How to Defeat Imu

"Last year, we reached the so-called 'Final Island,' Lodestar Island, only to discover that it wasn't the true Final Island. The local magnetic field was simply too chaotic, and the Log Pose couldn't point to the next island. Over the past year, we've been searching for a way to reach the real Final Island. During that time, we also went to Water 7 and had the Oro Jackson built," Roger said as he led Vikengam into the ship's cabin.

The Oro Jackson was quite large. From the outside, the entire ship was painted in deep crimson tones.

At the bow stood a pair of mermaids lifting a massive cannon. It was a standard three-masted sailing ship, and in the middle of the deck stood a huge egg-shaped cabin, which also served as the main entrance below deck.

In theory, the ship could carry seventy people at full capacity, but in practice, only ten were needed to keep it running.

The Roger Pirates currently had only seventeen members, so everyone had plenty of room.

Under Roger's introduction, Vikengam was soon led into a cabin filled with books of every kind.

"This is our ship's library. It contains valuable documents we've collected during our adventures around the world over the years. Many of them are one-of-a-kind copies," Roger said with a proud smile.

Rayleigh followed up, "As the scholar aboard this ship, this library will be yours to manage from now on."

"I'd be delighted," Vikengam said expectantly.

If things were really as Roger said, and many of these were unique copies, then the value of these books would be beyond measure. He probably hadn't even seen them in Mary Geoise.

After entering the library, Roger quickly pulled several rubbings from the shelves, spread them across the table, and said, "We previously looked through countless documents, hoping to find that unknown island. But in the end, most of those records pointed us toward these rubbings of words we can't understand..."

"Ancient Language." Vikengam glanced at the rubbings and immediately recognized them. "It's a language the World Government has strictly forbidden anyone from studying. Its origins date back to before the World Government was founded. Very few related documents remain today, and the vast majority of Ancient Language texts come from rubbings of the so-called Poneglyphs."

"Poneglyphs... those should be those special stone blocks, right? During our earlier travels, we found a few. Some of these rubbings came from those stones," Rayleigh said with a nod.

"That's right. As far as I know, there are around thirty Poneglyphs in total. Four of them are crimson red and are known as Road Poneglyphs. Each records a coordinate. Once all four coordinates are combined, you can find the location of the final island you're searching for," Vikengam said solemnly.

The moment he finished speaking, Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban all became excited.

They had only found Lodestar Island last year. Even after an entire year, they still hadn't found the slightest clue as to how to reach Final Island. Vikengam's words had undoubtedly pointed them in the right direction.

Nothing else needed to be said—those words alone had already made bringing Vikengam aboard worth it!

"So that's how it is!" Roger clapped his hands. "Then aside from the four Road Poneglyphs, what's the significance of the other Poneglyphs?"

"The other Poneglyphs represent a mystery buried more than eight hundred years ago—the history of the so-called Void Century. If you gather all of them, you should be able to decipher what exactly happened during those hundred years," Vikengam said.

"The Void Century..." Roger frowned slightly and muttered to himself.

Gaban stroked his chin. "It does sound interesting, but it doesn't seem particularly important. Personally, I prefer living in the present. History from eight hundred years ago... what impact does it have on people like us?"

Gaban's attitude was also the attitude of the Roger Pirates. They were searching for Poneglyphs only because they wanted to reach Final Island. They weren't particularly interested in history.

It wasn't some goal they absolutely had to accomplish.

Roger had originally felt the same way, but after the battle at God Valley, his mindset had changed.

Because he had witnessed that unimaginable "monster," as well as a power that even someone as strong as Rocks could not resist!

As though he had thought of something, Rayleigh listened to Roger's muttering and turned to Vikengam. "At God Valley, that monster... what exactly was it? Do you know the truth behind it? Why did Rocks turn into something like a demon?"

"I don't know much," Vikengam said in a grave tone. "But as far as I know, the monster you speak of is called Imu, the ultimate ruler of the World Government..."

"Huh?" Gaban asked in surprise. "Isn't the World Government's highest authority your grandfather and the other Five Elders?"

"That's only on the surface. In reality, the Five Elders and God's Knights all serve Lord Imu. They call him the King of the World, and Lord Imu is suspected to be named Nerona," Vikengam explained.

The revelation was too shocking, and Roger's group fell silent.

After a long while, Rayleigh suddenly seemed to recall something. "Saint Nerona Imu? Wasn't that one of the Twenty Kings who founded the World Government?"

"Yes..." Vikengam nodded. "That's exactly why I suspect Lord Imu is an ancient monster who has lived for at least eight hundred years. For all those centuries, he has remained hidden behind the scenes, ruling the entire world while doing everything he can to erase certain secret inheritances, knowledge, and bloodlines."

Without waiting for Roger and the others to speak, Vikengam continued, "The power he possesses is also extremely dangerous. The Five Elders and God's Knights have all entered into some mysterious contract with him, allowing them to gain what is called immortality, even eternal youth. You should have already experienced that at God Valley, right?"

"Indeed. Those knights came back to life no matter how many times we cut them down..." Rayleigh clicked his tongue. "Just like in the treasury. I clearly cut that guy in half with one strike, yet he still recovered completely afterward."

"On top of that, he possesses a dark power that can forcibly control others. Rocks was struck by it, which was why he turned into something demon-like, lost his mind, and became Imu's pawn," Vikengam said.

"That power truly is terrifying..." Roger's expression gradually turned solemn. "I fought Rocks at God Valley, so I could clearly feel how horrifying that power was. Garp and I joined forces and released all our Haki in an instant, and even then, we only barely managed to break that control. And clearly, that was because the Lord Imu you mentioned didn't take any further action. If he had intervened as well, then..."

There would have been no way at all!

That was how Roger felt now. Faced with that power, they had no means of breaking it.

"Maybe someday, we'll become thorns in that guy's side just like Rocks did. If we can't find a way to counter his power, we'll be in serious trouble when that time comes..." Gaban let out a slow breath, unable to hide the pressure in his voice.

"That's true." Rayleigh nodded in agreement with Gaban.

"You said just now that for the past eight hundred years, he's been trying to eliminate those secret inheritances, knowledge, and bloodlines...?" Roger asked, looking at Vikengam.

"That's right. The Buccaneer Tribe, the Davy Clan, and D—these are all existences Lord Imu has always sought to eradicate," Vikengam said.

"D?" Roger froze for a moment, then said, "I'm a D!?"

At present, the World Government's bounty posters listed Roger's name as "Gold Roger," but his true name was Gol D. Roger.

Roger had never understood why before. He had thought the World Government had simply made some kind of mistake. Now he understood—it hadn't been a mistake. They had deliberately concealed his real name because they didn't want more people to know that he was a member of the D Clan!

"I know you're a D. Quite a few people in the World Government know that your name is Gol D. Roger. You don't need to introduce yourself to me," Vikengam said, raising a hand to cut off Roger before continuing. "The more something is concealed, perhaps the more it is feared. That's why I've always believed that the way to break Lord Imu's terrifying power may be hidden within the Void Century. If we figure out what happened during those hundred years, perhaps we can gain the power to oppose Imu."

Hearing this, everyone nodded. Rayleigh clicked his tongue. "Looks like we really do need to uncover the truth. Otherwise, none of us will be able to sleep peacefully."

"Perhaps this is one of my missions... D," Roger said with deep emotion.