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Chapter 374: A Dimensional Strike, Imu Has a Complete Breakdown
Meanwhile.
East Blue, Foosha Village.
Inside the tavern.
The previously rowdy atmosphere—filled with clinking glasses and lively discussions about Shanks entering the dungeon—had plummeted into pin-drop silence the exact moment the broadcast screen froze.
The bowl of sake in Whitebeard's hand stopped mid-air. His eyes, which usually looked upon everyone with the warm gaze of a father, were currently bulging wider than brass bells. He didn't even notice the alcohol spilling all over his chest.
Kaido's eyes were practically popping out of his skull. His spiked club slipped from his grip and smashed directly onto his toes with a heavy clang, but he didn't even grunt in pain. He merely stood there with his jaw unhinged, staring intensely at the retreating back of the bald man on the screen, looking as though he had just seen a ghost.
"Was that... Red-Haired?"
The sunglasses perched on Doflamingo's face slid down his nose, revealing eyes brimming with absolute shock. Even his trademark Fufufu laugh was lodged in his throat, unable to escape.
"That Shanks... the guy who played us all for fools..."
"Got one-shot... by a single punch?!"
And the worst part was... it looked like a punch thrown without a shred of effort, just like swatting a fly?!
Gulp. Someone swallowed hard, the sound piercingly loud in the dead silent tavern.
In the corner, the "World's Strongest Man," Whitebeard, looked equally shell-shocked. His legendary naginata, Murakumogiri—a weapon that had terrorized the seas during the Great Pirate Era—rested quietly against the wall, its gleam seemingly dulled by the otherworldly pressure they had just witnessed.
"Gurararara..." Whitebeard tried to force out a boisterous laugh to mask his internal shock, but halfway through, he realized his throat was completely parched. The laugh morphed into a heavy, solemn sigh.
"If I took that punch head-on... I'm afraid..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but every Division Commander present—even the normally arrogant Marco—silently lowered their heads. They didn't need their Pops to say it; they already knew the answer.
They would die. They would absolutely die! There wouldn't even be ashes left!
"Uwororororo!!!"
Suddenly, an explosively wild laugh shattered the oppressive silence.
Kaido, currently wearing a security guard uniform and standing by the door, stared intensely at the now-blackened screen. His eyes were completely bloodshot. It wasn't fear—it was the manic fanaticism of encountering a kindred spirit... no, encountering a true "God"!
"Brilliant! That was absolutely fucking brilliant! That's the exact kind of death I've been dreaming of!"
Kaido trembled with excitement, slamming his club against the floorboards, creating deafening thuds.
"What 'Strongest Creature'? What 'Invincible in a 1-on-1'? In front of that bald guy, I'm absolutely nothing! Boss Blake!"
Kaido snapped his head around, his massive eyes burning with a raging inferno.
"Next time! Next time you have a dungeon with that bald guy, you have to save a spot for me! Even if I get beaten to a pulp! I need to experience the majesty of that punch firsthand!"
A lunatic. An absolute, utter lunatic. Looking at the hyperactive Kaido, everyone in the tavern shared the exact same thought.
However, in the darkest, most inconspicuous corner of the tavern, a figure completely cloaked in a black robe tightly gripped the armrests of his chair.
His long, pale fingers were applying so much pressure that they had drained entirely of color, violently cracking the sturdy oak armrests!
Imu—the God who had ruled the world from the Empty Throne for eight hundred years, looking down upon all living beings as mere ants. Right now, the face hidden beneath the cowl had completely lost its usual aloof, arrogant composure. Replacing it was an undeniable, naked display of... trembling terror!
Not even when facing the man named Joy Boy eight centuries ago—the man who awakened the Nika Fruit and threatened to flip the entire world upside down—had Imu ever shown an expression like this.
It was a complete loss of composure!
"How... is this possible..."
Imu's red, ringed pupils contracted violently. His breathing hitched as if he were drowning.
Eight hundred years ago, that world-shaking war had been difficult. Joy Boy's absurd, cartoonish abilities—turning the earth into rubber and gripping lightning bolts in his bare hands—had indeed caused massive headaches for the World Government.
But it was only that. A headache.
In Imu's eyes, that power still belonged to the realm of "Devil Fruits." It still required stamina. It still followed the underlying logic and laws of this world. As long as Uranus was deployed, as long as the connection to the sea was severed... a God could still suppress anything.
But just now... that bald man... that man named Saitama.
What exactly did he do?
No Haki. No Devil Fruit powers. Imu couldn't sense even a microscopic fluctuation of energy.
It was purely... physical strength! A violence so absolute, pure, and overwhelming that it defied all logic!
One punch. It tore the atmosphere asunder. It shattered the earth. The mere shockwave from that strike was enough to trigger an apocalyptic tsunami!
"This kind of power..." Imu felt as though a red-hot coal had been shoved down his throat, burning intensely. "Joy Boy treating the world like a playground... compared to this bald man... it's like a three-year-old playing with mud!"
This was a dimensional strike!
If that bald man ever came to the One Piece world, Ancient Weapons, the National Treasure of Mary Geoise, the Empty Throne... none of it would survive a single "Serious Punch"!
In fact, Imu harbored a terrifying, absurd intuition: if that bald man truly wanted to, he could snap the Red Line in half with a single blow! He could take a world divided by oceans and forcefully smash it back together!
"Is this... what a true God looks like?"
Imu's body trembled slightly. The horrific realization of having been a frog at the bottom of a well for eight hundred years—only to suddenly have the lid ripped off to reveal an infinite, terrifying cosmos—caused the "King of the World" to suffer a complete mental breakdown!
"Haaa..." Imu slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, forcefully suppressing the urge to tremble.
Following the terror, a wave of ambition far more ferocious than the fear surged forth!
If I can enter these worlds called "dungeons"... If I can obtain that power to break my own limiter... then I, Imu, will no longer just be the God of this tiny, insignificant rock. I will truly transcend dimensions. I will reign over the Myriad Heavens as... the Supreme God!
At that thought, the terror in Imu's red eyes vanished entirely. In its place burned a dark, consuming flame capable of incinerating all reason!
Blake... Imu silently repeated the name in his heart, his gaze growing unprecedentedly intense.
I don't care if you're a demon from another world. As long as you hand me the key to that realm of power... even if I have to trade my eight-hundred-year empire... I will not hesitate!
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