Chapter 2: Rocks Called Me a Monster
"Logia-Type... Sky-Tremor Fruit!"
A fanatical smile spread across Garon's lips as he gave his fruit a name that sounded badass as hell.
He lowered his gaze to his palm, his fingers slowly spreading open.
VMM!
In an instant, countless fine vibration particles gathered in his palm, condensing into a pure white orb of energy. The surface of the sphere constantly warped the air, pulsing like a miniature quake-source compressed to its absolute limit!
"Whitebeard has the Paramecia-Type Gura Gura no Mi. He relies on his physical body as a medium to initiate vibrations, but the price is that his own body must endure the backlash of the quakes he creates..."
Garon gave a cold smirk. His fingers suddenly clenched, and the light orb instantly collapsed, dissolving into countless trembling particles that wrapped around his arm.
"But my Sky-Tremor Fruit... it allows me to become the origin of vibration itself!"
He abruptly raised his left fist, mimicking Whitebeard's stance from his memory. The vibration particles instantly gathered, condensing around his fist. The air at the vanguard of his knuckles twisted violently, as if it would erupt with devastating power at any moment.
But Garon didn't throw the punch. Instead, he slowly reined in the power.
He didn't need to imitate anyone. Because his ability... was already superior to the Gura Gura no Mi!
"What Whitebeard can do, I can do..." Garon muttered to himself, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "And what he can't do... I can do as well!"
The Gura Gura no Mi was praised as the "strongest Paramecia" fruit, possessing the greatest destructive power and attack range of all known Devil Fruits across all three types.
Now, by adding the characteristics of a Logia, Garon could not only strike the world itself to shatter space just like the Gura Gura no Mi... he could, as a Logia user, directly dominate the tremors of the sky, the atmosphere, and the ocean.
He wouldn't just shake the world... he would make vibration itself his weapon.
Just as Garon was marveling at the power he'd obtained, in the distance, the western side of God Valley was ablaze with the fires of war.
The remnants of the Rocks Pirates were in a full, chaotic retreat. The silhouettes of Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and others were barely visible through the smoke and gunpowder.
But Garon only gave them a cold glance before retracting his gaze, turning his attention to the very center of the island.
That was where Rocks, Roger, and Garp had fought their decisive battle!
"And now..." A smirk played on Garon's lips, and invisible vibration particles began to materialize around his body.
"It's time to go and collect some real spoils of war."
...
At the center of God Valley, the luxurious viewing platform the Celestial Dragons had used to watch their hunting game had long since been reduced to ruins.
And in the middle of a massive crater, Rocks D. Xebec lay on his back, the blood pooling beneath him forming a dark crimson lake.
This man, the unrivaled sovereign of the seas, was now gasping for air. Every breath was accompanied by a wet cough that brought up fragments of his internal organs.
After Roger and Garp had critically wounded Rocks, the God's Knights had escorted the Celestial Dragons away. The World Government, for its part, had simply left him here to face the impending Buster Call that would annihilate the island. He was left to fend for himself...
"A pirate and a Marine, joining forces..." He split his blood-soaked lips into a cold, sardonic grin. "How... utterly ironic..."
"Roger, Garp..." Just as he was preparing to close his eyes and welcome death...
RUMBLE!
The ground suddenly trembled. Small pebbles began to dance from the vibrations.
Rocks's cloudy pupils constricted slightly. This familiar type of vibration...
Footsteps approached from a distance, and a figure in a Marine uniform stepped into this forbidden zone of death. The sun shone from behind him, casting a long shadow that fell over Rocks.
"Is that Newgate? No... that guy would never come back here."
Rocks strained to move his eyes. When he used his Observation Haki and saw that the newcomer was just a black-haired boy of about fourteen, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
But he immediately noticed the unique vibrational waves swirling around the boy... That was not Newgate's power!
Meanwhile, Garon was currently using his new ability, precisely shattering pieces of rubble, hoping to find some treasure he could exchange for money. But after trying for a while, he hadn't found a single thing.
"Strange. There's no way the prizes for the Celestial Dragons' hunting game were this measly, right?" Garon couldn't help but complain.
"But man, Rocks's and Roger's Conqueror's Haki is terrifying. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have been knocked out over fifty times... Ah, well. Guess you win some, you lose some."
In the crater, Rocks heard Garon's muttering. His pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpricks.
