On the Pluton replica warship.
Brook stared toward Mary Geoise, ambition burning in his eyes.
Imu had taken a brutal hit from whatever lurked beyond the Gate of Hell. If that old immortal did not have some ultimate healing ability like Crocus's Healing Fruit, then Brook still had an excellent chance to finish him off while he was down.
But Brook could not ignore another possibility.
Mary Geoise was the Holy Land. If there was any place in the world that might hide bizarre healing Devil Fruits capable of restoring Imu quickly, it was there.
This raid would be a test of fate.
If Imu died, then there would be no stage left for "protagonists" like Straw Hat Luffy in this world.
And even if Imu survived and recovered, the chessboard had already been flipped. Uranus was destroyed, the World Government coalition had been crushed, and the future would no longer be something Imu could hold in a single hand.
At worst, Brook could grind the World Government down slowly.
Most of the next era's monsters were already under his banner.
A long war favored him. A war of attrition was practically his specialty.
"Brother Brook," Hiruba said, narrowing his eyes, "I did not expect the navy to split away from the Five Elders. Now they're rushing back to support Mary Geoise. Why don't we wipe out Kong, Sengoku, Garp, and the rest first?"
Brook went quiet.
If he could kill Imu, he could take the navy for himself later, fold it into the Universal Government like a blade reclaimed from an old enemy.
But if he failed to kill Imu in time, the navy's return would become fuel for Imu's counterattack.
Still, turning back now carried its own risk.
If Brook chose to encircle and crush the navy first, would that give Imu enough time to recover?
One option was dangerous but decisive, strike Mary Geoise now and end the world order in one battle.
The other option was stable and methodical, cut down the navy, then slowly strangle Imu and the Five Elders later.
Brook laid out his thoughts and looked to the five Hell Kings, wanting their judgment.
In truth, Brook wanted the safer path. Deal with the navy first, then take his time killing Imu.
But Shiki and Kaido were already chomping at the bit. They could not wait to burn Mary Geoise to the ground and drag Imu out by the throat.
So Brook could only move with them.
If they could not win, they still had a way out. Retreat, grow stronger, and wait a few more years.
Perhaps by then, a gifted young man from the era of Straw Hat Luffy would rise, and the world's luck would shift again.
In the end, Brook made his call.
"Then we go to Mary Geoise."
He forced himself to believe Imu did not have some miraculous healing trump card, but the feeling in his gut disagreed. Imu had dared to let Kong and the others separate. That meant he had backups. Tricks. Insurance.
If Brook's crew were not so confident, he would have turned back and captured Kong and Sengoku first, cleanly and safely.
But now, they would be reckless.
Just once.
"Hahahaha! That's it!" Shiki threw his head back and howled. "Go, go, go! Today, Mary Geoise becomes rubble!"
"Speed up!" Kaido bellowed. "Leave Kong and the rest in the dust and beat Imu into the ground before they can catch up!"
With the storm driven by Kirin Lion, and with Satan and Quetzalcoatl pushing the wind and weather to their limit, the Pluton warship roared forward, a steel beast racing straight for the Holy Land.
…
On the main battlefield.
Rear Admiral Tokikake was overwhelmed by Douglas Bullet's brute force, then caught by Doflamingo's control at the worst possible moment. Within minutes, the rear admiral was crippled and taken alive.
Gion, locked in battle against the Immortal Phoenix, Hela, felt the pressure spike as the second generation of Hell closed in from every direction. Panic cracked her defense. The opening was instant, and Hel seized it. Gion was wounded and captured.
The numbers of the war told the rest of the story.
Of the World Government coalition's five hundred thousand member state troops, about one hundred thousand were killed or wounded. Only four hundred thousand escaped, and that was after the Hell Pirates had specifically ordered the member state troops to be spared.
Of the five hundred thousand elite navy troops, one hundred eighty thousand were killed or wounded, seventy thousand were captured, and only about two hundred fifty thousand escaped. Nearly half the navy force was gone, because the Hell Pirates targeted them without mercy.
The New World pirates did not escape unscathed either. They suffered nearly one hundred thousand casualties under the elite navy's desperate counterattack. Powerful races, advanced weapons, and brutal battlefield Devil Fruit abilities turned the sea into a slaughterhouse.
Wrecked warships drifted like broken ribs across the waves. Corpses floated between them, mute proof of how cruel this war had been.
"The World Government has failed!"
