The Meaning of D
Golden letters lit up, and the answer appeared above the entire world, exactly as expected.
[Correct answer: D]
[All of the above, and Imu's true purpose in starting this war was not to eliminate Whitebeard, but to use it to determine the threat level posed by the bloodline of the D. Clan]
The sky screen began playing an explanation.
The first frame showed an extremely dark space, so vast that the edges of its walls were nowhere to be seen. Ancient patterns of some kind covered the floor, and a throne forged of stone and metal stood at its very center.
The throne was enormous, too large to look as though it was meant for a person to sit on.
Twenty weapons stood embedded in the floor around the throne, their sword hilts and spear shafts covered in eight hundred years of rust.
A figure sat on the throne.
Neither face nor build could be made out. There was only a silhouette shrouded in darkness and a pair of eyes peering out from within it.
There was no emotion in those eyes.
Not indifference, not anger, not pity.
It was an emptiness beyond the range of human emotion, like someone watching ants move house.
In the scene, the Five Elders entered the space, and the five elders who had lived for eight hundred years knelt before the figure.
The blond elder spoke, his voice carrying an exceptionally rare note of reverence.
"Lord Imu, Fire Fist Ace has been captured, and Whitebeard's departure is a certainty."
"Should we proceed with this public execution as originally planned?"
The figure on the throne said nothing.
A hand emerged from the darkness, its fingers long and pale, holding a photograph between its fingertips.
The sky screen showed a close-up of the photograph.
It showed a young man's face.
Monkey D. Luffy.
The hand slowly tore the photograph in half.
The Five Elders lowered their heads in unison.
"We understand."
The blond elder's voice grew even quieter.
"To confirm the threat posed by the D. Clan, this battle must not only eliminate Whitebeard's remaining forces, but also test whether the latest bearer of the bloodline of D has the potential for Awakening."
The figure on the throne tossed the torn photograph onto the floor, and the pieces drifted down in front of the Five Elders.
The scene ended there.
Explanatory text appeared on the sky screen.
[In Imu's view, the Paramount War was never a war]
[It was an experiment]
[The subject of the experiment was Monkey D. Luffy]
[The experiment's purpose was to determine whether a descendant of the D. Clan would awaken a power Imu feared under extreme pressure]
[Ace's execution was the bait, Whitebeard's participation was an expected interference, and Luffy was the target Imu truly wanted to observe]
After watching the scene, the entire world fell into an unprecedented panic.
It was no longer anger.
It was panic.
Because everyone had realized one thing: the people who died in the Paramount War, the crew members sacrificed by the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines killed in battle, the lives burned to ash by magma—in Imu's eyes, they were all just the backdrop for an experiment.
"An experiment?"
In Water 7, Iceburg pushed up his glasses, his fingers trembling slightly.
"The lives of tens of thousands of people were just an experiment?"
On a street in Alabasta, King Cobra watched the hand tearing the photograph apart on the sky screen, the color gradually draining from his face.
"Vivi, I can answer the question you asked me earlier now."
"Why our ancestors stayed in Alabasta."
"Because they had seen that person."
"After seeing that person, they never wanted to stay in that place again."
Vivi said nothing. She only gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles as white as the metal.
The Sabaody Archipelago.
Luffy looked at the torn photograph of himself on the sky screen and tilted his head, thinking for a long time.
"Zoro."
"Yeah."
"That person tore up my photo."
"I saw."
"Why did he tear up my photo?"
Zoro leaned against the wall, his one eye fixed on the dark figure sitting on the throne on the sky screen.
"Because he's afraid of you."
Luffy froze for a moment.
"Afraid of me?"
"Yeah."
Zoro's voice was flat.
"A guy who's been sitting in a position like that for eight hundred years wouldn't pay attention to a rookie pirate for no reason."
"He went out of his way to tear up your photo. That means there's something about you that keeps him up at night."
"The D. Clan."
