Both start in hell: but their talents are multiplied a hundredfold.

"Hello!"

"You're the leader of the Celestial Dragons?!" In this tense moment, Luffy, who was being carried by Dragon to Mary Geoise from the back row of many powerful figures, asked a soul-searching question.

Sabo reached out his hand the instant Luffy moved.

His Observation Haki had already detected the signs of Luffy's muscles tensing and his knees slightly bending, and the timing of his cane weapon blocking the way was incredibly fast.

But he was still a step too slow.

Luffy's legs have turned into rubber, his feet are deeply embedded in the ground, and his whole body is like a bow that has been stretched to its limit.

"Rubber, rubber..."

Sabo's fingertips only had time to brush against the hem of Luffy's clothes.

"Rocket!!!"

With a loud bang, Luffy's figure shot out from among the many powerful figures like a red cannonball, passing by Shen Jue and crashing straight into the center of the square where the two armies were facing each other.

The stone slabs cracked, and dust rose up.

When the straw-hat boy straightened up again, he was already standing at the very front between Shen Jue and Im.

Beneath his straw hat, his messy black hair danced wildly in the blast of air, and his eyes burned with an almost overflowing rage.

Among the many powerful figures, Garp, Dragon, and Ace all couldn't help but put their hands on their foreheads, making a crisp sound.

Even Sabo showed a helpless expression.

"Sabo, don't stop me!"

Luffy roared without turning his head, his voice filled with the undeniable stubbornness unique to young people.

He raised his hand and pointed at Im, then at the Celestial Dragons behind Im, who were trembling and being protected at the back by the Knights of God.

"It must be you guys!"

Luffy's voice boomed across the square.

"Those guys who treat others like slaves, brand people, and kill for their own amusement!"

"Those bastards who kill everyone else just because they're Celestial Dragons!"

Luffy's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and his whole body trembled slightly with anger.

Answer me!

"What right do you guys have to do this?!"

"Whether it's the Celestial Dragons or the World Government, what gives you the right to arbitrarily decide the life and death of others?!"

"Who do you think you are? Gods?!"

Luffy's roar echoed across Mary Geoise.

The voice was so pure that the female warriors of Kuja behind them unconsciously gripped their weapons, and the fish-man warriors' eyes welled up with tears. Those who had suffered tragic experiences because of the Celestial Dragons all gritted their teeth.

Sabo didn't step forward. Instead, he stood behind Shen Jue and whispered, "That kid, I can't stop him at all."

Shen Jue calmly watched Luffy's retreating figure.

"Don't worry," he said softly.

"Let Luffy question the so-called King of the World."

Across the square, one of the Five Elders slowly narrowed his eyes.

The captain of the Knights of God, Korin, looked at Luffy with a hint of something indescribable.

Im noticed the straw hat on Luffy's head.

Memories from eight hundred years ago seem to be lingering slightly beneath that straw hat.

He stood at the top of the stone steps, looking down at Luffy.

But he did not answer immediately.

The silence lasted briefly, and the sea breeze swept across the white building with a mournful sound.

The terrified sobs of the Celestial Dragons sounded surprisingly pleasant to the powerful figures on Shen Jue's side.

Then, Im slowly spoke: "On what grounds?"

Im repeated Luffy's question, his tone devoid of any emotion.

"In these eight hundred years, the world has never changed."

Luffy paused for a moment, then roared even more angrily, "Don't try to fool me! Answer my question!"

Im's gaze fell on Luffy, and in his abyss-like eyes, a trace of an extremely distant memory finally surfaced.

"You ask why the Celestial Dragons do this?"

Im slowly raised one hand, pointing to the sky, then to the red earth continent beneath his feet, stained with blood.

"Because the world needs order."

"The price of order can be paid for with the suffering of those who are powerless to resist."

He lowered his eyes slightly.

"Do you really think that what you call sins are merely the Celestial Dragons' vices?"

"Those slaveries, those killings."

"They are not evils, but constraints."

