On the Void Throne in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, Imu—who had been toying with the Hell Pirates just moments ago—now wore an extremely grim expression!
How could that guy Brook actually enter the interior of the national treasure?
Why couldn't the invincible, flawless energy shield block Brook's soul?
It could defend against Whitebeard's space-shattering attacks and Redfield's terrifying thunderbolts, so why not a soul!!!
Imu had never encountered a situation like this before. Could the national treasure have a weakness or a natural counter??
This made Imu a bit angry. Besides the Nika Fruit, there was now another Devil Fruit ability that really rubbed him the wrong way!
It seemed like he'd need to prepare more thoroughly when dealing with Brook in the future!
He didn't know if there was any damage inside the national treasure. If it was broken, he'd have to take matters into his own hands—head into the New World and personally slaughter that bastard Brook!
In that moment, as Imu's rage boiled, the entire Pangaea Castle fell into silence. Even the usually rowdy Celestial Dragons quieted down. The Five Elders hurried to the Void Throne, kneeling beneath the Void Throne, ready to obey Imu's commands at any time!
...
On the other side, Brook lay unwillingly in Charlotte Linlin's arms, watching the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure" depart.
"Brook, are you okay?!"
Charlotte Linlin carried Brook back to the smoldering Golden Ark, and Redfield quickly returned as well, looking at Brook with concern. The ship's doctor, Crocus, immediately began treating him.
"This is damage to the soul—blood crystal dandelions won't work! He needs soul replenishment!"
Crocus frowned. His Heal-Heal Fruit hadn't awakened yet, so he could only heal living beings and hadn't developed it to the point of full restoration, like reversing time!
"Here! Brook, eat a mid-level Homie!"
Charlotte Linlin directly yanked out the soul of a general-level Homie and shoved it into Brook's mouth, not caring whether it was eaten with his mouth or absorbed by his soul!
"Let's head back first! I'll recover on my own!"
Brook didn't refuse Linlin's kindness, instantly absorbing the soul's power. He let her hold him while he issued orders for Redfield and Tom to sail back and rendezvous with Golden Lion Shiki.
The fires on the Golden Ark had been extinguished, and the massive hole had been temporarily patched. They quickly left the area!
This time, it seemed like they hadn't inflicted any damage on the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure," but at least they'd stopped it from destroying Elan Island!
...
On God Valley, the Navy fleet stood assembled and ready.
"What! The national treasure returned empty-handed??"
Navy Fleet Admiral Kurotaka clenched his fists, his vertical pupils filled with cold fury. He hadn't imagined this outcome at all!
They hadn't managed to deal a heavy blow to any of the overlord pirate crews. If they rashly entered the latter half of the New World to encircle the pirates now, it would be far too dangerous!
Even if they could defeat one overlord, they'd be overwhelmed by the multitude of pirates in the New World!
And engaging in a naval battle with the Hell Pirates in the latter half of the New World was an extremely risky choice!
The Navy officers waited unwillingly for the Fleet Admiral's orders. They wanted to rescue Navy Admiral Devo and Admiral Candidate Jung as well!
"The Five Elders' orders, Fleet Admiral Kurotaka: Reorganize Navy Headquarters, assist with the relocation of God Valley, and temporarily halt the encirclement of Rocks and Brook!"
The CP0 leader coldly relayed the World Government's directive, then immediately set off to escort the Celestial Dragons' remains back to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
The three Gods' Knights didn't follow the CP0 leader back to the Holy Land. Under the Five Elders' orders, the three of them were to become the new Admirals until the next generation of Navy officers grew strong enough to return to the Gods' Knights!
Just like that, the God Valley battle that shocked the entire world came to a temporary close. But beneath the calm surface of the sea, even more turbulent undercurrents surged!
The Golden Ark quickly rendezvoused with Golden Lion Shiki's flying fleet, and together they returned to Elan Island, while the core members headed back to Boin Archipelago!
Upon learning the enemy had been repelled, the highest alert level on Elan Island was lifted. Most of the guild pirates still had no idea what had happened.
Mortomas and Vegapunk let out sighs of relief, as if a weight had been lifted. They'd truly thought they were about to face an attack from the Ancient Weapon Uranus—it had scared them half to death!
"We're finally back!!"
Oden jumped onto the island cloud without a care for his image, rolling around in sheer joy. This time, accompanying the full crew on the expedition, he'd finally awakened his Conqueror's Haki, earning his ticket to becoming a true powerhouse.
But only Fisher Tiger hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki, which left him silent and brooding from the end of the war until now, standing sullenly at the back without a word.
He'd even considered eating a powerful Devil Fruit to boost his strength. Otherwise, the gap between him and Kaido or Oden would only grow wider.
Charlotte Linlin carried Brook into Merveille to hunt various beasts, allowing Brook to plunder souls and recover his soul power as quickly as possible. She even had Brook slaughter all the prisoners in the jail.
It wasn't until the next day that the Hell Pirates began tallying their haul from this battle!
The Scroll-Scroll Fruit user Tenmoku, the Castle-Castle Fruit user Parrot, and the Pocket-Pocket Fruit user Bra Kara were eyed like prized treasures by the other crew members.
But before that, everyone first organized the Celestial Dragon palaces that Golden Lion Shiki had transported back, turning them directly into buildings on Boin Archipelago.
"I never thought the hardest-to-get red Road Poneglyph would come to us just like this!"
Brook looked at the square red Road Poneglyph. Now he had two of them—the remaining two were one on Zou Island and one in the underground ruins of Wano Country!
That meant whether Roger could reach the final island and become the Pirate King was up to Brook!
"Brook, forget about these lousy rocks—I want a Devil Fruit!!"
Beast Kaido was already impatient to get the top-tier Devil Fruit ability. That way, he'd have the potential to stand alongside the four combat officers. Three-Color Haki plus a top-tier ability was the standard for the Hell Pirates' strongest executives!
"Yo ho ho! You're making me a bit impatient myself!"
Brook laughed heartily and began tallying the spoils. The other crew members who hadn't eaten Devil Fruits were filled with anticipation!
Among them, Beast Kaido and the four fallen angels of the Lunarian tribe all wanted powerful abilities!
Bra Kara stepped forward first, pulling out various treasures from the pockets all over his body—mainly gold, gems, and rare metals.
But these weren't what the crew cared about most. Seeing this, Vegapunk took away a large amount of the rare metals for his experiments.
Next was Tenmoku, who produced small scrolls one after another, releasing the Celestial Dragons' golden warships, massive gem statues, golden statues, and piles of golden hills.
This time, the Hell Pirates had truly struck it rich—they wouldn't have financial issues for decades!
Finally, everyone turned their eyes to Parrot. This was the main event!
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Fanfic is finished 955 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg