"..."
Imu's face was grim to the extreme. Her two major trump cards, "Blackened Dominion" and the "Board World," had both been dismantled. Now, she was stranded in this endless vacuum, struggling for breath.
While she wasn't as helpless as an ordinary human, high-intensity combat would undoubtedly drain her endurance at an accelerated rate. More terrifyingly... Shane appeared completely unaffected. In this vacuum, his breathing remained as steady and rhythmic as ever.
What on earth is that man's body made of?
"I smell cowardice. Looking at you now, it seems you have nothing left to offer," Shane spoke indifferently, extending his right hand. "In that case, let's end this here."
Sound cannot travel through a vacuum, yet somehow, Imu heard his voice clearly in her mind. Conversely, she realized he would likely hear her just as clearly. She narrowed her eyes at his slowly rising hand and suddenly threw her head back, laughing manically.
"Foolish mortal!" Her laughter grew more frantic and hideous. "Dost thou think victory is assured just because thou hast tasted a bit of sweetness? Dost thou believe that by taking me off the board, I am helpless against thee?"
"Do not get ahead of thyself! I have ruled this world for eight hundred years. The number of cards in my hand is beyond thy imagination!"
In the next instant, Imu snapped her index finger toward the space behind Shane, shrieking: "Appear, Uranus!"
Uranus? The head of the Three Ancient Weapons, the "Sovereign of the Sky"?
Shane raised an eyebrow and glanced back. He saw nothing unusual. Space was still space; the planet was still the planet; the moon was still...
Wait. Shane's pupils contracted.
Almost the exact moment his gaze focused, the lunar surface—silent for aeons—began to vibrate violently!
CRACK! CRACK!
Colossal fissures tore across the moon from the South Pole to the North Pole in seconds. Countless craters collapsed. The roar of the moon breaking apart felt deafening, even in the silence of space. Then...
RUMBLE!
From beneath the lunar crust came the thunderous grind of mechanical gears, like a celestial beast finally opening its maw. Within that polar rift, out of the deep darkness, an impossibly large steel cannon slowly emerged, its barrel aligning directly with Shane.
"..."
Shane was stunned. He stared up at the Star-Exterminating Cannon, a weapon whose bore alone was wide enough to swallow hundreds of thousands of people. He didn't look away for a long time.
Until Imu spoke coldly: "What is this? Hast thou finally learned the meaning of terror?"
"Hmph. I should have used this from the start. But that useless Vegapunk... I gave him decades, and yet he still hasn't recreated the Mother Flame. I must use Uranus's own source energy. The cost is immense, but to annihilate a monster like thee, it is well worth it."
Shane finally turned back and nodded seriously. "It is indeed a fascinating thing. Even I didn't guess this. It seems the Void Century—and your secrets—are deeper than I imagined."
He offered Imu a slight smile. "Anyway, enough small talk. Business first. It's time to send you on your way."
What kind of reaction is that? Imu was bewildered. Now that she could see his face, she realized she had miscalculated entirely. She expected horror, or at least wary hesitation. Instead, he showed no fear at all. The reason he had been silent was simply because he was examining the cannon with the same delighted curiosity a child shows toward a new toy.
"Arrogant!" Imu screamed. "Dost thou know what this is? This is the Sovereign! The ultimate weapon capable of erasing a nation with a casual strike! With its source energy active, its power is magnified several times over!"
"Even if one shot cannot kill thee, it is enough to destroy half the planet! A cost that someone bound by mortal morality like thee could never bear—"
"What Sovereign?" Shane gave her a strange look. "Does such a thing even exist?"
Before Imu could snap back, she saw Shane raise his hand. With a casual punch, he struck out toward the moon.
BOOM!
The punch looked simple and unadorned. But in an instant, the entire starry sky seemed to shudder! Under Imu's disbelieving eyes, the force of the punch tore through the void like lightning, piercing the stars and slamming into the moon.
Silently, the newly revealed Star-Exterminating Cannon—along with the entire moon—exploded.
Countless rocks and dust sprayed outward, only to be instantly vaporized into ash by the violent energy. Stardust scattered. The Great Moon was erased from the universe, leaving behind nothing but a void of dark matter.
