Ten seconds may seem like a short amount of time, but for the battle unfolding before them, it felt like an eternity.
"Monkey D. Luffy, do you know why the Celestial Dragons are called Celestial Dragons?"
Imu's eyes suddenly narrowed.
The crimson pupils of his eyes began to glow.
His body rapidly changed. Black scales appeared across his skin, dragon horns emerged from his forehead, and a slender black tail extended beneath his vast cloak.
A humanoid dragon form.
In the next instant, Imu vanished from where he stood.
Teleportation.
The ability of the Ope Ope no Mi.
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Luffy. His right hand transformed into a claw and struck forward abruptly.
At the same time, Luffy entered his Sun Dragon God form and casually threw a punch at his opponent.
"So you're a dragon!"
Imu's Devil Fruit was not a blue dragon like Kaido's, but rather a black draconic lizard.
Even so, he still had not revealed his complete Mythical Zoan form, remaining in his hybrid state.
"Now I understand. No wonder the slave mark is called the Hoof of the Celestial Dragon."
As he spoke, the thin tail behind Imu shot rapidly toward Luffy's chest.
It possessed the ability to expand and contract, as well as terrifying speed.
Nine seconds remaining.
Luffy leaned backward and avoided the attack.
At that moment, the third eye on Imu's forehead shone with an intense red light.
Members of the Three-Eyed Tribe possessed special abilities.
The ability displayed at that moment was control.
Luffy felt a powerful will attempting to seize control of his body.
For a brief moment, he seemed to lose control of his movements.
The black tail took advantage of that opening and pierced through his chest.
No.
More accurately, Luffy's body twisted backward, creating the illusion that he had been pierced.
Luffy grabbed the black tail.
Supreme King Haki erupted instantly, dispersing Imu's control ability.
"Seven seconds."
As he murmured those words, white flames instantly appeared in his hands.
The white flames spread along the tail toward Imu.
Whoosh!
Imu immediately severed his own tail.
The detached portion was reduced to ashes by the flames.
Imu's eyes remained cold.
A new tail rapidly regenerated, just like that of a lizard.
At that moment, the black souls surrounding them charged toward Luffy.
An ordinary person would have been exhausted by the siege of so many powerful experts.
But Luffy was different.
Within the domain of his Supreme King Haki, every enemy action was exposed through his Future Sight.
Like someone casually strolling through a garden, he effortlessly dodged every attack.
Each punch destroyed a black soul.
"Five seconds."
Realizing this, Imu's body suddenly expanded.
His shadow rapidly grew larger.
In an instant, his colossal body occupied almost the entire area.
A gigantic black dragon-lizard appeared before them.
He opened his enormous mouth, and a tremendous amount of black energy began to gather.
A dragon breath attack was fired directly at Luffy.
"White Breath!"
Luffy raised his head and answered with his own draconic breath.
Boom!
The black and white energies collided.
In an instant, Pangaea Castle began to collapse.
The shockwave spread in every direction.
Everything touched by the explosion was reduced to dust by the impact and extreme temperatures.
The vines surrounding the entire castle were also destroyed.
In the next moment, the black dragon took flight.
Imu's three crimson eyes observed everything below.
His control ability activated once more.
The smoke and flames began to disperse, as though being manipulated.
Then a white figure streaked across the sky.
In the blink of an eye, Luffy appeared before the black dragon.
"Three seconds."
Luffy looked upward.
The night had vanished.
A gigantic white light covered the entirety of the Holy Land Mariejois.
Through his Observation Haki, he could sense chaos engulfing the entire region.
The Celestial Dragons living within the Holy Land seemed to have sensed the impending disaster and were running desperately.
"The Holy Land that has existed for eight hundred years will disappear after tonight."
Luffy smiled.
His body transformed into a white ray of light and retreated dozens of kilometers in an instant.
Imu watched the direction in which he had departed.
Then he raised his head.
The countdown reached zero.
Boom!!
A deafening roar echoed through the heavens.
A gigantic beam of plasma descended from the sky.
Imu had witnessed a similar attack more than eight hundred years ago.
"Pluton!!"
Imu's eyes widened.
The enormous black wings of the dragon spread before him like a shield.
In the next instant...
BOOM!!!
Pluton's plasma cannon pierced through the Red Line.
The colossal explosion engulfed everything within a radius of several kilometers.
