God Valley, center of the Grand Canyon.
While York clashed intensely with Old Saturn, and Rocks battled the uniformed woman fiercely.
The Rocks Pirates led by Golden Lion, John, Wang Zhi, and others, along with the Roger Pirates charging from the other side of the island, both converged on the central plaza of the Grand Canyon.
Immediately after, the two groups erupted into a massive melee.
"Shakky is mine!!"
"I should be the first to save Shakky!!"
"Don't get in the way!!"
Amidst the mutual trash talk, none noticed that the very Shakky they wanted to save was no longer here.
"Rayleigh!!"
Roger swung his blade, deliberately stalling against Golden Lion.
"I'm tied up right now! Shakky's yours!!"
Gaban did the same, pretending to compete in axe skills with Silver Axe, evenly matched.
Under his brothers' expectations, Rayleigh leaped from the crowd, cutting through the encirclement like lightning, then rushed into the cell where Shakky had been held.
"Th... This..."
However, when Rayleigh saw the broken shackles and chains inside the cell, he fell into utter despair.
"Shakky was already rescued by someone? Or perhaps..."
He couldn't utter the word "killed." He didn't want the truth to be that.
Watching Rayleigh walk out of the cell dejectedly.
Roger and Gaban, who thought they had accomplished something good, felt puzzled inwardly and hurriedly disengaged to check the cell...
...
Some time later.
The fiercely fighting Roger Pirates and Rocks Pirates both halted their actions.
The two sides stood separately, confronting each other.
"Shakky is gone!!"
This was the reason everyone stopped.
The Devil Fruits were also missing.
They began questioning each other about whether they had seen Shakky fleeing or the Devil Fruits.
The final result, of course, was that neither side had seen anything.
Golden Lion and the other Rocks Pirates exchanged glances.
After this accounting, they seemed to guess the truth.
*Probably rescued by York!*
*And the Devil Fruits were probably taken by him too!*
*That bastard! His ability is too damn useful! When we get back, gang up and take him down!*
*The problem now is we can't let the Roger Pirates know! Otherwise, more competitors!*
The silent exchange passed through eye contact. The Rocks Pirates finally reached a consensus.
"Let's go! Shakky's gone; this island has no value."
John feigned disdain and helplessness, dragging a large sack of treasure as he turned to leave.
"Wah wah wah... Shakky ah! My Shakky-chan~~!"
Golden Lion wailed dramatically, his acting realistic, following John as he turned away.
The other Rocks Pirates did the same.
Some wept bitterly, others looked dejected and helpless.
But regardless of expression, everyone moved in unison—heading back the way they came.
Seeing this, the Roger Pirates wanted to follow to search the town on the other side of the island.
Because they also thought Shakky might have been rescued by other Rocks Pirates members.
Like Rocks, or York.
At least these two hadn't been seen since the Roger Pirates landed on God Valley.
It was very possible Shakky had been saved ahead of them by these two.
However, just as they prepared to pursue, the wailing Golden Lion reached out and touched the canyon wall on one side.
"Shakky ah! Shakky!!"
Amidst sorrowful cries, the mountain wall collapsed, countless rubble falling.
The tailing Roger Pirates were forced to retreat, ultimately only able to watch helplessly as half the mountain collapsed, completely sealing the canyon passage.
"Go go go!"
After doing this, Golden Lion instantly sped up.
"Find York!"
"That bastard! It must be him!!"
Hearing this, the Rocks Pirates members all accelerated, rushing together toward the Grand Canyon exit.
Just like when they came, pulling and dragging each other, not letting anyone pull ahead.
"Damn it! We got played!"
Roger cursed loudly.
"Shakky must have been kidnapped by Rocks and York!"
"Those two bastards landed much earlier than us!!"
As his voice fell, Roger drew his blade, condensing Haki, preparing to slash the obstructing mountain apart.
But just then, an excited shout suddenly rang from atop the collapsed mountain.
"Hahaha! Roger! I found you!!"
"Bastard! It's Garp! How is this guy so fast!!"
Displeased, Roger temporarily abandoned clearing the path, swinging his blade to counter the descending pervert Garp.
...
"Eula eula eula..."
"Shakky! I'm here to save you!!"
"It's me!!"
"It's me!!"
*Boom!!!*
"Bastard! Who sneak attacked me!!"
A noisy group burst out from the Grand Canyon, just in time to hit the aftermath of one of Rocks and the uniformed woman's clashes.
Golden Lion and the others were all knocked over.
No major injuries, but all disheveled.
After crawling out from the ruins, they immediately began searching for whoever sneak attacked them.
*Zzzzt!*
Conqueror's lightning tearing the sky condensed on a long sword. Rocks leaped high, slashing down at the hovering woman below.
The woman swung her demonic trident upward to meet it. Neither successfully suppressed the other.
A second wave of battle shock swept over. Golden Lion and the others fell collectively silent.
"Damn it, what kind of freakish woman is this? She can actually clash blades evenly with Rocks!"
John muttered casually, immediately drawing the attention of the woman above.
"The rumored Rocks Pirates?"
The woman proactively retreated, widening distance from Rocks.
Then she raised her hand, summoning a magic book with a pentagram array.
"Listen well! Rocks Pirates!"
"From now on! You will betray the Rocks Pirates! Become Mu's claws! Regard Rocks as enemy!"
"Capturing Rocks' child! Killing Rocks' people! And you will obtain the former Pirate Empress · Shakky!"
"Mu will grant you evil power!"
"In exchange for part of your lifespan! Mu grants you immortal bodies and extraordinary strength!"
"Under Mu's control, loyalty and common sense will no longer trouble you. Becoming demons is the essence of life!"
"Demonic Contract!!"
Holding the magic book in one hand and chanting incantations, she drew a pentagram array in the air with the other.
At the end of the chant, the uniformed woman flung the drawn pentagram array at the Rocks Pirates.
A pentagram array appeared simultaneously under the feet of the Rocks Pirates members.
Golden Lion relied on his Float-Float Fruit power to leap into the sky first.
The pentagram array branded on the ground under his feet lost its target due to Golden Lion's distance and slowly dissipated.
But the others without flight ability were all swallowed by the magic arrays.
As if the ground under their feet was swampy mud rather than rock and soil.
"Wah! Sinking!!"
"What ability is this?! Logia Swamp Fruit?!"
Amidst cries of alarm, John, Silver Axe, and others had half their bodies swallowed by the magic arrays.
The woman floating in the sky flipped her palm up and down.
"Black Twist Dominion!!"
The magic arrays that swallowed the Rocks Pirates began a 180-degree rotation.
The upper halves of John and the others not swallowed by the arrays were forcibly flipped underground without being blocked by ground physics, while their previously swallowed lower halves appeared above ground.
Then, the feet altered by the magic array stepped on the ground, forcibly pulling out their previously unswallowed upper halves.
"Roar~~~!"
Beast-like roars emanated from their mouths.
Compared to their previous normal selves, their sizes had expanded several times. Demonic horns grew on the sides of their heads, demonic wings sprouted from their backs, teeth turned into sharp fangs, eyes lost pupils and irises becoming a pale white emitting eerie light.
Golden Lion hovered in the sky, looking down at his dramatically changed crew members, a drop of cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
"What the hell kind of creepy ability is this..."
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