The arrival of a large number of fresh reinforcements made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Yet they were also extremely curious—where had such an overwhelmingly powerful army come from?
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!! So many, so many Oceanuses!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise.
After all, the Ocean Homies created by Doflamingo all came from the same template. At most, they looked somewhat smaller than Oceanus due to their inferior strength.
So Luffy's reaction was hardly surprising.
"Idiot, Oceanus was a Homie to begin with!" Tesoro, whose expression was extremely unpleasant from being too close to the pillar of light and who had now lost all combat ability, could not help but snap.
"Stop talking nonsense, Joy Boy. Don't waste any more time—it's all up to you now!" Hancock, who was likewise panting heavily, said impatiently to Luffy.
"That's right! Laugh Tale can only hold back this ritual for three hours." Luffy abruptly snapped awake and blurted out a huge secret. "I need to get over there quickly..."
Boom! A loud explosion rang out as crimson light flashed. Luffy immediately transformed into his awakened state, lifting the ground and blocking the pillar of light.
"Nika, you've come to stop me again!"
Along with a cold, haughty voice, Imu appeared once more at the gates of Pangea Castle. However, she no longer looked gaunt; instead, she resembled a breathtaking beauty like Hancock.
"The ritual shouldn't have reached this point so quickly, right?" Luffy murmured. At Laugh Tale, he had seen many hidden secrets, including the timing of Imu's ritual.
There was a reason Laugh Tale could only obstruct the ritual for three hours: those three hours were when Imu was at her weakest.
What Luffy did not know was that, because Doflamingo's butterfly wings had kept flapping, Imu's plan had become riddled with