Holy Land, Pangaea Castle, Flower Room.
The hall was majestic and vast, with high steps stretching upward, culminating in over a dozen weapons embedded in the ground.
Behind these weapons stood an eternal, supreme throne—the Empty Throne.
When the Gorosei arrived in this solemn hall, they immediately noticed that a pitch-black figure had appeared on the high Empty Throne at some point.
It was as if this figure, whose features were indiscernible, had long foreseen their arrival.
The Gorosei promptly knelt respectfully, proclaiming.
"We pay homage to Lord Imu!"
"Hmm, what is it?"
The figure on the Empty Throne sat casually, revealing only a pair of eyes resembling Rinnegan, exuding immense, tangible authority.
Their voice remained as ethereal as ever, seemingly composed of countless voices of men, women, young, and old blended together.
The robust elder Saturn hurriedly raised his hands above his head.
In his hands, he held a document."Lord Imu, here is the information regarding the Beast God Pirates. Please review it. The Marines have sent word that the Beast God Pirates intend to attack the Marine headquarters in the New World. We have come to seek your opinion."
As Saturn finished speaking, the documents in his hands mysteriously vanished, only to reappear in the hands of the enigmatic Imu.
Imu silently flipped through the documents.
He read at an astonishing speed, the only sound in the hall being the rustling of turning pages.
After a moment, Imu closed the documents and gave a slight nod.
"Hmm, I understand."
"Huh?"
Saturn, kneeling on the floor, exchanged confused glances with the others beside him.
Hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked, "Lord Imu, what do you think..."
He carefully glanced up, only to find that the figure on the throne had disappeared.
Saturn was stunned, looking around but still unable to spot Imu.
He was completely baffled.
"It seems Lord Imu isn't very interested in Caesar. Well, he's neither a D, nor a human weapon like Shirahoshi, nor a descendant of the Twenty Kings. No matter how strong he is, he'll eventually fade into the dust of history. Let's go. We'll just send a few Army Admirals to support Sakazuki."
Ju-peter adjusted his tie casually as he spoke.
The old man holding the Shodai Kitetsu frowned.
"Does Sakazuki stand a chance of winning? Their opponent isn't the aged Whitebeard, and now they have Golden Lion too. That guy's abilities are troublesome to deal with."
"It should be fine. The Marines have Akainu, Kizaru, Fujitora, Ryokugyu, Magellan, Black Horse, and World there. If we send a few Army Admirals along with the SSG special forces, this lineup is far more impressive than the one at Marineford!"
Saturn didn't think they would lose, even though Caesar had been making waves recently, causing chaos throughout the New World.
The Gorosei member with black suit, white curly hair, a bushy white beard and a scar on his left cheek, Topman Warcury said dismissively.
"So what if they lose? At most, we'll just concede the New World. Worst case scenario, the situation in the New World returns to what it was two years ago! Hmph! Those fools in the Marines insisted we abolish the Seven Warlords system. Look at what's happening now? If the system were still in place, we'd have seven more powerful pirates on our side! Such short-sighted idiots!"
"Justice, justice—all they care about is justice. Have they forgotten that the Marines are just the public face of our World Government?
Ever since Sengoku took down Whitebeard, the Marines have been getting too ambitious. Even Sakazuki, the dog we raised, has the nerve to bark at us now. This isn't good!
Letting a scoundrel like Caesar take the Marines down a peg might not be a bad thing!
Because I have a feeling these bastards might be planning to break away! Otherwise, why couldn't Ryokugyu and Fujitora, two Admirals, handle a few worthless Revolutionary Army members during the last Reverie?
The Marines are currently brimming with talent, yet they constantly find excuses to delay or covertly defy our orders. I believe it's time to send someone to take full control of the Marine leadership. Otherwise, they might collude with the Revolutionary Army from within and cause us trouble!"
Warcury's anger was evident on his face, completely unconcealed, and his words were exceptionally blunt.
Nusjuro, holding Shodai Kitetsu, adjusted his glasses and said gravely.
"That seems unlikely. These are just your speculations. Regardless, we shouldn't act against the Marines until we have solid evidence. After all, it takes time to groom new leaders. Let them remain as they are for now."
"Speculations? Hmph, just wait and see! I strongly suspect that the Revolutionary Army avoids meddling in maritime territories precisely to prevent conflicts with the Marines! One expands at sea, while the other swallows nations on land. Once they've grown sufficiently, they'll merge into a single, massive new regime capable of confronting us directly!"
Warcury, the hardliner among the Gorosei, always envisioned the worst-case scenarios.
Thus, he either remained silent or raised issues that troubled the other four.
"Hiss... Now that you mention it, it does sound plausible. Think about it—why would the Revolutionary Army suddenly make concessions? That doesn't align with their usual style of fighting for every inch of land. Could it be that they received word of the Marines' plight and deliberately eased up to free up some of the Army's top combatants?"
Marcus Mars stroked his chin and inhaled sharply.
"Perhaps... we shouldn't send any Army generals after all?"
...
In the Flower Room, on a flower-covered hillside, Imu sat on a lush green lawn, surrounded by photographs.
Luffy, Shirahoshi, Vivi, Teach, and Caesar.
"D..."
Imu picked up Luffy's photo, studied it for a long time, and suddenly let out a soft, mellow laugh.
"Joy Boy... I've waited eight hundred years. Why haven't you awakened and returned? I need you..."
He then picked up Shirahoshi's photo, glanced at it, and tossed it aside.
"Beast taming... Hehe, such a petty trick. What can controlling a few fish accomplish? In the end, they're just food..."
Imu turned to Vivi's photo, shaking his head with a smile.
"Twenty Kings? Beacons of history? Ridiculous. They're nothing more than... servants."
When Imu picked up Caesar's photo, he stared at it intently for a long time.
His rinnegan-like eyes seemed to cloud with confusion.
"Oni tribe? Oh... it's that little brat... Interesting. Not a D, yet he suppresses the D clan, who have never lost their aura, to the point they can't lift their heads—Rocks, Roger, Luffy... He's a variable. Should he be eliminated in advance?"
In the end, Imu shook his head and set Caesar's photo down.
"Never mind. Wouldn't that make it even more intriguing? How exciting... Who will be the protagonist of this era? Joy Boy, Rocks, or the Oni tribe youth? I'll be watching..."
As for Teach's photo, Imu didn't even glance at it, flipping it over and slapping it face-down on the ground.