Im's voice was eerily calm, as if he were explaining the truth of the world to an ignorant child.

"Without the Celestial Dragons as symbols of 'gods,' and without their absolute dominion over the lower realms, the people of this world would not know what fear is."

"A world without fear will fall back into the chaos of eight hundred years ago."

"By then, the number of dead will be a hundred times, a thousand times more than it is now."

Luffy yelled, "Stop lying!"

"You're just making excuses for your indiscriminate killings!"

"What order! What fear! It's just you guys wanting to be superior!"

Im watched Luffy quietly, and after a moment, he let out a very soft laugh.

The laughter was filled with a utter indifference that had transcended eight hundred years.

You are right.

"Yes, I do want to be high and mighty."

Im actually admitted it.

Luffy was taken aback.

"But this doesn't contradict what Mu said," Im continued.

"Mu needs to be high above, the world needs order, and the Celestial Dragons are precisely the most suitable tool to maintain order."

Im's gaze shifted from Luffy, sweeping over Shen Jue, over the dragon, over Whitebeard, and over everyone standing there.

"But today, Mu never expected that the malice of mortals would swell in such an absurd way that even Mu could not ignore it."

He looked at Luffy again.

"Therefore, mortals."

"You ask why the Celestial Dragons do those things?"

"M's answer was yes."

"Because they were allowed by M."

"And Mu, allowed them to do whatever they wanted."

"All of this is for the sake of world order."

As Im's voice faded, the entire plaza fell into a deathly silence, after which the anger of even more powerful individuals was ignited.

Luffy's fists were trembling. He understood, but this only made him angrier.

Just because this guy at the top needs to maintain the order of the World Government, he allows the Celestial Dragons to roam freely on the sea as so-called gods.

The tragedies born from the evil deeds of the Celestial Dragons have been playing out continuously for the past eight hundred years.

The root of these tragedies lies solely in Im's "permission".

Luffy pulled his straw hat down low, the brim covering half of his face, leaving only his clenched teeth and tense jaw visible.

"You bastard!" Luffy said angrily.

"Just because you allowed it..."

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes almost spitting fire.

"Just because someone like you allowed it, does that mean everyone can be killed at will?!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Luffy stepped back with his right foot and stretched his right arm back to its limit, his entire arm looking like a stretched red rope, making a creaking sound.

Armament Haki spread from his shoulders to his fists, and his skin shimmered with a metallic black-red sheen.

"I don't care what you are!"

"Someone like you who treats other people's lives like toys!"

With Luffy's roar, his fist was already brimming with power enough to shatter a mountain.

"I absolutely! I will never let you go!!!"

"Rubber! Rubber!"

He slammed forward, his right arm about to strike with devastating force.

At that moment, Shen Jue gently pressed Luffy's shoulder with her hand.

That hand didn't exert any force, yet it abruptly stopped Luffy's fist, which was brimming with power, in mid-air.

"Luffy".

Shen Jue's voice was calm and clear as he slowly said, "I understand your anger."

He raised his head, his gaze returning to Im.

"But this is not your battle."

The current Luffy's physical strength and Haki level far surpass those of the Luffy in the original One Piece storyline.

However, Luffy's Nika Fruit has not yet awakened, so it's unlikely he could withstand Im for even a moment.

Shen Jue took a step forward, past Luffy, and stood at the very front of everyone again.

"Im," Shen Jue said slowly.

"You just said a lot."

"But there's one thing you've never understood."

Shen Jue raised his hand, and the three-pointed, double-edged sword slowly condensed in his palm, its tip pointing towards Im on Pangu City.

"The world has never been kept together by people like you."

"The people of the sea, whether they are fish-men, giants, or any other race."

"Their lives have never needed the order of a world government."

"And what I need to do today."

A cold glint flashed in Shen Jue's eyes.

"It means personally ending the world government's evil rule that has lasted for eight hundred years."

Im remained standing at the top of the stone steps, his face hidden in the shadows. He, like Shen Jue, slowly took a step forward.

