Chapter 380: Life Will Find Its Own Way
Minami Mamiya Gloriosa.
To Roy, this name was already not the first time he had heard it.
As a transmigrator, he already knew that this Gloriosa could be considered the most special one among all the God's Knights.
It seems she already possessed the "Abyssal Sea Mark" belonging to the Five Elders when she was a God's Retainer, thereby obtaining an ageless and immortal appearance.
Besides this, she was also the only knight among the God's Knights in the original work who definitively displayed the ability to act as a carrier for "Imu".
More crucially, through Brook's mouth, Roy had actually confirmed that this "Gloriosa" herself was not a Celestial Dragon, but a princess from the "Freedom Kingdom" in the West Blue.
That kingdom, which was once Brook's hometown, was destroyed by the World Government in the past for some reason.
Of course, according to what Roy currently knew, the "reason" this kingdom was destroyed was likely quite significant.
"According to Vegapunk, that segment of the Pillar of Creation's root and that special Road Poneglyph were both discovered by him from the Freedom Kingdom... This kingdom, like Wano Country, probably carried considerable weight in Joy Boy and Davy Jones's plans."
This was Roy's guess.
But that was all.
With his mastery of the Source Energy of Lineage Factor and his understanding of the world's truth, the Freedom Kingdom and even Joy Boy's plans were actually no longer that crucial to him. In the past, he rarely continued to explore them, and even almost forgot about Gloriosa.
But now, right in front of him.
For the first time, he met the young girl named Gloriosa, whose true age was unknown.
And he witnessed her specialness with his own eyes.
BOOM!
Even with Roy continuously swallowing and absorbing, the aura belonging to Imu on Gloriosa's body was still growing.
The magnitude of that growth was massive, even almost exceeding the limit of Roy's "judgment" of Imu in his heart!
Roy even suspected—even if Imu's main body descended, could He possess this level of Source Energy of Lineage Factor?
So at this moment, an unbelievable guess naturally surfaced in Roy's mind.
"The 'shackles' are being..."
He didn't know how the other party did it.
But what was certain was—at this time, Imu descending through Gloriosa's body, His power must have transcended, or at least partially transcended, the "shackles" He was subjected to.
So...
VMMM!
The next moment, Roy's figure instantly vanished from where he stood and arrived beside Rocks, who was slumped on the ground.
At the same time, the aura on Gloriosa's body had also swelled to the extreme—at this time, the massive wings blotting out the sky behind her seemed as if they would truly bring the eternal night of despair to the world nearby.
Subsequently, she... or rather He, slowly raised a hand towards Star Lord.
"Who are you?"
He asked the existence below like this, His words unprecedentedly serious and cold.
He could feel—His power had been absorbed just now.
If it weren't through this special vessel, He might not even have been able to successfully descend.
For this, He of course could make a clear judgment.
In this God's Valley where the dust was thought to have settled, the guy appearing on this battlefield where He had already defeated "D", was an existence beyond the norm, equal to Him, and even understood Him very well.
Imu could even faintly feel the intense Source Energy of Lineage Factor on Star Lord's body, and the vague sense of threat from the other party.
That guy was His "kind"—he was also a "God", and even had his own divine kingdom, it just wasn't here.
To Imu, that was an unprecedented, absolutely intolerable "presumption".
So while speaking, Imu, having descended into Gloriosa's body, had already brought His hand... down!
VMMM!
Pitch-black lightning fell from the sky. The moment it landed on the ground, it steamed up like dissipating mist, enveloping the entire "God's Valley" in an instant.
Crack!
This ancient island seemed to suddenly enter the night, and while the earth turned pitch-black, countless cracks rapidly spread.
Then...
BOOM!
It began to crumble silently, and then sank.
As if beneath the sea surface, there was some unimaginable and unspeakable terrifying thing dragging it in the deep sea, dragging it into the abyss of destruction just like countless civilizations and islands in the past.
But at this time...
VMMM!
Amidst that pitch-blackness, there was a single ray of starlight that never dimmed.
Roy, wearing a mask, hoisted Rocks onto his shoulder.
