Chapter 521: Chapter 521: God Valley Arc — Imu, Have You Ever Lost
"Buzz—!!!!"
Starting from the point where Orin and Rocks collided, countless shattering sounds rang out, and space itself seemed unable to bear the load, wailing and breaking apart in midair.
"Has the deepest love for your family turned into the weakness in your heart? Rocks!!!"
Orin clenched his teeth. He could no longer remember how many years it had been since he’d felt pressure like this. Peak Rocks was an existence capable of standing against two kings at once. Even though Orin’s talent was in no way inferior, when it came to a head-on contest of raw power, he was still barely holding on. Relying on the power of space and the world’s greatest monstrous strength, he only just managed to narrow the enormous gap between them a little and block this blade that could split the heavens.
To be honest, the essence of Rocks’s basic attack was pretty much the same as Hawk Eyes. For anyone whose strength was inferior, trying to block a casual slash that could split an island was extremely taxing.
"Annoying..."
The demonized Rocks seemed as if his mind had been eroded. Controlled by Imu, he began attacking allies, and only the occasional struggle on his face showed the pain he was in now.
Orin gritted his teeth and held on, then glanced back at Linlin, who was wearing a headscarf and holding Napoleon, standing there in a daze, and barked coldly,
"What are you still standing there for? Do you want to be killed by Rocks?!"
Compared to Rocks, people like Linlin and Kaido were still far too weak. If the gap between a king and a commander were merely mutual suppression—one side beating the other into rolling on the ground—then a super-king like Rocks meeting an ordinary commander was like what Garling did: treating them as nothing.
Compared to Garling’s current strength, Linlin wasn’t much better—basically something Rocks could finish in a single strike—so Orin told her to withdraw first.
Aside from himself, the only ones here who could even be considered opponents for Rocks or even Imu were Roger, Garp, and Newgate.
Linlin bit her lip, spread her long legs, and ran toward the outskirts.
As Orin and Rocks continued their tug-of-war, the entire God Valley began to quake.
"Crack crack crack—!!!!"
"Boom—!!!!"
Black-and-red thunderbolts, vast swathes of shattered space—these left the pirates on the island utterly horrified. Even the Marines and the Celestial Dragons who hadn’t yet evacuated were gaping in shock. The massive mountain range of God Valley was actually collapsing and falling apart!!!
Everyone hastened their evacuation. The Roger Pirates grabbed a pile of treasure chests and withdrew with Shanks, who was holding the black cube and had been dropped by Dragon. Kuma, panting heavily, forced himself to keep blasting people away to safety.
"Maybe there are still people waiting for me to save them..."
Kuma searched around.
After that clash, Orin’s hands were trembling slightly. Right now, trading blows head-on with demonized Rocks was still a bit too much for him.
But...
Orin’s eyes narrowed. In his Observation Haki, he saw Rocks heading off into the distance, seemingly to hunt down Alice and her child. The sight felt strangely familiar to him.
In the future at Dressrosa, Doflamingo seemed to use this very move, controlling King Riku—forcing him, despite his inner pain and despair, to watch himself kill his own people. And now, it was to make Rocks kill his own wife and child.
"Heh... I’ll count it as a favor I owe you, Captain Rocks."
Orin watched the demonized Rocks go after Alice and her child. Instead of moving, he sat down cross-legged and lit himself a cigarette.
"Exhale—"
Smoke rose, drifting from Orin’s mouth and floating slowly into the distance. Under Orin’s control, it slapped against Imu’s face.
"..."
Imu’s ringed, layered eyes turned hostile. He looked at that relaxed little insect in the distance, not knowing what the other side was up to.
"Are you just going to watch as Davy kills his own child, nameless Celestial Dragon..."
But Orin merely sat on a piece of rubble and smiled.
"Who said I’m going to watch it happen?"
He slowly exhaled another breath of smoke and raised his head.
"Newgate!!!"
"Ah... I know. I’ve drunk quite a bit of your booze, after all."
The gigantic figure holding a naginata leapt out from behind Orin with a solemn expression. Orin gave him a light pat.
"Crack—!!!"
Just as Rocks was about to succeed, a burly man with a white crescent-shaped mustache suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"Did you take all of us for obstacles, Rocks..."
With shockwaves gathering in his hand, Newgate met Rocks head-on, and the two clashed, crazily pushing against each other.
Behind Newgate, Alice saw this and tears streamed from her eyes. Holding Teach tightly in her arms, she could only keep running forward.
"Have you failed? That look on your face is really ugly..."
"This day came too early. We shouldn’t have faced each other so soon..."
In Alice’s arms, little Teach peeked out, staring blankly at the two figures in the distance—a white-bearded giant fighting his father.
He had no idea that those were his two dads.
And by a cruel coincidence, both of them would, directly or indirectly, die because of him.
Seeing this, Orin used his ability to confine the aftershocks of their battle within a certain range so Alice and the child wouldn’t be affected. Looking at what Rocks was like now, he couldn’t help but sigh.
"He was clearly someone who cared the most about his family..."
...
He still remembered that earlier, after he’d talked about the matter between Teach and Newgate, Rocks had looked a little regretful, yet still told him frankly,
"If it really is like you say, and that brat of mine does something out of line, I hope you’ll help educate him a bit..."
Orin probably didn’t even realize it himself, but in that offhand moment, he had already told Rocks the ending of his story. After all, in the distant future, if he as a father were still alive, how could he possibly allow his son to kill his most loyal and trusted subordinate?
If he was dead, then he must have lost.
So he not only asked Orin to discipline him, he also asked Orin for one more thing.
"Of course, if possible..."
Rocks gulped down a big bowl of wine and looked seriously at Orin back then.
"Please also leave that disappointing son of mine a little life to scrape by."
Orin did agree.
At that time, still young, he had already been quietly planning in his heart: if Teach, that new-era hero, ended up provoking him, then sparing his life would be sparing it. At most, like with Shanks, he’d break an arm or a leg and let him go.
Seeing Newgate blocking Rocks, little Kuma also ran over to assist. Orin stopped paying attention to Alice and the child and instead turned to look in another direction, at those cold, ringed, layered eyes, and spoke softly,
"Imu, have you ever lost?"
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