On the storm-tossed coast, only the oro jackson was still struggling to hold on amidst the tempest.
The pirates of the Roger Pirates all stood at the bow, gazing worriedly through the curtain of rain at the island of God Valley, which was gradually sinking.
"Rayleigh and Jabba went to get Captain Roger. I wonder how they're doing now..."
Just as the words left his mouth.
Two figures burst through the rain, trampling over splashing mud as they sprinted toward the ship.
Seeing this, the worried expressions on the pirates' faces vanished instantly, replaced by cheers.
"Great! It's Rayleigh and Jabba!"
"They rescued Captain Roger!"
"The person on Jabba's back... is that Garp? Isn't he an enemy?"
"Don't worry about that for now, just get on the ship! We have to leave quickly. This island is sinking; it will churn the entire sea and cause an unprecedented giant whirlpool!"
Rayleigh and Jabba, carrying Roger and Garp respectively, sprinted all the way to the shore. Without stopping, they kicked off the ground with a heavy stomp, leaping high and landing directly on the oro jackson.
"Set sail! We're retreating!" Rayleigh set Roger down and shouted the command.
"Yes, sir!"
The pirates of the Roger Pirates immediately sprang into action, each performing their duties. The ship began to move, cutting through the storm and sailing away from God Valley.
"What about Rocks?"
A pirate asked in a low voice.
Rayleigh stood up, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through the storm to see the scene on God Valley.
He shook his head.
"I don't know. Most likely... he's dead, right?"
Meanwhile, on the island of God Valley.
With the withdrawal of the Roger Pirates.
The entire island had become deathly still.
However, the battle on the island had not yet ended.
Gripping the heavenly dragon halberd, Carlo hadn't even activated his Mythical Zoan transformation. Relying solely on his strength in his base form, he had already beaten the Gringu in front of him into a steady retreat, leaving him with no power to fight back.
The heavy halberd smashed through the air as Carlo swung it casually, treating it like a club to sweep at Gringu, who had just scrambled up from the ground.
"You bastard!"
Gringu's teeth were clenched, his eyes bloodshot. Carrying a surge of shame and rage that felt ready to explode, he gripped his sword with both hands and slashed at Carlo.
Pitch-black Armament Haki surged from within him, rapidly spreading and coiling around the long sword.
With a furious swing of the blade.
The pitch-black Haki shot through the air, condensing into a slash dozens of meters long that sliced toward Carlo.
But... "Boom!!"
Ignoring all the fancy tricks, Carlo gripped the pitch-black halberd with one hand and swung it down with a heavy crash.
Before Gringu's Haki slash could even get close, it was smashed to pieces by Carlo's halberd.
The violent airflow was blown apart, pushing away all the torrential rain falling from above.
Step by step, Carlo advanced slowly like a cat playing with a mouse, walking toward Gringu.
Though he didn't speak.
The contempt in his eyes was completely undisguised.
This sight drove the habitually proud Gringu, who considered his status noble, into a fit of humiliated rage.
His family was the Figarland family, one of the nineteen kings of the Celestial Dragons.
Even in the Holy Land, the Figarland family was a powerful clan, no weaker than the Nerona or the families of the Gorosei.
They held considerable status and power among the Celestial Dragons.
And he, Figarland Gringu, was the most outstanding eldest son of the family and its future patriarch.
At a young age, he had already stood out from the many Celestial Dragon elites.
He had successively passed the assessments for the God's Blade and the God's Knights, successfully becoming a member of the current God's Knights.
In this Hunting Competition, he was the undisputed king.
Having taken the top prize in the competition, he should have been basking in glory, marrying the world's number one beauty, Shakky, and naturally becoming the Commander of the God's Knights by virtue of his status as the champion of the God Valley competition.
In the future, he could use this as a stepping stone to go even further and compete for a position among the Gorosei, who were closest to His Majesty.
Yet today.
He, who was so noble and possessed an infinite future, had actually suffered setback after setback in this insignificant place.
First, he was beaten into a speed bump by Rocks and hacked into dozens of pieces, lying on the ground for half a day before his body finally recovered.
He had finally waited until Rocks was defeated by Roger and Garp.
Just as he stepped out at his leisure, intending to reap the rewards of the battle.
Carlo had arrived.
What made him even more frustrated was that Carlo, a Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates whom he had previously looked down upon, actually possessed such formidable power.
At this moment, although they had only exchanged a few moves.
Gringu had already discovered to his extreme frustration.
That he was no match for Carlo at all!
If not for his immortality.
Just from those few clashes, he would likely have been heavily injured.
It was one thing to be unable to defeat a Captain like Rocks.
But now, he couldn't even beat a Division Captain like Carlo.
This was something Gringu could not accept.
Watching Carlo approach step by step, his eyes filled with resentment as he swung his sword again.
One pitch-black slash after another shot out from the long sword, whistling as they sliced toward Carlo.
Carlo swung the heavenly dragon halberd with one arm, smashing each of these slashes to pieces in the air before him.
Not a single slash could break through his defense to strike his body.
To be fair.
Gringu's strength was actually quite good.
Powerful sword techniques, impressive Haki mastery, plus an immortal body that allowed for endless mistakes.
Carlo estimated that Gringu's current strength should be at the level of a top-tier Emperor's Commander.
In a real fight, he was certainly stronger than Kaido and perhaps no weaker than Linlin.
Even if Golden Lion came, he could at most use his abilities to suppress him, but would be unable to achieve a defeat.
After all, his cheap immortality couldn't be countered without top-tier Haoshoku.
But if the immortality were removed.
Gringu might not truly be able to beat Linlin.
Much less trade blows with him.
Carlo swung the halberd again, slashing down at Gringu.
Gringu swung his sword to meet the attack.
With a loud metallic bang, he was once again sent flying by Carlo's strike.
When he landed miserably, he found that there was no path left for retreat behind him.
Behind him was the completely fractured land of God Valley.
Crisscrossing, bottomless rifts were being constantly filled by billions of tons of seawater pouring in.
If he retreated any further, he would be knocked into the sea by Carlo.
Although he wasn't worried about falling into the sea and drowning.
If he left the field in such a pathetic manner, without even being able to deal with the heavily injured and dying Rocks.
How would he explain himself to His Majesty when he returned to the Holy Land?
At this thought, Gringu stopped retreating. Relying on his immortal body, he charged forward boldly, intending to engage Carlo in close-quarters combat.
He believed that with his immortality, he could wear Carlo down to death, even if it took time.
After all, Carlo's Haki could never be stronger than Rocks'.
And although Carlo had cut Somaz and the others so they couldn't recover.
The level of immortality on Somaz and the others was only the second stage of the contract—the Deep Sea Covenant.
Whereas he already possessed the third stage—the Abyss Covenant.
The immortal properties of the two were not on the same level at all.
Moreover, his Haki was far superior to Somaz's.
"I don't believe it! With the highest-level immortal body bestowed by His Majesty, I might not be able to beat your Captain, but I can't even beat a lowly Division Captain like you?"
"Even if I have to wear you down, I will wear you to death here! Sorus Karlo!!"