"Rocks… is really dead?"
Kaido and Big Mom were stunned. Their faces were filled with disbelief.
They knew their own strength wasn't weak, but compared to Rocks D. Xebec, they were still a step behind.
And yet, their seemingly invincible captain had fallen here.
While Kaido and Big Mom were still frozen in shock, Ethan Sugawa's face remained calm. Deep inside, there was no ripple of emotion.
"With Rocks dead, the Battle of God Valley is essentially over."
Thinking this, Ethan quickly shouted at the dazed Kaido and Big Mom:
"Linlin! Forget about the captain for now! Before the Navy and the Holy Knights surround us, we need to get out of here."
"Ethan's right. We need to leave now!" Kaido quickly snapped out of it.
The two of them immediately prepared to flee on Zeus, but just as they were about to take off, Saint Saturn's cold, murderous voice rang in their ears.
"You want to escape now? Too late. You'll stay here, just like Rocks."
Dark lightning crackled violently around him as he pushed his Devil Fruit powers to the limit. A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki burst out from his body, surging toward the trio with killing intent.
"After I kill you all, I'll take back your Devil Fruits."
As one of the Five Elders, the supreme rulers of the Celestial Dragons, Saturn naturally knew the method to extract Devil Fruits from fallen users.
In his eyes, he would soon reclaim Kaido and Ethan's newly acquired fruits and even seize Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit.
"Freeze."
Without hesitation, Saturn activated his ability. The whispered command bound Ethan, Kaido, and Big Mom in place, as if an invisible force had locked their bodies to the ground.
"Damn it, this ability again."
Kaido and Big Mom had already witnessed this power once. Even with their monstrous strength, it would take them a few precious seconds to break free.
And for someone like Saturn, a few seconds was more than enough to kill them.
Black threads, laced with Armament Haki, sprouted from Saturn's body. Each thread was sharp enough to pierce Kaido and Big Mom's formidable defenses.
He licked his lips, his eyes flashing with cruel light.
"Rocks Pirates' little brats, it's time for you to die."
Just as the threads were about to pierce their chests, a blinding sword light split the air, tearing straight toward Saturn.
Shing!
The blade light effortlessly slashed across Saturn's chest.
But Saturn paid it no mind. A minor injury like this would heal in an instant.
His gaze snapped toward the source of the attack, and when he saw who it was, his eyes flickered with surprise.
"A brat from the Three-Eyed Tribe? Why weren't you affected by my ability?"
Even Kaido and Big Mom had been frozen in place. How could someone like Ethan, whose strength was clearly inferior, have escaped the effect?
Ethan wasn't sure either.
All he knew was that after eating the Asura Devil Fruit, his vertical eye had undergone some kind of change.
He had planned to study it later after leaving God Valley, but he hadn't expected his third eye to awaken its power so quickly.
"It must be that my Three-Eyed Tribe bloodline has finally awakened something incredible."
Suppressing the joy in his heart, Ethan focused on saving Kaido and Big Mom.
"Ikoku Sovereignty alone won't hurt Saturn. I need to use the Devil Fruit's power."
White flames burst from his palm Asura's Sacred Flame.
This flame had properties similar to the legendary Amaterasu. Once it latched onto something, it could not be extinguished by ordinary means. It would only burn out when its target was completely destroyed.
He coated his sword in the Sacred Flame, the blade instantly showing signs of melting from the intense heat.
Without hesitation, Ethan gripped the sword with both hands and swung hard, sending a wave of sword energy wrapped in white flames straight at Saturn.
At first, Saturn didn't react. He assumed it was a typical sword strike.
But soon, he realized something was wrong.
The white flame clung stubbornly to the right side of his body, and no matter what he did, he couldn't shake it off or extinguish it.
The flames quickly began spreading across his entire body.
"What the hell is this flame?!"
Sweat beaded on Saturn's forehead, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Although the Sacred Flame didn't deal overwhelming damage in the short term, its strange, unstoppable nature was completely beyond his understanding.
The right side of his body began to burn, though his powerful regenerative ability healed the damage almost instantly.
"Thunder Bagua!"
In that moment, Kaido and Big Mom finally broke free from Saturn's binding power.
Seeing him fully occupied by the flames, they didn't hold back. Both unleashed their strongest attacks simultaneously.
Boom!!!
Saturn, focused entirely on extinguishing the fire, had no chance to defend himself and took the full brunt of their strikes.
His massive body was blasted dozens of meters away, crashing straight into a wooden building and disappearing from sight.
Even then, Kaido wasn't satisfied. He gripped his kanabo and was about to charge after Saturn to finish him off.
But Ethan quickly called out to stop him.
"Don't chase him! We've already secured the Devil Fruits and accomplished everything we came here for. There's no need to stay here any longer, and…"
Ethan paused, glancing toward the distance where the various pirate crews and factions had already stopped fighting.
His voice dropped to a serious tone.
"Rocks is dead. The remaining factions are bound to seize this opportunity to turn on each other. We should get out of God Valley first."
"You're right!" Charlotte Linlin immediately agreed.
"Kaido, our top priority is to return to the ship and regroup with Edward and the others."
"Fine, let's go!"
Although Kaido was a battle maniac, he wasn't stupid. He understood how serious the situation was and decisively chose to follow Ethan's advice.
The three quickly rode Zeus and fled the battlefield.
…
On the way.
Once they were far from the fight, Charlotte Linlin couldn't hold back her curiosity. She grabbed Ethan excitedly and asked:
"Ethan, why weren't you affected by Saturn's ability?"
She clearly remembered how both she and Kaido had been completely frozen. If Ethan hadn't stepped in, the two of them would likely have been killed by Saturn.
"Maybe it's because of my third eye." Ethan pointed to his vertical eye, still uncertain.
He recalled seeing invisible threads shoot toward him, trying to bind him in place. But just as they reached him, his third eye suddenly activated, severing the threads and freeing him.
Looking back, it seemed his vertical eye could now see invisible things. Going forward, stealth-based abilities would no longer pose a threat to him.
Charlotte Linlin's curiosity only deepened.
"I've never heard of the Three-Eyed Tribe having this kind of ability."
As far as she knew, the Three-Eyed Tribe's racial trait was the ability to decipher Poneglyphs. She knew nothing about this mysterious power.
Kaido, however, wasn't the least bit interested in the third eye. What caught his attention was the white flame Ethan had used and the type of Devil Fruit he had eaten.
After thinking for a moment, Kaido looked at Ethan and asked directly:
"Was that white flame from the Devil Fruit you ate?"