The West Sea and the North Sea, especially the regions closest to the New World, were the first to erupt.
With seastone warships now cutting straight across the Calm Belt, that so called natural barrier had become a joke. Kingdoms that once trembled at the thought of pirates were suddenly able to move fleets safely, and a flood of member nations and unaffiliated countries rushed to apply for core status under the Universal Government.
There was one simple reason.
Joining the Universal Government cost only half of what the World Government demanded as Heavenly Tribute.
It was cheaper, safer, and backed by the strongest force in the New World.
To the World Government, it was not just competition, it was theft of the foundation itself.
Imu's fury boiled over.
Brook's move was too clean, too cruel, and too effective. It was not a pirate raid. It was a political execution. Imu no longer cared to play chess.
He decided to handle Brook the same way he had once handled the Sun God Nika.
Erase him before he became unstoppable.
The World Government declared war on the Universal Government without hesitation, turning the conflict into open, total warfare. To make the world remember fear, they sacrificed Celestial Dragons and fed Uranus, then sent the ancient weapon across the seas like a blade.
In the North Sea and the West Sea, several kingdoms were wiped out in a flash, destroyed with terrifying speed, the message carved into the ocean itself.
Uranus was the World Government's king.
More terrifying than any seastone warship.
Choose your side carefully.
Brook and the Hell Pirates were not amused.
They had recruited nations openly, offering terms and protection. The World Government responded by murdering its own member states to keep them obedient.
That insult became fuel.
Brook seized the moment, declared full scale war, summoned every force under his banner, and formally entered a wartime state against the World Government.
At the same time, Monkey D Dragon, the son of the Navy's hero, openly rebelled. He broke from the Marines and founded the Revolutionary Army in full view of the world, launching revolutions across multiple East Sea and South Sea member nations.
A third power stepped onto history's stage.
Dragon's betrayal put Garp in an impossible position. He requested again and again to personally capture Dragon, only to be rejected every time. The World Government kept him at Marine Headquarters, forbidding him to leave without orders.
Then the Seven Warlords cracked.
Morley, one of the Shichibukai, attacked another, Kurt Wagner. Morley failed to finish him, and Kurt Wagner escaped by teleportation, but not cleanly. He was badly injured and forced to hide.
After that, Morley openly defected from the Shichibukai, joined Dragon's Revolutionary Army, and became the commander of its Western Army.
In a single stroke, the Shichibukai lost two seats.
The World Government and the Navy were shaken to the bone. They had always been the ones planting spies, dismantling crews, cutting enemies apart from within.
Now they had been stabbed in the back, in public.
With Moore Thomas' World Economic News Agency pouring gasoline on every rumor and every scandal, the World Government's prestige fell off a cliff.
…
Somewhere in the New World.
More than a dozen islands drifted through the sky toward the Red Line, pulled along like a moving continent. Above them flew the Hell Pirates' Pluton fleet, a storm of steel and seastone shadowing the sea.
"Jihahaha! I have waited for this moment!" Shiki roared, eyes blazing. "I have waited countless years! I have wanted to smash Mary Geoise for a long time!"
Kaido's grin was just as feral, the smile of a war beast that finally smelled blood.
Redfield stared toward the Red Line with a quiet hatred that felt colder than steel.
It was time for revenge.
"Fujitora!" Brook laughed, voice sharp with excitement he could not fully hide. "This time, pull down dozens of meteorites onto Mary Geoise!"
Even with Brook trying to suppress the arrogance the Dark Dark Fruit pushed into him, the change still leaked through. He could not keep it fully caged.
"Captain Brook," Roger asked, his tone steady despite the storm building around them, "who handles Uranus?"
Roger and Rayleigh stood on the fleet as well. This was no skirmish. This was a true war, a fight to the death.
Brook had brought everything, Vegapunk's weapons, Seraphim, the entire weight of his empire.
"Do not worry," Brook said, smiling. "The king is fast, but we have a secret weapon."
With spacecraft technology from the first island in the universe and the moon's tech, the Hell Pirates had developed weapons meant specifically for Uranus.
The real danger was not the ancient weapon.
It was the unknown.
They still did not know what Imu himself could do.
Even as a dual fruit user, Brook feared a king whose power could force the Five Elders to kneel.
This war was not only an assault, it was a test. Brook wanted to drag Imu's abilities into the light.
