One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

—You are such a noisy brat! You have been crying non-stop since just now! If those guys find you, you will definitely be dead!

—Wow…but I’m really scared…my parents were killed by the evil…master…my brother too…I’m sure I’ll be the next one…when I think about this, I don’t know what to do…

—It sounds uncomfortable... Since they have done such a cruel thing to you, you must imprint this hatred deeply in your heart until you witness with your own eyes those arrogant fools fall into the pit, and you must hold on even at the risk of your life!

—Hold on...? How could you hold on in this environment where you could be killed at any time? And if you talk back to them, wouldn't you risk being heard?

—The truth is that it feels good to speak it out! Anyway, remember this: if someone dares to bully you in the future, he is just trying to make things difficult for me. I will not stop until I beat him up so hard that he completely gives up the idea of ​​revenge! But don't forget to pay the protection fee regularly - that is, a little food!

—Well...thank you, whether it was comforting or not, I will never forget what you said to me, Brother Rocks.

—Hey! Who told you to use such a cheesy name? Don't call me that again next time! Did you hear me? !

—But...but I think you are as gentle as my elder brother.

—You're itching for trouble, aren't you? When I break the handcuffs, I'll beat you up first!

This was a brief exchange between two children of similar age who had unfortunately become slaves for various reasons several decades ago in a dark room. No one knew what they talked about at the time, and no one could predict the completely different fates that would befall them soon...

The long sword, wrapped in invisible waves, created waves in the air. The strong recoil force drove Roger's figure out from the raging flames, leaving a red track on the sea like a meteor, and landed on a crumbling cliff on the edge of the island in the blink of an eye.

There was no better word to describe his appearance than being extremely miserable. His black hair stood on end, his already tattered coat had long since turned into pieces of rags, his body was covered with burn marks from the flames, blood was constantly oozing from the cracks in his skin, and he looked no different from someone who had just been fished out of a pool of boiling blood.

However, Roger had no time to pay attention to his current image. He just quietly looked at the sky in the distance that was dyed red by the golden red flames. He let the strong wind blow on his scarred body, but it could not blow away the solemnity deep in his eyes.

"Huh...it's finally over..."

Watching Rocks's body, covered in charred smoke, falling straight down from the sky and slowly sinking into the lifeless sea, Roger heaved a sigh of relief. All his limbs seemed to lose strength all at once, and as the long sword slipped out of his hand, he fell straight down. "Although I was mentally prepared, I still didn't expect it to be so difficult..."

"Humph, you sound like you're sorry you didn't get to fight him one-on-one."

Garp, who had regained consciousness at some point, staggered over from a distance and stopped in front of his old rival. The smile on his tired face that didn't quite match his look made him feel a little uncomfortable. "Instead of thinking about these unrealistic things, you might as well worry about the future that is bound to happen. At least I still have some strength to send you to Impel Down..."

"Hehe, with your poor lying skills, you can't even fool a child..."

"That's why I don't like you...!"

Garp, whose thoughts were exposed, pulled the corner of his mouth in anger, and lay down beside him with his limbs spread out, staring straight at the thick black fog that was rapidly surging in the sky. A thoughtful look appeared on his face, and he said slowly, "After all, you helped solve a bigger problem. Besides, a half-dead enemy really doesn't make people interested at all."

"Huh?! Are you looking down on me? Why don't we fight it out here and see who is the last one left alive!"

"Great! That's exactly what I want! My fist will make you regret making this decision!"

The two of them started bickering like children. But no one wanted to raise a finger. If others saw them at this moment, they would probably think they were close friends who had known each other for many years.

After a while, Garp suddenly sighed and murmured, "Let's not talk about anything else. As a naval commander, I took the initiative to stand on the same front with you pirates. I will definitely be punished by my superiors when I go back. But I still can't figure out whether the justice I have always insisted on is for the countless civilians who have been tortured by pirates, or is it just to protect the interests of those in power? I——"

"Such indecisiveness is not like you, man."

Roger suddenly interrupted him, turned his head to look at Garp who looked dazed, as if he didn't understand what he wanted to say, and said with a smile, "Rather than worrying about these problems that can't be solved in hundreds of years, it's better to carry out your justice from beginning to end."

"You kid..."

Garp didn't react for a while. After a while, he suddenly found the strength to shake Roger's shoulders and shouted, "You didn't use that special ability to eavesdrop on my inner thoughts? You actually played such a trick! Tell me what else you heard!"

"Ahem - please be gentle, I'm a disabled person!"

Roger, who was being swayed like a piece of paper, was still unforgiving, "Or you can change your career and become a pirate, so that you can have more time to fight with me!"

"fart!"

"It looks like you have taken care of Rocks, Vice Admiral Garp."

At this moment, a white figure flashed over like a ghost, looked at Garp who stopped struggling because of his arrival, and clapped slowly and said, "No matter what means you took, let's commend you for your contribution to justice based on the result."

"It would be strange if things ended so smoothly..." Roger shrugged bitterly. He recognized the man's identity almost immediately by his iconic outfit of white hat and white suit.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

Compared to Roger, Garp was much more straightforward. He stood up and glared at the man unhappily, "I don't remember ever asking your intelligence officers for help."

"Don't be so polite, we are colleagues after all."

Facing Garp's completely merciless attitude, the man in white still did not hear any anger or dissatisfaction in his voice, but instead had a hint of joking, "Of course, this is premised on your willingness to take off the head of the guy next to you right then and there."

He paused here deliberately, pretending to slap his head as if he suddenly remembered something, "Ah, I almost forgot. Considering some unexpected factors, the government's top brass has unanimously decided to terminate the continuation of this hunting tournament. They plan to send the most important secret of the spoils seized from Beehive Island back to the holy land of Marijoa for processing. This arduous escort task will be handed over to you, Vice Admiral Garp. As long as you can successfully complete these two tasks, the government will pardon your crime of cooperating with pirates on your own initiative. To be honest, I really envy you for being the only one who has been able to receive such treatment so far."

"They clearly need my help but they act like they are giving me alms. If it were someone who doesn't understand the ways of those old men in the upper echelons, they wouldn't be able to express their gratitude to them right now, right?"

Karp nonchalantly raised his finger and picked his nose, as if he didn't notice the violent trembling of the other party's body after hearing his words. He flicked the booger to the side and grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Unfortunately, I refuse."

"Are you serious... Vice Admiral Garp?"

The man in white took a step forward. Although his expression could not be seen due to the mask on his face, his voice revealed uncontrollable panic and anger. "Think carefully about the consequences of refusing the orders of those adults! Do you want your reputation accumulated in the army for so many years to be destroyed by--"

"So what? Are you going to make a decision that you will regret in the end just because you are worried about being punished?"

Without giving the other party any verbal leniency, Garp clenched his fists, and the bones of his fingers collided with each other, making a crackling sound like fried soybeans. Even louder than this sound was his roar that was loud enough to break the eardrums of ordinary people. "When you go back to report, tell those guys to stop bossing me around!!"

"Haha, that's not something you would say."

Roger, who originally looked like he was dying, suddenly acted like nothing had happened. He quickly picked up the long sword beside him, stood up from the ground, walked to Garp and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. His eyes had already revealed an eager look, "It just so happens that I am a little itchy and can't wait to make a big scene!"

"You--you two!"

The CP0 seemed to be intimidated by the two's momentum. He took a few steps back involuntarily and stammered for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence. Then he thought that the two of them were probably exhausted after a fierce battle, and it should not be a problem for him to deal with them with his own strength. So he forced himself to remain calm and shouted loudly, "Don't - don't be so arrogant! Those who dare to defy the World Government will only end up dead -"

Before he could finish his sentence, a giant hand like a pillar of heaven dropped from the sky. The man in white had no time to react at all. In the blink of an eye, he was knocked to the ground and turned into a pool of meat paste.

As the giant hand landed with a bang, the entire island began to shake violently as never before. The ground was covered with gullies and ravines, like a dense spider web. Countless rocks exploded into large pieces of rubble that flew everywhere. Strong air currents filled with violent energy swept in all directions. The sea area within a radius of dozens of miles was stirred by the air currents, causing the space to distort, as if it would collapse and shatter at any moment.

A huge crack suddenly appeared across the Valley of Gods in this fragmented land, like a huge mouth from the abyss of hell. As the crack continued to spread, the entire Valley of Gods was forcibly split into two.

