Imu Reads Romance Novels

Sumer had a dream!

It was the same dream where he successfully carried out the "snipe and clam fight while the fisherman reaped the benefit" plan, then stomped Straw Hat, Blackbeard, Saint Nerona Imu, and the other protagonists and villains beneath his feet.

In the end, he became immortal, united the world, and became its king.

Just as he was about to gather all the beautiful women in the world into his harem and usher in an age of sexual repression, Straw Hat and Saint Nerona Imu somehow came back to life.

Then they joined forces and punched him.

The blow hurt so badly that Sumer jolted awake!

"Holy shit, where the hell am I?"

The fierce wind cut across his face like blades.

Sumer opened his eyes and felt weightless. Watching the clouds race backward beneath him, his heart pounded wildly.

He also felt like he was suffocating.

His throat hurt badly.

"You woke up a little late."

Dragon dragged Sumer close by the neck and gave him a dangerous, expressionless once-over.

"Monkey D. Dragon!?"

Sumer's pupils contracted, and his expression turned ugly—

Had Saint Marcus Mars lost him?

No.

How had he ended up in the hands of the Cold Sweat King, the man who entrusted everything to the wind?

Had he been kidnapped?

At that moment,

Sumer was in an awful mood. It was not because Monkey D. Dragon had kidnapped him, but because he had been too pathetic, too useless.

A mere burst of Conqueror's Haki had knocked him unconscious in a single exchange.

He did not even know how he had gone down.

Humiliation.

Utter humiliation.

It seemed he had not changed enough. He would have to work twice as hard from now on.

"Hey, hey, hey! Why am I being held by the neck like a chick in Monkey D. Dragon's grasp?"

"This is so damn embarrassing!"

"Saint Mars, where are you?"

Sumer activated remote communication and spoke silently in his mind.

In an instant,

his resentful voice, tinged with anger and self-doubt, echoed through the minds of Saint Mars and the other four.

"Sumer!"

"Thank goodness, you finally woke up!"

"Mars is pursuing them from behind. You need not worry."

Upon hearing Sumer's voice, Saint Mars, who was in pursuit, and Saint Saturn and the other three, who were still waiting, all sighed in relief.

"I'm not worried at all. It's just uncomfortable being held by the neck!"

Sumer had never worried about his own safety. On the contrary, he remained remarkably calm.

Monkey D. Dragon was simply courting death by kidnapping him.

He was a man with a "summoning cheat."

As long as he contacted Saint Nerona Imu, he could have Saint Nerona Imu log in and take over!

With crucial intelligence missing,

once Saint Nerona Imu took over, he would definitely give Dragon a surprise he would never see coming.

"I don't have the authority to contact Lord Imu alone. You contact him! Ask Lord Imu to spare some time to possess me and save me."

"This wind hurts like hell against my face!"

Sumer bared his teeth. Crow's supersonic flight made it difficult for him to even open his eyes.

He had swallowed more than enough of the northwest wind as well.

"Wait, you can activate the Teleportation Magic Circle. There's no need to alarm Lord Imu!"

Saint Marcus Mars's heart skipped a beat. He still did not want to disturb Saint Nerona Imu.

They could handle such a trivial matter themselves.

There was no need to make such a big deal out of it.

"Saint Mars, Lord Imu only granted me the authority to summon members of God's Knights. Besides, Monkey D. Dragon is holding me while flying at supersonic speed."

"By the time I activate the Teleportation Magic Circle, it'll be too late."

Sumer was speechless.

Leaving everything else aside, what would it change if he teleported members of God's Knights such as Manmayer Gunko over here?

They would still be useless roadside crap.

By the time they emerged from the magic circle, Monkey D. Dragon would already be long gone.

At present, only Saint Nerona Imu possessing him could resolve this crisis.

As for abandoning darkness for the light, switching sides, and simply following Monkey D. Dragon into the Revolutionary Army to become one of the good guys—

Sumer had never even considered it.

Unless his brain was full of shit, that thought would never occur to him.

Being a Celestial Dragon was fucking awesome.

At the same time, he could not help admiring the Five Elders, that bunch of senile idiots. How had they lost him to just Dragon and Crow?

