At that moment, Lin Xuan looked at Imu and a meaningful smile played across his lips.
That smile sent a shiver down the spine of the ancient ruler, despite Imu's mind being currently suppressed by the will of the Devil Mother Tree. "What... what are you planning?" Imu stammered, his voice laced with a sudden, uncontrollable dread.
Lin Xuan didn't bother to answer. Instead, a brilliant, piercing light began to condense at the tip of his finger.
"I'll use you to test the lethality of this one," Lin Xuan murmured. As the words left his lips, the light erupted from his fingertip.
"Special Beam Cannon!"
A golden streak of light flashed across the sky. Before the possessed Imu could even react, the beam tore through the air and punched a clean hole through his chest.
"What kind of technique is this?" Imu's face contorted in shock and agony.
He heard Lin Xuan muttering to himself again, as if Imu were nothing more than a training dummy. "The techniques from the Dragon Ball world are certainly formidable, but if I tweak them a bit more, the power should scale even higher..."
Another orb of light began to coalesce in Lin Xuan's palm. He was ready for round two.
Imu was consumed by a towering rage. He had never imagined the situation would devolve into this—him being treated as a guinea pig for experimental moves. Yet, despite his fury, he was powerless to change the tide. Under Lin Xuan's relentless bombardment, the once-godlike Imu was forced into a pathetic, purely defensive stance. He couldn't find a single opening to strike back.
Rumble!
Thunderous explosions rolled across the sea, shaking the very foundations of the world as if the heavens themselves were collapsing.
Because of the vast distance, the crowds gathered at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise couldn't see the specifics of the exchange. However, the sheer shockwaves and the deafening roars of combat made their hearts tremble with every beat. They didn't need to see the fight to know that the clash was reaching a level of intensity beyond human comprehension.
Anxiety began to spread like a contagion through the ranks.
The Imu possessed by the Devil Mother Tree was not only stronger than before but also wielded the Ancient Weapon, Uranus. With the ability to command the very laws of nature, his power was terrifying.
Could Lin Xuan truly stand against such a monster?
Many faces were etched with worry. Some feared for Lin Xuan's life, while others feared the consequences of his failure. If Lin Xuan fell, there would be no one left to shield them from the Mother Tree's wrath.
Seeing the growing despair, Queen Otohime's clear, ethereal voice rang out, cutting through the tension. "Everyone! Worrying will achieve nothing now. Our only duty is to handle our own battles and ensure President Lin Xuan has no distractions behind him!"
Roger nodded, his gaze firm as he added, "The Queen is right. President Lin Xuan is a man of miracles. Have faith in him!"
Their words provided a modicum of comfort, though many eyes still flickered with unease.
Their own situation was far from ideal. The onslaught of the mindless Devil Fruit users was relentless. Many of the coalition's fighters were already heavily wounded, their combat effectiveness dwindling by the minute. Roger and Rayleigh led the defense, clashing repeatedly with the likes of Whitebeard and Kaido. They were locked in a stalemate, unable to subdue their possessed friends. At one point, Rayleigh had barely dodged a vertical cleave from Whitebeard's Murakumogiri that would have split him in two.
"You old bastard, I'm putting this on your tab!" Rayleigh cursed, panting. "You'd better buy me the finest ale in the world after this, or I'll never let you hear the end of it!"
Despite his grumbling, his movements were precise. He pivoted on his heel and sent a powerful kick into the stomach of a charging Eustass Kid, sending the younger pirate flying back.
Boom!
The massive walls of Mary Geoise had already crumbled during the initial chaos. Facing the tide of puppet-warriors, the survivors were forced to fight a retreating battle, slowly being pushed into the heart of the city.
The eight-hundred-year-old ancient capital was being reduced to rubble. Most of the grandiose architecture was in ruins, and the Celestial Dragons—who usually looked down upon the world with disdain—had long since fled like rats into the deepest bunkers.
Standing on the sidelines, the soldiers of the World Government remained frozen, watching the carnage with conflicted eyes.
"Commander-in-Chief, are we still... are we still supposed to stop them?" Vice Admiral Momonga asked, looking toward Kong.
Before Kong could find the words to answer, Garp, standing nearby, erupted in a roar of fury.
"Stop them? Stop them with what, you damn fool?!"
Garp's face was a mask of burning rage. His son, his grandson, his best friends, his colleagues, and his subordinates—everyone he cared about was being puppeted by that tree, stripped of their reason and forced to fight like animals. How could he remain calm?
He wasn't the only one. Even Kong stared at the devastation with a furrowed brow, his heart heavy with a sense of suffocating helplessness.
The truth was, they didn't know what to do anymore. Now that the true, dark purpose behind the founding of the World Government had been laid bare, the very foundation of their "Justice" had shattered. Was this the government they had dedicated their lives to protecting? Was this the order they were meant to uphold?
For most, the conflict resulted in a paralyzed neutrality. They wouldn't help the pirates, but they could no longer bring themselves to fight for the status quo.
Garp, seeing Kong's hesitation, lost the last of his patience. "Still playing the brooding leader, Kong? I've had enough of this! To hell with being a Vice Admiral!"
With a violent motion, Garp ripped off his "Justice" coat and hurled it into the dirt. Without a second glance, he charged straight into the fray, his target clear: Luffy.
"Luffy! I'm your damn grandfather! Wake the hell up!"
"Fist of Love!"
Garp roared as he wound up a punch, throwing it with absolutely no intention of holding back.
BOOM!
Luffy, caught in his mindless bloodlust, didn't even have time to dodge. Garp's Haki-infused fist slammed squarely into the boy's head. The sheer force of the blow was staggering; Luffy was flattened instantly, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness. Nearby, Nami and the others stared in stunned silence.
Garp let out a savage grin and immediately pivoted, charging toward Ace.
Seeing Garp finally break, Kong's expression shifted through a dozen emotions before settling into a grim resolve. He bared his teeth and barked an order to the remaining troops:
"All units! Move out! Help them subdue the Devil Fruit users!"
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T/N:
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