Chapter 407: The Initial Eighteen Kings
Yes.
On that battlefield, the likes of which had never been seen in the entire history of the sea, the slaughter and fierce fighting never ceased.
But on the execution platform on the other side, Sengoku felt his eyes splitting open in rage.
He looked at those familiar faces below.
Those Marine soldiers who came to protect justice—their bodies were now occupied by the spirits from the Ancient Coffin.
That inhuman, demon-like posture, those bodies that continuously restored themselves after being torn to pieces.
Sengoku looked angrily at Imu behind him: "You broke the agreement—you promised not to harm the Marine warriors!"
And Imu at this time didn't even turn His head.
That face blending with Gloriosa's features had no fluctuations, only a kind of apathy.
"When did Mu harm them?"
He spoke calmly, as deep as an echo from the abyss: "Their souls, Mu has mercifully preserved to slumber in the depths of their shells."
"Their bodies will not die, and even after all enemies resisting Mu have been annihilated, Mu can magnanimously grant them some time to control their own bodies."
"After Mu's great undertaking is completed, they can become carriers for Mu's loyal servants, this is a tremendous honor."
"Mu bestowed upon them even stronger power, allowing them to serve Mu in a more perfect posture—Marines, this is a blessing. They are more valuable than their original selves."
"A blessing? Valuable?!"
After hearing this, Sengoku was trembling all over with anger.
The golden Buddha light on his body fluctuated violently, and what followed was a chill in his heart.
He finally knew where the Celestial Dragons' inhuman behavior originated from.
This guy in front of him...
"What do you take life and justice for!?"
And while speaking, Sengoku looked even more at Luffy, who had already lost consciousness in front of Imu, and the "Nika Fruit" that was still continuously being extracted from Luffy's body.
In just a moment, Sengoku made a judgment in his heart.
He knew that if there were no unexpected variables, this guy in front of him should be the ruler of the world Dragon spoke of, the God of the Abyss.
And facts proved—this guy was countless times worse than even the Celestial Dragons.
Because He possessed "power".
Sengoku found it hard to imagine—if a guy like this, who under a worldwide live broadcast and having made a promise, still used His power to turn Marines into monsters to fight for Him, truly achieved His goal, what would happen?
It would be very bad—this was the instinctive answer deep in Sengoku's heart.
And this also made Sengoku realize his greatest error in judgment previously.
The World Government was indeed the deepest and largest abscess in this world, and more crucially... they had grown to a point sufficient to threaten the "existence" of the world.
They were not a slowly growing tumor that could be dealt with gradually.
But a "bomb" that would directly kill everything once it detonated.
Thus, Sengoku also had no more hesitation.
He violently took a step forward, his figure expanding and growing larger in an instant.
His hand turned into a dazzling golden Buddha palm, carrying the justice he had upheld all his life and his towering rage at this moment, slapping towards Imu!
"Buddha Impact!"
At this moment, this Marine Fleet Admiral had clearly made his choice.
But...
Just as that giant golden palm was about to touch Imu... a sudden change occurred!
VMMM!
Sengoku didn't even see Imu's movement.
Only in the next moment, the surging, sea-like golden Buddha light on his body abruptly extinguished like a flame blown over by a fierce wind.
His Buddha body also rapidly shrank back, returning to a normal human form in just a moment.
And at this time, Sengoku could feel even more the sense of weakness coming from within his body—that was a sense of weakness he had rarely experienced in so many years.
"My ability... disappeared?"
Ever since he consumed the Daibutsu Fruit, that ability that had existed within his body for decades, was also at this moment...
Strikingly vanished!
And this... was not an isolated case!
Only to hear horrified shouts rising one after another across the battlefield right now.
"Captain Marco, your flames!"
"Diamond" Jozu widened his eyes, looking at Marco beside him.
Right now, the latter's iconic cyan Flames of Regeneration that could heal everything, actually could not be ignited at all.
His wings formed from flames also abruptly dissipated at this moment, causing him to fall from the sky.
Jozu hurriedly went up to catch Marco. At the same time, as a "Diamond Human", he instinctively ignored the gunfire spewed by the surrounding Marines—things like bullets were almost non-existent to him.
But the next moment...
Bang!
Blood splattered, and the pain coming from his body made Jozu instinctively let out a muffled groan. Then he was horrified to discover that his body had already been pierced through by bullets.
His ability had similarly disappeared—that originally indestructible diamond body had right now reverted to a normal human body.
And it wasn't just them.
Ace suddenly found that he could no longer urge out even a trace of flame—if it weren't for Yamato, who had similarly dropped out of her "Makami Form" beside him, rescuing him in time, he would have highly likely been instantly killed in one strike by Aokiji opposite him.
At this time, even Whitebeard had his brows tightly furrowed—his Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability, capable of triggering tsunamis and earthquakes, was right now also like a stone dropping into the sea, getting no response.
Yes.
If one were to survey the entire battlefield right now, they would discover.
The abilities on the ability users of The Zodiac's side seemed to have collectively disappeared at this moment!
The only exception was "Loki"—as the special, unbound "Nidhogg" fruit.
The ability on his body still existed, but even he was gritting his teeth, feeling the sense of weakness breeding within his body—although his ability hadn't disappeared, it was severely weakened under the suppression of the intense Abyssal Power.
"That guy..."
Loki gritted his teeth, looking at Imu on the execution platform.
And at this time, Imu still stood on the execution platform.
But His posture had changed once again.
That demon-like form, originally resembling a handsome youth with twin horns, seemed to become somewhat inexplicably bizarre at this time. His body seemed to have completely turned into a cluster of black flames, with only a faint outline visible within the flames.
It was as if He was beginning to revert to His true appearance—that formless and intangible abyss existing within the reflection of the world.
"His restriction has been broken through by another layer."
Loki faintly understood this point.
And facts were indeed so.
"A long-lost power."
Right now, Imu slowly raised His hand, as if feeling the restored power.
"Although it hasn't completely recovered, it already has sixty to seventy percent of 'freedom'."
His apathetic gaze swept over the battlefield, which had fallen into brief chaos and panic due to the failure of abilities.
Ultimately landing on Sengoku in front of Him.
"Ignorant fool."
Imu's voice carried an icy coldness of absolute control: "In front of Mu, anyone who harbors a heart of resistance against Mu cannot use the 'wishes' bestowed by Mu. The 'World' is fundamentally Mu's private property, you should have inherently accepted Mu's domination."
While speaking thus, clusters of wishes seemed to continuously gather from the palm of His hand, and were then swallowed by Him.
Wish: Buddha, Wish: Tremor, Wish: Phoenix, Wish: Diamond—those were strikingly the wishes belonging to the fruit abilities of the powerhouses under The Zodiac's command.
And at the same time...
VMMM!
Imu's finger twitched.
Thus, blood instantly shot out from all over Sengoku's body.
His body instantly collapsed weakly—his lingering breath proved he had not died yet, but he had clearly lost all combat capability.
And at the same time...
Imu's finger moved again.
The blood that flew out from Sengoku's body continuously changed and shaped itself in an instant, rapidly expanding from a drop of blood to a nearly human size.
A moment later, a full eighteen figures formed beside Imu.
They wore the iconic attire of the Celestial Dragons, but clearly more ancient.
And every one of them possessed a strong aura, and on top of their heads, they all wore crowns engraved with their respective family crests.
And their identities and appearances were not considered secrets to the entire world.
They were strikingly exactly...
[Creators · The Initial Twenty Kings]
The creators of the world, the remaining eighteen among the twenty kings who betrayed Davy Jones back then.