They had even let the two escape!

What exactly had happened while he was unconscious?

"Mars, now that things have come to this, we have no choice."

"Sumer is right!"

"Listen to him, lest complications arise."

"For now, we can only rely on Lord Imu. You can apologize afterward!"

Saint Saturn, Saint Warcury, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, and Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro all knew this was the most reliable plan available.

As for whether Lord Imu would become enraged and hold them accountable afterward, that would depend on Mars's luck.

At worst, they would bear secondary responsibility.

When Saint Marcus Mars saw that Saint Saturn and the other four all agreed, his face turned ugly, but he could only remain silent.

Seeing that Saint Marcus Mars said nothing, Saint Saturn and the other four exchanged glances before directly activating remote communication.

"Lord Imu!!!"

"What is it?"

Mary Geoise.

The Flower Room.

Saint Nerona Imu basked in the sunlight, quietly and handsomely reading a romance manga titled Master and Maid.

Quite a few finished romance and palace-intrigue manga lay piled on the tea table beside him.

The reason Manmayer Gunko was absent was because she had gone to collect more manga and novels for Saint Nerona Imu.

Saint Nerona Imu wanted to gain a deeper understanding of this industry.

Because every manga or novel might be a world of its own. If he learned more, perhaps he could uncover something from them.

Maybe they could even help him travel to other worlds, especially Sumer's world.

Over the past eight hundred years,

he had also passed the time with manga and novels, but that had been a very, very long time ago.

Back then, he had not studied them in depth—

The manga Master and Maid in his hands, along with the manga and novels already read on the tea table, were all collections Manmayer Gunko had amassed over many years.

As for their contents—they made Saint Nerona Imu frown repeatedly, as though his brain was starting to break.

The male lead was a master, and even the king of the world, yet he actually fell in love with the maid who served him and even pursued her?

Their love and hatred became tangled together in an extreme push-and-pull—

No.

Was this right?

Still, if he did not think too hard about it, the story was admittedly rather addictive.

Just as Saint Nerona Imu was getting absorbed in it, however, the Five Elders' voices interrupted him.

"Lord Imu, Mars was attacked by Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army, while escorting Straw Hat back to Mary Geoise."

"Su-Sumer was captured by the enemy! We are currently in pursuit—"

"However, Sumer has already regained consciousness and wishes to speak with you, Lord Imu!"

A trace of cold sweat appeared on Saint Saturn's forehead. He was terrified that Saint Nerona Imu would become angry.

So he immediately shifted the focus to Sumer wanting to communicate.

Bang!

Saint Nerona Imu's previously decent mood instantly soured.

He snapped Master and Maid shut, his face turning cold and dangerous as his voice instantly entered the minds of Sumer and the Five Elders.

"Sumer!?"

"Lord Imu, I would brave fire and water for you!"

"I have already lured out Monkey D. Dragon, the cowardly leader of the Revolutionary Army. Now is the perfect opportunity to eliminate him!!!"

"Saint Mars, Saint Saturn, Saint Warcury, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, and Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro arrived at the scene immediately.

But the enemy was too cunning. The moment he saw Saint Mars and the others, he ran."

"Through the desperate efforts of Saint Mars and myself, none of the spoils—Straw Hat, the Golden Bell, the Pluton blueprints, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, and the rest—were lost."

"Only the greatest Imu in history personally taking action can capture that thief, who has been frightened out of his wits and is fleeing in panic!"

"Please descend by possessing me, Lord Imu!!!"

The moment Saint Nerona Imu's voice appeared, Sumer knew everything was settled, and a powerful sense of security washed over him.

His words were also highly artful.

They gave Saint Saturn and the other four plenty of face, fully affirming their efforts in showing up, even though those efforts had not been worth much.

As for Saint Marcus Mars, Sumer especially emphasized his contributions rather than his failure.

That was called knowing how the world worked.

Even if Saint Nerona Imu did not care about such things, they still had to be said, because everyone doing well was what truly mattered.

As the saying went, it was easy to meet the King of Hell, but hard to deal with his underlings.

As long as he remained in the "Celestial Dragon" camp, maintaining a good relationship with the Five Elders was far better than becoming enemies with them.