Warcury lay on the ground, momentarily incapacitated. Saturn lunged forward, aiming a vicious kick at Roy, who sidestepped and raised a pistol to the elder's head.
Bang!
A single shot blew apart Saturn's body, leaving only eight legs behind. Roy stepped on his legs and charged forward.
Mars lunged at him, his massive claws swiping toward Roy. Roy caught one claw and twisted it, breaking it clean.
He acknowledged that the Five Elders were all very strong, but they had a fatal flaw.
They were simply too old. Decades of inaction had dulled their instincts.
After knocking down three of the Five Elders, Roy realized he couldn't stay any longer. He needed to leave, he could sense new presence approaching.
"Idiot, hurry up and recover your strength!" Roy rushed to Sabo's side and kicked away the massive sandworn, Peter.
Then he used his gun to stop Nusjuro, watching as Sabo's body slowly recover. Roy grabbed King Cobra.
"Mr. Roy, leave me. Don't worry about me," Cobra said.
"You staying alive is a greater threat to them. As long as you live, that tought will haunt them," Roy replied.
"No… Mr. Roy, please give a message to Vivi. The Nefertari family also carries the Will of D. I now understand the path Alabasta must take. Tell Vivi that she must…"
Squelch!
A black spike suddenly emerged from the ground and pierced through Cobra.
"What?! Impossible!"
Roy's eyes widened in disbelief.
"No, this is an illusion."
Roy released his Conqueror's Haki, and as expected, his surroundings were distorted. The Cobra he had just grabbed was fake; the real Cobra was still a distance away.
The Five Elders had fully recovered. The ones Roy thought he had taken down were all fine, smiling ominously at him.
"It's all an illusion," Roy muttered.
If these people were truly part of a dream-like realm, then it made sense how they'd lived for so long.
"Mr. Roy, take… take Vivi with you," Cobra pleaded.
"Let's go."
Roy grabbed Sabo from the ground and abandoned Cobra, charging out.
Countless black spikes surged toward him, but Roy broke through under the onslaught.
The Five Elders, furious, chased after him, five monstrous creatures rampaging inside Pangaea Castle.
Back in the social plaza, the kings were already terrified by the Revolutionary Army's attack. Now, seeing these five monsters fighting, they were utterly horrified.
"Isn't this the Holy Land, Mariejois? Why are there so many monsters here?"
"The Revolutionary Army's already fighting the Admirals, what are these other monsters?"
"Who's that guy fighting them?"
"Wait, that's Roy, the Vice Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and one of the Four Emperors!"
"What's going on?! First the Revolutionary Army, now an Emperor attacks the Holy Land? Is nowhere safe anymore? What is the Navy even doing?!"
"Those monsters… are they from Mariejois? They're terrifying."
The kings fled in panic.
Meanwhile, Vivi ran into Wapol as he was escaping, and he helped her flee with him.
"Are you good to move yet?" Roy asked Sabo.
"Yeah… I've mostly recovered," Sabo replied.
"Idiot. I told you to take Cobra. You're just like your brother, acting on emotion. Foolish."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Roy… it was my fault. I shouldn't have…" Sabo said remorsefully.
"Enough. No more talking. Get out of here." Roy tossed Sabo into the air.
All the Five Elders' attention was still on Roy, none of them bothered chasing Sabo. Sabo spread his wings and escaped.
Roy continued distracting them, pulling them away.
Imu showed no intention of directly intervening. Within the Flower Room, the Chamber of Illusions, Roy had pieced together the truth, he had a rough grasp of Imu's abilities now.
The Five Elders represented five planets. They seemed to correspond with the ancient weapons. Luffy embodied the Sun God.
Naturally, there must also be a place for the moon, opposite to the sun.
If Roy's guess was right, then Blackbeard represents the endless darkness of space.
Roy kept running, chased relentlessly.
Elsewhere, Miro was gathering data from kings during the World Conference, and also getting close to some Celestial Dragons.
Without even realizing it, Miro had collected a massive amount of information. This was exactly why Roy brought him.
"So those are the Five Elders… terrifying. Only big brother could handle them," Miro said, watching from a distance. He figured it was time to escape.
The World Conference was coming to a close. Countries were beginning to leave Mary Geoise. Garp personally escorted King Neptune and his family.
"Mr. Garp, what's going on? It's one thing for the Revolutionary Army to attack Mary Geoise, but why would Roy, an Emperor, show up here too?" Neptune asked.
"How should I know? That guy's a pirate, but he's always hated the Celestial Dragons. Maybe he came just to deal with them," Garp replied.
"Lord Roy isn't a bad person!" Princess Shirahoshi said.
"Shirahoshi, be quiet," Fukaboshi said, pulling his sister back.
"Let me just get you out of here. Don't let this dark experience ruin your view of the surface world. The world isn't always like this," Garp said.
Having just left Fish-Man Island, they were already witnessing the world's darkest truths, the Celestial Dragons' cruelty far exceeded their worst nightmares.
The nations were mere playthings to them. The kings' terror in the face of the Celestial Dragons had shattered their illusions.
Back on the Red Line, Roy was still running with the Five Elders in hot pursuit. They seemed utterly insane with rage, determined to kill him.
He had no idea how Sabo had escaped, but right now, he was struggling to shake them off.
The God Knights had also begun to mobilize. Roy was forced to run toward the edge of a cliff.
"You're not getting away!"
Mars lunged again, but Roy shot his wings off.
Then Saturn froze Roy in place.
Nusjuro charged, slashing down at him with a blade.
Roy leaned back just in time, dodging the blow.
The solid Red Line cracked from the strike. Peter burst out of the ground and tried to bite Roy, but he dodged again.
But it was hard to defend from all directions. Warcury didn't attack directly; instead, he released a shockwave of Conqueror's Haki, blasting Roy.
From a distance, Roy spotted two people rapidly approaching.
The man in front wore a black cloak and wielded a Western-style sword. The moment he looked at Roy, Conqueror's Haki burst from him, black lightning-like arcs surging from his body.
Roy had seen this level of Haki before, on Red-Haired Shanks.
This man… was also Shanks, but a clone of him.
..
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu