Chapter 147: Fate of the World (1)

"Even a few News Coos were killed from the impact of it."

With vivid anger, Morgans, the president of the World Economy Newspaper, snarled.

"The World Government—no, the Celestial Dragons—sacrificed even their own. Those laser beams from above, they not only destroyed the rebellion but also the World Government soldiers... no wonder the rest of God's Knights and the higher officials of the World Government like Commander-in-Chief Kong didn't show up! And then..."

The sole News Coo who managed to return told him,

"The Five Elders... even after those laser beams, supposedly 'regenerated'..."

"Indeed, we did."

Morgans froze. Slowly, he turned his head around.

There stood Jaygarcia Saturn, looking back at Morgans with a hollow gaze. On his hands were a cane, which he used to support his weight.

"You've seen and spread the information far too wide, Morgans. Though your service in the past has been much appreciated..."

Morgans trembled as his eyes slowly widened.

"...This is where you shall meet your end."

"KUWAHAHAHA!!"

Morgans laughed out loud as he held his wings wide open.

"My, I'm flattered! For one of the Five Elders to personally pay a visit to a lowly self like me..."

"Are those your last words?"

"I've got one more to say."

With bloodshot eyes, Morgans grinned. Though his body expressed the fear of death, his eyes held a conviction that far surpassed said fear.

"For the past four years, while you, the Celestial Dragons, were facing the issues regarding food supplies and starved, I've been looking for a sliver of the opportunity. When the war broke out between you and the Revolutionary Army, the opportunity has finally been found. I've learned, and have become aware...

that there is an owner to the Empty Throne."

Saturn's expression became restrained. Though he contained his surprise, he wasn't able to evade Morgans's eyes.

"KUWAHAHA!!"

Knowing that he's spoken the information that would be critical to the World Government if released, Morgans laughed once more,

"IT'S TOO LATE!! This big news can't be contained by an individual, it must be shared among the whole world!! The secret which you've kept hidden from the others for how many years... there already are thousands of News Coos, delivering the final copies of the newspaper worldwide!! All will be known, and eventually, what seemed to be an eternal kingdom for you will come to an end—"

...

A few moments later, Saturn was the only one who walked out of the headquarters of the World Economy Newspaper, uncaring of the blood that was splashed over his face and clothes.

Said headquarter, being a large ship shaped like a tea kettle, fell to the side and rolled across the hill, before falling into the body of water and sinking—until it has fully disappeared from the surface.

__________

"How long until Uranus is charged once more?"

Sitting on the majestic-looking, the 'Empty Throne' as the World Government commonly calls it, Imu, with his shadowed face leaned into his hand, spoke.

In front of Imu, the three of the Five Elders, who were kneeling at the bottom of the stairs, replied.

"Fifty years seems to be the case, Imu-sama."

"Fifty... so it has become quicker than that of the past, however, fifty still is not a number to overlook."

The crimson eyes of Imu gleamed.

"The weapon that requires 50 years to be charged for a use, used at its full might, and yet... they managed to block it,"

though barely.

Coldly staring at the three who waited in the kneeling positions, Imu spoke.

"Have they been tracked down?"

"It has successfully been done, Imu-sama."

The hideout that kept them hidden from his eyes for 4 years. Though the World Government failed to wipe out the rebellion on this occasion, as long as they can be tracked down, there are endless chances.

While shedding a cold sweat, Peter explained,

"Mars discovered that currently, they have retreated to an unknown island nearby. He sent us a coordinate, and thus, we can teleport to the location at any time."

"And the chance of your victory?"

This time around, Warcury spoke up.

"The biggest threats, Monkey D. Garp, Sengoku, and 'Rebellious' Dragon, have all been found to be in a detrimental state. The remaining enemies, ranging from 'Great Strategist' Tsuru to 'Black Arm' Zephyr, are speculated to pose no threat strength-wise."

Imu shifted his eyes to the side and gazed at the chess board.

From the gist of it, the white pieces seemed to be losing, for the white side only had a king piece surrounded by three white pawns, while all of the black pieces remained intact on the board.

"Upon relaying the message, the marines have changed their course of travel to the unknown island, led by 'Kurouma' Tensei. The remaining God's Knights and the troop led by Commander-in-Chief Kong too departed, aiming to finish the enemies with this blow."

As Warcury's report came to an end, Imu stood up from his throne.

"...The time has come."

On another table, there lied two bounty posters that detailed the information regarding White Hunter Smoker and Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach. Frighteningly, the knives were stabbed right in their pictures.

"The world of absolute order, one which couldn't be achieved because of that accursed Joy Boy and Rocks D. Zachs... whether it is the ideal time to do so or not, the chaos has already arrived, and no more preparation will make a difference."

Imu whispered to himself.

"The world in which we dreamt of is close, Lili."

Leaving the three of the Five Elders, Imu walked out of the throne room, and no one knew where he was heading.

__________

Nerona Imu. Who was he?

Secretly ruling over the entire world for hundreds of years, holding authority over even the renowned Five Elders—he was by far the most enigmatic individual in the world.

"Lili..."

Whispering as he walked across the hallway of Pangaea Castle, his face was revealed as the sunlight illuminated it.

The crimson eyes swirled as if trying to hypnotize anyone whom they glanced at. Atop his head was one long crown—one that seemed to have been made by melting and combining approximately twenty separate crowns together.

