At the same time, across the world, the four Tequila Wolf bridges lit up like great dragons, spanning the Four Seas. From the sky, the bridges connecting the Red Line to the four blue seas looked like ancient runes suppressing the very oceans themselves.
"It is finally done!"
"Rocks, this is the limit of what your Davy Clan could achieve, even after betting the lives of your entire family!"
From Mary Geoise, Imu felt the world change and spoke with a soft laugh. The face hidden beneath the black cloak revealed a rare smile.
"Now… return to me, powers that are rightfully mine!"
Imu tilted their head back toward the sky and let out a sharp cry.
A deep hum resonated through the world. The entire planet began to shake violently, and the seas roared in protest. Enormous waves crashed against the continents and the Tequila Wolf bridges, but they could change nothing. Soon, countless points of light emerged from the bridges, flowing toward their intersection point above Mary Geoise.
The points of light coalesced into a dazzling sphere of energy, a mass so vast it could dwarf Mary Geoise several times over. The brilliant radiance engulfed Pangea Castle, blinding the Celestial Dragons within.
Imu knew the time was right. They flew out of Mary Geoise, their black robes billowing in an unfelt wind as they ascended into the air.
BOOM!
A few moments later, the sphere of light condensed to its absolute limit and erupted into a colossal pillar of energy that shot toward the heavens.
Within that pillar, Imu felt a long-lost power finally returning. The strength of the God of the Earth, once devoured by the God of the Sea, was slowly flowing back into Imu's body. It was power Imu had stolen from the Earth God long ago using ancient magic. It had been easy; the God of the Earth had been deep in slumber at the time.
Imu was the one who had usurped divine authority, becoming the new "God" of the world. For eight hundred years, they had focused on a single task: using a forbidden magic to once again suppress the God of the Sea and reclaim the power of the Earth God that had been taken.
The means to this end was the construction of the Tequila Wolf bridges.
And now, Imu had succeeded.
Imu felt themselves become unbelievably powerful. In this world, aside from the God of the Sea itself, nothing could stand in their way any longer.
From this moment on, they had become the one true God of this world!
"Crawl back into the depths of the sea!"
BOOM!
Suspended in mid-air, Imu's eyes snapped open. The immense power of their gaze manifested as a beam of pure energy, which slammed into the ocean below, unleashing a deafening explosion and throwing up a titanic wave.
At that same moment, the light from the Tequila Wolf bridges slowly faded, their purpose seemingly fulfilled.
Meanwhile, in the East Blue…
During the time Imu was reclaiming their power, the great demonic figure had stood motionless. This brief pause allowed a heartbroken Rocks to break away from his difficult opponent and launch himself at the one responsible, Saint Garling, with unrestrained fury.
A single slash, imbued with the combined power of Rocks and Blackbeard, shot straight toward Garling.
In an instant, the sky was filled with streaks of black and red lightning as the heavens themselves seemed to warp. A powerful wave of energy flooded the entire area, the sheer force of the clashing Conqueror's Haki causing space itself to tremble.
Seeing this, Garling's eyes narrowed in shock.
"This is bad!" he cried out inwardly, hastily raising his own blade to meet the attack.
BANG!
As their swords collided, countless tendrils of black and red lightning hissed through the air. The intense energy wave burst outward, sweeping across the landscape in a massive shockwave. The world fell silent for a moment.
But how could Garling possibly be a match for Rocks at his full strength? Even if this wasn't Rocks empowered by the full might of the Davy Clan, Garling had been defeated in an instant back at God Valley.
Therefore, he lasted only a single second before Rocks's blade sent him flying.
Blood sprayed from Garling's mouth.
One strike.
Just one strike!
Garling was severely wounded.
As he flew backward, his eyes were filled with terror. Glancing at the motionless demonic giant, Garling suspected Imu had abandoned him. A wave of powerlessness washed over him, and he fell into deep despair.
Rocks leaped into the air, launching himself toward Garling like a cannonball. Today, he would ensure Garling never left this place alive.
But Imu had not truly abandoned Garling.
A powerful force descended from the heavens, and the onlookers saw a beam of light shoot directly into the body of the great demon.
"Looks like I won't be able to kill you today," Rocks thought, his voice a low growl in his mind. He took one last, deep look at Garling, who had been blasted into the sea. "You're lucky." He knew what this meant: Imu had returned, their power fully restored.
He was no longer a match for them.
Only one path remained for Rocks: retreat, immediately!
"Black Hole!"
With a soft cry, a vast area of darkness spread across the sea's surface, acting like a swamp that began to suck in, compress, and store the massive Thriller Bark. This was the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, but in Rocks's hands, its scale was dozens of times greater than when Blackbeard used it. His "Black Hole" was capable of swallowing the entire island-ship.
At the same time, the undead fighting on the Tequila Wolf bridge leaped frantically into the darkness.
Soon, the dark energy contracted, pulsed once, and vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind on the ocean surface. Seeing this, Rocks shot into the air, flying toward the horizon at incredible speed. He was moving thousands of meters in a single breath.
It all happened in an instant.
BOOM!
The demon opened its scarlet eyes and swung a gigantic hand at Rocks's afterimage.
The powerful wave of energy slammed into the sea, vaporizing countless tons of water into a thick mist. The force was so immense that it pushed back the ocean for nearly a thousand meters, creating towering walls of water on either side.
The power was terrifying.
But Imu was a step too late. Rocks's figure had already vanished. Their attack had hit nothing but empty air.
"Rocks, don't let me find you. I'll be coming for you soon," Imu's eyes appeared in the demon's gaze as they made a silent vow.
"What in the world happened? Why was the Tequila Wolf bridge completed so much faster than planned?"
Having already fled a great distance, Rocks wore an incredibly grim expression. He couldn't understand how the bridge had been only a few meters from completion when he arrived. He was furious. His plan, decades in the making, had failed just like that.
"Where did it go wrong?" Rocks hovered in the air, clenching his fists and questioning the empty space around him.
But no one could answer him. The appearance of Ryuuto was like an unpredictable stone thrown into the river of fate, constantly stirring the currents of the future. All their predictions had become uncertain.
Most people in the world felt the drastic change…
But Shanks and Dragon had the most intense reactions, for they understood more about the world than anyone else.
"This feels similar to a glimpse of the future I once saw! It seemed that after this, Imu became even stronger."
Aboard his ship near an unnamed island, Shanks stood at the prow, observing the situation on shore as he spoke softly.
"Imu can get even stronger?" asked Benn Beckman, who stood beside him.
Next to Beckman was Smoothie. The Sweet Commander had brazenly approached the Red Force alone and was promptly captured by one of Beckman's small pistols. Now, she dared not move a muscle, her hands raised in surrender.
Meanwhile, Luffy was locked in a furious battle with Katakuri. This was a fight meant only for the two of them.
As for Big Mom, she was being held back by Sengoku. Setting aside his political stance, Sengoku's affection for Garp was genuine. Seeing his old friend's grandson in a pinch, he couldn't help but step in.
The other executives of the Red Hair Pirates were busy fending off Perospero and the others. This whole affair was a trial specifically for Luffy. But so far, Shanks was disappointed.
"The Tequila Wolf bridge is complete?" Dragon whispered on Egghead, his expression turning grave.
"Tequila Wolf bridge?" Ryuuto, standing beside him, asked, the name sounding both strange and familiar.
"Imu's eight-hundred-year plan has succeeded," Dragon said, his voice laced with worry. "I can't imagine how terrifying they'll be the next time we meet."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Ryuuto.
"The future is up to you."
As if remembering something, Dragon left Ryuuto with those meaningful words and walked back into the research lab.
"What was all that about?" Ryuuto wondered. "And what was that pillar of light? It looked like it came from the Red Line. Was that Imu's doing?" Although he was baffled by Dragon's words, his control over lightning allowed him to sense the location where the anomaly had occurred.
"Oh well, I'll find out eventually."
Shaking his head, Ryuuto also headed into the lab.
"If I've timed it right, it should be today," he murmured, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Inside the lab, in a room filled with futuristic technology, two giant Seraphim, each five or six meters tall, lay quietly inside massive pods.
One was a combination of Ryuuto and Hancock. She strongly resembled Hancock, with her iconic face and hair. The other was a combination of Ryuuto and Nami. He resembled Ryuuto about seventy or eighty percent, with golden lightning patterns etched onto his skin that occasionally flickered with electrical energy.
"Ryuuto, this is our child!" Hancock said, unable to contain her joy. Her face was radiant with happiness. Seeing this new life emerge filled her with an indescribable emotion.
"Ryuuto, I'm so happy!" she exclaimed, looking deep into his eyes.
Nami, on the other hand, walked up curiously, examining the two Seraphim derived from them. The feeling of a blood connection was strange and wonderful to her as well.
The two Seraphim had clearly inherited different abilities. The Little Empress, created from Ryuuto and Hancock, had inherited more of their physical constitution, possessing immense strength and innate Conqueror's Haki. Little Ryuuto, created from Ryuuto and Nami, had primarily inherited Ryuuto's lightning powers, possessing a natural affinity for controlling thunder.
"Vegapunk, they should be waking up soon, right?" Ryuuto asked the scientist beside him.
"Yes, yes, they're ready!" Vegapunk nodded and glanced at Shaka.
At Shaka's command, the liquid in the massive pods began to drain. Mechanical arms then gently lowered the pods to the floor. With a hiss of rising vapor, the pods opened, revealing the two new lifeforms inside.
"Ryuuto, I'm giving you three the highest level of control authority over these Seraphim," Vegapunk said, noticing the three of them staring intently at the Little Empress and Little Ryuuto.
"Right. Thank you so much," Ryuuto replied, snapping out of his trance.
Vegapunk just shook his head, indicating it was a small matter. For someone with his skills, cloning two mature Seraphim was almost trivial.
The Little Empress and Little Ryuuto opened their eyes and looked at the three people before them. An immediate sense of intimacy filled them as they felt the deep blood connection they shared with Ryuuto, Hancock, and Nami.
"This is amazing!" Nami said, already reaching out to gently poke Little Ryuuto's cheek.
"We really have to believe in the power of science," Ryuuto said softly. He then took a Devil Fruit from his waist.
This had been his plan from the beginning. The Little Empress would eat this Devil Fruit. Combined with the natural talents of the Lunarian race, her powerful Conqueror's Haki, and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, she would instantly possess the strength of a Yonko Commander.