Shane withdrew his fist, his expression calm, as if he had just crushed a tangerine.
"You... you..." Imu's pupils shook. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt gripped by an invisible hand. Her breathing stopped.
How... how is this possible? Regardless of its identity as Uranus, the "skin" on the outside was the actual Moon! It was turned to dust... by a single punch?!!
Shane ignored her. He glanced into the distance, and his body suddenly surged in size. His muscles rose like mountains, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a hundred-metre-tall giant! Veins pulsed like dragons across his massive frame. His mere presence distorted the surrounding space.
SWISH!
The giant vanished, moving at a speed approaching the velocity of light. Within a few heartbeats, he reached the orbit of Saturn. Around that gas giant circled dozens of moons. He found an icy, rocky satellite roughly the size of the old moon.
The hundred-metre giant grinned, reached out his right hand, and gripped the void toward the satellite—
RUMBLE!
In the next moment, that celestial body—thousands of kilometres in diameter—was physically yanked from Saturn's gravity. Trailing a long wake of ice and debris, it was dragged toward the Pirate Planet at a blistering speed. Finally, it was brought to a steady halt directly above Imu, its massive shadow plunging her into total darkness.
The entire process took mere seconds. The tides of the Pirate World had barely begun to react to the moon's disappearance before the balance was restored.
"..."
Imu stared up stiffly at Shane, who had returned to human size with his hands in his pockets. At this moment, she finally realized what kind of terrifying existence she was facing. Eight hundred years of pride collapsed. Her ultimate trump cards and meticulously arranged schemes were laughable in the face of such power.
"You," she whispered hoarsely, a tragic smile on her lips. "What... what are you?"
"What kind of question is that?" Shane frowned. "I'm a human. Obviously. Can't you tell?"
Rude old hag, he thought. He was 185cm tall, with sharp features and a clean, handsome look—the standard blueprint for a leading man. How did he not look human?
"..." Imu hesitated, bit her lip, and then took a deep breath. She dropped to her knees. (There is no "ground" in space, of course, but the gesture was unmistakable.)
"I... no, I admit defeat." Imu lowered her head, her voice trembling. "From this day forward, I am willing to take you as my Master. I will be your slave, your handmaid, to be used as you see fit."
Her pride was shattered. In the face of absolute power, the right to decide her own life or death was no longer hers.
"Oh?" Shane raised an eyebrow. "The 'King of the World' is willing to be someone's servant? That doesn't sound like you."
King of the World? Imu's gaze was vacant. If a weakling like her was a King, what was he? The King of the Galaxy?
"In the face of death, dignity is meaningless," Imu said bitterly. "Moreover... to serve an existence like you might actually be an honour."
Seeing Shane's cold, noncommittal reaction, fear surged within her again. She looked up and pleaded: "Are you unwilling? If you spare my life, I can tell you everything! The Void Century, the Ancient Weapons, Joy Boy, my past, the secrets of the 'D' Clan! You... you surely want to know these secrets, I can—"
SPLAT!
Before she could finish, her head flew high into the air. A look of disbelief froze on her exquisite face.
"None of my business." Shane sheathed his katana, glancing at the floating head. "The 'D' Clan, Joy Boy... who told you I was interested in that?"
Demented, he thought. Whether or not the tangerines in his hometown were ripe had a far greater pull on his interest.
"..." Imu's lips moved as if she wanted to say more, but her consciousness finally plunged into darkness.
The God of the Celestial Dragons who ruled the world from behind the scenes for eight hundred years, the Master of the Empty Throne—Saint Nerona Imu was dead.
Shane watched for a moment. He thought about taking the head back to Mary Geoise, but then remembered this body originally belonged to Queen Lili and had simply been stolen. He decided against it. With a flick of his finger, a torrent of Conqueror's Haki swept out, incinerating the headless body and the head into ash.
He opened his Observation Haki to its limit, confirming there were no lingering spirits or remnants left behind. Once he was sure everything was settled, he turned back toward the blue planet slowly rotating beneath him. This was the first time he had truly appreciated the view of this world from space. Though there was far less land than on Earth, it was still beautiful.
"Time to go back." He smiled, whispered to himself, and vanished into the void.
