One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

In the center of the Valley of the Gods, the royal palace collapsed in a sudden explosion, leaving the entire area in ruins.

The scorching flames quickly spread along the ruins. The air was filled with hot smoke and a suffocating pungent smell. The flames shot up into the sky, dyeing half of the sky red.

This disaster was just the beginning. When the news of the Rocks Pirates' appearance spread throughout the hunting venue, the Celestial Dragons and slaves involved were caught off guard and ran around like headless flies. Even the Knights of God came out to suppress them, but it was of no avail. Instead, the already chaotic scene became even more chaotic.

For a moment, wailing, screaming, cursing, and cries of fear... filled the entire Valley of the Gods in an instant.

All the negative emotions that humans possess seem to be released at this moment.

In the ruins engulfed by the raging flames, broken beams and bricks and tiles were scattered all around, blackened like charcoal. The few embers remaining on the ground occasionally emitted hot sparks.

From a hill covered with large amounts of bricks, stones and rubble, a twisted and dry arm that had been burned slowly stretched out. Its five fingers were tremblingly spread out and casually placed on the surface of the rubble, emitting wisps of green smoke accompanied by a "sizzling" sound.

Instantly, the hand pressed down hard, and the surrounding debris was hit by an invisible air wave and shot out in all directions. In the smoke and dust, a figure walked out step by step.

"Really... This is my home court, but I was tricked..."

Sartan gradually revealed his figure, muttering in a low voice, and slowly bent down to pick up the crutches that had rolled to the side. At this time, he had lost half of his head, and his entire left arm was blown away without a trace. Blood continued to flow from the wound, dyeing the ground a shocking scarlet. The skin all over his body was burned black and smelly by the high temperature, revealing the white bones inside. The only left left eye was bulging, but the sharpness of the eyes was still not diminished at all, staring at the burning beams in front of him. If someone was stared at by him like this, it would probably become a shadow that that person would never forget for the rest of his life.

Satan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then his eyes suddenly widened, with a sharp and strange light flashing in his pupils.

Strangely enough, the beams blocking the road seemed to be frightened by some great force and began to tremble violently. The flames attached to them kept swaying and jumping, and countless fine cracks spread from the surface of the wood to the surroundings. With a loud "bang", the beams were instantly blown into pieces, and the debris flew out like bullets, hitting the surrounding broken walls.

At the moment when the beams broke, a tall figure appeared on the road ahead. The body below the head was wrapped in armor, reflecting the dark metallic luster under the firelight. The blood-red cloak with the hoof of the soaring dragon painted on it fluttered in the wind. The whole person stood quietly on the ground, as motionless as a huge rock, without even moving a finger.

The wood chips that were flying towards him were like touching a huge furnace when they were still quite a distance away from him. They started burning in mid-air and gradually turned into ashes and disappeared.

The expression on the man's face could not be seen clearly from behind, but the enormous pressure released from his entire body was enough to make anyone who tried to approach him feel short of breath. There was not a single stain of blood on his body, as if he had just walked out of a clean and tidy room.

Even if you are in a scorching hot environment, it is still difficult to avoid the biting cold that feels like falling into an ice cellar.

Sartan walked slowly towards the man as if nothing had happened, and said slowly: "I guess you think the same about what I just said, right?"

If it were any other Celestial Dragon, they would have been forced to be respectful in the face of the Five Elders' questions. But Helle Edmond, the commander-in-chief of the Knights of God, did not even turn his head. All he could hear from him was a cold voice like a cold current: "I don't have the hobby of meeting disabled people."

Sartan seemed to be quite helpless about his attitude and sighed deeply: "Being too arrogant is not a good habit... But I really can't meet people in this state."

Before he could finish his words, black flames suddenly appeared from every wound on his body. Then, his shattered body began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the lost flesh and clothes also grew back rapidly. In a short while, the whole person was restored to his original state.

Helle Edmond turned around slowly like a machine, and a trace of disgust appeared on his face that rarely showed any change of expression: "Your technology that can be called evil... no, perhaps it should be said that the fruit ability? No matter how many times I see it, it makes me feel unhappy."

"We can all relate to each other in this regard."

Satan snorted heavily, and his spirits became much stronger. He looked completely different from the one who had been seriously injured not long ago. He looked around the smoke-filled area and said coldly, "By the way, the explosion that just happened seems a little strange... The internal struggle among the Celestial Dragons is fierce, but it is not to the extent of assassinating high-ranking figures. Besides, I don't think those slaves would have the courage to do such a thing."

