Alabasta, the Royal Capital of Alubarna.
The entire capital had been reduced to ruins, with houses and buildings collapsed in every direction. Black smoke rose slowly from the stretches of debris, and the air was thick with the pungent, stinging scent of gunpowder.
Throughout the capital, the terrified screams and weeping of the people mingled with the angry roars of soldiers. Upon the streets piled high with broken walls and wreckage, blood flowed in streams—some severed limbs were even washed down to lower ground by the crimson rivers.
Below the steps of the Royal Palace, thousands of the Royal Army huddled together, guarding the passage behind them. The pale faces of every soldier were slick with sweat, their expressions twisted with tension and dread. Their knuckles turned white from the force of gripping their weapons.
Ahead of them, two demons with statures far exceeding that of ordinary men were slaughtering their way toward the palace. The comrades at the front of the formation stood no chance. Swords, flintlocks, and even cannonballs struck those two demons, but they failed to inflict any effective damage; not even their skin was nicked.
The strength of the enemy far surpassed that of these ordinary men. The two guardian deities of the Kingdom, the Devil Fruit users Chaka and Captain Pell, had already heroically sacrificed their lives. The former was killed by the giant-sized demon while leading a charge, while the latter was discovered by the two demons while scouting for intelligence at Katorea; he had dragged his heavily injured body back to the palace to report before eventually succumbing to his wounds.
"No matter what, we must stop them! Hold out until reinforcements arrive!"
Igaram, the Captain of the Guard, stood in the center of the army, shouting commands. His curly blonde hair was already stained red with blood, and his face was filled with grief. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people in the capital turned to charcoal by lightning and witnessing the sacrifice of thousands of Royal Army soldiers brought an indescribable pain to his heart.
The enemy was powerful, but they weren't completely without hope. Princess Vivi had already sent a distress signal to the Jinghai Army. If they could hold out until the Jinghai Army arrived, Fleet Admiral Luo Chen would surely be able to repel those two demons.
Inside the castle, King Cobra and Vivi were both tied up, struggling desperately. As members of the royal bloodline, they had originally intended to lead from the front and fight the two demons to the death. Instead, Igaram had ordered men to bind them inside the castle to prevent them from throwing their lives away.
Suddenly, Princess Vivi's body stiffened, and a white light began to emanate from her. Cobra was startled by his daughter's transformation and turned to look.
Rrip—
The ropes binding Vivi snapped instantly.
"You..." Cobra's heart shook. The look in his daughter's eyes had changed so much he didn't recognize her. It was like looking at a stranger.
At this moment, it felt as though another person entirely existed within Vivi's body.
"Vivi" stood up, glanced at Cobra, and smiled. "I'll be borrowing your daughter's body for a moment."
A burst of Haki erupted from her. The ropes coiled around Cobra shattered instantly.
"Vivi" leaped toward the ceiling, crashed through the roof of the castle, and appeared outside.
"Imu, Dark God... you have gone too far."
"Vivi's" voice remained the same, but her tone was entirely foreign. She stood atop the castle, her voice echoing outward.
On the ground, Steel Bone Kong and Loki, who were in the midst of slaughtering the Royal Army, paused their movements and looked up. Steel Bone Kong's demonic body began to swell, his muscles bulging until he was no smaller than the giant Loki. His head was encased in a pitch-black, elongated skull featuring two crimson eyes.
It was Imu. He had descended here using the body of Steel Bone Kong.
"Joy Boy..." Imu's cold voice rang out. His crimson eyes sized up "Vivi," and he suddenly sneered. "Do you think borrowing a mortal's body can stop Mu?"
Beside him, the body of the demon Loki also began to change. It turned pitch black, existing like a flowing liquid. In an instant, Loki transformed into a shadow monster without a fixed shape, drifting like a dark mist. The shadow monster had no mouth, yet a cold, raspy voice drifted from it.
"Nika, you really are persistent."
Imu and the Dark God had descended using Steel Bone Kong and Loki as their respective vessels. On the surface, they were confronting Joy Boy, but in reality, they were pinpointing the location of Monkey D. Luffy.
This massacre in Alabasta had been a ploy to force Joy Boy out from the start. Now, the plan was a success. The moment Joy Boy's will descended upon Vivi, Imu detected the source of that power. It was on an island in the first half of the Grand Line.
He glanced at the Dark God. "You go. Mu will stall him."
If Joy Boy had descended using the body of Monkey D. Luffy, Imu would truly fear him. After all, Luffy was the user of the Nika Fruit, and Joy Boy could perfectly exert the fruit's power. But Nefertari Vivi was just an ordinary woman. Even with Joy Boy possessing her, he could not exert much strength.
Having confirmed Monkey D. Luffy's location, he and the Dark God could move separately. He would remain in Alabasta to continue attacking civilians and keep Joy Boy occupied, while the Dark God would go to kill the Nika Fruit user, Monkey D. Luffy.
The black mist on Loki's surface quickly dissipated as he returned to his demonic form. Seeing this, Joy Boy immediately realized the enemy's objective. Monkey D. Luffy was likely in danger.
Anxiety flared within him, but he could not abandon the people of Alabasta. Joy Boy decisively manipulated Vivi to strike. She raised a palm and pressed it down toward the Imu-possessed Steel Bone Kong and the demon Loki.
Black and red bolts of Conqueror's Haki lightning spread through the void. The demon Loki let out a pained roar and fell to one knee, his demonic form showing signs of dissipating.
The Imu-possessed Steel Bone Kong was similarly suppressed. The pitch-black elongated skull trembled, seemingly unable to withstand the impact of the Conqueror's Haki.
Imu released a voice filled with killing intent: "If you push further, Mu will force these two to self-destruct. When that happens, the hundreds of thousands in the capital will be wiped from existence."
Joy Boy's expression shifted slightly. By using Nefertari Vivi's body, his power was greatly restricted. If he unleashed his Haki with full force, this girl's body would be unable to withstand the pressure and would collapse instantly. The consequence of this restricted power was that he could not fully suppress Imu's strength. If Imu chose to self-destruct, he would find it difficult to stop.
The situation fell into a stalemate. Imu confronted Joy Boy, in no hurry to strike. Instead, he waited for the Dark God to launch the surprise attack on Monkey D. Luffy.
Before long—in a matter of seconds—the look in "Vivi's" eyes changed. Joy Boy sensed that the Nika Fruit user of this era had encountered a crisis.
He now had to make a choice. Would he find a way to save the hundreds of thousands in the Alabasta Kingdom's capital, or would he withdraw his will to rescue Luffy?
Imu's aura remained calm; the advantage was his. It was Joy Boy who was anxious.
At that moment, in the sky above the northern side of the Alabasta Kingdom, space suddenly shattered, forming a pitch-black hole. An indigo-clothed figure descended from the black void, floating in the distant air.
Both Joy Boy and Imu sensed this person and quickly turned their heads to look.