Imu has grown bigger, which is actually a good thing for Gawain.
He's grown so big that even if Imu tried to touch Gawain with his little finger, he'd probably have a hard time doing so.
But that's not how it works.
Devil Fruit that unreasonable; whether it's power or mass, once it gets bigger, it will change, let alone continuing to choke Imu.
At this point, it was already quite an achievement that he could still knock Imu back with two punches.
Fan!
Imu flapped his wings, and a fierce gust of wind tugged at Gawain's clothes, suspending him in the Milky Way.
Looking around, the two of them had fought their way out of the atmosphere, and now they were actually in a space that seemed like the universe itself.
On the other side, Imu opened his large mouth, probably roaring something.
But after a moment, Imu seemed to remember something, so she shut her mouth, and then Xuan fell silent in the air.
At the same time, Imu's delicate voice rushed into Gawain's mind.
Look down at your feet!
"Watch your step!"
"Can you hear me? Has your Voice of All Things been molded into Eve's likeness?"
"Watch your step!"
After hearing this, Gawain finally looked down at his feet.
Beneath our feet, a planet bathed in endless azure blue rests steadily in place.
However, the planet didn't look very clear; thick clouds made it almost impossible for Gawain to see the Grand Line and the Red Line, the two absolute lines of latitude and longitude.
It's obvious that Thunderstorm are constantly erupting over this vast sea...
While Gawain was watching, Imu continued speaking softly to Gawain.
"Since you're Logia, you should indeed have the ability to survive in outer space."
In this way, I unexpectedly took a trip with you in outer space.
I haven't been to this place in a long time.
Think about it, ever since I led my team to land in the Giant World, I have never left its troposphere.
However, I lived in this void space 50,000 years ago.
Before that, the moon's environment, while not as pristine as that of Giant World, was still capable of supporting human survival.
At that time, due to the extremely harsh living environment on the moon, there were not so many conflicts and disputes among humans.
The Devil Fruit Tree is one of the gifts the moon has given us. Humanity's long-standing unity and optimism have given the moon's will hope for humanity's continued existence.
So, finally, about 110,000 years ago, my ancestors, the Moon People before me, gained the ability to change the lunar environment thanks to Devil Fruit.
At that time, users of Logia Devil Fruit were comparable to gods among humans. They used all their power to continuously modify the lunar ecosystem, attempting to make the moon more suitable for human habitation.
At the same time, the Psychic type is trying its best to make up for what the Logia cannot do.
Compared to the Logia, the Psychic type is relatively more unreasonable, something you've probably already experienced.
As for Zoan, haha, back in our day, they were practically laborers. Apart from the Mythical Zoan which held a significant position, the others were just workers constantly toiling for the survival of humanity.
We can't do this kind of work without people doing transportation and construction.
In short, this is the true lunar ecosystem.
Although there were differences in status at that time, humanity was incredibly united as a whole because it also needed to cope with the harsh environment of the moon.
A person in a high position may indeed lead some people, but that's just their job. No one will look up to them because of their job, and they certainly won't discriminate against or look down on those who obey their orders because of it.
Back then, humanity was entirely equal, so equal that... I feel incredibly envious of it today.
Until... until the repairs to the moon are completely completed!
At this point, the enormous Imu looked back at the distant moon.
Then, she pointed gently at Gawain.
"Don't be so quick to call for war. You've really been ruthless to me."
As for you, I do indeed want to get rid of you to maintain my long-standing plan.
But the thought of you being born inside my belly always makes me... hold back a little something.
If we're still in Giant World, your subordinates are watching you, and my subordinates are staring at me—it's incredibly troublesome.
Now, no one can see us anymore, child.
Even if you still want to kill me, let me take you to see our hometown first, how about that?
If I'm not mistaken, there should still be some survivors from that time living up there.
Although their living conditions are still very harsh, I always feel that perhaps their way of life is completely different from that of the Giant World."
As he spoke, Imu extended his finger toward Gawain.
Gawain pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly. The weather was indeed very curious about the moon.
In the original storyline, after losing to Luffy, Enel sailed to the moon in his Maxim and became a god to the Moon People.
After all, the moon is actually humanity's true home in this world, and he will always remain curious about such a place.
Most importantly, it's the moon.
Even in the original world, no matter how Gawain climbed, he would never have had the chance to take a few steps on the moon!
I can now do something as incredible as landing on the moon using only my own body.
He would certainly agree with Imu's statement.
Seeing Gawain nod, Imu's enormous, yet surprisingly handsome, dragon head nodded slightly.
"Okay, then I'll take you to see our hometown."
Staying in Mary Geoise all the time is making my body rot away.
And the thought of taking my child back to the moon gives me a different feeling.
Perhaps I really made a mistake. Even if I was eager to maintain the perfection of the Celestial Dragon' bloodline before the prophecy, I shouldn't have conceived and given birth to you myself.
Even if I treat myself as a tool, I still can't completely ignore you... this piece of flesh that fell from my body.
I always thought I was extraordinary, having drawn wisdom and determination far beyond that of ordinary people from endless lifespan and time.
But in the end, I'm just an ordinary woman, haha.
As he spoke, Imu placed Gawain on his head and then Luffy the moon.
Standing atop Imu's head, Gawain watched the moon draw ever closer while carefully examining Imu's dragon head.
Imu was incredibly bold; not only did he check himself in, he even threw himself on his head.
At this distance, in Imu's unguarded posture...
Gawain was quite certain that if he wanted to launch a sneak attack at this moment, that scene...
Imu's injuries are definitely much more severe than Garp's when he was ambushed by Shiryu in the original story!
So, was this truly Imu's maternal instinct at play, or a forced choice Imu made after realizing she was unlikely to win?
