For the next three days, the Navy and the CP agencies worked hand-in-hand to restore order to Mariejois. Every key official within the old Mariejois hierarchy was thoroughly liquidated. The Celestial Dragon class had utterly collapsed, and the Gorosei were dead to the last man.
Imu remained inside Uranus, never once emerging; it was likely that the vessel was already well-stocked with food and water. Without their "leaders," Mariejois lost all will to resist and was easily suppressed by the joint forces of the Navy and CP.
Simultaneously, an internal purge was carried out within the CP agencies. Anyone fanatically loyal to the old Mariejois faction was eliminated. The primary issue was the leadership; once the high-ranking heads of CP in Mariejois were removed, Stussy was able to swiftly take control of the world's largest intelligence organization. Stussy had maintained a list of these die-hard loyalists for a long time. This wasn't a plan made overnight, so the transition was efficient.
Naturally, the Queen took the opportunity to wash away those who opposed her views. In times like these, it was better to strike down a few innocent dissidents than to let a single threat escape.
By the third day, under the meticulous cleaning of the Navy and CP, most of the order in Mariejois had been restored. Although the citizens were still ordered to stay indoors, the flames of war had been completely extinguished, and basic administrative functions were beginning to resume.
…
Domain of the Gods, Castle Ruins.
Diarmuid sat on a large stone, a cigar between his teeth. A thin trail of smoke drifted upward as his gaze lingered somewhat distantly on Uranus.
Faint ripples of light flowed across the surface of Uranus. It was clearly fully powered and ready to launch. Despite telling Imulia "Don't wait for me," Diarmuid had come at the final hour. He didn't intend to leave, but he wanted to see her off, to see Imulia off.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Diarmuid watched as Uranus slowly lifted from the ground. It didn't go high, hovering only three or four meters up. He couldn't begin to fathom the science behind its flight; there was no visible exhaust or engine, just a steady, noiseless suspension in the air, devoid of any vibration.
"Farewell," Diarmuid whispered softly.
Imu never came down, nor did she speak a single word or even show her face. Diarmuid knew she was aware of his presence; she simply chose not to see him.
Inside Uranus, Imu sat in the control room. Before her was a light-screen displaying the scene of Diarmuid sitting there, watching her ship. As if in response to his whisper, a smile touched her lips, and she said softly, "Farewell."
She knew he only came to see her off. This proud King chose not to face him one last time, keeping her gaze fixed on him only through the screen.
"Guli jili muyi?"
An electronic chime rang out.
A look of sentimental reminiscence flashed in Imu's eyes. She took one last, deep look at Diarmuid and whispered, "Tun tun."
The moment she spoke, the screen blurred. Uranus shuddered violently. In the blink of an eye, the view on the screen changed completely. It was pitch black. Nothing could be seen.
In that instant, Imu stepped into an unknown journey. No one knew the mechanics of this leap, but in a fraction of a second, Uranus had left the world of One Piece and entered a foreign realm.
The darkness lasted for about three to five heartbeats before the light returned to her eyes. Below was a small city, looking quite impoverished, at least in Imu's eyes.
If Diarmuid were there, he would have found the architecture familiar; it resembled the ancient buildings of the Chinese cultural sphere.
"Location: Living World – Heijō-kyō."
"Time: 710 AD."
The electronic voice of Uranus had translated into a language Imu could understand.
"Living World? Heijō-kyō?" Imu murmured, not understanding the terms. "710 AD?"
It sounded as if the history of this world was younger than she was. It was a good thing she didn't know Diarmuid's secrets, or he might have told her about "Before Christ."
Uranus hovered in the night sky. Thanks to its advanced technology, perhaps some form of optical camouflage, it remained completely invisible. However, crossing between worlds had drained its energy to a critical low. Imu quickly maneuvered the vessel to hide within a mountain valley.
"What does 'Living World' mean?" Imu- was brilliant; she caught the most important piece of information from the prompt. Living World. In other words, besides the Living World, were there other "worlds" in this realm?
"Interesting..." A smile spread across her face. Her mood turned joyful. The more secrets this brand-new world hid, the more interesting it would be for her!
Indeed, as Imu guessed, the Living World was but one piece of the puzzle. Deeper within this reality lay the Soul Society, Hell, and Hueco Mundo.
If Diarmuid had followed, he would have realized that within Heijō-kyō lived groups of armed individuals known as "Quincies," whose daily task was hunting monsters called "Hollows."
Through these Quincies, Diarmuid would have realized with a shock exactly where they were. This was the world of Bleach!
The history of the Living World here was roughly consistent with Earth's history. Heijō-kyō, 710 AD... this was the year Empress Genmei moved the capital, marking the beginning of the Nara period.
In Diarmuid's eyes, this was over 1,300 years ago!
At this time, the Soul Society hadn't even formed the Gotei 13. Yamamoto Genryūsai, the future Captain-Commander Yamamoto Shigekuni, was currently just a private school teacher. He had founded his own academy in the Soul Society called the "Genji School," the predecessor to the famous Shino Academy. And Shigekuni had likely only recently adopted the name "Genryūsai."
The entire world was in a state of chaos. The Living World was plagued by constant warfare and roving spirits. Hueco Mundo was stable, but in the way it had been for eons—dead, silent, and cannibalistic. In the Soul Society, Shinigami were still independent actors without a true unified order. The Five Noble Families were still in power; the Shiba clan had not yet fallen and was instead rising.
In roughly two to three hundred years, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni would gather the various masters of the Soul Society to wage the "First Blood War" against the Quincy King, Yhwach, successfully defeating him. After that victory, the masters would not disband; instead, under Yamamoto's arrangement, they would become the founders and first captains of the Gotei 13.
Yamamoto would serve as Captain-Commander from then until his eventual death at the hands of Yhwach a millennium later. During this period, he would be known as the "Strongest Shinigami in a Thousand Years."
But none of that had happened yet. A new variable had arrived... Imulia.
…
The World of One Piece.
Only a moment had passed since Uranus vanished. Diarmuid had no idea Imu was now in the world of Bleach. He stared at the empty ground where the ship had been, a trace of melancholy on his face.
Before she left, he had been firm. But now that she was gone, he felt a faint twinge of regret. Human nature is often such; we only cherish things once they are gone. The chance to travel to another world had slipped through his fingers.
Exhaling a final cloud of smoke, Diarmuid ultimately laughed. Whatever. What's done is done.
He stood up and walked a few steps toward the area where Uranus had been, curious if its disappearance had left any physical traces.
As he entered the zone, he felt an unusual aura. It was strange, yet strangely familiar. After thinking it over, he realized this was likely what Imu called the "space-time aura." Crossing between worlds couldn't happen without leaving such a residue.
Simultaneously, Diarmuid failed to notice the small black orb within his body activating slightly. It flickered with a faint resonance before settling back into stillness.
"Has it dissipated?" Diarmuid snapped back to reality. The "space-time aura" seemed to have vanished. He thought it had simply faded away, but if one could see such metaphysical energy, they would have seen that the dense aura left behind had been completely absorbed into his body.
What changes this would cause remained to be seen.
Without lingering further, Diarmuid turned and left the Domain of the Gods, heading toward the World Government Headquarters. There was a massive conference room there where Mariejois officials and the Gorosei used to meet. Now that Pangea Castle was in ruins, the Reverie was set to continue there.
The meeting that would determine the new order of the world after the destruction of the Mariejois system was about to begin.
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