Roy's body was now tightly wrapped in bandages, much like the woman's, leaving only his eyes exposed.
"What exactly is your ability?"
"A lowly piece of trash like you isn't worthy of asking me questions. You should be kneeling when you speak to me," she replied coldly.
"I was hoping for a more civil conversation, but it seems you're not interested. Even if it were Imu herself, she couldn't make me kneel, let alone you."
His gaze locked onto her, his previously faint smirk vanishing. His eyelids lowered slightly, revealing only half of his pupils.
At that moment, Roy's gaze carried an even colder indifference than hers.
When their eyes met, she suddenly felt as if her throat had been seized, and breathing became difficult.
For an instant, she saw something in him that reminded her of Imu. Her heart pounded like thunder.
"You're afraid, aren't you?"
Roy slowly reached out and grabbed her by the throat.
Whoosh!
A figure dashed in, 'Shanks', who had been knocked away earlier, returned completely unscathed.
"Just as I thought. With the Vinsmoke family's technology, combined with the lineage factor of an Emperor, they've created a combat monster." Roy put the woman in front of him as a shield.
But 'Shanks' showed no concern for his ally. Without hesitation, he swung his blade down.
Shng
The woman in Roy's grasp was sliced in half, the slash continuing toward him.
Clang!
Roy opened his palm and caught the sharp blade barehanded. The two locked eyes.
Suddenly, 'Shanks' jerked his head forward, aiming to smash his forehead against Roy's.
Naturally, Roy didn't back down and slammed his head forward as well. But their heads didn't collide; an invisible layer of Conqueror's Haki clashed between them.
Boom!
A gunshot rang out nearby. Roy glanced over and saw a bullet speeding toward him, fired by Saturn.
"Hmph!"
In that moment, Conqueror's Haki burst from Roy and spread from beneath his feet. The shockwave hit the bullet, altering its path. It veered off and flew straight toward 'Shanks'.
'Shanks' didn't expect a bullet to suddenly turn and fly at him.
"Damn!"
He had no time to react. The bullet struck him before he could evade.
Saturn showed no remorse. The other Five Elders attacked again.
In their view, the God's Knights Order couldn't handle Roy, so they had to do it themselves.
Five monstrous figures attacked again. But judging by the situation, Roy knew things wouldn't go much further. He had already achieved his goal; he had seen Imu.
At first, Roy thought Imu was Queen Lily, since she had disappeared and the letters were sent under the name Nefertari D. Lily, essentially turning herself into an enemy of the Celestial Dragons.
That "D" could very well have been the name of Joy Boy's pirate crew.
Just like the Straw Hat, maybe the "D" was once a symbol like a straw hat.
After 800 years, people forgot the meaning of the name, but the name lived on.
Since it wasn't Queen Lily, it had to be someone else. Whether or not she was the same Imu from 800 years ago was uncertain.
What was certain, she had lived a long time.
The Five Elders couldn't be killed, not by Roy, at least. They were already dead in a sense, merely surviving as illusions. How do you kill a shadow?
They were like projections in a movie, continuing to exist by being cast on the world. Only by blocking out their "light" and plunging them into total darkness could they be ended.
Their fates lay in Imu's hands. Their lifespans depended entirely on her. Their loyalty to her was absolute.
As for Imu's power, Roy wasn't that impressed. She could be taken down.
The problem was all the things surrounding her. Without clearing those out, there was no way to even get close to Imu. But once Roy could get close, he had a way to kill her.
The 800 years of Celestial Dragon heritage were terrifying. The world's resources had all been funneled to them.
Who knows how many powerful Devil Fruits had fallen into their hands?
If they wanted to, they could probably wipe out all Devil Fruits.
A fruit worth 100 million Berries, they could just feed it to slaves.
That's how the Boa Hancock sisters got their powers. The Mero-Mero Fruit was insanely powerful.
But to the Celestial Dragons, it was just for amusement. They didn't care about wasting Devil Fruits.
Any especially powerful or unique fruit would obviously be kept for themselves.
"Fighting you all is meaningless. You can't be killed. I'll have to bet everything on that thing." Roy decided to retreat.
The Five Elders weren't letting him go easily, chasing him to the edge of the Red Line.
"Farewell."
Roy pushed off with his legs and jumped off.
But Saint Mars still wouldn't give up and chased him down.
"So annoying."
Roy pulled out a gun and aimed at him.
Bang!
Saint Mars wasn't stupid. He tried to dodge instinctively, but still had a wing blown off and had to stop.
Roy kept falling. He took out a Den Den Mushi.
purupuru puru
"Big bro!"
"Find your own way down, I'll wait for you in Sabaody."
"Got it, big bro!"
He hung up and closed his eyes, reviewing everything that had just happened.
Everything seemed fine. He thought back to that Devil Fruit; it might still surprise him.
Back in Mary Geoise, Sabo had infiltrated the escaping group. They'd made it to the lower levels, but the Marines were there, making escape difficult for the slaves.
Luckily, Fujitora's intervention stopped Green Bull from slaughtering them. Using his Push-Push Fruit, Morley created a tunnel to help the slaves escape.
The Celestial Dragon guards and Marines joined the hunt, extinguishing fires, rescuing Celestial Dragons, and chasing slaves.
No one knew how, despite all that power in Mary Geoise, it had still been so thoroughly wrecked.
Miro stayed by Dalton's side, helping him leave the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, in the lawless Sabaody Archipelago, in a certain tavern, everyone was deathly quiet, not daring to speak.
"Ten more bowls of noodles."
A burly man, having just finished a bowl in two bites, called to the server.
"Y-yes, sir!" The waiter rushed into the back.
Everyone had recognized him, Atmos, division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, known as the "Buffalo."
"What's a Whitebeard pirate doing here?"
"Didn't the news just say they started a war with Big Mom?"
Atmos had heard them but didn't care. He was used to it.
Suddenly, he stood up with a serious expression, startling the patrons.
"Rooaaar!"
A massive dragon burst out of the tavern and soared into the sky.
..
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu