The next day, the Hell Pirates' aerial bombing fleet arrived right on schedule.
Imu took one look at the sky, and knew this could not continue.
If he let Brook keep bleeding the coalition like this, the million strong force would rot before it ever reached the Hell Pirates' main body. If he chased the bombers forever, Uranus would be drained bit by bit.
So Imu made a choice.
He ordered every Marine unit and allied force to raze every island in sight, burn everything they could not carry, and cripple the front of the New World. Then, without hesitation, he demanded they push straight toward the center.
At the same time, Imu gathered every true powerhouse, mounted Uranus, and personally led the vanguard toward the Hell Pirates' main force.
When Hiruba saw that the World Government's top fighters were moving, Brook's expression hardened the instant he received the report.
Nansha Island sat right on the boundary between the front and the middle sections of the New World. Brook had expected Imu to hesitate at that line.
Yet Imu came anyway.
Does he really believe he can kill me under the suppression of the New World's curse?
Brook slowly stood.
"Everyone, prepare for a decisive battle," he said, voice steady. "If you can't hold, retreat to the back of the New World. Today, we test Imu's real strength."
Uranus was too fast. Once it committed, there was no such thing as a clean retreat anymore.
Still, this battlefield had one advantage. From Nansha Island, withdrawing deeper into the middle of the New World was possible in a short time. It was the last line where Brook could fight, then pull away, without losing everything.
And there was another chance.
Uranus would arrive first. The main coalition would follow behind.
If they moved fast enough, they might be able to isolate Imu for a moment and beat him down with numbers before the million elite army caught up.
It felt like Imu was confident. Even without the ocean of elites at his back, he believed he could kill Brook, or at least pin him in place.
Shiki's grin stretched wide.
"Ha! I've waited for this day!"
Brook's gaze flicked to Antonio and Moore thomas.
"While we fight Imu, you two move immediately," Brook ordered. "Use the News Coo network. The moment Imu or the Five Elders fall, the moment Uranus takes damage, spread it across the world. Break the coalition's spirit before their main force even understands what happened."
Brook was not going to waste the gap in time and information.
He assigned opponents in rapid fire, laid out fallback plans, and issued evacuation orders. This island was about to become a battlefield of monsters. Anyone without the strength to survive it would leave Nansha immediately. The second generation of Hell would follow the main force and intercept the coalition.
The Revolutionary Army also acted.
They launched a probing strike on Marineford. When they confirmed there were no true masters defending it, they escalated into a full assault. Once Marineford fell, they would march straight to Mary Geoise and purge the Celestial Dragons.
That was Brook's order to Dragon.
Kill every last Celestial Dragon in Mary Geoise by any means necessary. Do not give Uranus a second chance to awaken.
…
Above Nansha Island, the moment the Hell Pirates saw Uranus' enormous black shadow, the three Pluton replica ships opened fire without restraint.
Their main guns roared.
Uranus answered with a crushing energy wave, blasting those attacks aside and tearing open the sky like it was paper.
After that brief exchange, a tall figure stepped into Brook's sight for the first time.
Imu.
Brook's first reaction was simple, and honest.
Disappointment.
So he's not the three eyed beauty the author drew.
Imu's eyes were narrow and sharp, pupils ringed in red. His face was thin, expression carved from eternal indifference. Ruthlessness sat on him like a crown.
And the truth landed like a slap.
Imu was a man.
Imu's gaze chilled.
"Why," he asked, voice flat, "do you look disappointed?"
Brook shrugged, tone light, almost playful.
"That's not it. I just thought you were a woman."
For half a heartbeat, the world went quiet.
Then Brook felt it, a wave of murderous intent so vast it made his bones itch.
He moved on instinct, vanishing at high speed as a destructive blast carved through the air where he had stood.
Imu's rage erupted.
Brook had imagined him as a woman, spoken it aloud, and treated the King of the World like a joke.
Unforgivable.
And as Imu's anger flared, the thought of Brook's women, his allies, his growing power, only deepened that disgust.
He had intended to speak.
Now there was nothing to say.