"Then let Mu take a look."

"How far will mortals go eight hundred years from now?"

The moment Shen Jue finished speaking, the entire Mary Geoise Square seemed to explode like a powder keg thrown into it!

The dragon's form transformed into a streak of blue light, carrying with it a hurricane and thunderstorm, as it hurtled straight toward the bald old man among the Five Elders who wielded the first generation of the Kitetsu sword.

Garp's Iron Fist and Ace's Flame Emperor were unleashed almost simultaneously, flames and Haki intertwining to form a red and black tsunami that rushed towards the Knights of God.

With a single slash, Whitebeard unleashed the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, causing the entire Red Line to groan under its strain.

The members of the Knights of God and the Five Elders all took action to counterattack. Devil Fruit abilities and Haki collided wildly in the sky, turning the entire sky into a turbulent flow of multicolored energy.

However, in the midst of this chaotic battle that could turn the sea upside down and shatter the sky, Shen Jue and Im stood quietly in place, as if forgotten by the world.

Im stood atop the stone steps, shadows obscuring most of his face, revealing only his eyes that seemed capable of devouring everything.

The turbulent energy and strong winds whipped up Shen Jue's new naval admiral's coat, but they didn't make Shen Jue's gaze waver even slightly.

Neither of them moved, and despite the deafening shouts and overflowing energy around them, their gazes remained firmly fixed on each other.

Just then, a figure slowly stepped out from behind Shen Jue.

It was a robust Shiba Inu with strong, powerful strides, yet each step it took was completely silent.

That was Xiaotian.

This was the first time Xiaotian had landed on all fours since birth, instead of standing upright as usual.

He walked to Shen Jue's feet, first gently rubbing his head against Shen Jue's calf, then raising his head with the hilt of an iron sword in his mouth.

The iron sword was jet black, with no luster on its blade, yet it seemed to absorb all the light around it.

Xiaotian held the sword hilt in his mouth and stared coldly at Im.

Shen Jue lowered his head, looked into Xiaotian's dark eyes, and smiled slightly.

"You've come at the perfect time."

"I've wanted to say this for a long time."

"Xiaotian, bite him!"

However, Xiaotian raised his head and looked at Shen Jue with a puzzled expression, saying, "But Master, didn't you tell me to hold the iron sword in my mouth and use it to cut that guy?"

"How am I supposed to bite that black guy while I'm holding an iron sword in my mouth?"

Shen Jue's lips tightened slightly. He rubbed Xiaotian's head and said, "You rascal."

"Can't we be more flexible and adaptable?"

"This way, our style and sophistication have completely vanished."

Im looked at Shen Jue and Xiao Tian in front of him with a speechless expression. His black robe slowly fell off, revealing his true face.

The moment the black robe slipped off, the powerful figures who were engaged in fierce combat, whether it was Dragon, Garp, and Whitebeard on Shen Jue's side, or the Five Elders and the Knights of God on the World Government's side, almost simultaneously felt a chill from the depths of their souls, and their movements involuntarily slowed down for a moment.

Because Im's true appearance was revealed to the world for the first time.

He was a tall, slender man with long white hair that reached his waist and dark skin that made him look like a devil.

Of course, if Death God Shen Jue were present, he would only cry out in anguish why Im wasn't a woman.

If Im were a woman, the dark-skinned, white-haired, and slender Im would definitely be on the Death God Shen Jue's list of preferences.

On Im's forehead, two black horns that curved backward slowly emerged, their surfaces covered with fine scales.

Im slowly raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

A ball of pitch-black demonic fire suddenly ignited, and within the flames, a human face with a twisted smile could be vaguely seen whispering some secret words.

The demonic fire caused the temperature in the entire square to plummet.

"Although I felt very uncomfortable after leaving the flower garden."

"But this distance also allows Mu to exert his full strength."

"Therefore, perish, mortals."

