The sun was dying over God Valley.
Smoke rose in black spirals as the island burned — screams of Marines, Celestial Dragons, and pirates alike merging into one endless wail.
Amid the chaos, Rocks D. Xebec stood bloodied but unbowed, his coat torn, his sword drenched in crimson. In his arms, a trembling woman clutched a dark-haired boy.
"Eris, take Teach," Rocks ordered, voice shaking yet firm. "The dock on the west side — there's a ship waiting. Go. Now."
Eris's eyes widened. "Rocks you can't stay! They'll kill you!"
Rocks smirked. "Let them try. I made a promise to this world, and I'm not done yet."
He knelt, brushing his son's cheek. "Listen, boy… the world will call us monsters. But don't ever forget — you have my will. The Will of D."
Ada arrived just as Eris turned to run, her pistol smoking. "Captain, the path is clear to the docks. Marines won't reach them in time."
Rocks looked at her, pride flashing in his eyes. "You did well, Ada."
She nodded once. "They'll be safe?"
He smiled faintly. "We'll meet again — at Lulusia Kingdom."
"Don't die before then," she said flatly.
He laughed. "Not planning to."
And then, as Eris and Teach disappeared into the inferno, Rocks turned toward the heart of the island — where chaos was unfolding.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, betrayal unfolded.
Several lesser Rocks Pirates — greedy, frightened — tried to flee with stolen treasure. They'd heard whispers that the World Government would pardon defectors.
But they never reached the coast.
Whitebeard's naginata split the ground, shattering their escape route.
"Cowards," he growled. "You don't get to betray the crew."
Beside him, Kaido swung his kanabo, crushing two deserters in one blow. "WORORO! WEAKLINGS! DON'T CALL YOURSELVES PIRATES!"
Linlin's monstrous laugh echoed. "MAMA MAMA! Look at the little insects squirm!"
And then, walking through the carnage with cold precision, came Ada Wong.
Her coat fluttered in the smoke. Her pistols gleamed like twin stars.
The traitors turned — and froze.
"Ada, please— we didn't—" one stammered.
"Save your breath," she said.
In a blur, six shots rang out.
Six corpses hit the ground.
She reloaded without expression. "Betrayal isn't forgiven. Not in our crew."
Kaido let out a booming laugh. "Remind me never to cross you, Vice-Captain!"
Ada holstered her guns. "You won't live long enough to try."
As the battle roared, Ada spotted movement on the far ridge — the Roger Pirates cutting through the Marine blockade.
Roger, Rayleigh, Gaban… and behind them — Shakky, alive, covered in soot but free.
For the first time that day, Ada exhaled in relief. "So, you made it out, huh?"
On a nearby ledge, Gloriosa saw her too and laughed through tears. "I told you that woman's too clever to die!"
"Good," Ada murmured. "One less thing to burn for."
But peace was fleeting.
The ground shook as a shadow fell over them. From the flaming heavens descended something colossal — a spidered creature, black as night.
When it landed, its form twisted — scales retracting, skin reforming — until before them stood a man in black robes and a cane with eyes like cold gold.
One of the Five Elders.
"Rocks D. Xebec's your reign ends here," the elder said, his voice ancient and calm. "So too will the existence of your whole crew."
"Another of those bastards," Whitebeard growled. "You picked the wrong day to play god."
Kaido spat. "Another one of you government dogs?"
"Not just another," Linlin muttered. "This one reeks of power…"
Saturn's voice was calm and cold."I am no god, pirate. I am His instrument."
Then the elder's smiled slightly . "You stand before Saint Jaygarcia Saturn —Warrior God of science and defense."
His eyes glowed as he took his stance and then his body began to twist — horns elongating, skin turning red and molten. His eyes glowed with a light that didn't belong to man or beast. The ground warped around him.
Linlin's grin faltered. "What the hell is that?"
Ada's eyes narrowed. "A Zoan. Mythical type."
Kaido slammed his kanabo into the ground. "Who cares! I'll crush it!"
Newgate cracked his knuckles. "Doesn't matter. He bleeds, he dies."
Kaido then charged, but Saturn caught the club mid-swing with one clawed hand. The air cracked. Kaido's eyes widened — his Armament Haki shattered like glass.
The elder moved — impossibly fast — clashing with Whitebeard and Kaido simultaneously. The shockwave shattered the ground, sending debris flying.
Ada leapt between Linlin and the Marines, firing a volley of Haki-imbued bullets that curved midair and exploded in bursts of light. "Keep him busy!" she shouted. "We regroup with Rocks when this is over!"
But fate had other plans.
From the shadows, a blade flashed toward her. She parried, sparks flaring.
"Still sharp as ever," sneered a familiar voice.
Ochoku.
Once a comrade. Now the traitor who had kidnapped Shakky, killed Don Marlon, and sold information to the World Government.
Ada's eyes hardened. "You picked the wrong side."
Ochoku laughed, his twin swords spinning. "I picked the winning one."
Their blades clashed — steel on steel, echoing through the burning ruins. Ada ducked under a strike, countered with a kick to his ribs, and fired point-blank. Ochoku blocked the bullet with Haki, smirking.
"You're fast— but predictable!"
