"What's happening? An earthquake? Has Newgate gone mad?!"
"It's not him. It doesn't matter who it is. Let's figure out how to get off this island! It's about to sink!"
The effects of Oran's parting gift continued to ripple. The explosion at the center triggered a chain reaction. Though the canyon's terrain limited the blast's reach, the sheer force impacted the entire island.
The Celestial Dragons began evacuating under Navy protection, but getting a group of useless nobles to safety in such chaos was no easy feat. They lacked teleportation abilities.
"A Celestial Dragon's ship capsized! Hurry and save them!"
"Saint Rodriani's fallen overboard! Pull him up quick!"
The Navy was overwhelmed, while the pirates sought their own escape routes. The most advantaged were those like the Golden Lion, who could naturally fly.
As for Rocks?
The structure of the Rocks Pirates ensured no one would fight to the death for their captain.
Rumble…
Under the impact, the peaks of the Valley of the Gods began to collapse.
Hextech Crystals inherently contained vast energy, which Hextech artisans used to create miraculous inventions.
Destruction was far easier than gathering. Maintaining stability required careful energy management, but self-destruction only needed consideration of how to maximize devastation.
"Kaido! This is yours now. Rocks is probably done for. So, how about joining my pirate crew?"
"Ughahaha, Linlin, you know my answer."
"Ma ma~ Ma ma~ Fair enough. Don't die, Kaido. See you again someday!"
Powerful pirates began leaving the island in various ways. Kaido, having eaten the Devil Fruit given by Charlotte Linlin, transformed into a dragon and flew off.
As for why he could fly immediately after eating it? That's simply normal. Those who couldn't use a fruit's basic abilities right away were the odd ones out.
A few days later.
South Blue, Sorbet Kingdom.
This was Kuma's homeland and one of the locations where he had sent the beacons. Some people had been transported to this nation via the Hextech Gate. Most didn't stay long, leaving by ship after brief rest to find new lives elsewhere.
They couldn't remain clustered together forever and needed to hunt new ways of living.
"Mr. Oran, I'm leaving. Thank you for saving my life. I'll be waiting for you in Fish-Man Island!"
Shark knelt formally on the beach before diving into the sea. As a fish-man, he didn't need a ship like humans did.
Fish-Man Island was a memory etched into his race's blood, and fish-men naturally knew how to return there.
Shark wasn't the first to leave. Those still remaining in the Sorbet Kingdom were now a small minority.
In an old church, Kuma's former home.
Ivankov was sharply critiquing a newspaper, his disdainful tone audible even before Oran entered.
"Let's see here. 'The notorious pirate Rocks D. Xebec, for unknown reasons, attacked the Valley of the Gods in the West Blue, kidnapping Celestial Dragons on their travels.' Travels? Those snakes really have the gall to say that."
"What else? They'd never admit to a massacre—no, something even more heinous than a massacre. You've known the World Government's true face for ages, haven't you?"
"Oran, you're back? I know, I know, but this paper's got not a single word of truth! Especially this reporter, Morgans. He wrote a whole pile of articles, and not one thing's on point!
He doesn't know a thing about what happened on that island. It's all guesswork.
Hero Garp fought valiantly for days, defeating Rocks and saving countless Marines and World Nobles. Reading it makes me sick.
They might as well rename this rag 'The Legend of Hero Garp.'
You and Kuma are the real heroes. You saved at least four thousand people from that island!"
That was Ivankov's estimate after tallying: freed slaves, Valley natives, and those Kuma sent away, roughly totaling that figure.
"Standard procedure. Guiding public opinion is a basic tactic for those in power. The World Government's already botching it. They're likely using this to hype up Celestial Dragons strength to bolster their rule.
As for that hero nonsense? A joke. If they wanted, they could prop up a dog in that role.
No word on Celestial Dragon casualties? Just one would feel like a loss."
Oran didn't care who was hailed as a naval hero. If even Coby could be touted as the Navy's future, it meant nothing.
Though Roger and Robin teamed up to defeat Rocks, the idea of Marines and pirates collaborating could never be publicized. In the end, Roger's role was erased, and all credit went to Garp.
The Navy issued a gag order. News of the Valley still lingered, but per the World Government's plan, the incident would soon be buried in the shadows of history, never to be mentioned again.
"Let me see the details. The paper only mentions 'minor casualties.' This reporter's utterly useless."
Ivankov flipped through the pages but found nothing valuable—just the World Government's platitudes and wanted posters for the surviving Rocks Pirates.
After all, the newspaper pinned the destruction's cause entirely on the pirates.
Meanwhile, in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, the atmosphere was tense.
Even World Government officials treaded cautiously here. Everyone knew the Celestial Dragons had returned from their trip in a foul mood, and recently, many had been executed for the flimsiest of reasons.
"Everyone, this is the situation. Eratin was brutally killed by the enemy, and five others died from the explosion's aftermath. The injured are countless."
Glingo was holding a meeting with the Knights of God, attended by representatives from various Celestial Dragon families. For them, this was an unprecedented event in centuries.
And there was an even thornier issue: the massive explosion on the Valley, combined with the battles of several monsters, had caused the island to vanish from the sea.
The Celestial Dragons wanted to track down the culprit, but they lacked any leads. Oran's actions had triggered a cascade of effects—like Kuma not encountering Satan on the island—making it harder for them to trace.
The outside world was shielded from news of the Valley, but the Celestial Dragons' internal circles weren't. The incident became one of their greatest unsolved mysteries.