Kaido didn't know why he charged forward like that; he had always believed that a pirate's true nature should be to be despicable, shameless, and unscrupulous.
But he also didn't understand why, upon seeing Linlin fall, his mind was filled with memories of their first meeting—that woman who confidently declared she would become the Pirate King.
His eyes were a little sore. Kaido, in his dragon-human form, gripped his hachisai-kai with both hands, and thunder surged.
"Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua!!!"
"Beast Kaido? Too light."
Her palm covered the hachisai-kai, and the spikes infused with Conquerors Haki Infusion were effortlessly smoothed away by Imu.
Kaido saw clearly this time: it was a tail! A tail as sharp as an arrowhead pierced his body, suppressing both his Devil Fruit and Haki.
Freeing one hand to tightly grip the tail, Kaido raised his weapon... "The brilliantly shining Royal Sword!"
"sword of promised victory!"
Crimson and golden sword energy simultaneously slashed towards Imu, but she remained unhurried.
First, she used her tail to cut Kaido's body in half, then extended a finger to touch the intersection point of the two sword energies, casually annihilating them.
"A Great Swordsman? At this age, truly Nero's daughter. But you're too much of a hindrance right now; just take a good, long sleep."
Imu's extreme speed made her appear like a clone, simultaneously appearing behind both Mordred and Artoria. With a wave of her hand, they both fainted.
Two female God's Knights members placed them on a long bench that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
"Next..."
Imu turned her body, but before she could finish speaking, a fist struck her face. The fist passed through her head but didn't break it.
Her face became incredibly soft; the imprint of the fist pierced through from one side and protruded from the other, finally sending her flying with a powerful blow.
Imu, however, wasn't angry. Instead, she showed a sinister smile: "Joy Boy..."
Luffy, in Gear Five, didn't answer, but instead grinned widely.
"Kamisari!!"
"Fire Fist!!"
"Darkness Tunnel!!"
"Elbaf Spear!!"
...Other powerhouses also didn't miss this opening, launching a saturated attack on Imu.
A massive smoke screen rose from the ground, yet the law of 'no damage with smoke' held true. When the smoke cleared, Imu had not a single scratch on her body.
"Hey, hey, hey! What is this? Isn't it too unfair?"
"These aren't just some nobodies here; a full-power strike didn't even leave a scratch?"
"Gurararara, how can we possibly defeat a monster like this?"
Teach was in his prime, the combined abilities of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Dark-Dark Fruit making him unstoppable. But encountering Imu made him feel no different from a street dog.
The battle between Luffy and Imu quickly turned into a one-sided annihilation. Luffy, using Nika's abilities, darted around wildly. His illogical movements even made it difficult for Imu to pin him down for a while.
The others were also held back by the God's Knights and the Gorosei. Facing this old adversary, Imu lost interest in playing with the others.
No matter how fast Luffy ran, his Gear Five couldn't be maintained for long. Soon, he transformed into his 'old man' appearance and was pinned to the ground by Imu.
"Joy Boy, the battle of many years is finally coming to an end," Imu said with a victor's smile, looking down at Luffy who was sprawled on the ground.
"Now comes the end. The world will once again sink into the sea. This time, the history of the victors will be passed down."
"The gods destroy the world with the sea and open up a new world at the highest point of the world, the Red Line. It's a pity you are destined not to see it."
Imu retracted her tail. The battered Luffy could only lie on the ground, gasping for breath, unable even to reply to Imu.
"Hmph~" Imu sneered, then turned to scold the God's Knights and the Gorosei: "You're too slow! You haven't even dealt with a few rats yet?"
"Apologies, Lord Imu!"
"I'll finish them right away..."
Everyone heard Imu's displeasure and replied with trepidation.
"Never mind. Let it be. The seawater will purify everything next."
Imu's brow relaxed. These people still had some use later, so keeping them for now was fine.
"Next is Vegapunk's prophesied great earthquake... Hahahahaha!"
Amidst Imu's wild laughter, the earth began to shake, mountains trembled, and seawater surged madly.
The great earthquake began... Blood dripped from Shanks' chest, his expression more serious than ever before.
The sword in Shamirrock's hand, standing opposite him, transformed into a three-headed hellhound, snarling at Shanks.
Shamirrock gave one last warning: "Shanks, if you give up your pirate games now and return to the family, you can still save your life."
"As long as you kill those lowly crewmates, I will plead with Lord Imu for you. The world is about to be destroyed; they are merely dying sooner or later."
Wano Country was collapsing and crumbling, the earth covered in cracks, magma erupting from volcanoes, and the sky filled with dark clouds, lightning, and thunder, like the end of the world.
"I refuse. A pirate must carve a bloody path through the storms." Shanks held his sword with one hand, a handsome smile on his face: "The trials and tribulations of the sea are perfectly normal for a pirate."
"Is that so? Have you really been influenced too deeply by the trash of the lower world?"
Shamirrock wasn't surprised; Shanks' answer was within his expectations: "Then you shall be buried with this broken old era."
"Kamisari!"
Shanks' merciless attack was his response; sword energy transformed into a crimson griffin that collided with the three-headed hellhound.
The aftershocks of the battle accelerated Wano Country's sinking significantly. The land disintegrated quickly, and soon black seawater rushed onto the remaining land.
"Black seawater?" Imu's pupils constricted, sensing something amiss. She quickly ascended, only to find that all the seawater as far as her eyes could see had turned black at some point.
"What happened? What is going on?" Imu suddenly felt an emptiness inside, and a great unease, like the seawater, engulfed her.
"Ah! Ah ah ah!"
A massive scream attracted her gaze. She looked down towards the source of the sound and saw Saint Nashorou, one of the Gorosei, being swallowed by black sludge.
"Is that... Nero??" Imu vaguely sensed something was wrong; Nicuss's disappearance seemed to have another hidden reason.
"Gurararara! Gurarara... Gurarararara..." Opposite Saint Nashorou was Teach, whose appearance was also very abnormal at this moment.
Not only was his body covered in sludge, his crimson eyes were lifeless, and drool flowed from the corners of his mouth as he cackled. Teach looked like a dangerous psychopath.
What exactly happened in the sea?
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