Luffy repeated the words.
"Grandpa is a D, Dragon is a D, and Ace is a D too."
"I'm a D too."
He looked down at his palm and clenched his fist.
"I don't know what D means."
"But if that guy who tore up my photo is afraid of it..."
"Then D must be a good thing."
Rayleigh stood beneath a distant coconut tree, and the corner of his mouth twitched when he heard Luffy's words.
He remembered something Roger had said on deck many years ago, almost the same thing.
The man had laughed and said that if the World Government hated D so much, then D had to be something great.
Sometimes, passing something down through a bloodline didn't require genes.
All it required was that attitude toward the world.
In a cell deep within Impel Down, Ace felt the small spark in his chest pulse. He raised his head, made heavy by Seastone, and looked at the sky screen's image projected onto the ceiling of his cell.
"So I was going to be executed not because of Pops' sins."
His voice was hoarse to the extreme.
"And not just because of Roger's blood."
"It's because that guy Imu wants to use me to lure Luffy in."
He lowered his head, his unruly hair hiding his face.
"That idiot Luffy will definitely come to save me."
"He'll charge right into this place, no matter how many Admirals or Marines stand in his way."
"And then the monster sitting at the very top can observe whatever he wants to see."
Ace ground his teeth.
"I'm just bait."
"I am while I'm alive, and I will be even if I die."
A voice came from the cell next door.
"Don't be angry, Fire Fist kid."
It was Jinbe.
The Shichibukai Jinbe leaned against the wall of his cell, his massive body visible only as an outline in the dim light.
"That livestream room gave you the Undying Flame Seed because it didn't want you to die."
"Since someone doesn't want you to die, you have to give yourself a reason to keep living."
Ace fell silent for a while.
"Mr. Jinbe."
"Hmm?"
"Will Luffy really come?"
Jinbe chuckled.
"You said it yourself just now. He'll definitely come."
"Do you even need to ask me?"
The explanation on the sky screen continued, but its focus had shifted away from Imu's actions in another direction.
A new line of text appeared, capturing everyone's attention once again.
[Additional information: Over the past eight hundred years, Imu has personally ordered the erasure of at least six countries]
[Method of erasure: Unknown (information classification exceeds the current limits for public disclosure)]
[Known erased countries include, but are not limited to: Lulusia Kingdom (not yet carried out; the event lies in the future relative to the current timeline)]
Lulusia.
The name made some people's hearts skip a beat.
It was a moderately sized kingdom near the East Blue, known for its hot springs and agriculture.
"Lulusia? Isn't that the country next to my hometown?"
"It's going to be erased? The whole country?"
"What does erasure mean? A Buster Call like the one at Ohara?"
"No, it said the method was unknown. It might be even more terrifying than a Buster Call."
The text on the sky screen stopped there, and a system notification appeared.
[Warning: Details of Imu's abilities and specific information about the method of erasure are classified at the highest level of world secrecy. Current Reputation Points are insufficient to support full disclosure]
[The questioner may choose: A. Delay disclosure and unlock it after accumulating Reputation Points. B. Disclose partial information at the cost of all current points]
Lin Qi looked at the choice in the tavern and scratched his chin.
"Not enough Reputation Points again?"
He glanced at his balance. The number had barely risen since the Five Elders had chosen to delay last time.
"Forget it, I'll pick A and save it for a big move later."
"Imu's name has already been revealed to a huge uproar anyway. That alone will take the whole world a long time to digest."
He pressed option A.
The text on the sky screen updated.
[The questioner has chosen to delay the disclosure of detailed information about Imu's abilities]
[The punishment ruling will proceed as normal]
Another wave of disappointed murmurs swept across the world, but everyone's attention was soon drawn to the punishment that followed.
After all, just thinking about the punishment for a King of the World was enough to make their blood race.
Golden letters appeared on the sky screen, line by line.
[Punishment target: Master of the Empty Throne, Imu]