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“Sky Sovereign…” A bizarre voice emanated slowly from Gunko’s body.

It was Imu’s voice.

Filled with a strange, distorted static, neither male nor female. As if it didn’t belong to this time and space.

At this moment, Gunko’s eyes—or rather, Imu’s eyes—gazed emotionlessly at the now-dissipated storm of Conqueror’s Haki. Not even a clash of that magnitude had caused the slightest ripple in Imu’s emotions.

“Imu-sama.”

The Five Elders, who moments ago had wielded absolute authority—even boldly reprimanding Fleet Admiral Akainu—were now shockingly humble, practically groveling…

Like the most loyal slaves meeting their master.

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The existence of Imu was completely unknown to the outside world.

Even the highest echelons of the Navy only knew the Five Elders as the World Government’s supreme authority—a fact that had held true for the long history since the World Government’s establishment.

Even the God’s Knights were subordinate to the Five Elders.

Just as in the original story, when Saturn was erased by Imu for letting Luffy escape, the vacant seat was filled by the promotion of the God’s Knights Commander-in-Chief Garling Saint.

In Imu’s absence, the Five Elders were the de facto rulers of the World Government.

And in the 800 long years since Joy Boy’s defeat and the founding of the World Government, there had never been a time when Imu needed to personally intervene.

Imu’s existence was a secret known only to the Five Elders and the members of the God’s Knights.

THE WORLD GOVERNMENT’S GREATEST, MOST PROFOUND SECRET.

Although they were on a battlefield now, the clash of Imu and Rowen’s Conqueror’s Haki had knocked out everyone below the Admiral level. The number of people who could even see Imu was extremely limited.

Besides, this war had reached a white-hot stage of kill or be killed.

The Five Elders and God’s Knights existed entirely at Imu’s mercy. The moment Imu appeared, the Five Elders had no choice but to grovel like the lowest servants.

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“Imu… The man behind the World Government has finally appeared—”

Zoro and Sanji, their foreheads still beaded with a bit of cold sweat, had villainous smiles on their faces.

THEY COULD SEE IT.

As long as they defeated this man, the true ruler behind the World Government—they would witness Rowen’s ascension as King of the World!

“Imu? Who the hell is that??”

Akainu’s expression was incredibly grim.

He had been a Marine HQ Admiral for so many years, and was now the Fleet Admiral—yet he had never heard the name Imu.

Once promoted to Admiral, you became a direct subordinate of the Celestial Dragons. This was one of the main reasons Garp had always turned down Admiral rank. And this direct chain of command was exactly why Marine Admirals had the authority to launch a Buster Call.

In times of peace, one Admiral would always be stationed at the Holy Land of Mariejois. During the Reverie, multiple Admirals would be there.

When it came to Celestial Dragon affairs, a Marine Admiral—especially a veteran like Akainu, who later became Fleet Admiral—knew plenty. Whether it was the Five Elders or the God’s Knights, they were all Celestial Dragons.

To join the God’s Knights, you had to be elite even among the Celestial Dragons. Strength was the only currency that mattered—the ticket to real power in their hierarchy.

Those who only relied on their status as Celestial Dragons to act wantonly outside were just tools for breeding future generations of Celestial Dragons.

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This was information that Akainu knew.

It was an open secret among the Celestial Dragons.

Before the God Valley Incident, the Celestial Dragons even held regular slave-hunting competitions, with the winner receiving a powerful Devil Fruit as a prize. The entire competition would be broadcast back to Mariejois via Visual Transponder Snails.

The highest-achieving Celestial Dragons were almost all God’s Knights—the idols that other Celestial Dragons looked up to. This was designed to inspire a hunger for power among the regular Celestial Dragons. Only with that burning ambition could someone become a true powerhouse.

The effect was also obvious—

—The current members of the God’s Knights had almost all joined before the God Valley Incident, there were very few new members.

Without the incentive of the live-broadcast slave-hunting competitions, the current generation of Celestial Dragons was producing more and more trash, and fewer and fewer potential powerhouses.

If not for Imu’s power, which allowed him to sign a Demonic Contract with the members of the God’s Knights and grant them immortality, the strength of the God’s Knights would have long since withered away.

This was a matter of course.

There were very few Celestial Dragons. Compared to the vast population across the entire world, they were just a drop in the bucket. With such a small gene pool, it was impossible to produce enough powerhouses.

And although there were still nearly twenty Celestial Dragon families in the Holy Land, under the deliberate manipulation of the higher-ups, they were almost completely reproductively isolated from the outside world.

After all, only a child born between core members of the Celestial Dragon families was considered a Celestial Dragon.

A child born between a male Celestial Dragon and a slave would never be recognized as one.

Even the Donquixote family, which Doflamingo belonged to, and the Nefertari family, which Vivi belonged to, once they decided to leave Mariejois and renounce their status, they would never be recognized as Celestial Dragons again.

Even when Doflamingo brought the head of his father—the one who had made the decision to leave—back to Mariejois, his status was not restored.

From a reproductive standpoint—the Celestial Dragons were completely isolated from the common people.

Earth had proven that when a species’ population becomes too small, genetic diversity collapses, eventually leading to extinction. While the Celestial Dragons could still reproduce, after 800 years of keeping bloodlines within their exclusive circle, it was practically inbreeding.

