Chapter 499: Chapter 499: God Valley Arc (Backstab Remastered)

"In the face of absolute strength, all little tricks are useless~"

The matter of the Golden City came to an end. Orin stood on the ravaged Gran Tesoro and tossed the leather-clad girl he was holding onto the ground. The turncoat on the Golden City, Carina, who was good at stabbing people in the back.

"But having ambition is a good thing, so your punishment is to work for me together with Tesoro from now on."

This beautiful thief who could be compared to Nami, after discovering that Tesoro didn’t seem to have fallen, decisively chose to escape on a small boat, but unfortunately Orin noticed and sent her back with a snap of his fingers. Now sitting atop the ruins of the Golden Tower and watching a group of people scramble to rebuild the Golden City for high pay, Orin found it quite pleasing. Money should be spent~ You can’t spend it all anyway—what’s the point of hoarding so much? Compared to squeezing them, isn’t it better to give them high wages, let their families live securely in the Golden City, and have them work even harder? He and Tesoro really are despicable capitalists~

"Orin-san, someone wants to see you."

"Huh???"

Orin was sitting on the ruins of the tower, watching them work while eating chips. Hearing Tiger say this, he was also taken aback.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"Sabo of the Revolutionary Army, and ’Fire Fist’ Ace."

"Crunch—crunch—"

Orin chewed on his chips, not knowing why these two kids were looking for him. He had heard that Ace had been hanging around with Sabo lately with nothing to do, though they hadn’t caused any trouble... but the quieter it was, the more it felt like aimless drifters of the sea.

"Come to think of it, during the big battle before, they seemed to have come, but I didn’t see them~"

Tiger nodded.

"Yes, I stopped them at sea."

"Then let them come over."

Orin had no objections and even felt Sabo might be here to pull in investment, after all the Golden City was famously rich. Unexpectedly, the two of them came for something else.

"This... is something the one who entrusted me with the Float-Float Fruit asked me to bring to you."

Sabo fished around in his clothes and took out a thick envelope. That person? Orin pinched his chin, then thought of that painting scroll in Dressrosa. Could that person really exist? Orin blinked, then took the envelope. The photos inside had been perfectly reprinted a second time; the original had already disappeared due to insufficient energy.

"So that’s how it is..."

Orin had originally planned to just draw something casually, thinking that the so-called "Azure Dragon Orin" was a nonexistent product, but seeing this...

"Looks like the old man couldn’t bear to eat them~"

Because all the photos were taken by him back then in God Valley.

"I thought the news-delivery seagulls might mess it up, so after thinking it over, I decided to personally bring it to you."

After delivering the items, Sabo and Ace flew away on floating rocks, leaving Orin flipping through the photos, his mind sinking into memories. Truly nostalgic, those days... That was from when he was still young.

...

[God Valley Arc](Backstab Remastered)

Year 1483 of the Sea Circle Calendar, one year before the Battle of God Valley began.

"Have you heard???"

"Not long ago, a monster appeared on the sea and single-handedly went up against the entire Roger Pirates."

"The whole world is saying that guy is either Rocks’ son or Roger’s brother."

"Hahahahaha!!! It’s getting more and more chaotic, this sea!!!"

On a huge pirate ship, someone asked a burly man with a crescent-shaped white mustache,

"Hey!!! Newgate!!!"

"That rumored monster, is it really that exaggerated?!!!"

"Even you got hurt?!!!"

The burly man who had been gulping down alcohol stiffened all over when he heard that, his face darkening a bit. He thought of that monster. Just a few days earlier, several of their captains had an encounter battle with the Roger Pirates.

...

At this time Orin was still young, in his early twenties, the perfect age to roam. Sitting on the deck of the Roger Pirates, Orin, who had just fought them, was now wolfing down food to replenish his energy, and because it had been a long time, he felt quite sentimental about reuniting with the Roger Pirates. Just then, Orin’s hand suddenly paused. Stuffing the last piece of meat into his mouth, Orin stood up.

"What’s wrong?"

Roger was still drinking and couldn’t help asking when he saw this.

"Nothing, just seems like some enemies are coming..."

With a snap of his fingers, a pair of black leather gloves appeared on his hands. Orin picked up a sniper rifle and aimed into the distance. Through the scope, he saw several large ships slowly approaching, and written on them was...

The Rocks Pirates?

Orin froze for a moment, then looked carefully. At the bow of the first ship, a blond, burly man wearing a captain’s hat and holding a naginata was charging up power. Milky-white shockwaves gathered in his hand, and black-red lightning faintly burst around his body.

Yo???

Isn’t this that righteous Whitebeard?

And there’s Linlin, and Kaido, and the blond Shiki who looks like a spirited young guy,

and...

Orin’s eyelids twitched violently.

Isn’t that the old man?!!!

Although his figure and aura were completely different from his elderly form, there was no way Orin could be mistaken. Seems that before his fighting spirit was shattered by Imu, the old man was quite a hot-blooded pirate~

Since both sides had acquaintances, Orin couldn’t very well say one side had to win. After all, the sea isn’t just about fighting and killing; the sea is about human relationships.

"How troublesome~"

Orin hugged his rifle. Although he had good intentions, the officers of the Rocks Pirates clearly weren’t going to abandon an operation they’d prepared for a long time just because of a few words from a young man they’d never met. Then he could only make a move...

"First one, Whitebeard."

Orin raised the black gun. Threads of black-red lightning poured into the barrel, and Ryuo coiled around the bullet in a spiral. At this moment, Whitebeard was preparing a greeting gift. The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit gathered in his hand, milky-white shockwaves faintly shattering the air, making a cracking sound as if it were at its limit. The entire sea was trembling, making Bakkin Stussy’s beautiful eyes shine—this was simply the power to destroy the world.

"Kurahahaha... This isn’t because I’m listening to Rocks’ orders. This time, it’s to finish the fight we didn’t finish last time!!!"

Whitebeard grinned and was about to trigger a seaquake that would spread across half the sea. Everyone was on full alert, cold sweat on their faces, but what no one expected was, the next second,

"Bang—"

Accompanied by an explosive sound, a spray of blood burst from Whitebeard’s chest.