Luffy accelerated his speed a hundredfold and crossed dozens of kilometers in a single instant.
When he heard the explosion, he turned to look toward the Holy Land.
The Red Line, which had once stood as an impassable wall dividing the world, now possessed an enormous hemispherical cavity.
The white light of the explosion shone like a second sun.
The radiance lasted for dozens of seconds before gradually beginning to fade.
Eventually, darkness returned to the world.
"The power is still less than I imagined."
Luffy silently evaluated.
"Even if I took that attack head-on, I might not die."
Thinking about it carefully, even Imu might not necessarily die.
He possessed an extremely powerful Mythical Zoan and also wielded the abilities of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Escaping an attack of that level was not impossible.
Luffy once again expanded his perception through Observation Haki.
However, he could not detect Imu's presence.
The black dragon had disappeared.
---
On Pluton's battle deck...
Franky stared at the destruction caused by the Ancient Weapon in amazement.
"As expected of an Ancient Weapon! Is Luffy okay?"
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a figure appeared before him.
It was Luffy.
"I'm fine."
"Did we do it?" Franky asked in relief.
"I'm not sure yet."
Luffy shook his head.
"Everyone else probably died. But Imu... not necessarily."
His Observation Haki continued to cover the entire massive devastated region.
The moment Imu showed any sign of life, he would immediately notice.
The teleportation ability of the Ope Ope no Mi had a range limit.
Because of that, Luffy believed there was a high chance Imu had been hit directly.
"What now?" Franky asked.
Luffy sat atop Pluton's main cannon, crossed his arms, and replied:
"Contact the New Navy immediately. Send troops to Egghead and take control of the island."
Imu may have sent Uranus there.
To prevent that Ancient Weapon from falling into someone else's hands, it needed to be secured as quickly as possible.
"Understood!"
Franky picked up a Den Den Mushi and began relaying the orders.
---
The next day...
When the sun rose, a piece of news shook the entire world.
The disappearance of the Holy Land Mariejois sent countless nations into shock.
The center of the world.
The Holy Land Mariejois.
Destroyed overnight.
And every Celestial Dragon had died?!
---
Holy Land Mariejois, above its ruins.
A small airship slowly appeared beside the battleship Pluton, and Morgans jumped from the aircraft.
He flapped his wings frantically to avoid falling.
"So dangerous! So dangerous!"
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Morgans immediately grabbed his camera and began taking pictures of Pluton.
"What are you photographing?"
Franky appeared holding a bottle of cola and smacked him on the head.
"You're not thinking about publishing information about Pluton in the newspaper, are you? Don't even think about it. A weapon this dangerous shouldn't appear anywhere."
Morgans rubbed the back of his head and reluctantly put the camera away.
"The moment I received your call, I rushed over here."
As he spoke, he finally noticed Luffy sitting cross-legged atop the Ancient Weapon's main cannon.
His eyes lit up.
He ran over, removed his hat, and bowed.
"We meet again, Pirate King!"
"Don't use that title. I already dissolved the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Then after destroying the World Government, shouldn't you be called the King of the World?" Morgans laughed as he walked to the edge and looked down at the landscape below.
A massive hemispherical hole had appeared in the Red Line.
It looked as though someone had torn a huge piece from an enormous cake.
The edges were blackened and charred.
Morgans swallowed.
It truly was an Ancient Weapon.
Its power was terrifying.
"How do you intend to deal with all of this now?"
Upon hearing the question, Luffy remained indifferent.
His Observation Haki still covered a vast area around him.
Imu had not appeared.
Throughout the entire night, he had remained vigilant.
He had also received no notification from the system indicating that he had completed the final mission.
That meant only one thing.
Imu was probably still alive.
If he had died, the mission should already have been completed.
"Looks like there's only one last resort left."
Thinking this, Luffy spoke without even looking back.
"I want to ask you for a favor."
"Just say the word! It would be an honor to serve the new King of the World!"
---
New World, Red Port.
Numerous warships were docked at the harbor.
Akainu, Kizaru, Fujitora, and several other officers disembarked.
A Marine colonel immediately ran over to deliver his report.
"Fleet Admiral Akainu! Admiral Kizaru! Admiral Fujitora!"
"How is the situation here?" Akainu asked with a heavy expression.
When he looked up, he saw that a huge section of the Red Line had simply vanished.
