Imu stepped back from the four completed portraits, the scent of oil paint hanging heavy in the cramped cabin.
Dragon's fierce revolutionary gaze, Blackbeard's predatory darkness, Shirahoshi's ethereal oceanic presence, and Luffy's boundless, chaotic energy stared back at him a silent council of the world's most dangerous players. He arranged them carefully against the Wall, the moonlight casting long shadows across their faces.
Gunko watched him, respectful but curious. "Imu sama, they are extraordinary portraits."
Imu did not answer immediately. He stood before the portraits, his dark cloak whipping in the North Blue wind.
The weight of the past 24 hours the annihilation of Germa, the revelation of his own artistic impulse pressed down, but beneath it, a deeper question had taken root.
'Why?' The thought echoed in the silence of his mind. 'Why is this world so chaotic?'
He stared out at the sea, its waves slapping against the hull like the hands of the damned. The answer began to form, cold and clear in his analytical mind.
'The first cause is obvious: the World Government itself.' His inner voice was a low, resonant whisper in the caverns of his consciousness.
'Not the ideal it claims to be justice, order, peace but the corrupted, bloated monstrosity it has become. An institution built on fear, maintained by lies, and perpetuated through systematic oppression. They preach unity while fostering division. They promise protection while demanding extortion. They claim moral authority while they themselves are exact opposite'
His fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around the hilt of his concealed blade. 'And at the heart of this rot... the Celestial Dragons.'
The mere thought sent a wave of cold fury through him. Not the Five Elders, who were merely instruments of policy, nor the Holy Knights, who were tools of enforcement. No. He meant the true parasites the so called "Gods" of Mariejois. The bloated, inbred descendants of the Twenty Kings who had founded this broken system. Entitled, cruel, and utterly disconnected from the world they claimed to rule.
'They consume the Huge percentage share of the World Government's resources' Imu seethed internally, his knuckles whitening. 'wealth,fame,power anything that catches their fleeting interest is diverted from the needs of the many to satisfy the whims of the few. They live in gilded cages, surrounded by luxury bought with the blood and suffering of countless nameless souls.'
But it wasn't just their greed that ignited his rage. It was their casual, breathtaking stupidity.
'They force-feed Devil Fruits to slave children for entertainment' Imu thought, the fury rising like a tidal wave within him, threatening to breach the carefully constructed dams of his self-control. 'They treat the most extraordinary powers in this world as party tricks. They pervert the very essence of what these fruits represent the manifestation of humanity's deepest desires and potential into a spectacle for their jaded amusement.'
'Those girls... Boa Hancock and her sisters,' he realized with a jolt, connecting the memory to the present. 'The Boa Sisters. The Snake Princess of Amazon Lily. Their trauma, their power, their hatred of men... all born from that moment. From a those fools's whim. The irony was bitter. The World Government had created its own most dangerous enemies through its own depravity.'
'These... parasites,' he thought, the words dripping with icy venom, 'are the root. They are the cancer at the heart of the World Government. Their existence, their privilege, their utter stupidity... it poisons everything. It breeds resentment. It fuels rebellion. It creates the very chaos they claim to despise.'
He took a slow, deep breath, forcing the rage back down, channeling it into the cold, diamond-hard resolve that had sustained him for centuries. The sea around the ship seemed to sense his turmoil, the waves growing slightly more agitated, slapping the hull with renewed force.
'And the Devil Fruits themselves,' he continued, his thoughts turning analytical once more, though the underlying fury still simmered. 'They are the second great catalyst of chaos. Not inherently evil, no. But they are amplifiers. They grant power that matches the user's deepest desires... and their deepest flaws.'
'To the greedy, they offer the means to accumulate more. To the cruel, they offer tools for torment. To the ambitious, they offer a path to dominance. To the desperate, they offer a chance to fight back.' He glanced at his portraits Dragon's revolutionary fire, Blackbeard's opportunism, Shirahoshi's hidden power, Luffy's chaotic freedom. They are mirrors, Mirrors reflecting the soul of the user. And in a world as broken and unjust as this one... those reflections are often monstrous.'
The portraits of Dragon, Blackbeard, Shirahoshi, and Luffy seemed to watch him, their painted eyes reflecting the moonlight and the weight of his thoughts.
'The World Government created the conditions,' Imu concluded, his inner voice cold as the deep ocean. ' And The Celestial Dragons embody its moral rot. And the Devil Fruits... they are the sparks that ignite the tinderbox. Together they create this endless chaotic storm.