"Izou!"
"Marco!"
On the shoreline, Izou, captain of the Sixteenth Division who had been guarding the territory, arrived with a fleet and saw Marco busy at work there.
"Good thing we made it in time. We were actually monitoring the nearby seas. The old man told us to bring the ships over and cooperate with you to rescue people!"
"Yeah, save the chatter. Move it, get everyone from the village out of here!"
Izou nodded, quickly directing the fleet to come alongside the coast, leading the rescue personnel to immediately begin operations, transferring the injured villagers onto the ships.
"That Lord Shano… is he still on the island?"
Izou helped an old man onto the ship while asking in a low voice.
"Yes."
Marco wiped the sweat from his forehead, his gaze heavy as he looked toward the southernmost part of the island. "Lord Shano stopped Kizaru, and even helped us put out the fires… Right now, he's probably facing off with some dangerous bastard."
"Dangerous bastard?"
Izou was stunned. For that man who might be even stronger than the old man, there was actually something that made him feel danger?
"Yeah."
Marco said in a deep voice, "It seems to be the true ruler of the World Government. We don't know exactly who, but that aura… it's like a monster that crawled up from Hell, terrifying to the extreme."
The true ruler of the World Government?
Izou's heart tightened. He hesitated for a moment, then still grit his teeth and said:
"No matter what, we have to first secure the safety of the old man's people from this hometown. As for the fight… we'll leave it to that lord!"
Marco took a deep breath: "You're right. At this level of battle, staying here will only get in the way. Do our own part!"
The two of them stopped talking.
They led the rescue team to speed up, sending the last batch of villagers onto the ships.
"Hurry! Hoist the sails!"
Izou shouted loudly, "Leave these waters!"
The fleet quickly pulled away from the harbor, heading for the distant sea.
Izou and Marco stood side by side at the stern, staring back anxiously.
They saw that above Sphinx Island, the originally overcast rain clouds had now been stained a bizarre purple-black.
The heavy cloud layer was slowly whirling like a vortex, and from time to time blood‑red Inazuma exploded through the clouds, dyeing the entire sea area as if the apocalypse had descended.
No matter how this battle ended, Sphinx was probably doomed to vanish.
And the old man… would no longer have a homeland.
Lord Shano was fighting here in the old man's stead in order to save him, to save the people of this land!
This favor, the Whitebeard Pirates would never forget for the rest of their lives!
But… can he really survive in front of that kind of monster?
Hang in there, Lord Shano!
In the distance, the black mist in the center of the island grew thicker and thicker, and a faint deafening rumble echoed out. That… was the entire island shrinking back and trembling!
.........
Rumble rumble rumble!
Imu was treated almost exactly like Kizaru—her body smashed through several mountains and finally crashed deep into a rocky cliff, smoke billowing, rubble flying.
And Shano had no intention of stopping; his figure flickered as he chased right after!
"You just lived a few hundred extra years and really started thinking you're gods!"
He bared his teeth in a vicious grin as black‑and‑red Inazuma once again entwined around his fist. "I wanna see just how many punches your so‑called gods can take from me!"
Boom!
Another punch slammed out, brutally!
However.
Thud!
A pitch‑black Demon's claw suddenly thrust out of the smoke, clamping down on Shano's fist in a death grip!
Black mist surged as Imu's figure slowly stood up; her originally caved‑in yet exquisite features actually restored to perfection in that brief instant.
Only a pair of spiral blood‑red pupils remained, staring at Shano with icy indifference.
"My lord…"
From outside the cavern came Kizaru's cautious voice. "It might not be the best timing, but as your subordinate I still have to ask—do you need me to help out in this fight…"
"Stand down, Borsalino."
Imu's voice was still cold and utterly emotionless. "Go to the main battlefield; that's probably where you belong. There should be no outsiders here anymore."
"Understood, my lord."
Kizaru seemed to let out a huge sigh of relief. His voice vanished, and his presence rapidly faded into the distance—clearly he'd already turned into light and fled as a laser.
Only then did Imu speak to Shano, her tone faint:
"Mortal, you are indeed more interesting than Imu expected. It seems this descent to the Lower Realm was destined not to be boring."
The next moment.
Boom!
A terrifying black‑purple energy erupted abruptly from within Imu's body!
Shano felt an immense force surging straight at him and instinctively crossed his arms to block.
But he was still blasted back several hundred meters, plowing two deep trenches across the ground along the way.
"Oh? You recovered pretty fast. Even excessive Supreme King still can't suppress you?"
Instead of being shocked, Shano was delighted. He shook his numb arms and laughed heartily:
"But that's what makes it fun, little Imu sis. If this vessel of yours was only good for being used as a sandbag like those old geezers, that'd be way too boring!"
Imu… little sis?
What kind of address was that?
"Vulgar creature."
Imu shook her head, raising the Trident in her right hand. Black‑purple energy frenziedly gathered upon it, and the entire sky seemed to be dyed dark.
"Die."
With that single word, the Trident suddenly thrust forward!
Buzz!
A black‑purple energy beam over a hundred meters in diameter instantly tore the land apart, rushing straight at Shano with the power to annihilate everything!
"Good, bring it on!"
Shano laughed wildly, neither dodging nor flinching. His right fist clenched once more as Supreme King Haki frantically condensed and entwined around it, then he suddenly fired off a punch!