Brook would die.
The Five Elders surged forward in an instant, killing intent boiling. No one insulted Imu and lived.
Behind them, the World Government's monsters moved.
Kong stepped in, and Sengoku followed, both determined to erase the pirates who had dared to challenge the throne.
The battlefield split, matchups snapping into place like steel teeth closing.
Roger found Garp.
Rayleigh met Zephyr.
To an outsider it looked strange, almost mismatched, but anyone who understood Garp's real strength knew the truth. Garp was stronger than Zephyr, and even stronger than Sengoku.
Kaido, unable to seize a Five Elder as his prey, slammed into Kong instead, a brutal collision of fists and flesh.
Oden, as Yamata no Orochi, faced Sengoku, demon against Buddha. Even if Oden was slightly behind, the winner would not be decided in days, maybe not even nights.
Shiki avoided Mars, the one rumored to erase abilities. He snatched Saturn instead, refusing to gamble with his own power.
Mars was intercepted by Redfield.
Even without the Rumble Rumble Fruit, Redfield was still a savage who could defeat Kong alone.
Warcury was dragged away by Newgate.
Brook would not allow Peter, to get his hands on the Tremor Tremor Fruit. That power was too important, too dangerous to lose.
So Peter was forced into Linlin's path.
He targeted her Soul Soul Fruit, but there were not enough fresh lives on this battlefield for him to harvest freely. His gain was limited.
Still, the Five Elders were infamous for their three types of Haki, and their strange abilities were built for endurance, survival, and unnatural lifespan.
And then Brook met Imu head on.
The sky above them darkened.
Brook's shadowy power swallowed Imu's destructive wave, the darkness drinking it down as if it were nothing more than fuel.
Imu's eyes narrowed.
"You… took Rocks' Dark Dark Fruit," he said, caution slipping into his voice. "A dual fruit user."
Brook laughed, voice bright, bone chilling.
"Yohoho! To fight you, I squeezed every drop out of my life."
He gripped the sacred relic, the Seven Star Demon Sword. Cold black flames rolled off his body. Ghostly generals circled him like vultures, like wandering reapers.
Brook's tone turned serious.
"Come to think of it, the Five Elders' powers are tied to desire and sin. Jealousy erases ability. Greed steals it. Pride ignores attacks. Gluttony devours power."
His gaze sharpened as he studied Imu's aura, the weight behind every motion.
"And you…"
Brook could feel it clearly now.
A destructive force that wanted to erase everything.
"Your power should be destruction, right? I can taste it in every strike you throw."
Brook's mind flashed through the remaining pieces.
Warcury's fury seemed to amplify his attack power without end.
Those bizarre abilities could even stretch life itself, feeding longevity through desire.
But two sins remained unaccounted for.
Laziness.
Lust.
Where are those powers? And why haven't they surfaced in the World Government's hands?
The wind over Nansha Island changed.
The decisive battle had begun.
--------------
Imu felt it the moment Brook's aura expanded, the abyssal pull of the Dark Dark Fruit, the chilling underworld presence of the Underworld Fruit, both coexisting in one body.
For the first time in a long, long time, something close to excitement flickered in Imu's eyes.
Greed followed right behind it.
"So it's real…," Imu murmured. "A man who ate two Devil Fruits."
Devil Fruits were born from desire, a violation of Mother Nature itself. Taking one was already rebellion. Taking two was spitting on the world's laws twice.
Why would Mother Nature allow a monster like this to exist?
Is there a curse? A backlash? A flaw?
Imu wanted it all. The secret, the body, the method.
As the King of the World, he should own that power too. More abilities, more authority, more control.
Long ago, even Michael, the Knights of God's leader, had coveted the Word Fruit. He called it a power that belonged to God. Yet Michael had already eaten one Devil Fruit and never dared gamble on a second.
Now the Word Fruit was back in Imu's grasp.
And now he had proof that a second fruit could be taken.
How could he not be thrilled?
"Brook," Imu said, voice calm but heavy with desire, "tell me the secret of a dual fruit user. I can make you a god like me. We can rule the world together."