The news spread across the world through live broadcasts, Den Den Mushi feeds, and Moore Thomas's coverage. Panic rippled through member states.
In the West Sea, the Flower Kingdom exhaled in relief.
They had won their bet.
Now they would become the core nation of the Universal Government, enjoying benefits and privileges beyond their rivals. As reward, they received a trade quota for a batch of seastone warships, and with it, the ability to cross the Calm Belt.
The West Sea and North Sea member states finally made their choice. They would step into the Universal Government's embrace.
As for the East Sea and South Sea, separated by the Red Line, their kings hesitated, weighing whether to remain loyal to the World Government or seek an opening to defect.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Army struck Marineford.
When Dragon saw the Universal Government's victory, his fist clenched until it shook.
At last, the Celestial Dragons' rule had been shaken.
"Former Chief of Staff Weimark," Dragon said as storm winds wrapped the battlefield, "the World Government has been defeated. Join the Universal Government."
A white haired, exhausted old commander glared back, refusing to bend. He had been Kukulkan's old partner, a veteran who should have been buried long ago, yet still stood in uniform.
"I am not retired," Weimark rasped. "I will devote my life to the navy."
He jabbed a finger toward Dragon.
"Don't try to deceive everyone here! The World Government has ancient weapons like Uranus. How could they possibly lose?"
Dragon's lips curled.
"Oh, right," he said. "The New World navy's Den Den Mushi were all scrapped. No wonder your information is crawling. Even the News Coo can't beat a Den Den signal."
Then Dragon raised his hand.
The Revolutionary Army surged.
Morley of the Western Army, Crow of the Northern Army, and Kuma of the Southern Army struck together, while Dragon himself commanded the Eastern Army. Their movement was still young compared to the navy's centuries of structure, but Dragon had absolute confidence.
Marineford was undermanned. Weimark was old. And Dragon was already an admiral level monster.
The siege ended with crushing force.
Dragon defeated Weimark and captured Marineford, but he did not indulge in pointless slaughter. No burning. No looting for pleasure.
They captured the officers, seized the data library and material warehouses, then evacuated the navy headquarters.
Those captives would not simply rot in chains.
Dragon could sell them to the Universal Government, retrain them, reshape them, and turn them into the new navy.
…
Holy Land, Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle.
A crowd in extravagant garments surrounded a man whose chest had been pierced clean through. They worked frantically, pressing treatment after treatment into his body.
Strange lights scattered across the chamber, magical and unnatural.
It was clear.
Mary Geoise did have healing Devil Fruit abilities.
--------------
"Body restored, complete!"
"The immortality surgery is complete, my master. In my next life, I still wish to serve you!"
An old doctor with white hair finished a miraculous operation. Imu's body recovered fully, his complexion returning to a healthy glow, but the doctor collapsed on the spot and died.
Far away, on a distant island in the North Sea, a red heart shaped Devil Fruit slowly began to take form.
"Doctor Ken is gone," Warcury said in a grave voice, "but Lord Imu's third anti aging surgery succeeded. He has returned to his best condition!"
To begin with, Imu did not truly need the ultimate surgery, the immortality surgery. With his strength, even aging could be resisted.
But the aftereffects of that strike from the God of Hell were too horrific. Even with the awakened, mythical beast type God of Destruction form, his recovery had stalled.
That was why Imu had kept this "divine servant," the user of the Ope Ope no Mi, close for decades.
The man had grown old. Even with anti aging surgery, this would be his final contribution before death. He existed for contingencies, a shield against disaster.
No one expected that contingency would be used today.
"Lord Imu's soul has not fully recovered yet," Saturn ordered coldly. "All of you, come in. Heal him with everything you have."
Several powerful servants stepped forward at once.
"Inject life. Restore him to peak condition!"
"Soul repair…"
They were all healing type Paramecia users, trained from childhood by the World Government. Their only faith was Imu.
After relentless treatment, and with Imu's own terrifying recovery, the last remnants of the God of Hell's damage were finally suppressed.
"Damn you, Brook!" Imu surged up from the bed, levitating in midair as he roared. "Damn that God of Hell!"
For the first time in a very long time, he had felt powerless.
That presence beyond the Gate of Hell had exceeded everything he understood. If Brook's Gate had been even slightly stronger, that thing might have crossed over and killed him outright.
Imu still could not accept it.
The Underworld should not exist.
Yet it did, and it carried a god that dwarfed him.