However, something wasn't right. There existed no nose, no mouth, no ears—nothing at all. Apart from his eyes, there only existed a figure of a face... which seemed to have been carved from a wood.

As he reached the front of Pangaea Castle's enormous entrance, the doors began to open by themselves, automatically as if being pushed by an invisible force.

"...Huh?"

The royal guards revealed confusion as Imu walked out and revealed himself in Mariejois.

Those who watched as Imu walked unconsciously gulped.

"Who is... no, what is that thing?"

One of the royalties then cried. This man, seemingly in his late forties, was obese in form and greedy-looking in character. Staring at Imu in contempt, he seemed to have

"Hello? Excuse me? Guards?! Do something about that thing and quit terrorizing my eyes!!"

Imu stopped walking.

Shifting his eyes, he silently gazed at the man who complained at the corner of his eyes.

Following the man's cry, the guards began to approach,

toward the man instead of Imu, that is.

"W-What?! Why are you coming toward me?!"

The man shrieked, but it did nothing to the guards. Their eyes swirled just like how Imu's did.

Approaching the man, the guards didn't say anything. Instead, they unsheathed their swords, and before anyone could react,

the swords were mercilessly stabbed through the obese torso and killed the man. With a gurgling noise caused by the blood that surged from his throat, the man fell and died a horrific death.

Everyone, unable to believe what they just saw, stood frozen.

"Humans are flawed."

And Imu impassively stated in this situation.

"What ideal? What passion? Without rationality, there only exists an animalistic instinct that will bring you to doom. You, the worthless bugs who only know how to eat and defecate, require someone to rule above you. And in that sense, I've been doing it for a while... until today, where your worth has reached zero, that is."

One by one, those who watched Imu in fear and disbelief, began to levitate regardless of their will. Encased by a red glow, they thrashed their bodies and screamed, but nothing managed to prevent this frightening phenomenon.

"Your job was to keep the bugs below starving and lacking. Resorting to their primal instincts, they won't have the time to seek freedom or other idiotic ideologies whatsoever but a desire to survive. By having you corrupt and idiotic, by having you prevent them from gaining anything, this world will ironically be placed in a temporary state of stalemate—the balanced state where the world continues to maintain a relative peace."

However, the rebellion arose. The Marine became divided into two. The war bigger than any other had begun, and the civilians stood up to hope for the fall of the World Government.

"You have lost your worth—all of you, be it the royalties of a worthless kingdom or the descendants of the original twenty."

Just as Imu said so, the heads of countless floating ones exploded into a fit of blood, pouring down the rain of blood.

From the back of one building, a gigantic, black-coloured creature with hollow white eyes suddenly emerged from the ground. Opening its mouth wide, it consumed the entire building, taking whoever remained inside with it.

"What is going on?!"

One man with a knight's armour, evidently one of the god's knights, revealed himself from the inside of one building and roared. Unsheathing his sword, the knight angrily looked around the surroundings, and his expression slowly changed from that of anger to that of disbelief.

Likewise, one by one, the defenders of Mariejois quickly arrived at the scene, only to witness something so cruel and unreal.

"What..."

Kong, whose hands were previously clenched in order to fight, had them loosen up as he stared at the destruction of Celestial Dragons in bewilderment.

"T-This..."

The blonde woman wearing a mask, Stussy a member of CP0, found herself sweating profusely as she stuttered in front of the scene.

The knight's grip over the sword loosened before it dropped on the cloudy ground, and he simply watched as the apocalypse unfolded.

One of the remaining Celestial Dragons suddenly grabbed a nearby knife and stabbed his son, then his entire family, then himself. Choking as he did so, his tear-filled eyes swirled in crimson.

Mariejois was bathed in blood and ruination, but there seemed to be no end. The combatants, as if oppressed by an unknown force, couldn't do anything but watch as the destruction brought the extinction unto the Celestial Dragons—save the God's Knights.

Then, the cries of agony were no longer heard, and only silence remained.

The countless heads rolled on the ground. Standing in the center was the cloaked man wearing a long crown, Imu. His visage, where nothing but eyes were present, brought horror simply from looking.

Thud. One by one, the witnesses fell to their knees.

No, it wasn't that they willingly knelt. Rather, they were being crushed by the incredible Conqueror's Haki that emanated from the being ahead of them.

And they instinctively knew,

"I, Kong the Commander-in-Chief,"

"I, Stussy the agent of Cipher Pol Aigis Zero,"

"I, Feldegard the pillar of God's Knight,"

"""Greet the king of the world."""

Imu, without saying anything in return, gazed at the kneeling ones. Then, he spoke—but no one knew where his voice was coming from, for he didn't have a mouth.

"There will neither be tricks nor lies. Instead, there will be a simple annihilation of those who oppose me."

Mariejois quaked as Imu's Conqueror's Haki surfaced. Hailing as the Supreme King who ruled over the world for centuries, his Haki, being the mightiest in the world, was so strong that the kneeling ones found it hard to breathe properly.

"Those who dare to contend for the throne will be executed gruesomely. First, White Hunter Smoker, then Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach."

Imu's eyes continued to swirl as he said so. Though the eyes contained no emotion, they seemed to be promising violence.

"Prepare for the final war."