"Lord Imu."
The words echoed together, sharp and unwavering.
The Four Elders, along with the clones of Rocks, Roger, and Golden Lion, all dropped to one knee before the figure who had emerged from the void behind them.
The world fell silent.
From the Grand Line to the New World, from hidden dens to noble halls, everyone watching the broadcast was stunned. Redfield stood still. Dragon's breath caught. Shanks clenched his fist. Mihawk's single eye narrowed. Even Hancock, usually unshaken, stood frozen.
No one had anticipated this.
The Five Elders, long regarded as the true authority of the world, were bowing.
To a woman.
There was no need to speak her name. Everyone watching already knew.
Imu.
A name once buried in whispers, now fully revealed. Imu, once head of the science division of the ancient Sun God Kingdom. Imu, the one who had ruled the world from the shadows for over eight hundred years. Imu, the one seated upon the vacant throne that was never meant to be occupied.
Her appearance was more than shocking. It changed everything.
Clad in a crimson gown with a golden crown resting above her long hair, she stood calm and radiant. Her beauty was disarming. Her presence is divine. Garp, Sengoku, and Momousagi had arrived, yet their thunder was already stolen.
Even Buggy found himself studying her with an intensity no one had ever seen from him before. His gaze was filled not with fear, but with curiosity. What kind of woman could control the world for eight centuries without ever being seen?
The others could only stare.
But Shanks stepped forward.
His Conqueror's Haki faded, condensed into silence, and then surged with sharper focus than ever before. He spoke without hesitation, his voice rising over the sacred lands of Mary Geoise.
"Even if he is just my captain's clone, I won't let you insult him."
Before anyone could react, Shanks drew his sword and slashed forward with burning resolve.
"Divine Departure."
A golden arc of pure Haki exploded from his blade, a move once used by Roger himself. It tore through the air, infused with both Armament and Conqueror's Haki, roaring toward the Five Elders like the wrath of the Pirate King reborn.
The clouds split. The wind screamed.
The Five Elders, still kneeling, were caught by surprise. Their eyes widened. For a moment, even they felt fear.
But then it happened.
Imu spoke.
"Kamunagi no Jikan."
Her voice was calm, without emotion, yet absolute.
In the next instant, space trembled. Time itself twisted. The golden slash froze in midair, suspended as if the world had forgotten how to move. Lightning flickered motionless. The air stilled. The very laws of nature bent to her will.
Such a devastating strike, if it had landed, even if all four of the Five Elders acted together, they would have been wounded. No doubt about it.
Blackbeard, watching from a safe distance, broke into a cold sweat. That sword technique... it wasn't something his Dark-Dark Fruit could swallow.
But doing that would mean taking the hit directly. He didn't have the monstrous body Whitebeard once had. His physique would shatter under the shockwave, and his Haki wasn't anywhere near Shanks' level.
After witnessing Shanks' sword swing, the entire battlefield understood why Buggy had remained calm even after Garp and Sengoku's arrival.
If all the top fighters under Buggy were on the same level as Shanks, then the Celestial Dragons' side wasn't guaranteed a win, even if they had the upper hand in numbers.
But now there was a woman among them, stronger than anyone else present. Even the Five Elders bowed to her.
That wasn't just political authority. That was absolute strength.
Especially now. The blow that Shanks had released in righteous fury was frozen in the air and caught in place.
"What...?"
Shanks' eyes widened, unable to believe it.
Even Buggy, floating high in the sky, narrowed his eyes. Was it time manipulation?
Time of Divine Calm...
Those words alone carried a crushing weight.
Redfield's smile disappeared. Dragon's fists clenched. Mihawk tilted his head, studying the frozen sword slash with sharp, silent interest.
"Shanks, you bastard!"
One of the Five Elders. Nusjuro finally snapped. He sprang to his feet, dodging the edge of the suspended sword wave, his face twisted in rage.
"You dare raise your blade at us? You're of the Figarland line! Your uncle died at the hands of that criminal Buggy, and yet you would still stand with him?"
The words hung in the air like a gunshot.
Silence followed only for a heartbeat.
Then came the chaos.
Across the world, from the East Blue to the New World, people watching the live broadcast gasped aloud.
"Wait, what did he just say?"
"No way... did the old guy just say Shanks is really a Celestial Dragon?! Then why would ever be a pirate?!"
"He said Figarland. That's one of the bloodlines that ruled the Holy Land!"
"The red hair... it makes sense now! There were red-haired nobles in the Figarland family!"
"This is insane! Shanks, a Celestial Dragon?! A member of the Four Emperors... part of them?"
Back on Pluton, Tezoro stood in stunned silence. His hands slowly tightened around the rail.