Or perhaps this was all part of Imu's open scheme, and even he himself had become Imu's prey, someone Im wanted to win over, control, or even conquer?
With countless thoughts swirling in his mind, Gawain watched as the moon drew ever closer.
Then he saw the sparse buildings on the moon, unique to the Moon People.
At the same time, he finally caught a whiff of air on the moon.
This flavor was incredibly faint, even fainter than the oxygen at high altitudes on Earth.
But at least Gawain was finally certain that the moon in this world was indeed habitable.
Meanwhile, Imu began to circle the moon in the sky.
While lingering, Imu continued speaking to Gawain.
"So much time has passed that some places I remember from back then are no longer there."
Even the landmarks from my time are nowhere to be found now.
The lunar environment is extremely harsh, and it is precisely this harshness that has fostered an extremely resilient character and physique in humans.
The Haki beginning is on the moon. When we can no longer rely on our bodies to complete most tasks, all we can rely on is the power of our will.
Come, let me take you to the place where I used to live.
As he spoke, Imu landed on the edge of an enormous lunar crater.
After landing, she shook herself twice and then returned to her original state.
The Inazuma Gawain beside Imu, and he looked towards the lunar crater, his feet sinking into the desert-like ground.
In Gawain's world, the moon has craters, which are the result of the moon occasionally shielding Earth from meteorites.
So how did the lunar craters come about?
Just as Gawain was pondering, Imu happened to point to the crater in front of them and said...
"The Uranus we built together is located here. In order to gather power for Uranus to send us to the Giant World, Uranus's launch caused considerable damage to the moon."
This is the remnant left behind from back then. Later, it seems that Nika used elasticity to return to the moon from Earth several times. I, however, never returned here, because our entire lives' efforts were aimed at leaving this place.
Since you've left, don't look back so easily, right?
Imu turned to look at Gawain, seemingly waiting for Gawain evaluation.
Meeting Imu's expectant gaze, Gawain nodded and said.
"Perhaps so, but in any case, being able to come back and visit is something special for you, isn't it?"
Although I am not the kind of person who yearns for extreme freedom and extreme happiness like the Will of D.
However, the amount of happiness is always less than the amount of pain.
With that, Gawain started walking towards the meteorite crater.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived in the middle of the crater.
Standing here gazing at this Giant World, I can only feel how beautiful it is.
Even though thick clouds shrouded the area, compared to the hellish environment of the moon, the tiny glimpses of azure and emerald green revealed by this Giant World were enough to drive the Moon People mad!
Noticing Gawain's gaze, Imu smiled knowingly.
"Right? Standing here looking at this Giant World, it's practically paradise."
At this moment, you should be able to understand why our ancestors longed for that world so much.
But, haha, even the best environment is meaningless. Once the Devil Fruit Tree grows and there are more and more Devil Fruit User, the lunar environment will be no worse than Earth's!
One hundred and ten thousand years ago, using the power of Devil Fruit, our ancestors gradually conquered the moon. They even transformed it into a beautiful world that rivaled the prosperity of the Sabaody Archipelago.
But what about it?
When no one starves to death on the moon, when people's living conditions improve.
When everyone can afford to eat meat at every meal, when people can even grow flowers and wheat at home, when they can wear beautiful clothes.
Do you really think that was some kind of Eden?
When humanity as a whole is suffering enough, people unite, value sacrifice, and revere heroes.
But when people are full, they become greedy, competitive, and everyone wants to be better and better than others.
It took four thousand years to transform a planet's environment, but only a few hundred years to destroy it.
Since the Devil Fruit Tree was born 110,000 years ago, the moon has suffered sixty-two devastating blows...
Every time it begins the same way, and ends the same way.
When people could no longer survive, they spontaneously united to overthrow the previous rulers and then restore the planet's environment.
Each time people succeeded again, and the moon finally became beautiful again.
They would all remind themselves that they must treat history as a mirror and never repeat the same mistakes.
But later, people gradually began to compete and divide, which led to wars that eventually destroyed the planet once again.
After sixty-two reconciliations and wars, the twenty-one families led by me, Nika, and D finally stopped regarding rebuilding the moon as their lifelong pursuit.
Having ended the lunar civil war once again, this time we decided not to restore the lunar ecosystem, but instead to focus our attention on the Giant World.
After much research, we've finally discovered that even if we were to return to power, it would be very difficult to prevent the moon from following its past cycle.
In that case, why not preserve the harsh environment of the moon, making it humanity's last hope, while relocating the majority of the population to Giant World?
On the one hand, Giant World can inspire humanity with a spirit of exploration and enterprise. On the other hand, given that Giant World is billions of times larger than the moon, even if we were on such Giant World, we would still break apart and collapse. However, such a massive collapse would be much slower than that of the moon, a relatively small place.
With this in mind, we chose to leave the moon, taking with us the moon's hope— the Devil Fruit Tree!
Without the help of Devil Fruit, and having also removed technological artifacts from the war era.
Even if the remaining Moon People wanted to rise up, their progress would be countless times slower than ours.
At the same time, I did indeed prove one of my initial guesses correct.
The Giant World is truly enormous; even those who possess Devil Fruit powers cannot accomplish anything quickly.
See, after the moon acquired Devil Fruit, it experienced more than sixty cycles of destruction and reconstruction over a period of sixty thousand years.
In the case of the Giant World, although the Giant World has also experienced many crises due to human problems, Giant World has not even completed one cycle in the past 50,000 years.
Besides, the Moon People still retain their simple and honest appearance. If we were to appear before them now, they would surely regard us as gods and rely on us for faith.
They believe in us, yet they don't, because although they suffer in their constant hellish existence, they are still determined!
They believed in themselves more than in a god who appeared before them.
They have more dignity and more ambition than the slaves of the Giant World!