Dozens of miles away from where God Valley vanished, the deep blue surface of the sea returned to a state of calm.
The energy fluctuations that had whipped up hundred-meter waves were gone.
It was proof that the destruction had not been an illusion.
The massive ship of the Rocks Pirates was a floating fortress.
It sailed side-by-side with Roger's Oro Jackson.
Two ships of sworn enemies, yet at this moment, they shared a strange synchronicity.
They cut through the waves, heading in the same direction.
The tension and the scent of blood from the great war were being slowly swept away by the sea breeze.
Most of the pirates on board were wounded, each one utterly exhausted.
Some lay flat while others sat, gasping for air in heavy heaves.
On every face was the wild ecstasy of having survived a catastrophe.
They had lived.
They had survived that war where gods and demons danced, and the wrath of the King of the World.
Rocks stood at the bow of his ship, having changed into clean clothes, but the mixture of Power and Haki clinging to him could not be washed away.
He looked toward the man wearing the straw hat on the other ship not far off.
A surge of boldness rose in his chest.
His chest heaved as he shouted to Roger in a voice that drowned out the crashing waves.
"Roger! I owe you one this time!"
The voice rolled across the sea, piercing the ears of everyone present.
"I'll remember your help at God Valley!"
Rocks grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, his smile arrogant and open.
"This debt, I, Rocks D. Xebec, acknowledge it!"
Aboard the Oro Jackson, Roger's reaction was his signature loud laugh.
Completely unabashed.
"Hahaha! What are you talking about, 'owing' me, Rocks!"
Roger held onto his straw hat, his body shaking with laughter.
"In a scene like that, anyone would want to jump in! It was too much fun!"
His laughter caused the corners of the mouths of the exhausted crew around him to twitch upward.
"Cut the crap!"
Rocks cursed with a laugh and suddenly swept his arm, pointing toward the horizon.
"To celebrate the fact that we all rolled out of that hellhole alive!"
"I invite you all to my home base—Beehive Island!"
"Let's have a banquet!"
There was an unquestionable boldness in his voice.
"We're going to drink every drop of liquor on the island!"
"Eat every scrap of meat!"
"We don't stop until we're wasted!"
This invitation caused the pirates on both ships to fall silent for a moment.
Go to their arch-enemy's home base for a banquet?
This was pure madness.
Roger's answer, however, didn't hesitate for a second.
"Sounds good!"
He laughed again, slamming a fist against the ship's railing.
"I was just worrying about where to find a drink!"
"If your booze doesn't suit my taste, I'm tearing your island apart! Hahaha!"
"I'm game anytime!"
Rocks responded with equal laughter.
Behind Roger, Scopper Gaban pressed a hand to his forehead.
He was helpless against his captain's impulsive decisions.
Rayleigh, who had his arm around Shakky, also shook his head, though a smile played on his lips.
After a great war, a victory celebration was the best choice.
The fleet changed course, sailing majestically toward the pirates' paradise.
Beehive Island.
An island shaped like a giant beehive appeared on the horizon.
The port of the island instantly fell into an uproar.
The pirates stationed there watched as their captain's flagship was followed by the ship of their arch-enemy, Roger.
One by one, they thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
After the brief shock came a surge of skyrocketing hostility.
Countless pirates drew their swords.
The port's cannons began to adjust their angles, aiming directly at the Oro Jackson.
Rocks simply stood at the bow, casting a cold glance over the port.
"Put your toys away!"
A low roar carried the weight of Conqueror's Haki.
A thunderous crash echoed, instantly crushing all the noise.
"Prepare the banquet!"
"Bring out the best liquor and meat for me!"
"Today, we host honored guests!"
The captain's order was absolute.
Though bewildered, the agitated pirates immediately sprang into action.
They had seen their captain bring back all sorts of strange things, but bringing back a living Roger was a first.
Soon, the port of Beehive Island transformed from a battlefield into a massive kitchen.
