The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

He slowly raised his eyes, his eyes, which had weathered countless storms, staring intently at Gern, scrutinizing this junior who had long since grown into a towering tree.

Then he opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end it just turned into a heavy sigh.

"You...sigh..." Garp's voice lowered, carrying a complex emotion, "What do you want to know?"

With sharp eyes, Gern asked the crucial question directly: "How exactly did Lockes lose?"

On that day at God Valley, were you and Roger truly the only two who joined forces to end that man?

Apart from that, nothing else...exactly happened?

Garp was silent for a moment, then put the half-eaten senbei back into his mouth and chewed.

His gaze drifted into the distance, as if lost in a long-forgotten, forgotten past, his voice hoarse.

“Rocks…he suffered a painful defeat.” Karp’s brow furrowed deeply.

"That guy, while fighting us, had no fighting spirit on his face but a madness, and... he was crying silently the whole time!"

Gern's pupils contracted slightly.

Garp continued his recollection: "Back then, I received orders to go to God Valley, ostensibly to stop Roger and his crew from stealing the Celestial Dragons' treasure."

But when we got there, we found out that it wasn't like that at all!

That island... it's practically an island of evil hidden by the World Government! Civilians are being slaughtered like livestock..."

As he recounted his misdeeds, Garp's fists clenched involuntarily, and crumbs of senbei leaked from between his fingers.

"Later, another... 'thing' landed." Garp's voice carried a barely perceptible chill.

"It can't be killed!"

"I am Roger, Rocks, Linlin, Whitebeard, and Kaido!"

"Even with all six of us working together and using every ounce of our strength, we still couldn't do anything to that monster!"

"Its very existence defies common sense!"

Guern's heart skipped a beat, realizing what was happening—Im had been eliminated!

"And then what?" Gern pressed.

"Behind..." Garp's voice grew even heavier.

"Lox...it pierced through him!"

Garp gestured with his hand, "No wounds!"

"Really, none of us saw any external injuries!"

But Rocks' expression froze instantly, and I could clearly feel it.

The immense, domineering aura within him was frantically trying to resist something.

But that resistance... vanished quickly, as if forcibly erased by something!

“Then…” Garp’s tone was grave, “Rocks suddenly grew uncontrollably huge, and then… completely lost all reason.”

First, he attacked Kaido, who was closest to him, and punched Linlin away. Then, he went berserk and engaged in a deadly battle with Whitebeard!

Roger and I were completely stunned. We had no idea what the hell was going on or what had happened!

"By the time we realized that Rocks' condition was definitely not normal..."

He had abandoned Whitebeard and was heading towards the area where the other survivors on the island were gathered!

Seeing that an irreversible massacre was about to occur, Roger and I desperately lured him back…

Garp's voice lowered, carrying a deep weariness and helplessness: "What happened next... was that Roger and I joined forces... and defeated him."

He said "defeat," not "kill."

Moreover, the entire process was filled with bizarre and uncontrollable madness.

In the end, Rocks became a puppet controlled by invisible threads, filled with pain and despair.

As Gern listened to these unimaginable secrets, his heart was filled with turmoil.

The truth about God Valley is far darker and more bizarre than the fairy tale of "naval heroes and the Pirate King joining forces to defeat an evil overlord"!

As for what happens next, based on Garp's words, it's probably something like this...

The Divine Knights launched a counterattack, but Rayleigh and Jabba completely overwhelmed them, allowing the exhausted Garp and Roger to retreat.

It was during a lull in the battle that Gern, also in God Valley, had the good fortune to meet Rocks.

They even gave him a proper burial when he was on the verge of death and obtained his sword!

(Boomerang, filling in the plot holes! Filling in the opening storyline of this book!)

Chapter 531 The path is becoming increasingly clear.

"In short..."

Garp brushed away the remaining senbei crumbs in his hand, clapped his hands, and continued speaking.

"Although it was later claimed that the pirates involved in the God Valley incident originated from Shakky (Peony) back then."

"The mountain of Celestial Dragon treasure on the island attracted the Rocks Pirates..." Garp shook his head, his tone resolute.

"But I'm pretty sure that man with the ambition to dominate the world didn't go to God Valley for either of those things!"

After saying that, Garp's voice lowered, carrying a pain that came to him only after many years: "Because of his expression at the time..."

That silent weeping, that overwhelming grief and despair in the depths of her eyes, and even a hint of pleading...

Looking back now, I'm almost certain." Karp's voice choked slightly as he said this.

The scene of Ace's last breath on the battlefield of Marineford seemed to flash before my eyes, a heart-wrenching and utterly helpless grief.

In an instant, it overlapped with the face of Rocks in my memory, a face streaked with tears yet roaring silently.

