At this moment, Gengar was admiring that enormous straw hat, even pulling a camera out of its belly to take a photo as a souvenir.
Aside from a single room it couldn't enter, it had searched almost every other place.
Now it was quietly lurking in the Throne Room, spying on the conversation between the five old men and Cobra.
"King Cobra of Alabasta, what is it you wish to ask us by coming here?"
"The origins of the World Government, you few understand them better than I do. The twenty kings who founded the World Government were equal in status within it.
"To prevent the rise of a dictator among them, an empty throne was deliberately established here, surrounded by the weapons once used by the twenty kings.
"All twenty kings swore together that no one would ever sit upon that seat."
Under the gaze of the Five Elders, Cobra recounted this history that should have been buried.
"After losing their royal families, the twenty nations elected new kings. Their descendants have carried on the legacy to this day, establishing the current nations. For the sake of lasting peace and stability, the twenty kings even erased themselves from their own nations' histories, concealing an entire era.
"Alabasta is the sole exception. Queen Lily, one of the twenty kings, did not remain here. She returned to Alabasta and allowed the Nefertari name to be passed down to this day."
"King Cobra, we have no interest in Alabasta's history. If that is all you wish to say, you may leave."
"Of course it's not just that. Because Queen Lily returned, there should only be nineteen weapons before the throne.
"After the last Levely, I searched through ancient texts and even explored some ancient ruins, and I discovered something troubling. After the Void Century, Queen Lily's name vanished.
"The throne of Alabasta was inherited by Queen Lily's younger brother. She seems not to have returned home. May I ask you all, where did our queen go?"
Faced with Cobra's question, the Five Elders showed no hesitation and immediately gave an answer.
"That was eight hundred years ago. We don't know either."
"We can confirm that there are no records of the Nefertari royal family ever living in Mariejois.
"That your queen returned to her own country is a fact."
"Perhaps she met with an accident during her journey, or perhaps the process simply wasn't recorded in detail. This is not an important topic."
Regarding Queen Lily, the Five Elders could brush it off. But Cobra's second question made their expressions darken all at once.
"Then… what is D?"
The Five Elders' expressions darkened not because of Cobra's question itself, but because they sensed an additional presence—Imu's—upon the throne behind them.
"Lord Imu, King Cobra is still—"
"I know."
Only the five of them knew of Imu's existence. Anyone else who saw Imu met only one end - death. At this moment, they had already sentenced Cobra to death.
"I've heard this name before. The name Imu seems to have been among the twenty kings…"
"Do not pry into such things. You will never obtain the answer. But I will answer one question for you.
"The so-called 'D' were our enemies in the past. The Ds of today are nothing but empty shells, they have no idea of the true meaning of their name.
And all of this is because of Lily. If not for her mistake that day, those detestable Poneglyphs would never have been scattered across the world.
This is a story of sins from the past—either a mistake, or something deliberately planned."
Cobra had previously mentioned a letter left behind by the queen, and it was precisely when he spoke of that letter that Imu appeared upon the throne.
After finishing the explanation, Imu asked Cobra a question: who exactly was the sender of that letter?
At this point, Cobra understood that there was no way he would leave this place alive, so he simply spoke the answer.
"Nefertari D. Lily."
A black arrow suddenly shot out from beside Imu, instantly piercing Cobra's body. At the same moment, Sabo leapt out from the shadows.
"Liberation!"
The objects previously swallowed by his darkness were all released at once, huge boulders and wooden spikes raining down toward the positions of the Five Elders and Imu.
"A mere insect… and it managed to crawl into this place?"
Sabo's attack only made Imu feel contempt. At the same time, the bodies of the Five Elders began to change, and several monsters appeared within the Throne Room. Gengar even saw one creature that looked similar to itself.
"Black Vortex!"
A deadly sense of danger suddenly flashed through Sabo's mind, and he immediately unleashed Black Vortex. However, Black Vortex only blocked the frontal attack—mysterious forces from other directions still struck his body.
Intense pain reached his brain in an instant, yet under the damage reduction of the Dark-Dark Fruit, the enemy's attacks were ultimately absorbed by Sabo. Even so, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth and nose, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot.
"Darkness that reduces damage…"
The black smoke emanating from Sabo's body allowed Imu to recognize his ability. But before Imu and the Five Elders could continue their actions, another mass of shadow burst forth.
At this moment, Gengar's body was covered in many spikes, its lower half turned crimson, and something like a third eye even appeared on its forehead.
"Hehehe…"
A Shadow Ball was thrown by Gengar toward Imu. Then it opened its mouth wide and swallowed Sabo and Cobra in one gulp before diving straight into the ground. Although Imu launched another attack and the Five Elders also struck at it, in the end their blows only hit the ground.
"Lord Imu… that thing…"
"I know. It's no longer in this world. I still need some time. During this period, act as you see fit."
Imu and the others knew that their attacks had failed to eliminate Gengar, because at the moment of impact, Gengar had already opened a special passage.
After Mega Evolution, Mega Gengar gains the ability to connect to other dimensions. Its entire body overflows with mysterious power, allowing it to pass through other dimensions to reach any place. At this moment, Gengar had arrived in the underworld, clutching its tail in pain.
Even though it had pushed its speed to the limit, it hadn't escaped perfectly. If it had been even a little slower, it might have been split in two.
Meanwhile, Wapol, having realized he'd seen something he shouldn't have, began his desperate escape, conveniently taking Vivi with him. His talk of fleeing to the ends of the world even caused his queen to misunderstand his intentions.
But Mariejois's troubles didn't end there. With Gengar gone, Imu's subsequent attacks and those of the Five Elders all struck the ground.
Combined with the shockwaves of the earlier battle and their sheer destructive power, the land seemed to reach its limit and then collapsed with a thunderous crash. A massive sinkhole—tens of meters deep and over a hundred meters in radius—appeared on the Red Line.
Quite a few people fell into it.
"D-damn it! Someone, come save me at once!"
Amid the ruins, Sterry stretched out his hand and cried for rescue. From beginning to end, he had no idea what had actually happened.
"Hey, Garp, hurry up and save me. I'm your king, you know!"
Soon, Sterry seemed to spot someone else who had fallen as well. After confirming the other person's identity, he reverted to his usual attitude.
"Eh? Who are you supposed to be? Do I even know you?"
"I'm the king of the Goa Kingdom! The king of your homeland!!"
"Oh, I see. You look pretty lively to me, you should be able to climb up on your own. I'll go save the others who need help first."
Garp left while picking his nose, even showing a look of interest as he glanced at the pits around him.
The Five Elders also noticed the situation here. This was clearly not a pit created by their attacks, but the result of the ground below having already been hollowed out.
"To think something like this was done right under our feet?"
"Who did it…and when?"
"Investigate it. This isn't something that could be done in a day or two."
One incident after another relentlessly assaulted the Five Elders' nerves. It could be said that in eight hundred years, this was the first time Mariejois had suffered such a catastrophe.
At the same time, the Beasts Pirates were making a new move.
"Kaido, it's time to get to work. The Shichibukai system has been abolished. The former Shichibukai territories are now thorns in the World Government's side. Let's be decisive and just move the islands back."
After the Whole Cake Island incident, the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom made a new demand of Morgans: he could report freely, but on the condition that any intelligence he learned be sent back immediately. Having observed the Levely from start to finish, Morgans had already sent back the crucial information ahead of time.
"I'll go, but not right now."
"What are you planning to do?"
"If I move the island away first, wouldn't that just look like I'm scared? I want to move the island right in front of those Marines. That's what'll make it fun, Worororo!
"But what about Fishman Island? That place is at the bottom of the sea, I don't really have a way to deal with it."
"Fishman Island is in the deep sea, so there's no problem. But New Fishman Island is different. You don't need to worry about that side, I'll send people to bring that island over."
"Oh? Are you going to create some new guy again?"
"That's right. Someone I don't particularly like, but this kind of thing is his specialty."
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