"Whoa!"

The strong wind pressure made Garp almost unable to stand and even choked him to breathe. However, the doubt and confusion in his heart at the moment were much stronger than these. "What on earth is going on?!"

"…Isn't this obvious?"

Roger, who was in the same situation as Garp, was much calmer at this time. He looked back as if he had noticed something, and the next second, a helpless and bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "From the very beginning, we have never left the world's greatest crisis."

At the end of his sight, the originally dark and silent black mud sea began to become turbulent. A giant beast formed by black mist slowly rose from the sea surface. When its wings spread out behind it, it seemed to cover the sky and the sun, casting a shadow of death.

Its sturdy limbs hang down above the sea like stone pillars that pierce the sky and earth. Its back is covered with sharp bone spurs that extend from the back of its head to the tail. Its huge head, which occupies almost one-third of its body, has a pair of curved horns that extend forward, surrounded by circles of dark blue flames. Its long black hair twists in the air like some kind of living thing, looking indescribably weird and terrifying.

The most eye-catching thing is the terrifying face that is so hideous and distorted that it is beyond description. Only the symbolic arrogant look can vaguely reveal a trace of Rocks.

"Is that the awakening form of the man who calls himself the king of the world? No, it's not so much an awakening as it is an over-attachment to something that has caused his abilities and body and mind to lose harmony."

In the western canyon, the one-eyed man stared at the huge figure towering into the sky in the distance. A hint of barely perceptible joy flashed across his cold and supreme eyes, as if the behemoth in front of him had aroused some interest in him for the first time in a long time. "The power gained in return is genuine, and it is even continuing to grow. So far, things are developing in an ideal state...but-"

He paused for a moment, and scanned the surrounding mountains that were covered in a layer of milky white cream and no longer looked like what they had originally been. He muttered to himself with a sigh, "I let two little mice slip away without paying attention... Never mind. They can't change reality anyway, right?"

At this moment, Rocks, who had transformed into a monster, overlooked the scene below with an unrivaled posture. The two people with whom he had fought fiercely were no different from flies in his eyes, but his black eyes filled with densely packed pupils were still filled with bloodthirsty hatred.

"Are you ready... to die... you bastards...?"

A deep voice slowly emanated from his huge mouth full of sharp teeth, spreading like thunder to every corner of the Valley of the Gods. Pirates, navy officers, government agents, and members of the Knights of God were all terrified at this moment, but they could do nothing but stare blankly at the scene that looked like a natural disaster. For a moment, the entire battlefield fell into a dead silence.

Based on the instinct of seeking profit and avoiding harm, the fear of giant creatures has been deeply rooted in the deepest part of the human soul since ancient times. Now this fear has been completely awakened, and helplessness and despair have been intertwined into an impenetrable net, making people realize that the monster is not the enemy they want to destroy, but they are just bait to fill the monster's stomach when it is hungry.

Is that really a creature that exists in the human world? It feels like the world is being swallowed up?

Is this world about to be destroyed?

Just as this desperate thought emerged in many people's minds, two bright meteors streaked across the sky and appeared in everyone's field of vision, making everyone stunned and unable to help but cast their eyes there.

After a closer look, they found that they were two real humans. Although almost no part of their bodies was intact, their speed was still soaring rapidly, without any pause due to the scars on their bodies, and they rushed towards the head of the monster with long black lightning.

"Just grow bigger like this! But no matter how big the gap between your strength and ours becomes, it's not a reason for me to run away!"

"Thank goodness your size has expanded several times, so it will be easier for me to fight you now!"

A knife, a punch, without the slightest hesitation, like thunder and lightning, breaking through the air.

"Hahahaha! There's no way you can defeat me! It's time to end this farce!"

With bursts of strange, mocking laughter, the dark monster opened its mouth, and black mists gathered in front of it, gradually forming a huge energy ball. "I will become the king! And turn this dirty world into purgatory!"

At this critical moment, a lazy and frivolous voice suddenly sounded from the side: "Ah, please consider other people's feelings. The disappearance of the world is a very inconvenient thing for everyone, right?"

As the words fell, countless crystal clear crystals emerged from mid-air and gathered towards the center from all directions.