Helle Edmund strode forward, his heavy armored boots making a dull sound every time they stepped on the ground, and he spoke in a low voice: If that person wanted to assassinate one of us, he would probably use more efficient methods such as poisoning, sneak attack and beheading. Once it is confirmed that the bomb has failed to resolve our intelligence, it means that we have completely lost the opportunity to approach the target again. "

"So, blowing up the palace was just a cover, and the real target is someone else..."

Sartan stroked his thick beard and fell into a brief thought. After a while, he raised his head, and his wrinkled eyes became serious. "Notify all members of your Knights to be vigilant against anyone approaching. If anyone suspicious is found, they can be shot on the spot."

"Troublesome old man, don't tell others what they are going to do in advance..."

Hele Edmond complained in a low voice while taking out the Den Den Mushi from his arms. Just as he was about to press the button, a soldier in full armor and holding a spear hurried over. His tone was even more urgent than his running speed: "Something is wrong! Sir Hele Edmond! Just now, the Rocks Pirates broke through the navy's defense network and landed on the east coast of God Valley! Our people stationed there can't resist! Request your Excellency to send troops to support them!"

Hearing this urgent news from him, Satan's eyes widened slightly, and his hands holding the crutches subconsciously clenched tighter. He said in a deep voice: "The protective shield that Rubair often boasted about is only this good in the end...? The navy is really unreliable."

Hele Edmond was not surprised at all. On the contrary, a long-lost happy smile appeared on his face: "Things seem to be getting interesting. It's a good opportunity to make up for the regrets that were not completed that day."

As he held a high position due to his military achievements, all disputes, big or small, both internal and external, would usually be handled proactively by government agents or his direct subordinates, and he would not need to take action personally under normal circumstances.

As time went by, Helle Edmund began to get tired of this boring life, and his emotions gradually became indifferent.

Therefore, no matter what happened, even when Marijoa was suddenly swallowed by the rising sea one day, Helle Edmond thought it had little to do with him. It was as if he did not belong to this world, and he was just a bystander observing silently from beginning to end.

Only someone who is strong enough to fight with him can make him gradually recall the excitement he pursued in the past years and let him enjoy the long-lost excitement.

The only person who can make me have such thoughts nowadays is probably that guy whom I have never met before.

"Tsk! Each one of them is so troublesome, wouldn't it be better to let the navy handle this matter?!"

On the west side of the meeting place where shouts were heard, the octopus-headed youth frowned and complained impatiently, while wielding a huge sickle to chop down the slaves who were fleeing around a second ago.

Blood splashed onto his face, making him look like a hideous demon in the firelight. But he still looked nonchalant, licking the blood stains on his lips with his tongue, and the bloodthirsty light in his eyes became even stronger.

He thought he could enjoy the thrill of killing at the conference, but the competition was interrupted by a sudden accident. This made Azrael extremely unhappy, and his inner restlessness became even more uncontrollable. He only wanted to vent his dissatisfaction through killing.

And those weak people who had no power to resist naturally became his priority targets.

As for the guys from the Rocks Pirates, it won't be too late to fight them after they arrive on the island.

Azrael pressed his right hand downwards, and a long column of blood gushed out from the wound on the corpse, continuously spurting towards the palm of his hand. At the same time, Azrael's hair flew up and down like vines, and the bright red hair color gradually became darker, constantly flashing a strange red light.

——Anyway, after I suck the blood of these insects dry, there will probably be only a few pirates who can be my opponent.

This idea came to my mind, thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone.

Azrael looked around greedily, like a beast looking for prey.

“Hehehe! Who should I choose as my next target…?”

Just as his eyes were sweeping over the fleeing slaves, he suddenly heard someone behind him whisper, "If you want to kill as you please, I have just found a good place, Honorable Saint Azrael."

The voice was so hoarse that it seemed to be forced out of his throat, making Azrael feel uncomfortable. He frowned and turned his head, only to see a figure wrapped in bandages standing behind him. The bandage on his forehead was particularly exaggerated, making people wonder if he had suffered a severe blow. There was no trace of blood on his pale face, and his thin body was shaky, as if a gust of wind could blow him down.

Although Azrael had visited almost the entire Valley of Gods, he had never seen this person before, so he subconsciously swung his sickle and put it on the other person's neck, and asked with a vigilant look: "Whether you will become a corpse depends on your next answer! Tell me your identity! I don't have the habit of waiting for people!"

