Even though they had spent less than a day with Kuma.
But in these short few hours, Ivankov and Ginny had been completely won over by Kuma's kindness, treating him as their best friend.
The few of them struggled to survive on this hellish island, sharing both joys and sorrows.
They had even saved so many people together.
They had originally thought they could leave this place together.
But they never expected that in the end... "Kuma... *sob* *sob*..." Ginny knelt on the ground, heartbroken, tears falling like rain.
However, right at that moment, a familiar, honest, and thick voice suddenly rang out in their ears.
"Ginny, Little Ivan, I... I'm fine, don't cry."
"Eh?" Ivankov and Ginny, who were bowing their heads in grief, along with John behind them, all looked up in surprise and joy.
They saw Kuma standing on the coast, completely unscathed.
The surrounding ground had been completely collapsed and shattered.
Only the ground beneath his feet remained intact.
In front of Kuma, a golden figure had appeared at some unknown point.
He was holding a pitch-black war halberd, blocking the long blade Rocks was swinging down.
The pairs of golden wings spread out behind him protected Kuma, keeping him unharmed.
"Carlo!!"
"Heavenly King!!"
John and Ivankov cried out in surprise at the same time.
"That's great! Kuma! You're not dead!" Ginny scrambled up in joy, ran over quickly, and threw herself into Kuma's arms.
Kuma looked up blankly at the back in front of him, which was as dazzling as the sun and as majestic as a mountain.
"Heavenly King... Carlo..."
But Carlo had absolutely no time to respond to them at this moment.
He was gripping the handle of the heavenly dragon halberd with both hands, teeth clenched, exploding with all his strength to desperately resist the berserk killing intent coming from Rocks.
A shocking and massive wound had sliced across his chest, and a large amount of blood was pouring out of it like a waterfall.
Although he had arrived at the critical moment and saved Kuma.
He hadn't been able to completely block Rocks' slash.
The power of the demonized Rocks was truly terrifying.
He was much stronger than when he was still conscious!
Even with his transformation into the Garuda Hybrid Form and the boost from his Nine-Star Physique, he was actually unable to surpass the demonized Rocks in terms of strength.
Feeling the increasingly violent power coming from Rocks.
Carlo couldn't help but shout in a low voice, "John! Take them and go, quickly!!"
"Yes!"
Sensing extreme danger, John did not hesitate at all. He manipulated several pieces of metal to fly over rapidly, binding Kuma and the other two, and quickly carried them away.
Just as he had left.
Beneath Carlo's feet, the ground within a radius of several hundred meters exploded and collapsed with a boom.
Rocks held his sword with both hands, pressing down with all his might, wanting to slash Carlo into the depths of the earth.
A brilliant red light lit up in Carlo's eyes, and two crimson lasers shot out straight, hitting Rocks in the face.
Rocks did not dodge or avoid it, taking the lasers head-on.
But after the dazzling light passed, he was completely unharmed.
On that face, as hideous as a malevolent ghost, a layer of thick Armament Haki over a foot thick had expanded outward like armor!
Carlo gritted his teeth and suddenly laughed.
"Rocks! My people... saved your wife and child, and this is how you repay me? Even as a pirate, you should know what it means to return a favor!"
The hideous Rocks seemed to have heard Carlo's voice.
His movements stiffened for a split second.
Then.
Carlo seemed to hear his voice.
Rocks' voice rang out directly in Carlo's mind.
"Thank you, Carlo!"
"So your consciousness hasn't been completely lost yet?" Carlo did not relax. Powerful physical strength continuously poured out of his body, resisting the crushing pressure from Rocks.
The reason he could hear Rocks' inner thoughts.
Was not because he could also listen to the Voice of All Things.
This was his Mythical Zoan ability, Mind Reading.
It allowed him to perceive what the other party was thinking.
It wasn't directly looking into thoughts.
But rather similar to how Fujitora perceived other people's emotions.
At this moment, he perceived Rocks' inner voice.
It was as if he heard Rocks' mournful cry.
Rocks was in pain, struggling, and in despair.
Carlo could clearly feel Rocks' complex inner state at this moment.
But at the same time, Rocks was frantically venting the heaven-shaking evil thoughts that were continuously pouring out of his body.
Those were not his true thoughts.
They were the dark side of human nature that had been lured out and magnified countless times by Imu.
"That's great! Carlo! You can hear my voice..."
"I beg you! Kill me quickly! If I don't die, I will endlessly hunt down Alice and Teach..."
"That... person... is... controlling me..."
As he spoke toward the end, Rocks' face became even more hideous.
But from his hollow eyes, tears were continuously pouring out.
"Kill me! Kill me!!"
Carlo gritted his teeth hard, the muscles on his arms bulging and knotting as he suddenly pushed the heavenly dragon halberd outward.
With a metallic clang, Rocks was thrown back by him.
But in an instant, the demon wings on Rocks' back flapped, a gale blew behind him, and he quickly turned around, rushing toward Carlo once again.
Carlo abruptly raised the war halberd in his hand high.
Ten thousand meters high in the sky, the shattered sea of clouds seemed to be stirred by a boundless giant hand, turning into a massive vortex that covered the sky and sun.
The vortex of clouds quickly became as black as ink, and countless silver-bright electric snakes appeared on the surface, converging toward the center.
In the blink of an eye, in the middle of that huge vortex, a massive ball of lightning with a diameter of a hundred meters formed, emitting terrifying energy fluctuations.
And as the war halberd in Carlo's hand slashed down violently.
That massive ball of lightning, like a meteorite, crashed down from ten thousand meters in the sky, smashing down toward the approaching Rocks!
"One Billion Volts! God's Judgment!!!"
*Zzzzt—*
*Boom!!*
The lightning ball streaked across the sky, gone in a flash, its speed so fast the eye could not catch it.
In just an instant, it smashed onto the top of Rocks' head, swallowing his entire person inside.
Moreover, that massive lightning ball seemed to have a physical form, following the explosive forward slash of Carlo's heavenly dragon halberd.
The lightning ball tightly enveloped Rocks at its center, carrying him as it flew backward all the way.
Everywhere it passed, the ground behind Rocks was blasted open into a hundred-meter-wide path leading to the heavens!
Carlo followed closely behind, the six pairs of golden wings on his back flashing with wind and thunder as he flew rapidly.
Approaching like lightning, he gripped the heavenly dragon halberd with both hands, turning into a beam of golden light that pierced straight through the chaotic lightning ball, stabbing the Haoshoku-infused tip of the halberd into Rocks' chest!
"Heavenly Dragon!! Star-Piercing Strike!!"
Rocks was hoisted on the tip of the halberd, lifted off the ground, and carried across the sky of God Valley. Amidst the violent roar of thunder, he crashed like a comet into the only other remaining thousand-meter mountain peak.