Imu's tone held no shame. He had recruited the twenty kings once. He could recruit Brook too.
He despised Joy Boy, that preaching fool who spoke of freedom and equality as if the world could run on wishes. The world needed order. It needed rulers, chains, laws, and a single hand on the wheel.
Brook's jaw lifted.
"Sure," he said easily. "But first, you tell me something."
Imu's pupils tightened.
Brook agreed?
Too fast.
Too smooth.
Imu did not believe him for a second.
"Heh," Imu said, amusement sliding into his voice like a blade. "I know you're lying. Still, I'll show you sincerity. Consider your answer carefully."
His gaze sharpened.
"Otherwise, I'll pay a small price, and even two Devil Fruits won't save your life."
Brook smiled, polite on the outside, tense on the inside.
"Then please, senior," he said. "Enlighten me."
Imu began as if lecturing a child.
"Devil Fruits come from the desires of living things. You've already dug into that much."
His voice remained even.
"But the classifications you pirates cling to were compiled by my subordinates. And I hid the true names of many abilities."
Brook's eyes narrowed slightly.
Imu continued.
"Do you really think the Dark Dark Fruit is a simple Logia?"
He raised one hand, palm open, as if weighing the world.
"Abilities that control authority, that rule over the laws of the world, belong to the domain of mythical beasts and gods."
A pause.
"I heard your youngest son is named Nika. So you know that name."
His stare cut deeper.
"Then tell me, what name does the Nika Fruit carry in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia today?"
Brook did not answer.
Imu smiled, thin and cold.
"My power is the same kind as Nika's. A Mythical Zoan, a god form."
His voice grew sharper, as if each word was a weapon.
"It combines the physique of a Zoan, the outward influence and granting force of a Paramecia, and the right to command nature itself."
He let that sink in, then spoke again.
"My ability comes from the God of Destruction of an ancient civilization. No one alive remembers that name now."
Brook's breathing stayed steady.
Imu's tone turned almost lazy.
"If you kill me, the fruit's name dies with me. The ability vanishes into history, because I will not allow anyone to inherit it, even in death."
His eyes narrowed.
"I won't tell you the name today. But if you give me the secret of two fruits, perhaps I'll consider it."
Then his gaze shifted, darker.
"Even the Dark Dark Fruit, I nearly erased its name entirely. I didn't expect it to be reborn so soon."
A low contempt entered his voice.
"It seems that brat Rocks told someone it existed."
Imu's eyes turned distant, as if staring across centuries.
"And I have spent years erasing the Sun God Nika. As long as no one remembers the name, it becomes harder and harder for that fruit to return."
He spoke like a man describing a simple fact of nature.
Brook's grin widened, but the laughter inside it was colder than ice.
"Yohoho… thank you for clearing up my confusion, senior."
Then Brook tilted his head, still wearing that polite tone, like he was genuinely curious.
"So my Revive Fruit might be a Mythical Zoan too?"
Inside, Brook was screaming.
So it really is you. You old immortal snake. You renamed Nika into something weak and harmless.
And the Dark Dark Fruit too.
Blackbeard, you idiot. It's not a Logia at all. What kind of Logia can't even become an element?
The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia was written by the enemy.
Even if you memorize every page, you still only learn what Imu wants you to learn.
Brook's eyes sharpened like a drawn blade.
Imu continued, voice steady.
"You're not wrong. The Revive Fruit is not a simple Paramecia. Its power comes from an ancient deity worshiped by our ancestors."
His gaze turned thoughtful.
"It's even older than my God of Destruction."
Imu's tone carried faint irritation, like a man offended by an unsolved riddle.
"I didn't expect anyone still remembered that god's existence, not after all these years."
He spoke quietly, almost to himself.
"I learned the Revive Fruit's truth by digging through ultra ancient records, even oracle bones."
His eyes narrowed again.
"Previous users never brought out its real strength. Only you did."
A pause.
Then a faint, cold curiosity.
"So tell me, Brook…"
"Which forgotten corner of this world remembers these gods?"
.....
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