Ada feinted, dropped low, and drew her second pistol in a blink. "So are you."
The bullet pierced his shoulder, sending him stumbling.
He roared, slashing wildly. "You think you can kill me?! I was a pirate before you were even born!"
Ada smirked. "And yet I'm the one still standing."
She twisted her wrist, loading an Armament Haki bullet engraved with a crimson sigil.
"This one's for Don Marlon."
Ochoku's eyes widened. "Wait—"
Bang.
The shot pierced his heart.
He fell to his knees, choking on blood.
Ada stepped closer, eyes cold. "You sold us for gold. But you died for nothing."
She turned away as his body hit the ground, the fire swallowing him whole.
Kaido and Linlin were still clashing with Saturn, while Newgate held off an entire Marine battalion.
Ada rejoined them, her cloak torn but her gaze sharp as ever.
"We need to regroup with the Captain," she said.
Newgate grimaced. "He's deep in the central valley."
Kaido snarled. "Then what the hell are we waiting for?!"
Ada looked back once more — toward the horizon where Eris and Teach's ship vanished into the mist. She smiled faintly.
"Alright," she said, reloading her guns. "Let's make sure the world remembers who we were."
Then a voice echoed through the field — smooth, ancient, terrifying.
"Foolish children of the sea… You challenge me?"
The sky itself seemed to bend toward that voice. Saturn's form convulsed — his features warping — until his eyes became blank white voids.
Imu had awakened within him.
Whitebeard's instincts screamed as the possessed Saturn turned his gaze toward them. "Linlin— get back!"
Too late. The ground beneath them exploded into thorns of black matter. Linlin barely leapt aside, clutching the devil fruit she had stolen earlier.
Kaido's eyes flickered toward it — greed and also a feeling of desperation flashing like lightning.
Before she could recover, he lunged forward, smashing her aside with his kanabo.
"Sorry, old hag— this fruit's mine!"
"KAIDO!!!" Linlin screeched, hurling fire in rage. But he was already transforming — scales rippling along his arm as the fruit's power began to sink in.
Ada's voice echoed through a the battlefield.
"Newgate! Kaido! Grab Linlin, let's go to the Captain— now!"
Whitebeard looked at the writhing monster that was once Saturn and then at Kaido, now glowing with primal power. "Tch. Fine. We'll deal with this thing later."
But Saturn—no, Imu—turned toward them.
"You cannot flee the will of the world."
His hand rose, and gravity itself twisted. The air screamed as the mountain behind them split in two.
Kaido cursed. "We can't fight that thing!"
Newgate gritted his teeth, his quake powers surging. "Then we run through it!"
He slammed his palm into the ground, creating a rift that sent Saturn stumbling backward for just a heartbeat. It was enough.
"Move!" Newgate roared.
Kaido took off, scales beginning to form as his partial-dragon body crackled with power. Newgate followed, carrying Linlin's unconscious body.
Behind them, Saturn's monstrous roar shook the heavens.
With that, Ada sprinted toward the heart of God Valley, her crew following — each step echoing like thunder as the age of monsters reached its peak.
In the center valley, Ada and Rocks D. Xebec regrouped in the ruins of a Celestial Dragon manor.
The building was shattered, but its symbol — a massive globe with wings — still hung crookedly above the gates.
"Captain," Ada called, stepping through the debris.
Rocks turned, his coat in tatters, his face shadowed in soot and blood. Yet his eyes — those wild, burning eyes — were still full of life.
"Ada," he said with a grin. "You made it."
She nodded. "Eris and Teach are safe. They're off the island."
"Good," he said softly. "Then I can fight without holding back."
For a brief moment, the two stood in silence — the last calm before the end.
"You knew this would happen," Ada said at last. "Didn't you?"
Rocks chuckled. "Not all of it. But I knew the world wouldn't let me live. Not after what I saw."
"The man on the throne," Ada murmured.
His eyes darkened. "Imu. The true ruler of the world. I saw him when I raided Mariejois. He never should've existed. A king above kings, pretending to be invisible."
Ada clenched her fists. "Then today, we end him."
Rocks smiled. "That's why you're my Vice-Captain."
Thunder roared. The wall behind them exploded.
Through the smoke strode Whitebeard, Kaido, and Linlin — bloodied, panting, but alive. Kaido's new scales gleamed in the firelight.
"Rocks!" Newgate said. "That thing— it's not human!"
Rocks turned toward the smoke. "I know."
From the flames stepped Saturn, or rather, what was left of him. His horns had multiplied, his body now half-shadow, half-flesh. The voice that spoke from him was no longer his own.
"Rocks D. Xebec… and the ones who inherited the storm. Your time ends here."
Ada felt it — the weight of something cosmic.
Her breath hitched. "That presence… it's not just him."
Rocks' grin faded into something grim. "We're not fighting a man anymore."
He looked around at his crew — Newgate's jaw tight, Kaido's kanabo crackling with energy, Linlin trembling with manic rage, Ada's guns drawn steady.
He drew his blade, its edge black with Conqueror's Haki.
"We're facing the world itself."
The flames roared higher, the sea cracked with power, and above it all — history trembled.
The Rocks Pirates would fall before dawn.
But their names would never be forgotten.