Far below, a giant elephant approached the Red Line at a slow, unstoppable pace. If Poseidon had already been born, the Sea Kings would have drowned Marineford by now.
The Celestial Dragons lived high atop the Red Line for a reason. Even they feared revenge from Poseidon who could command super giant Sea Kings.
Roger had not expected the Hell Pirates to go to war so soon. But his illness had reached its final stretch. Without the pure gold ring, he would not survive the year.
That urgency made even the former Roger Pirates eager.
If they won, Roger would gain immortality.
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Celestial Dragons screamed and cursed as they were gathered and culled. Whole branches were wiped out, sacrificed in waves. Only the main line of each family was spared.
For the Celestial Dragons, it was the end of the world.
Imu watched it without expression.
"I did not expect to be forced to this point by that little pirate," Imu said quietly. "Even the Giant Kingdom, Joyboy, and Poseidon together could not push me here."
He turned his gaze to the newly formed Knights of God. They had been selected from CP0, and the quality disgusted him.
Too weak.
Too cheap.
Maybe he should have risked everything to kill Brook from the beginning.
Eight hundred years of comfort had made him cautious, then timid. He did not even dare enter the second half of the New World anymore, afraid the pressure there would weaken him and let pirates kill him.
He was no longer the fearless, calculating leader of the Twenty Kings from eight centuries ago.
Comfort and arrogance.
The greatest enemies.
Imu felt a flicker of regret.
He should never have allowed the Hell Pirates to grow.
He had thought they were a minor nuisance before Nika's return, nothing more. Yet in barely a dozen years, Brook had become a force more terrifying than Joyboy.
Still, Imu understood one thing clearly.
If he personally marched into the New World to fight Brook, the battle would not be the same as fighting from Mary Geoise. The difference was like two worlds.
So he waited.
He waited for Brook to come.
As long as Imu ruled from Mary Geoise, the Red Line was a fortress no one could break. Here, he might even crush the enemy cleanly.
If he went out, if he left his throne and entered the New World, he might truly die to Brook's blade.
The New World's oppression on him was growing more severe with every passing year.
Damn Mother Nature.
Balance?
There was no such thing.
Only rule.
Only power.
The strong held absolute authority. The humble and weak obeyed.
That was the truth.
And now, at last, the truth was about to be tested.
---------------
Chapter 686: Battlefield Transfer
The moment news spread that the Hell Pirates had launched a full scale offensive, the entire world held its breath. Everyone understood the same thing.
The result of this war would decide what the world looked like tomorrow.
Under Brook's orders, Dragon drove the Revolutionary Army into overdrive. Uprisings, coups, and riots erupted again and again across the East Sea and the South Sea, dragging the World Government's attention in every direction and, more importantly, cutting off its supply of fresh troops at the source.
"Captain Brook!! Top secret intelligence!!"
Antonio burst in, eyes bright with adrenaline.
"Imu has begun sacrificing large numbers of Celestial Dragons to power the Uranus!"
Antonio's tone was almost celebratory. This was proof their strategic pressure had landed cleanly. They had forced Imu to pay the price he hated most.
Sacrifice.
And once those Celestial Dragons were gone, they were gone. Even if Imu wanted a new batch, it would take years to raise them, and years more to make them usable.
Brook's grin widened.
"Yohoho! Perfect."
He turned, voice carrying through the command hall.
"Order the fleet to halt. We retreat to a nearby island and wait."
The commanders froze for a heartbeat.
Retreat?
Now?
Brook's smile sharpened as if he could already see the next move on the board.
"The moment Uranus demands sacrifices, today was inevitable. Sacrifice is irreversible, and irreversible things are the easiest to calculate."
If Imu had already slaughtered Celestial Dragons to charge Uranus, then the arrow was already nocked. It had to be fired.
Otherwise, all that sacrificial power would be wasted.
Brook stopping the advance had only one goal, force Imu to step into the New World and set the battlefield there.
Brook would not fight on Mary Geoise's doorstep if he could help it. Why would he throw away the biggest advantage the Hell Pirates possessed?
Home ground.
He had judged Imu long ago. The deeper into the New World you went, the stronger the suppression became, and the more it gnawed at Imu. It was almost impossible to lure Imu into the middle or rear seas.
But the front section?
The suppression there was lighter.
Light enough for Imu to gamble.
