slaughtered countless Celestial Dragons, a crime beyond measure. And with the three pirate crews looting the Celestial Dragons' treasures, the Marines were determined to reclaim them.
"I told you, I just got here! I haven't touched a single Devil Fruit from the Celestial Dragons!"
Brook stood his ground, bold and unyielding. He hadn't taken any Devil Fruits—whatever his crew grabbed was their business, not his!
Besides, Rocks was wounded, and with Roger, the child of destiny, by his side, Brook had no fear of Rocks' crew. If not for their Conqueror's pact, he could wipe them out right here.
But with the Marines circling like vultures, Brook wasn't about to start a war with Rocks in God Valley.