At that moment — while Sharn slept as if dead to the world — a massive warship, escorted by several vessels, was making its way back to the Red Line.
Four old men stood silent, waiting for their colleagues to return. The Celestial Dragons, who normally reveled apart from one another, had for once all come together.
On the deck, Gringoire — wrapped head to toe in bandages and holding a European blade — walked forward. Turning to face him was the Gorosei, Saturn Saint, who had been standing on the deck for a long time.
"Not a word about God Valley," Saturn Saint said. "Please, Gringoire."
As one of the Gorosei, Saturn Saint had to protect Celestial Dragon dignity and the honour of the Order of the Holy Knights. To admit defeat at the hands of Rocks and his pirate crew was intolerable. Better to bury it forever.
"Not a word," Gringoire answered. He boarded the ascending mechanical lift bound for Mary Geoise. The other Holy Knights kept their silence. They had believed the Celestial Dragons to be supreme and invincible, and had plundered vast hoards and Devil Fruits while Rocks's crew was away — thinking themselves safe from the world's strongest pirates. But Rocks, an arch-nemesis to so many Devil Fruits, had led a campaign that humbled them all.
Still, the young members of the Holy Knights were hungrier than ever for real power. The Celestial Dragon elite endured training incomparable to ordinary nobles; their royal blood carried inherent kingly qualities and strong talent. Saturn Saint sighed. "About the child — I'm sorry. But I will do my best to find his whereabouts."
"Consider him dead in God Valley. That will suffice," Gringoire snapped, his knuckles grinding white. The battle was a humiliation he would not forget: not he, but Roger and Garp had delivered the final blows to Rocks. That meant there were at least two or three contemporaries stronger than him — and Whitebeard and Gold Lion would only grow more powerful. His royal bloodline might vanish; heirs lost, whether dead or alive, unknown.
"We are the gods who shaped this world! We should trample the bones of the common people!" Gringoire proclaimed. "For the honour of the Order, the Celestial Dragons' divine name — I will never lose to anyone again!"
Exiting the mechanical lift, the Celestial Dragons suddenly began to shout. "Rocks is finally defeated! Gringoire! Saturn Saint — you are the Celestial Dragons' true kings!" They declared the pirates' arrogance crushed and called for new hunting games to collect kingdoms outside the World Assembly. Most of them had no idea of the true facts; in their worldview, Garp was the hero who defeated Rocks and Gringoire had returned as a triumphant ruler.
The Holy Knights said nothing. Though many Celestial Dragons had perished, in the eyes of most who had no knowledge of the truth the worst pirate had been eliminated and Rocks's crew scattered. Saturn Saint, a Zoan Paramecia user, recovered faster than most. After exchanging brief looks with his peers, he slipped away from the noisy crowd.
In the palace council room, the old men began issuing orders. "My lord Imu?" Saturn Saint asked, seeking divine guidance.
"Everything is His command," the balding Gorosei answered, laying a hand on the ceremonial blade. Saturn Saint bowed and took a Den Den Mushi call. The long-bearded Gorosei answered another call. Orders that would shape decades were put in motion.
God Valley was hidden, its magnetic field twisted and wrapped in mist; its climate charted so bizarrely that even if it remained in the West Sea it would be warped like the New World. It was to be excised from maps — erased.
Under instructions from the Gorosei, the Navy made Garp the hero of God Valley. The Celestial Dragons' losses, the war itself, and Roger's involvement were all scrubbed from public record.
"From now on," the Gorosei commanded, "there is no God Valley. There is no Rocks. Focus on Roger, Whitebeard, and Gold Lion. Hachinosu will draw pirate interest for a time — let them bleed each other out. Without Rocks's unifying force, the Pirate Paradise will be a nest of vermin. Raise their bounties. Rewrite histories of World Assembly kingdoms and non-World Assembly realms. No reporting of detail; anyone who speaks out will be killed. Anyone who says the Celestial Dragons suffered humiliation at God Valley is a pirate — execute them on sight. Seek out Rocks's bloodline heirs; kill them if found, true or not."
Three Den Den Mushi fell silent. Intelligence channels from CP0, from CP9, and from the Navy received and implemented the orders. A new history overwritten the old.
People across the World Stage were stunned. For the West Sea — the original site of God Valley — the whole thing was especially outrageous. One moment they'd heard of Rocks's great assault; the next, God Valley had been erased and Rocks himself forbidden from mention. If Garp had been credited with victory, then that was that. The younger generation would never know the truth; even decades later they would be old without having learned it. Time forgets, and the sea washes away every trace.
In the West Sea, Garp was already in the habit of enjoying a mid-afternoon snack of grilled rice crackers on the deck; he slapped Sengoku on the back and grumbled, "Those bastards!" Sengoku fumbled with the Den Den Mushi. Admiral Kong — now Fleet Admiral — was on the line.
"Hey, Garp, you're the Navy's hero now. If you don't accept promotion to Admiral, you'll miss your chance!" Kong urged.
Garp cut him off. Later, he repeatedly refused promotion. Until the new generation of monsters rose, Garp would assert he had no interest.
On the Land of Flowers, the hot-headed boss of the Eight Treasure Navy — only forty and strong — had just returned from the Grand Line when the war ended. "Roger did nothing? Who believes it!" he swore; he wanted to find Garp and headbutt him.
At Ohara, the archaeological cradle of the West Sea, Doctor Clover held the Navy bulletin in shock. Seventeen-year-old Nico Olvia read it like scripture and whispered, "They're hiding the truth!" (Robin's adult form would later strongly resemble her mother, except for hair color.)
Elsewhere, in a small island newsroom, a 15-year-old apprentice named Morgans — who had eaten a bird-bird fruit and taken an albatross form — clenched his fists. "Someday I'll expose the truth," he vowed. "Rocks didn't lose to the world or to Garp!"
On the World Stage, one man had vanished — along with his life and trajectory. The powers of the world realized, perhaps for the first time, how terrifying absolute authority could be: even Rocks could be erased. If Rocks could be scrubbed from memory, who and what else could be erased?
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