Im's voice was no longer as erratic as before, but carried a heavy, authoritative quality, like the pressure of water in the deep sea, squeezing everyone's eardrums from all directions.

He made a fist with his left hand, and black light gathered in his hand, gradually transforming into a jet-black longsword.

"This is the Demon Sword."

Im gently slammed the Demon Sword onto the ground.

boom!

Centered on him, a black shockwave suddenly spread outwards, cracking the ground and hissing through the air.

The ripples in Im's eyes slowly shifted, and his body began to change, with a pair of black fleshy wings unfurling behind him.

He looked up, a cold smile on his face.

"Now, I will show you what a true 'god' is."

Before he finished speaking, Im flapped his wings, and black demonic fire swept towards Shen Jue like a tsunami.

"clang!"

The iron sword in Xiaotian's mouth fell to the ground. Shen Jue pointed at Im and quickly said again, "Xiaotian! Bite him!"

"roar!"

Xiaotian let out a roar and his figure suddenly disappeared from Im's sight!

Before Im's pupils could react violently, he felt excruciating pain he hadn't felt in hundreds of years!

Blood is splattering!

Im has lost his left leg!

Then look at Xiaotian, who has returned to Shen Jue's side with Im's left leg in his mouth.

The severed leg still bore the marks of Xiaotian's teeth!

As a creation of Shen Jue in the form of the Pure Source Mystic Dao True Monarch, Xiaotian inherited Shen Jue's physique, combat experience, and three-colored domineering aura!

This resulted in Xiaotian's physique being so powerful that even the World King, Im, could not comprehend it and felt fear towards him!

Xiaotian alone is enough to easily destroy everything in the One Piece world!

Xiaotian, standing at Shen Jue's feet, disgustedly tossed Im's left leg onto the ground, saying, "Ugh! It stinks!"

"Master's idea is terrible!"

"This thing is soft and fluffy, like a marshmallow."

Im's pupils then suddenly contracted into two dark vertical lines.

The excruciating pain of his left leg being bitten off at the root was like a thunderclap, crashing down his spine and into his heart, which had never truly wavered in eight hundred years.

Black demonic fire surged wildly from the broken end, like thousands of angry venomous snakes coiling and tearing, and almost in the blink of an eye, a brand new left leg was re-formed.

But Im's body involuntarily took a half step back.

The soles of the boots made a very soft "snap" as they stepped on the broken stone slabs.

Im slowly raised his head, and in his wavy eyes finally emerged an extremely unfamiliar emotion that he had almost forgotten for hundreds of years.

fear.

"What...are you?"

Im's voice remained deep, but for the first time, a crack as thin as a hair appeared in that heavy majesty.

Demonic flames surged around him, and his wings spread wide on his back.

Black shockwaves spread outwards from him in concentric circles, and the entire Pangu City groaned.

But his gaze was fixed on the Shiba Inu at Shen Jue's feet, which was frantically pawing at the ground as if trying to scrape the taste off its tongue.

"impossible......"

Im's fingertips tightened slightly, and the Demon Sword hummed incessantly in his palm.

"Mu's body has long surpassed the limits of humanity and all living beings in the world."

"How could I be defeated by a mere dog..."

Shen Jue bent down and picked up the iron sword that Xiao Tian had thrown down from the ground.

He straightened up and gently touched the air with the tip of his sword.

"Otherwise what?" Shen Jue asked calmly.

"What gave you the illusion that you could defeat Xiaotian?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaotian's ears perked up immediately. With a push of its four legs, it stood upright, paws across its chest, puffing out its furry chest, its dog face full of unrestrained pride.

"ha!"

"Your master's power is beyond the comprehension of a mere charcoal like you!"

Xiaotian proudly delivered the speech of a low-level villain's subordinate, adding a bit of a flag to Shen Jue's character.

"Ha, I've been underestimated."

"What arrogant mortals." Im extended a finger, and hundreds of magical flames suddenly appeared.