This Marine boy, barely fourteen, had been knocked unconscious more than fifty times during his and Roger's clash of Conqueror's Haki?!
He knew for a fact that even a standard Vice Admiral from Marine HQ would be unconscious for at least an entire day under the full pressure of their combined Haki.
Yet this boy in front of him was able to wake up at an astonishing speed after each blackout.
What did that mean?! It meant that during that heaven-and-earth-shattering duel of Conqueror's Haki, this kid was recovering his consciousness, on average, once every two minutes!
"An ignorant monster..." As this thought crossed his mind, Rocks suddenly had an idea.
He opened his mouth and, with the last of his strength, rasped, "Hey! Marine brat!"
The voice, though not loud, was clear. "Stop looking. What you want isn't here. Hahaha!!"
"No way..." Hearing the laugh, Garon swallowed hard. He slowly turned his head toward the source of the sound.
He began to walk forward, his steps hesitant, finally stopping three meters from the edge of the giant crater.
"You're... still alive..." Garon looked down at the true overlord of this era, the strongest man of his time.
Rocks D. Xebec!
"Rocks..." Garon murmured.
Rocks struggled to focus his vision. When he got a clear look at the boy, he was even more certain of his guess.
Especially the boy's eyes. They held no pity for a dying man, nor the awe one should have when facing the ruler of the seas.
That gaze was too clear... so clear it was like... he was observing a museum exhibit.
And Garon, looking at the dying Rocks, merely felt a sense of wonder.
After all, in his heart, Rocks's existence was separated by a kind of barrier, like that between reality and a 2D character. He didn't have any other particular feelings.
"Hey, Marine brat..." Rocks's voice was hoarse. "Are you here... to witness the changing of the era?"
"I'm just here to find something valuable," Garon said flatly.
"Hahaha! Something valuable, you say..." Rocks suddenly burst out laughing, blood gushing from his mouth with the effort. "Marine brat... you're interesting." His gaze suddenly sharpened. "Your power... that's not Newgate's..."
"It's the Sky-Tremor Fruit." Garon slowly raised his right hand, palm facing up.
As he did, the surrounding air began to warp, and a purer form of vibrational energy—different from the Gura Gura no Mi—gathered in his hand. The energy flowed at his fingertips, a power that felt closer to... some fundamental origin.
A flash of understanding crossed Rocks's eyes. "I see... The Sky-Tremor Fruit... More terrifying than Newgate's."
"Didn't you want something valuable?" Rocks continued. "How about you make a deal with a dying man?"
"A deal?" Garon frowned.
"That's right." Rocks shifted his gaze. "Something valuable."
Garon followed his line of sight. A longsword, pitch-black from hilt to tip, was stabbed into the scorched earth, its blade reflecting a cold light.
Garon walked over and pulled the sword free. It wasn't a traditional katana, but a straight, double-edged black blade. It was about 1.5 meters long, with an exquisite hilt. The scabbard was missing. The entire blade was as black as the abyss, its surface covered in dark red, crack-like patterns from which a faint light seemed to flow.
"This sword is..."
"One of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords."
"Use your power... give me a decent funeral. I refuse to die under the cannon-fire of those World Government trash and their Buster Call..." Rocks's voice was growing weaker.
"After it's done... this sword... is yours..."
"Its name."
"You... will give it a name," Rocks coughed up more blood.
"Alright." Garon looked at the black blade in his hand, silent for a moment, then nodded seriously. "As you wish. I accept this deal."
VMM!
Vibration particles converged in Garon's palm, compressing wildly.
"Hahaha..." Rocks let out a raspy laugh. "Interesting... So interesting... Brat, what's your name?"
"Garon," Garon replied calmly. "Garon Reginald Sigma."
Hearing no "D." in the middle name, a strange light flashed in Rocks's eyes.
"Not a D., eh..." Rocks mused.
An image of Roger and Garp attacking him in tandem flashed through his mind. He then looked back at Garon.
A pirate and a Marine... In that case, I'll be selfish just this once, too.
Take my sword... and make its name echo throughout the world again!
You terrifying and ignorant monster... Garon Reginald Sigma!!
The ball of vibration particles slowly descended. The powerful quake completely disintegrated Rocks's body, along with the very air around him, burying him forever on the island of God Valley.