Roy's Telekinesis instantly spread out, blocking the spatial distortion fluctuations outside, but the domain itself was also shaking violently, as if it were being repeatedly kneaded by a giant hand.
He can wield eighteen abilities with ease, each possessing power on an ancient level.
Imu's thousand-meter-tall body stood atop the Red Line, surrounded by black flames and Lightning, like a demon god crawling out of hell.
The vast Red Line trembled under his attack, the ground cracked with countless ravines, some hundreds of meters deep, and seawater surged up from the bottom of the cracks.
Imu looked down at the group of disheveled figures at his feet, his golden vertical pupils filled with mockery.
"That's all?"
His voice was like thunder rolling across the earth.
"Eight hundred years ago, both Davy Jones and Joy Boy were defeated by us."
You, eight hundred years from now, are far stronger than them.
He raised one hand, and black flames condensed into a black sun in his palm. The gravitational field emitted by that sun distorted the surrounding space.
Roy.
Imu's voice suddenly became calm, with a gentle, condescending quality.
"Your strength is impressive, and Luffy's Nika also surprised me a bit."
I can give you another chance.
Roy raised his head. Shusui was leaning on the ground, panting heavily, but her eyes remained sharp.
"Hand over the Array-Array Fruit, then kill Nika."
"Then we will incorporate your power into the World Government."
I can make you and your companions the new Celestial Dragons, sharing eternal life with me and ruling the world together.
The world is still the same world, only a few different people are sitting on it.
He paused, then added:
"Otherwise, all of you will die here today."
I will reshape the order of the past eight hundred years and completely erase your traces from history.
"It's like nothing ever happened."
There was a strange allure in Imu's voice.
That wasn't the oppressive aura of Conqueror's Haki, but something that seeped in from the spiritual level.
Like an invisible hand, it gently scratches at the deepest desires in everyone's heart.
Behind Roy, the eyes of several cadres began to glaze over.
Kaido's Hassaikai slowly drooped down.
He fought battles his whole life, and his pursuit was to clash with the strongest opponent.
But the word "immortality" was like a needle, gently pricking him.
If we could fight forever, never grow old, and never die...
Bullet loosened his fist.
The conditions offered by Imu caused him to fall into a brief moment of contemplation.
Even the Red Count hesitated for a moment, his blood-red eyes flashing with a hint of doubt.
Having lived for so long, watching those around him grow old and die one by one, immortality was not a temptation for him, but a liberation.
Roy took a step forward.
The black mist around him surged, and the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit acted as a barrier, forcefully blocking Imu's mental temptation.
The officials behind him were jolted back to their senses by the surge of black mist.
"What did you just say?" Roy looked up at the thousand-meter-tall demon god.
"Immortality? Shared rule of the world?"
He smiled.
"Didn't you steal all that power from Davy Jones?"
"You think you can talk to me about governing the world together with stolen power?"
"You dare to challenge me?"
His voice echoed at an altitude of ten thousand meters, each word like a hammer blow striking Imu's eighteen pairs of eyes.
Kaido, hearing this from afar, laughed heartily, while the Hassaikai was hoisted onto his shoulder.
"Well said! You old codger, you've been stealing for eight hundred years, it's time to pay it back!"
Jhin and Queen behind him echoed with a low groan, and the aura of the All-Stars simultaneously reached its peak.
Imu's expression finally darkened.
"You don't know what's good for you."
He raised his other hand as well.
Black flames gathered between his palms, condensing into a black sphere of light.
The sphere of light grew larger and brighter, drawing in the surrounding air and forming a massive vortex.
" Luffy." Roy didn't turn around.
"Hmm?" Luffy stood next to him, white steam still billowing from his body.
"How do you say?"
Luffy grinned.
His white teeth were particularly striking in the firelight, and there was no hesitation in his eyes.
How so?
"Let's beat him up."
"I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"To rule the world with an old monster who steals things? That sounds disgusting."
He took a step forward, and the white steam from the Gear Fifth condensed into a cloud of Flame Clouds behind him.
Hey--! Big guy!