"It's true," he muttered, his voice grim. "I've seen nobles from the Figarland family before. Some of them had red hair. It matches."
Uta looked like she had been punched in the stomach. Her head shook wildly, her voice shaking with disbelief.
"No... no! That can't be true! Shanks isn't one of those monsters! He can't be!"
All around her, Buggy's crew stared in silence.
Robin, standing calmly at the edge of the battlefield, spoke in a level tone.
"Even if Shanks has the blood of Figarland, that doesn't mean he is one of them. I believe Buggy can see the difference."
"Hm! Robin is right," Uta nodded firmly beside her.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield below, Shanks stood still after hearing Nashou's words. For a moment, his expression froze. Then he raised a hand to his forehead and let out a booming laugh.
"Hahahaha!"
With each laugh, his Haki swelled, crashing outward like a storm surge. The pressure radiated toward the enemy ranks, utterly disregarding the number of top fighters standing opposite him.
"Tch."
Two of the Five Elders snorted coldly and responded with their own Conqueror's Haki. But it took both of them just to counterbalance Shanks alone, and even then, they were being forced back, their Haki suppressed under the weight of his will.
The world watching through the live broadcast gasped in collective disbelief.
"Shanks is holding back two of the Five Elders by himself?"
"His Haki... It's unreal!"
On the far side, Blackbeard's usual arrogance had dulled, his tone grave. "That guy's Haki is terrifying. If I had to face it now..."
Shiryu rolled his eyes. "Captain, you're the first man I've seen confess defeat before the fight."
"Shut it, you bastard!" Blackbeard's face darkened. "I was planning to wait until I fully awakened the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. But things escalated way too fast!"
He clenched a fist, grinding his teeth.
"Just one more year. One more year, and I would've surpassed even Pops... Damn it, Buggy. That freak of a clown moved too fast."
"You're still calling him Pops?" Shiryu muttered with his usual venom. "So you've really accepted him as your father, huh?"
The rest of the crew burst out laughing.
But this time, Blackbeard didn't argue. He shrugged and said with surprising frankness:
"If that fruit hadn't appeared... I might've never gone through with my plan. Staying as his son on the ship would've been enough."
Then he paused, casually flipping off Shiryu and the others.
"Way better than hanging around with you scumbags, that's for sure."
More laughter erupted among the Blackbeard Pirates.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Back on the main battlefield, the clash of Conqueror's Haki intensified. Nusjuro and Peter, who had been trying to hold back Shanks, finally stumbled several steps, their faces twisted with frustration.
Nusjuro growled, his voice sharp.
"Shanks! What are you even trying to do?! Don't you care about the Figarland family at all?"
"Don't insult me, Nusjuro," Shanks said coldly, cutting him off without hesitation.
He pointed his sword toward the clone of Gol D. Roger, No, toward the desecration that stood in his captain's image.
"The moment you brought out the captain's clone, this became a fight to the death."
His eyes sharpened, voice unwavering.
"My only family is the Roger Pirates and my crew. As for the Figarland family? They cast me into the sea when I was just a baby. From that moment on, they meant nothing to me."
Shanks took a step forward, his blade gleaming.
"And now you parade around a clone of Roger... and Rocks? Did you really think that wouldn't enrage me or Buggy?"
His voice lowered, deadly calm.
"If that was your plan, then you're even more pathetic than I thought."
"You've been up here in Mary Geoise too long. You've turned soft. Or worse, just like the rest of those brain-dead Celestial Dragons."
The insult cut deep.
The expressions of the Five Elders cracked. Rage flared behind their eyes, but the damage had already been done.
Shanks had shattered their composure.
Nasurjo narrowed his eyes, his fingers brushing the hilt of his sword. "You speak with the confidence of a man who has already lost everything. Or are you just bluffing, like a gambler playing with nothing left?"
Mars stepped forward, his voice cold and deliberate. "Shanks, are you begging for death? Perhaps I should return you to the soil where all arrogance ends."
Peter scoffed, a cruel smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Still pretending it didn't shake you? Then why did your rage nearly tear the sky in half?"
Shanks let out a cold chuckle, his eyes sharp.
"You're provoking the strongest warriors in the world before the real war even starts. Is that your idea of strategy?"
He took a step forward, Haki pulsing faintly from his frame.
"You might survive the wrath of one top-tier fighter. But two? Three? You seriously think you can handle that?"
Meanwhile, Garp and Sengoku stepped up beside the three cloned figures, Rocks D. Xebec, Gol D. Roger, and Golden Lion Shiki. The clones stood motionless, their eyes hollow and devoid of any will, resembling the emotionless Seraphim. Their expressions did not flicker. No spark of soul remained.
The two old Marines exchanged a heavy glance.
It was clear now. These were not resurrected legends, but engineered weapons. Most likely governed by a control system. If their programming followed the same structure as the Seraphim, then the highest authority rested with only one person.
Their eyes drifted upward to the silent figure still floating above the void.
Imu.
Both men felt a chill crawl down their spines. Before they arrived, their mission had been simple: prevent Buggy from toppling the World Government and throwing the world into chaos. That was their duty as Marines.
Even if Dragon, Garp's son, stood on the other side, duty demanded loyalty to order. It wouldn't be the first time bloodlines came second to justice.
But now, standing here, everything they thought they knew was being shaken.
They had not yet even spoken to Dragon. Not a single word was exchanged between father and son.
And then this happened.
The Five Elders, those cold, commanding tyrants who acted as if they stood above the world, who never hesitated to override a Fleet Admiral's authority, had knelt before a single woman.
In front of everyone.
Publicly.
Garp's jaw tightened.
Sengoku stood frozen, his expression dark.
It didn't matter how strong Imu was. The Elders were supposed to be the rulers of the world. If they bowed... then they weren't rulers at all.
They were puppets.
And the woman they bowed to? She hadn't even spoken yet. She hovered above them, calm and unbothered, her silence speaking louder than any speech.
Sengoku's mind raced. There was only one explanation.
Either this woman had a power so far beyond human understanding that even the Five Elders treated her like a deity, or...
She had always been in control.
If what Robin had revealed from the Poneglyphs was true, and if this woman was truly Nerona Imu, then she had ruled the world for over eight centuries.
Eight hundred years.
No lifespan should stretch that far. No human should carry power that long. Even someone of average talent, with that much time, would become something else entirely.
A god.
A drop of sweat slid down Sengoku's temple. His hands clenched tighter at his sides.
Was this what the world had been serving all along?
His gaze shifted to Buggy's alliance. Redfield, Dragon, Shanks, Hancock, and Hawkeye.
If it hadn't been for them, for Buggy especially, no one would have ever uncovered the truth behind the Void Century's shadows. No one would know that the real ruler of the world wasn't the Elders or the throne.
It was her.
The feeds of the live broadcast flickered in silence across the world, transmitted by Pluton. And everywhere across the seas, kingdoms, and revolution camps, the allied nations stared at the image of Imu.
The mood was grim.
For the first time since this war began, many began to wonder:
Were they even fighting humans anymore?
The World Government had long claimed to the nations of the world that the throne at the heart of Mary Geoise, known as the so-called Empty Throne, was meant to remain forever empty. It stood, they said, as a symbol of unity, a testament to the friendship and equality of the original twenty kings who founded the World Government.
No one was allowed to sit upon it. No single ruler could dominate the others.
But now, as the woman known as Imu appeared before the world and the Five Elders dropped to their knees before her without hesitation, the last shred of hope in the hearts of the allied nations crumbled.
Those seated in royal courts across the seas were no fools. Most of them had played the game of politics for years, some for generations. They understood immediately what this meant.
This woman, Imu, was not a symbol.
She was a sovereign.
And her very presence, the same presence that had effortlessly halted Shanks' divine strike with just a word, made it clear.
She did not represent the World Government's power. She was the power behind it.
A silent monarch who ruled from the shadows for centuries.
The supposed trump card of the World Government?
No. She was something far more terrifying.
Their final card. The one no one had ever been allowed to see.
While the entire world scrambled to make sense of her existence, while rulers whispered and speculated across kingdoms and seas, Buggy simply watched her with mild curiosity.
He didn't care much for who Imu was or what secrets she carried. Her name didn't matter. What mattered was simple.
There would be a fight.
And in that fight, either he would win and take everything, or lose and leave it all behind. Life, death, victory, defeat. It was all just a question of power now.
He had already prepared for this long before stepping foot on the Red Line.
His strength, fueled by the sheer volume of life energy he had absorbed, was something even he couldn't quantify anymore. It felt limitless. He could sense it, like a storm restrained inside his veins.
At the very least, he was certain: he had surpassed anything the world had ever seen.
Maybe even reached the apex of planetary strength.
But even so, that wasn't what stirred his curiosity the most.
His gaze shifted to the side.
Shanks stood quietly, sword at his side, eyes shadowed with something unspoken.
Buggy tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly in confusion.
"Shanks," he said. "What did you mean earlier?"
There was a pause.
Buggy's voice turned sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade.
"Shanks. That line you dropped earlier... about me having some kind of connection to Rocks. What the hell did you mean by that?"
---
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