The sickle was less than a centimeter away from the man's neck. Azrael could kill him with a single thrust. But the bandaged man did not move. There was no fear on his face. He opened his cracked lips and said slowly, "I am CP8 Nova, sent by the commander to lurk among the slaves. Not long ago, I found a group of people gathered in a canyon on the northwest side. After checking the list one by one, I found that they were the slaves who disappeared earlier! The little devil from the Bakhaniya tribe was also with them!" As if he was worried that the other party still had some distrust, he showed him the badge on his wrist that symbolized the honor of the World Government.

Hearing the man confess his origins without hesitation, Azrael raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was instantly interested in the information he provided. He moved the sickle from his neck and gently patted his shoulder with his left hand. His eyes seemed to be emitting a blazing light: "If the news is true, I will do my best to ensure that you join CP0!"

If an ordinary agent knew that he had the opportunity to become a shield for the Celestial Dragons, he would be ecstatic. However, the Bandage Man had no joy on his face, and just said lightly: "Thank you for your kindness, sir. I will repay you with my death."

Fortunately, Azrael was so immersed in the joy of killing that he didn't notice anything wrong with his tone. He casually put the huge sickle on his back, and a perverted smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Take me now. If they notice something wrong, it will take a lot of effort to find me."

"Yes."

The man responded, turned around without saying a word and walked quickly in the direction he came from.

"It's hard for me to judge how true or false his words are... But it's better to go and try my luck than to worry about the safety of other Tianlong people here."

Looking at the hunched back, Azrael held his chin and muttered to himself, then moved his gaze to the dark crowd in the distance with a teasing smile in the corner of his eyes, "If Sally knew about this, I'm sure that guy would also clamor to go, right? I won't give this credit to her."

Before he finished speaking, he took arrogant steps and followed the man closely.

Even though Azrael had made up his mind about everything that would be beneficial to him, he never noticed the strange light flashing in the eyes of the bandaged man in front of him.

On the sea with strong winds and high waves, a huge pirate ship was speeding towards the southern shore of the Valley of the Gods. Countless shells were poured out from the warships stationed near the island, cutting through the air, whistling towards them with unparalleled power and speed.

I don't know if it was because the accuracy of the shells was too poor or the helmsman's operating skills were too good, but the pirate ship shuttled freely in the sky full of artillery fire, with no tendency to deviate from its course or be sunk. It was like a nimble and agile shark that pierced through the rain of shells like a sharp arrow, causing the shells to splash huge columns of water on the sea behind it.

Even though they failed to hit the target, the enemy's offensive showed no sign of stopping, and they bombarded the fast-approaching pirate ship with even more intensive firepower, covering the sea surface in darkness.

Seeing that the ship was about to be blown to pieces by the overwhelming artillery shells, a tough-looking man on the bow grinned, drew the long sword from his waist and swung it hard.

The violent sword waves surged out in an instant, like a roaring dragon, turning most of the flying shells in front into dust with its devastating force.

The momentum of the sword wave did not weaken in the slightest, it continued to move forward, stirring up huge waves, mercilessly smashing several warships on the sea, and then bombarded the front with great force, swallowing up the entire coast.

"It's still as exaggerated as ever..."

On the deck of the pirate ship, a blond man wearing glasses stared blankly at the huge ravine on the island that extended to an unknown place, and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Is there any need to say that? He is our captain after all."

Beside him, the burly man with a ponytail smiled proudly. He clashed the two axes in his hands a few times, making a clear and loud sound. He raised his head and asked the man on the bow, "I heard that the Rocks Pirates are here too. Do you want to go over and say hello to them?"

"There is no need for that. In this land that is about to become a battlefield, it is only a matter of time before we meet."

The man held a long knife in his hand and looked at the island filled with smoke. As the boat moved forward, he could see the scenery on the island more clearly. His red robe fluttered in the sea breeze and he sighed, "If they really come up and fight without explanation, we will have no choice but to accompany them to the end."

“But from your tone, it sounds like you’re saying something like ‘I really want to clear up the misunderstanding and join forces with them’…?” The blond man pushed his glasses and teased.

"Hey! Rayleigh! Don't speak my true thoughts without restraint!" The red-robed man turned around and immediately turned into a shark face, complaining to his deputy like a child. He was almost a completely different person from the one who sank the warship just now.

"Ah, we are facing the most dangerous enemy in the world, but we don't feel nervous at all~" The man with ponytail spread his hands helplessly, as if he was used to such phenomenon.

"Anyway, let's talk about everything after we meet."

The red-robed man was talking, looking at the warships that were closing in on his pirate ship. He remained motionless, but he unconsciously clenched the hilt of his sword tighter, with an unprecedented excitement on his face. "What we have to do now is to fire the first shot in this war that will decide the fate of the world!"