Luffy looked up at the thousand-meter-tall demon god and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Your stolen power is no match for ours!"
"Come on over here if you dare!"
Imu narrowed his eyes.
The black orb of light in his palm exploded with a bang, and black flames crashed down on Roy and Luffy like a tsunami.
Wherever the black flames passed, the air was distorted by the heat, and the remaining stone structures on the ground hissed and melted rapidly as if they had been splashed with sulfuric acid.
"They're here!" Roy whispered.
The black mist surrounding him surged to its limit, condensing into a giant black shield in front of him and Luffy.
The surface of the giant shield was covered with dark blue light patterns, a product of the ultimate intertwining of Telekinesis and the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Luffy also made his move at the same time.
His right arm stretched to its limit in Gear Fifth gear, his fist wrapped in black and red Conqueror's Haki Inazuma, like a small white sun, as it crashed straight into the black flame tsunami.
"Boom--!!!"
The shockwave from the explosion blew all the remaining buildings in Pangaea Castle away.
The top of the Red Line is cracked with deep, bottomless ravines.
The ground looked as if it had been repeatedly kneaded by a giant hand, bulging, collapsing, and then bulging again.
The retreating Allied soldiers in the distance were thrown about by the blast wave, and Tesoro had to deploy his Golden Domain to create a defensive line behind him, shielding the affected soldiers.
Roy was pushed back several dozen meters by the shockwave.
The Telekinesis: Barrier beneath his feet shattered and reformed repeatedly.
A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away without even flinching.
Luffy was even more decisive; he was thrown backward by the shock, tumbling dozens of times in the air before finally stopping by hooking his rubber leg onto a broken rock.
The broken stone, caught on his leg, swung twice in the air before snapping with a "crack".
"Hahaha!"
Luffy sprang up from the broken rock, laughing even more heartily than before.
He was covered in wounds, his clothes were tattered like rags, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
" Roy! This guy is even tougher than back in Elbaf!"
"I know." Roy wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He looked up at the thousand-meter-tall demon god, his eyes gradually sharpening.
The wind blew past him, making his black trench coat flutter loudly.
Luffy cracked his wrists, the joints popping. He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and grinned.
" Roy, let's go together and beat this old monster into a pulp!"
"Um."
Roy responded, hovering in mid-air, and glanced back at the battlefield behind him.
Kaido, Loki, Hawk Eyes, Shanks, Ace, Dragon, Red Count, Bullet, Yamato, Hancock, Zoro, Sanji, Beckman...
These people were still standing there, each of them bearing wounds, but there was no sign of retreat in their eyes.
Roy knew that they wouldn't be able to get involved in the battle that followed.
Imu has fused eighteen ancient abilities; in a battle of that caliber, the aftershocks alone would be enough to crush a Admiral- level officer into pieces.
"Everyone, listen to my command."
Roy's voice resonated throughout the entire Red Line via Telekinesis.
"All officers without top-tier Conqueror's Haki should retreat to the edge of the Red Line."
" Tesoro, Kyros, and the ground troops are yours."
Hold the port, guard the soldiers, and don't let anyone near this area.
" Kaido, Loki, Hawk Eyes, Shanks-- "
He paused.
"You all retreat as well."
Kaido was the first to object. " Roy! What did you say? I haven't had enough yet!"
"This isn't a question of whether or not to fight."
Roy's eyes were resolute.
"In the next battle, if you stay, you'll only be caught in the crossfire."
"This is between Luffy and me, and that old monster."
Hawk Eyes glanced at Roy but did not refute him.
He knew Roy was right.
That level of battle is beyond the scope of simply having more people involved.
He patted Kaido on the shoulder. "Back off."
Kaido opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just snorted and put the Hassaikai back on his waist.
Shanks took a swig of his drink, stepped back, and raised the jug towards Roy.
"Don't die," he said.
Kaido, cursing and swearing, was being helped back by Bullet.
Loki took one last look at the thousand-meter-tall demon god, his golden vertical pupils filled with resentment, but he still carried the Iron Thunder and retreated.
In mid-air, only Roy and Luffy remained.
Two people stood side by side, one in black and one in white.