Even amidst the chaotic battlefield filled with overwhelming power and flying Devil Fruit abilities, Im's demonic fire still drew everyone's attention.

"Hehehehe."

The demonic fire emitted a strange, mocking laugh.

Then, a large amount of demonic fire erupted from Im's left arm, and a pitch-black weapon shaped like a scimitar appeared in Im's hand.

"This is the Void Sword."

"Mortals, you have every reason to be proud," Im said coldly.

"This time, Mu won't fail again."

"How interesting." Shen Jue said, looking at the weapon in Im's hand. Im was holding two swords and looked like a swordsman.

"But as far as I know..."

"The weapons of this world, no matter how gorgeous their appearance or how magical their legends."

"Or perhaps it is forged from some terrifying material."

"Its power is not even as great as the old, broken water pipe I found at random."

After saying that, Shen Jue reached out and found a water pipe that had not yet been destroyed in the aftershocks of the battlefield in his hand.

Shen Jue handed the water pipe to Xiao Tian, ​​who chuckled, grabbed the pipe, and looked at Im with ill intent.

Im frowned, not understanding Shen Jue's intention. He then stopped thinking about it and his demonic fire surged! It transformed into hundreds of explosive demonic fires that rushed towards Shen Jue and Xiaotian!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of sonic booms, powerful enough to shatter an ordinary person, rang out!

Xiaotian actually used the broken water pipe, which was covered with Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki, to shatter all the demonic fire!

His terrifyingly powerful aura left the broken water pipe completely undamaged!

"This is the Supreme Water Pipe Imche, which I just named," Shen Jue said, acting as the background commentator.

Im's face darkened, and his wings suddenly flapped, turning him into a black afterimage, leaving only a few lingering flames of demonic fire in his wake.

"die."

The two swords crossed, and the Demon Sword and the Void Sword struck down simultaneously.

The black slashing waves and the playful demonic fire intertwined to form a net of destruction, descending upon Xiaotian.

Xiaotian laughed excitedly, his eyes flashing with fighting spirit.

Its claws tightened slightly on the broken water pipe, and black and red lightning instantly exploded from the tips of its claws, winding along its arm and around the entire water pipe.

Armament Haki dyed the water pipe a deep black, but its surface shimmered with a dark red sheen.

"Try this trick!"

Instead of retreating, Xiaotian advanced, charging towards the sky filled with demonic flames.

It swept across with a single blow.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, several demonic flames were forcefully exploded, turning into black smoke and dissipating.

There wasn't even a scorch mark left on the seemingly ordinary water pipe; only black and red lightning bolts danced across its surface.

Im's pupils contracted slightly, and he drew both swords simultaneously, slashing towards Xiaotian's throat and ribs.

His speed was extremely fast, and his swordplay was incredibly ruthless. Ordinary experts wouldn't even have a chance to react before being cut into three pieces by Im.

But Xiaotian is even faster.

It ducked down, slipped under the twin swords, and then swung its staff backhand, striking Im's right wrist, which was gripping the sword.

"Snap!"

Even with the demonic fire protecting him, a crisp sound still came from Im's wrist.

The Demon Sword flew from his hand, and Im was struck by this terrifying force, spinning sideways like a top being whipped.

Before Im could regain his footing, Xiaotian had already appeared on the other side of his spinning trajectory.

"Again!"

Another blow landed on the spine of the Void Sword.

"clang!"

A piercing metallic wail echoed throughout the stadium.

Im's body changed direction again, spinning in the opposite direction at an even faster speed.

His wings flapped desperately behind him, but he couldn't stop the terrifying spinning force.

"Damn it! Mmm actually!"

Im gritted his teeth, crossed his arms, and formed a cross between the Demon Sword and the Void Sword in front of him, trying to block the omnipresent afterimage of the water pipe.

Xiaotian, however, became addicted to the fight.

It attacked Im from both sides, like playing billiards.

"right!"

"left!"

"One more backspin!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Im's body bounced back and forth on the court, like a table tennis ball being hit by a racket.