The battle in space ended so quickly that the sounds of slaughter in Mary Geoise had not yet ceased by the time Imu's head turned to ash. The setting sun cast a bloody glow over the ruined Pangea Castle. Smoke rose everywhere.
The Curtain Call Executives were still fighting the remnants of the World Government, but the tide had long since turned. Especially after Marco and Dragon successfully breached the Holy Land with the main Revolutionary Army force, the numerical superiority was overwhelming.
Da-da-da!
Chopper, in his Walk Point, sprinted through the ruins with a pack full of medical supplies. "Here! We need help here, Dr. Chopper!" someone called out. Behind the member were a dozen slaves just rescued from cages, most of them heavily injured.
"Coming, coming!" Chopper rushed to the wounded and reverted to his brain point. Just as he opened his bag, he felt a sudden chill. Three blood-soaked CP0 agents emerged from the shadows, their lethal Finger Pistols aimed straight for his back!
"Dr. Chopper!" the Finalizer member cried out, drawing his sword, but the CP0 agents were faster than he anticipated. It looked like he wouldn't make it.
In that split second, a slender figure appeared like a ghost.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
After three muffled thuds, the CP0 agents flew backward, crashing into the ruins ten metres away. Their necks twisted, and they went still.
"Tch. Your medical skills are decent, but your fighting doesn't seem to have improved at all."
That voice... Chopper turned around in a daze. Dr. Kureha stood there, withdrawing her leg, a wine bottle in her right hand and a smirk on her face.
"Doctorine!" Chopper's eyes immediately flooded with tears. He lunged at her, hugging her leg and wailing: "Doctorine! Why are you here! Uuu... I missed you so much!"
"Hey! Stop that, you brat! You're getting snot on my skirt." Kureha shook her leg with mock disgust. When she couldn't shake him off, she gave up the act, knelt down, and rubbed Chopper's head. "Alright, stop crying. You really didn't choose the wrong person. Following that Shane brat for only a year and you've already made such a name for yourself. Your bounty is over 300 million Berries now, isn't it?"
"But your strength doesn't match that bounty. Running into the Celestial Dragons' nest... if a powerful guy targeted you, I wouldn't be able to rest easy."
"But it's dangerous for you too!" Chopper looked up, eyes brimming with tears. "Doctorine, you're over 130 years old! What if you got hurt!"
"Brat, underestimating me again!" Kureha smacked Chopper's head. "Who told you 130-year-olds can't fight? I'm a witch in her eternal youth! My combat power hasn't dropped since I was young!"
She took a swig of wine and grinned. "Never mind these CP0 small fry... actually, never mind. It's no use telling a little dummy like you. If your boss Shane were here, I'd be interested in bragging about the old days."
That little brat who showed up at her door in a blizzard seeking medical help for a pretty girl... the kid who hissed and twisted in pain when she poked him with a needle...
Now, he wasn't just the most dangerous fugitive in history; he had led an army to storm Mary Geoise. And by the looks of it, he had already succeeded.
Tch, tch. The boy had only been at sea for nearly two years. In her 130 years of life, when had she ever seen such a talent?
"Alright, enough talk. Start saving people, Chopper. I'll help you after I finish this wine."
"Yes! Okay, Doctorine!" Chopper wiped his tears. He was only crying because he missed her; he could switch to his doctor's combat mode at any time. He wasn't that crybaby from years ago anymore!
"Truly good wine..." Kureha leaned against a wall, slowly finishing the last drop. She swayed slightly with a tipsy look before tossing the bottle aside. Just as she was about to help Chopper, she let out a soft "Eh?" as if sensing something. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the sky.
It wasn't just her. Throughout the vast city of Mary Geoise—from south to north, east to west—everyone who had mastered Observation Haki reacted at the same time. Others, seeing their reactions, looked up in confusion.
SWISH!
At the edge of the setting sun, a familiar figure stood suspended in the air. His black cloak billowed in the wind, and his handsome face was gilded by the evening glow, looking like a God descending to the realm.
"I was going to say something silly about being 'close' to success..." Kureha gave a tipsy hiccup, steadied herself, and giggled. "Turns out, he's already done it."