Barrel after barrel of top-tier rum rolled out of the cellars, piling up like small mountains.
Several mountain-sized Sea Kings had just been hauled up from the deep sea.
A hundred pirates worked together to hoist them over bonfires.
The flames caused the fat on the skin to sizzle and pop.
The rich aroma of meat, mixed with the pungent scent of alcohol, quickly permeated the entire port.
Everyone who smelled it couldn't help but swallow hard.
Night fell.
The atmosphere of the banquet reached its peak.
In the center of the port, beside a wooden table carved from a giant tree trunk, sat a group of the most elite monsters of the era.
Rocks.
Roger.
Whitebeard.
Rayleigh.
Gaban.
Before each of them sat a wooden cup the size of a human head, filled to the brim with amber-colored rum.
Thick foam nearly overflowed the rim.
Around them were the cheers and clamor of thousands of pirates, yet it was unusually quiet at this table.
The fatigue of the great war had dissipated, replaced by the relaxation that follows a storm.
Rocks raised his massive wooden cup, a complex smile on his face.
He was about to say something.
A toast to this damned fate, or perhaps to the rival beside him.
The atmosphere on the scene had reached a rare peak of ease.
Right then.
A sharp, piercing sound of breaking air pierced everyone's eardrums.
It came from overhead without any warning.
The sound was so abrupt, so jarring.
It instantly drowned out the noise of thousands, the crackle of the bonfires, and the sound of the waves.
The entire port fell into a dead silence in an instant.
Everyone, from the lowliest lackey to powerhouses like Rocks, looked up at the same time.
They gazed toward the sky illuminated by the bonfires.
At the highest point of the sky, a point of light appeared.
The point of light expanded rapidly.
It became a "meteor" burning with brilliant golden flames.
Trailing a long golden tail of fire, it tore through the night sky and, with an unrivaled posture, plummeted vertically and precisely toward the table!
The golden light drew closer.
It grew brighter.
It occupied everyone's entire field of vision.
The next second.
BOOM!
The "meteor" crashed down violently.
The impact point was only a few meters away from the giant wooden table.
The earth let out a pained groan.
A terrifying shockwave expanded frantically from the center of the impact!
Piles of rum barrels were sent flying instantly, exploding in mid-air and spraying liquor everywhere.
The giant Sea Kings on the bonfires were flipped entirely and rolled into the sea, kicking up massive plumes of water.
The ordinary pirates nearby didn't even have time to scream before they were blown over by the blast.
A humanoid crater, over ten meters in diameter and bottomless, appeared before them.
Dust billowed.
Debris flew.
"Enemy attack!"
"Prepare for battle!"
After the brief silence, the surrounding pirate fodder exploded into chaos.
They screamed, their instinct for blood driving them to draw their swords.
They surrounded the smoking crater, each one acting as if facing a formidable foe.
At the center of the explosion, beside the wooden table closest to the pit, several figures remained unmoved.
The violent shockwave fluttered the edges of their clothes and their hair, but it could not budge their bodies.
Rocks lowered the wooden cup he had been halfway through raising.
The cup hit the tabletop with a dull thud.
The smile remained on Roger's face.
Whitebeard's usually lazy eyes narrowed at this moment.
The expressions on their faces shifted rapidly from bewilderment to an extremely peculiar look.
A strange smile mixed with helplessness, familiarity, and even excitement.
They didn't even need to use Observation Haki to investigate.
That aura.
That unique, absolute, and domineering aura had been etched into the souls of all the top powerhouses during the battle at God Valley.
The silence of the scene was broken by a low chuckle.
Rocks looked into the pitch-black crater.
He grinned.
It was a smile full of battle lust.
In a voice that only those beside him could hear, he laughed softly.
"This guy."
"Did he actually chase us here?"
Roger and Whitebeard looked at each other and smiled, simultaneously raising their respective cups.