The grotesquely deformed, mentally deficient failures among the Celestial Dragons were living proof of this genetic decay—

The Five Elders—who stood at the pinnacle of all Celestial Dragons—were replaced by members of the God’s Knights when a position became vacant. It wasn’t necessarily the commander of the God’s Knights, but was personally appointed by Imu.

In other words, any member of the God’s Knights who was acknowledged by Imu… could become a new member of the Five Elders!

Because the Five Elders and the members of the God’s Knights had all signed a contract with Imu—while they gained immortality—their lives were also completely under Imu’s control.

If Imu willed it, a single thought could kill any member of the God’s Knights or Five Elders instantly. This was precisely why only God’s Knights were qualified to become Five Elders.

The World Government had to remain under Imu’s complete control…

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And these were things Akainu did not know.

Watching the Five Elders grovel before this so-called Imu, Akainu’s expression darkened considerably. The World Government had been hiding powers that he, as Fleet Admiral of the Navy, knew absolutely nothing about—

—What made it even harder for Akainu to swallow was that whether it was Straw Hat and his crew, Kaido, Moria, or even Kuzan—when they heard the name Imu, none of them showed the slightest surprise.

Instead, it was a look of having known all along.

There was no way these people could know more than him, the Fleet Admiral of the Navy. The only explanation was that the man backing them—Sky Sovereign Rowen—had filled them in!

Sky Sovereign Rowen—from the moment he rose to prominence, he had possessed an asymmetrical amount of information.

Given these facts, the structure and modus operandi of Marine Headquarters, and even the World Government, were no secret to him.

Before Sky Sovereign Rowen had fully risen and gained overwhelming combat power, this intelligence gap alone had cost Marine HQ dearly—they’d suffered devastating losses. No one knew how Sky Sovereign Rowen had acquired these classified secrets, but one thing was certain—

—THE MAN WAS DANGEROUSLY ENIGMATIC.

Akainu wasn’t even surprised that Sky Sovereign Rowen knew about Imu. His battles with that man had already drained him of any capacity for shock.

No matter what secrets this man possessed, nothing would shock Akainu anymore.

WHAT TRULY INFURIATED HIM WAS THAT KUZAN KNEW!

Straw Hat and his crew were understandable—they’d been with Sky Sovereign Rowen since his rise, his closest allies. Even Kaido and Moria made sense—despite being former enemies, they were at least fellow pirates.

But Kuzan was a former Marine HQ Admiral—one of the true top brass in their Marine camp. At the same time, Kuzan’s current combat effectiveness wasn’t particularly impressive under Sky Sovereign’s command.

The World Government had kept such a crucial secret from him—the current Fleet Admiral of the Navy—

—Yet Rowen had shared it with Kuzan!

It was clear that Sky Sovereign Rowen didn’t simply use Kuzan as a disposable tool, even though Kuzan’s soul was completely under his control.

“…” And he, Akainu, wasn’t being treated as an equal by the World Government!

Such disparate treatment would shake anyone—even someone as iron-willed as Akainu couldn’t help but feel the psychological impact.

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“Arara… so you really showed up, Imu~” Kuzan showed a smile.

“WORORORO! THE GREATEST SECRET OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT, THE ONE ON THE EMPTY THRONE, IMU, IS IT?”

Kaido laughed wantonly.

His eyes were incredibly scarlet. His dream was to start the world’s greatest war. To drag those high-and-mighty Nobles into the mud of battle, to make them experience the cruelty of war firsthand.

Back then, Kaido had targeted the highest authority of the Celestial Dragons—the Five Elders. But Rowen let him know that above the Five Elders, there was an even higher existence—

One of the twenty kings from 800 years ago, the true ruler of the World Government, the one who sat upon the Empty Throne—Imu.

Just this piece of information was enough for Kaido to willingly become a combat force under Rowen’s command, to be used by him.

BECAUSE ROWEN LET HIM KNOW WHO THE REAL ENEMY WAS!

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“KISHISHISHI! SEEING IT WITH MY OWN EYES, IT’S STILL UNBELIEVABLE. THE FIVE ELDERS—REALLY ARE LIKE SERVANTS BEFORE IMU.”

Moria also laughed without any scruples.

Pirates were wild by nature. Now that they’d been resurrected in this world through Rowen’s power as souls, they had nothing left to hold back.

Rowen had no intention of suppressing their true selves. In the One Piece world’s Haki system, only by fully embracing one’s nature could someone unleash their maximum strength.

Besides, the battle lines had been drawn. The fact that they knew of Imu’s existence no longer needed to be a secret.

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“As expected, you knew of Imu-sama’s existence. Sky Sovereign told you, didn’t he.”

The Five Elders no longer showed any shock or disbelief.

Warcury’s eyes were like a true demon’s—looking at Kaido and the others.

Sky Sovereign Rowen knew too many of their impossible-to-leak secrets. And he wielded a power that hadn’t been seen since the dawn of Devil Fruit abilities.

THIS MAN’S APPEARANCE ON THESE SEAS WAS UTTERLY BIZARRE AND DEFIED ALL LOGIC.

Before this war began, the Five Elders had already considered the possibility that Sky Sovereign Rowen knew about Imu’s existence.

If they were still completely shocked that Sky Sovereign’s faction knew about Imu—after gathering so much intelligence on him—that would be seriously underestimating the World Government and the Five Elders.

Now, their suspicions were completely verified…

“SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN… YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS WORLD!”

Nusjuro’s eyes were like a demon’s, his voice icy cold.

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