"We've already organized ships to evacuate the population of Red Port!" the colonel immediately replied.
"That's not what I asked."
Akainu snorted coldly.
"I want to know the situation in the Holy Land!"
The colonel immediately began sweating.
"Last night an incredibly intense white light appeared... and then this happened. The elevator connecting Red Port to the Holy Land was completely destroyed. At the moment, there's no way to go up."
Hearing this, Kizaru expanded his Observation Haki.
"I don't sense any living presence."
He pursed his lips.
"Looks like no one survived."
"We'll verify it ourselves."
Fujitora unsheathed his sword.
The blade sliced through the ground, and in the next moment a floating stone platform lifted the admiral toward the top of the Red Line.
"I'll come too."
Kizaru's hands began to shine.
"Yata no Kagami."
A golden flash streaked across the sky.
In an instant, he overtook Fujitora and arrived first.
What he found was a devastated landscape.
Charred earth stretched as far as the eye could see.
At the center of the gigantic hemispherical crater, red magma still flowed slowly.
"How frightening..."
Kizaru whistled.
"It was a single explosion and everything simply evaporated."
There were no corpses.
Not even insects.
Such a vast Holy Land.
Such a powerful World Government.
Everything had disappeared overnight.
Soon afterward, Fujitora arrived as well.
Being blind, he could not see the devastation.
But through Observation Haki, he could feel the absolute emptiness that remained.
"Was it really Straw Hat?" he murmured.
"That's what the newspapers say."
Kizaru raised his head.
High above the clouds, a massive shadow hovered silently.
In the next instant, a beam of white light descended from the sky.
Luffy appeared before the two admirals.
"You took your time."
"Straw Hat..." Fujitora gripped the hilt of his sword.
"At this point, continuing to fight is meaningless. Give up, Fujitora."
Kizaru observed Luffy for several moments before asking:
"Did the Elders die?"
"They did."
Luffy answered calmly.
"The Celestial Dragons, the high-ranking officials of the World Government, servants, slaves... everyone who was in Mariejois died last night."
Before Pluton, all living beings are equal.
The only person who may have survived is Imu.
I still don't know how he escaped.
But it doesn't matter.
I'm prepared to use the last resort.
At that moment, a red explosion appeared in the distance.
Shortly afterward, a pillar of magma shot into the sky.
Akainu emerged from it.
His face was dark.
"Straw Hat! What do you intend to do now?"
All Five Elders were dead.
That meant the World Government had effectively collapsed.
Although branches still existed throughout the world, the headquarters had been completely erased.
Even the Navy had lost its highest authority.
"You arrived at the perfect time."
Luffy smiled.
"There are two Red Ports, one on each side of the Red Line. Hundreds of thousands of people live there. I want everyone evacuated immediately."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to cut through the Red Line."
Akainu's expression changed.
He did not doubt Luffy's ability.
If anyone could do such a thing, it was him.
But the consequences would be enormous.
"After Fish-Man Island was removed, it became much harder for pirates to reach the New World! If you open a passage through the Red Line, they'll be able to sail freely!"
"What exactly are you planning?"
Akainu spoke in a grave tone.
"Even if the World Government has disappeared, I'm still the Fleet Admiral of the Navy. If you do that, the chaos will only become worse."
Luffy laughed.
"Are you going to stop me by yourself?"
Akainu remained silent.
"Don't worry."
Luffy continued:
"I'm not destroying the world. I'm connecting the world."
"When this section of the Red Line disappears, a strait will be created. I'll establish facilities on both sides to control passage and collect tolls."
"I'm not destroying the entire Red Line. I'm only opening this section."
"It will turn this place into the greatest shipping hub on the planet."
Akainu immediately understood.
His expression changed.
This was essentially a simplified version of the old system used by the World Government.
Previously, ships had to cross through the Holy Land to travel from one side of the Red Line to the other.
Now there would be a navigable strait.
The difference was that anyone could use it, as long as they paid.
"And the pirates?" Akainu asked.
"The New World Government will deal with them."
Luffy shrugged.
"As for you Marines... you should decide soon what you intend to do. After all, your sponsor has disappeared."
Then he smiled.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I'll be broadcasting the founding ceremony of the new government live to the entire world. If you want to attend, I don't mind."
Akainu's face turned completely dark.
The new era had already begun.
(End of Chapter)