That's the expression that only appears when you see your loved ones and cherished possessions completely disappear and crumble before your eyes!

It was this personal experience that allowed Garp to... decades later

I finally truly understood the pain in Rocks' eyes at that moment, a pain far deeper than defeat.

“No…” Garp slowly shook his head, his voice hoarse, carrying a chilling deduction.

"Or rather, what Rocks endured was perhaps more painful and more desperate than what I experienced (when I lost Ace)..."

"Because his grief may not just be about 'watching' his loved ones leave..."

Karp's throat bobbed, and he uttered with difficulty the cruelest conjecture: "His grief is more like..."

To kill the person most important to you with your own hands, or to destroy with your own hands what you swore to protect with your life!

"!!!"

This deduction struck like a thunderbolt in Guern's mind!

If Garp's intuition is right!

That Lox's madness, his weeping, and his final, uncontrolled attack...

Behind all this, there may very well be some more sinister, more manipulative power lurking within Im.

It's not just about controlling him, but about twisting his will, forcing him to destroy everything he cherishes in a state of lucid pain!

This also explains why a man as ambitious and powerful as Rocks would show such profound grief and despair in battle!

That was not just a harbinger of defeat, but a lamentation of a soul utterly destroyed after the slaughter of loved ones!

Could these so-called relatives be Teach and her son?

After all, judging from the 'face' mentioned by Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Big Mom...

Rocks probably believed he had killed his own children and wife, which is why he did this...

Thinking about this, and connecting the dots in his mind, Gern felt a chill rise up his spine.

He gained a more concrete and definite understanding of the threat posed by Im.

This is not just a powerful enemy, but a demon skilled in control and domination!

Karp looked at Gern's gloomy face and sighed, "Now you understand, Gern kid."

"That's what you have to face..."

After finishing speaking, Garp stood up, his long shadow stretching out in the setting sun, making him appear somewhat desolate.

That's all I can tell you.

The rest... you'll have to find the answer yourself.

All I can do is... throw another punch when you really need it!

“Then, Lieutenant General Garp…” Gern called out to Garp, “After you learned the truth back then, why did you still…?”

Karp stopped walking, his back to Gern, without turning around, but his voice slowly drifted over.

"Because of ignorance, because of arrogance."

“Gern, you know what? Whether it's this old man or Sengoku…”

We two old guys are, in a way, both losers.

Gern listened intently.

"Heh," Garp continued, his tone self-deprecating, "This old man possesses all this power, yet stubbornly believes..."

As long as we remain at the bottom of the "naval" hierarchy, standing like a rock at the forefront, protecting those marines who truly fight for the civilians, that's enough.

I thought that by staying away from the center of power, refusing promotions, and holding onto the title of naval hero, I could maintain the purity of 'justice'...

Ah, in retrospect, it was nothing more than a naive escape.

“And that old bastard from the Warring States period…” Garp said in a complicated tone, “he went to the other extreme.”

He believed that he had to climb to the top of power and seize the highest authority in order to implement his "justice of ruling the world" and determine the direction of the sea.

Therefore, he racked his brains, weighed all parties, and tried to control everything within the rules…

After saying that, Karp suddenly turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning, staring directly at Gern, and shouted, "But we were both wrong! And terribly wrong!"

"Because power and authority are not two opposing paths, but rather a path that must be walked side by side!"

"Only by possessing overwhelming strength as a foundation, and then wielding supreme power capable of mobilizing resources, setting rules, and influencing the world can one truly succeed."

Only then can we truly and comprehensively confront the massive machine of the world government!

Only then can they be forced to be wary when they want to do whatever they want!

Only then can we provide a safe haven for those faint voices, a haven that won't be easily crushed!

“And Gern…” Karp took a breath, his gaze falling on Gern, his eyes filled with satisfaction and approval.

"You are the one who truly understands this, and... is already on this only correct path!"

“You possess terrifying power that even Rocks might not be able to match; this is your ‘fist’.”

"And now you control the power of the Navy in the New World, your influence spreads across the seas, and even the World Government has to take your existence seriously. This is your 'power'."

"Just like the physical techniques I taught you, combining fist and stance."

You truly possess the leverage to shake this twisted world and the power to shatter everything!

After finishing his sentence, Karp gave Gern a deep look, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Gern stood there, the sea breeze ruffling his hair and coat.

This is perhaps the most unique perspective and advantage that he, as a "time traveler," possesses compared to heroes of the old era such as Garp, Sengoku, and even Rocks.

His path became increasingly clear.

Here's a picture of Rocks; this is his original hair color, white and blue. Bucky's father remains a mystery.

Chapter 532 A New Year

1522 in the Haiyuan calendar.

The protagonists of the era, Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, reunite on Sabaody Archipelago, making a stunning appearance thanks to the results of their two years of training.