Countless pitch-black Abyssal Powers attempted to penetrate the starlight and kill him, but Roy merely raised his head and looked at the angry Imu.
He wasn't panicked.
Unlike that time in Wano Country—his appearance this time was too hasty, and Imu knew nothing of his existence.
He hadn't set up a magic circle in advance, and He hadn't activated the Rainbow Light of Judgment in advance.
He couldn't stop him.
"My name is Star Lord."
He seemed to be answering Imu's words—the cycle of destiny was finally held in his hands.
"I will be the one to defeat you and drag you down from the shrine."
"Please look forward to it—Imu."
"See you in the future."
The words fell.
The starlight around him abruptly shrank under the spread of the countless Abyssal Powers.
The next moment, his and Rocks's figures instantly vanished from the spot.
And at the same time.
In the spacetime thirty years later.
"See you in the future."
The red light of judgment had already dissipated, and the sea surface began to rise.
Imu's gaze stared fixedly at the place where Star Lord vanished. The bone-chilling coldness in His pupils had turned into a stiff silence.
His figure was becoming dim—the "Rainbow Light of Judgment" destroyed not only everything around it, but also the "Abyssal Magic Circle" set up here.
So naturally, this phantom of His couldn't exist here for long—in fact, the current Him couldn't even make another move.
But...
"..."
"..."
Imu lowered His eyes—He could see the sea surface below, and the changes above the sea surface.
He could see Onigashima below—the island had been completely pulverized under that strike just now.
Only on some wreckage of the island, samurai who had suffered heavy losses were helping each other.
In front of them, Ace and Yamato could be seen, their faces full of vigilance and anger.
Beside them, Harald could be seen, completely lifeless like a corpse.
He could see the gradually rising sea surface, and Wano Country in the distance that was gradually being submerged by the sea.
He could see the surging turbulent currents, boundless giant waves, and the Ancient Weapon Pluton amidst the giant waves, temporarily stalled because of that main cannon strike just now.
But...
Imu knew, nothing would be destroyed.
Because the people below still had hostility towards Him in their eyes.
Because He could hear the cheers of the commoners and resisters who remained in Wano Country upon seeing Onigashima shattered.
Giant waves, turbulent currents, death, sacrifice, fear—all of this truly existed.
But, when "hope" hadn't been completely destroyed, when despair hadn't arrived, these things were not enough to crush "life".
They would find a way out.
And Imu knew—in His current state, He could no longer stop it.
Just like how He couldn't stop that guy named Star Lord from leaving in the past, and just like how He couldn't stop the other party from leaving again just now.
After this battle, Wano Country... would usher in an unstoppable opening of its borders.
And what angered Imu the most was...
"Back then, could he have come from the present..."
He had already faintly realized that reality.
The man He had been searching for at all costs over these thirty years might never have been born thirty years ago.
The other party went to the "past" through the power of time, right in front of Him just now.
His judgment was wrong from the very beginning.
The surprise attack launched with a large amount of Source Energy of Lineage Factor and resources He currently possessed had exactly become the trigger for that first meeting in the past.
He Himself caused the opening of Wano Country, He Himself caused everything to happen.
And Imu even knew—Star Lord would definitely return to this spacetime shortly.
And at that time, He would no longer have a chance to kill the other party.
How ironic?
It was as if... fate was mocking Him.
So at this moment, the gloominess in Imu's heart had reached a true extreme.
He truly, genuinely perceived that sense of threat—the other party was no longer an enemy chasing Him from behind.
After losing the Source Energy of Lineage Factor this time, and ultimately still failing.
The other party had already put a knife to His neck. Only lacking that final burst of blood, the throne would collapse.
But...
"Mu... will not be defeated."
Imu muttered.
"Shamrock."
Thus, He silently contacted His last servant in His heart—that was His only reserve in this operation, originally prepared to guard against the arrival of Star Lord's "divine kingdom".
"Go, bring that person... bring 'Joy Boy' to Mu."
That was the final plan, and also the "stage" that would completely expose His existence to the world.
He shouldn't have stepped onto it so early.
But clearly, the current Imu had no other choice.
"Mu will retrieve... the power that belongs to Mu!"
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