"Keep going," Imu said, eyes like knives as he glanced at the dead doctor. "Retrieve the Ope Ope no Mi."
He always had excellent doctors hold that fruit. It was not only for his own insurance, but also a reward he could bestow on truly exceptional subordinates when the time came.
"Yes, my lord," Peter answered, bowing deeply.
In addition to CP's full search, he would offer a bounty of five billion. A worldwide reward for the Surgery Fruit.
"Lord Imu," Warcury said, cold sweat beading at his temple, "the coalition may have already lost. Most of the kingdom elites have likely fled. The allied nations are beginning to… make their own plans."
The World Government's prestige had been shattered. Many member states were already wavering, weighing the World Government against the Universal Government.
Imu did not flinch.
"He's here," Imu said, staring into empty space as if the air itself had whispered to him. "You four go out and meet them first. I'll find an opening and kill Brook in secret."
Here, in Mary Geoise, he was still invincible.
As long as Brook did not open the Gate of Hell again, Imu had every chance to kill him. Brook believed he was still gravely injured and was coming to finish the job.
Fine.
Let Brook believe it.
The World Government's foundation was deeper than Brook could imagine. The ultimate meaning of the Ope Ope no Mi and the Life related fruits was proof enough.
And without the New World's so called "Mother Nature" suppressing him, Mary Geoise was where Imu could unleash his strongest power.
One careless moment from Brook would be enough. Imu would erase him at terrifying speed.
"They arrived this fast?" Mars said, voice tight with panic. "Kong and Sengoku went to the main battlefield to gather the remnants. With our current strength, can we really hold them?"
"You only need to stall," Imu said flatly. "Hold with everything you have, and make them believe I'm still crippled."
"Yes, my lord," the four elders replied, forced into obedience.
In their hearts, they were already measuring how long they could survive under the Hell Pirates' siege. If Imu failed to find an opening, they would be beaten until the walls of the Holy Land turned to dust.
They rushed out to block the raid, trying to create a moment for Imu.
They did not expect Brook to deny them even that.
"Yohoho! Shiki, hit it with a smile!"
Brook did not dare charge straight into the World Government's headquarters. He had no idea how badly Imu was hurt.
But Brook refused to believe that smashing Mary Geoise would not drag Imu out.
"Hahaha! I've wanted to do this forever!" Shiki roared with laughter. "Today, I finally get my chance!"
Shiki lifted a nearby island chunk and several pirate ships that had drifted near the Red Line, then slammed them down toward the Holy Land like falling execution blades.
Fujitora raised his hand, sending purple rings of gravity into the sky. Moments later, massive meteorites, tails blazing, screamed down from above.
The Seraphim with the Gravity Fruit could not pull meteorites from deep space yet. His Observation Haki was not enough, and his Devil Fruit was not awakened.
But Fujitora's meteors were real, and they were coming.
The four elders had barely stepped outside when the first wave of natural disaster level attacks arrived. They launched forward, doing everything they could to destroy the falling island and shatter the meteorites before they hit the city.
Mary Geoise erupted into chaos.
Celestial Dragons, those who still remained, fled in terror, protected by CP agents and slave gladiators.
Mary Geoise was supposed to be the safest place in the world.
Yet pirates were attacking it like a festival.
What was wrong with this era?
"Worororo! How could we miss the fun of destroying Mary Geoise!"
Kaido roared, transforming into a flaming dragon stretching for kilometers. His maw opened wide.
"Flame Torch, Super Dragon Breath!"
A massive, blazing shockwave erupted toward the Holy Land.
Around him, the rest of the crew unleashed their strongest long range attacks, turning the sky into a storm of death.
"Quetzalcoatl Hurricane!"
"Weather: World Destroying Thunderstorm!"
"Thunder and Fire Combined Technique: Lightning Cannon!"
"Gigavolt Super Railgun!"
"Extreme Space Shock!"
"Two Sword Style: Peach Garden Eight Dragon Slash!"
"Momo, Hundredfold Pluton Cannon!"
"Divine Avoidance!"
"Pluton, Random Barrage!"
"Ghost Army, World Destroying Torrent!"
"Black Hole, Endless Liberation!"
…
The four elders and a single God's Knight froze.
They went numb.
How were they supposed to withstand an entire era's worth of monsters firing at once?
If this were anywhere else, they would have fled long ago.
But this was Mary Geoise.
Their home.
Their base.
And now, it was being erased from the map.
.....
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