And in a clash between monsters, even a tiny handicap could be the difference between victory and a corpse.
A small gap became the price of life.
Even if Imu refused to come, Brook would not lose. He had already forced a sacrifice. He had already inflicted damage that could not be reversed.
Brook was not ashamed of his calculations.
He was afraid of Imu, and he considered that fear healthy.
This was a life and death war, the kind where your family died with you, where an entire bloodline could be erased in a single night. Brook had to walk step by step.
Now that Imu had burned Celestial Dragons to power Uranus, Brook had no intention of continuing toward Mary Geoise.
In short.
If you have the guts, come into the New World.
If not, then once Uranus ran out of sacrificial power, the Hell Pirates would launch the next round, and the next, until there were no Celestial Dragons left to feed the weapon and Uranus itself was destroyed.
Without Celestial Dragon sacrifices, Uranus should not be able to activate again.
Brook's arrogance had grown since taking the Dark Dark Fruit, but his mind was still dark, careful, and full of knives hidden behind smiles.
…
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Imu had been prepared for battle.
Then he received the report that the aggressive Hell Pirates had suddenly withdrawn, setting up camp on an island in the front section of the New World.
The news crushed his original plan like a boot on glass.
Imu stared at the fully charged Uranus, and felt Brook's malice like a hand around his throat.
"Brook…"
The name came out like a growl.
Imu admitted it.
He was angry.
But the Hell Pirates had already absorbed the Roger Pirates, and the Four Elders and Marine Headquarters could not handle that combined force. Imu had to act personally.
Worse, he no longer felt safe controlling Uranus alone from afar. The Barrier Fruit was still not recovered. Uranus was still vulnerable against Brook's soul based attacks.
If he wanted Uranus to operate at its maximum, then this time he would have to personally join the battle and crush Brook himself.
Brook was trying to use New World suppression as a trap, to force a decisive battle in the front seas.
But was Imu truly afraid of that much suppression?
If Brook tried to drag him into the middle seas, Imu would never go. The suppression there was heavier, heavy enough to tilt the outcome.
Had Brook seen through him that clearly?
In truth, both sides had drawn a line.
Brook would not go to Mary Geoise, Imu's fortress.
Imu would not enter the middle or rear New World, where the pressure on him became dangerous.
It was a tug of war, shameless and surgical, each side trying to bait out the other's ultimate move without stepping into the killing zone first.
Imu's lips curled.
"Hmph. Interesting."
Then his eyes turned cold.
"Fine. Then we destroy the front of the New World instead. Mother Nature, if you have the guts, curse me completely. At worst, I will never enter the New World again."
Uranus was already ready.
So let it be war.
Even Joyboy and Poseidon had failed to stop him. Brook would not be the exception, not in his own mind.
Imu turned toward the Five Elders.
"Saturn."
His voice rang through the chamber.
"Gather all forces immediately. Enter the New World."
Saturn, stiffened.
"Yes, my lord."
But inside, confusion churned. They had built a net of defenses at Mary Geoise, endless firepower, a fortress that no fleet should be able to crack.
Now they were abandoning that advantage to chase Brook into the New World?
Was there something wrong with Uranus's storage, its energy function?
Even if sacrifices were irreversible, Uranus still had deterrence. If the Hell Pirates refused to attack Mary Geoise, then the World Government could simply hold position until another generation of Celestial Dragons was born and raised.
Saturn wanted to ask.
He did not dare.
He bowed and obeyed, ordering the World Government's spearhead into the New World.
Imu's logic was simple.
They were the rulers of the world. The Universal Government was openly stealing nations from them. If they did not strike back, then who was the king?
Now it was not the Hell Pirates trying to destroy the World Government.
It was the World Government moving to erase the Universal Government.
If Brook refused to attack Mary Geoise, then Imu would come and crush him.
Imu's confidence remained.
Let the Four Elders and Marine Headquarters hold back the Five Hell Kings and the Roger Pirates.
Imu would kill Brook himself.
Once Brook died, the Hell Pirates would splinter. Like great powers of the past, the commanders would fight for themselves, fracture, and collapse.
Then the World Government would rule again.
Of course, there was another possible ending.
Imu dies to Brook.
The World Government collapses.
And the Universal Government rises on its corpse, becoming the new ruler of the world
….
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With gratitude,
FanficLord03