"Ugh!"
When Bullet heard those sarcastic words, the muscles in his neck tensed and his eyes turned even redder.
Suddenly, a dark blue aura erupted from his body, mixed with wisps of beating lightning.
But they were suppressed back less than one centimeter away from the body surface and could only resist with difficulty by sticking tightly to the surface of the skin. This made Bullet's breathing slightly more comfortable, but he still couldn't move a finger.
"Ahem... You... you... are the real... true... strongest...?" Bullet asked each word through clenched teeth, his body still struggling to get up.
Internally, he was furious. He just wanted to at least raise his head, but it was impossible!
"Ten years." Imu did not answer the question, instead said with an indifferent tone: "For ten years, you can challenge Garp once a year."
"If you can beat him in ten years, you will have a chance to fight me. Until then, you will obey the orders of the World Government."
"Hehehe... So what if I win against you?" Bullet said through clenched teeth.
"Then you are the strongest in the world."
"Well... well! I accept this agreement!" Bullet showed a manic smile and shouted, "But! I will only obey your orders, no one else's!"
His enormous roar, filled with extreme defiance, accompanied the explosion of his Haoshoku Haki that swept across the hall like raging waves.
"Hmm?" At that moment, Bullet noticed that the weight on him had disappeared. He stood up immediately, staring at the Empty Throne.
"Is this the real strongest person in the world? Hahahahahaha, so powerful, so powerful!"
A strange scene unfolded. The anger and madness faded from Bullet's face, replaced by laughter as he stared at the Empty Throne.
Because he had just witnessed the strongest power in the world, etching it deeply into his being. That power that would eventually be his!
At that moment, neither Roger nor Garp were the peaks to overcome in his heart, but only a distant step on his path.
"Ten years?"
"Hmph, I'll show you how to defeat Garp within five years!"
Bullet turned around confidently, looked at the familiar white figure that slowly appeared as the door opened automatically, and sneered: "Hey, long time no see."
"According to the order of the Five Elders, I will take you to the army headquarters and tell you what to do next." The tone of the man in white was still so cold and ruthless.
"Army?" Bullet frowned and said in surprise: "I thought I was going to dress like you!"
"You are not worthy now."
"You!" Bullet was furious, but due to the strength of the other party, he could only endure it. At this moment, under the reflection of the moonlight, he suddenly found that the shadow under his feet was back.
"Hey, aren't you afraid that I'll just run away?"
"The order of the Five Elders is that you have one chance. If we catch you, we will kill you. You can bet your life only once."
Hearing this, the corner of Bullet's mouth twitched slightly. He had just learned the limits of power and he didn't want to die right now when his blood was boiling.
As they walked, one after the other, they left the Empty Hall and then Pangaea Castle, quickly heading towards the so-called Army Headquarters.
…
A few days later.
At this time the public live broadcast about One Piece has started again to the whole world.
Truth be told, the last super naval battle opened many people's eyes and indirectly shocked royal families and pirates around the world.
Especially the pirates of the Four Seas, previously a little cocky if they had a certain power, were now more reserved. They were no longer talking about looking for challenges elsewhere.
But now, basically 80% of the pirates have given up the idea of entering the Grand Line! Otherwise, what if you are treated as a key target as soon as you enter, and then the admiral is recruited? Isn't that just looking for death?
At the same time, the people of the world have greater confidence in and dependence on naval power, and naturally they are more reverent and obedient to the World Government.
[Clink-clatter! Clink-clatter! Clink-clatter!]
An immense amount of gold in circular coins, ingots and precious stones of various colors spilled from overturned wooden boxes, some embedded in crowns, swords, necklaces and rings. Nearby cargo vehicles used huge shovels to scoop up the overflowing treasure and return it to the boxes.
Everything took place in a specially reserved clear area in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, from where the imposing Pangaea Castle could be seen in the background.
At this time, ten government officials held the Livestream Den Den Mushi, live broadcasting the process of stacking the 'One Piece' treasure piece by piece from different angles to crowds around the world. To add to the sense of wonder, they had even sent a devil fruit user with the ability to fly to film from the air.
Silence. Everyone in front of the projection screens was left in a dazed state, staring in amazement at the incredible amount of gold and jewels in the image.
Nearly two hours have passed. There are still loading trucks holding large wooden boxes and dumping more jewelry. At this time, a golden hill of jewels has been formed on the screen.
But even so, there seems to be no sign of ending yet.
However, there are a few people who are vaguely aware that something is wrong. They feel that the current amount of treasure has exceeded the carrying limit of the two large cargo ships, but they are not very sure.
In fact, they are right.
The Five Elders had long known that although the two ships contained many treasures, the amount they carried would not be shocking enough to show to the world.
But they couldn't just bring all that exaggerated wealth to 'Laugh Tale' in the New World. How many cargo ships would it take to transport it there? With such a large amount, could the transportation of those treasures still be kept secret?
Also, what if there are too many cargo ships and the Navy has an accident when transporting them back? Let's not talk about anything else. At that time, the 'Whitebeard' Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates really joined forces with Kaido to fight. How could the navy protect cargo ships? How many cargo ships could actually return if that was the case?
Although the world government has a big business, it will not throw most of its treasure into the sea.
So they thought of a way.
It only transports two ships full of treasures back and forth, so even if there is an accident and the cargo ship is stolen or destroyed, the loss will not be great.
Then, when it is broadcast live to the entire world, more treasures will be extracted from the nearby Holy Land treasury, but those treasures will not appear on camera.
Wasn't it perfect? Even if someone pointed out inconsistencies later, his influence would be negligible. His goal was to amaze most people.
So how much treasure should the Five Elders release?
The exact value was not mentioned, since it was almost impossible to quantify such wealth.
Generally speaking, the Five Elders wanted to use their gold treasures to build a gold mountain that was as tall as Pangea Castle.
It is said that this is less than half of the treasure of the Holy Land, and does not include the notable swords, devil fruits, banknotes, etc. This shows how terrifying the eight hundred years of accumulation of the World Government are.
As Imu watched the live broadcast in his tree house, he muttered to himself: "Speaking of treasures, I remember that there are still three great treasures."
"The treasure of John, a former member of the Rocks Pirates, the frozen treasure Jewel Ice Sheet and Shandora, the City of Gold located in the Sky Islands."
Imu touched his chin and thought about it secretly.
"John's treasure, I remember before I transmigrated there were theories that Buggy found it during the timeskip."
"He then used it as capital to establish the Pirate Dispatch Organization 'Buggy's Delivery'. But everything has changed now, it would be difficult to find it again."
As he thought about this, he diverted his attention to the other two places.
"The Jewel Ice Sheet. Garp crushed the Chinjao boy with a punch six years ago, so the treasures inside are still in good condition. It shouldn't be difficult to find them. The key is how to open them."
The first thing Imu thought of was to let Garp pass. But when he thought about it again, he felt that it is a bit unreliable.
On the one hand, Garp's personality and, on the other, the technique of opening the ice would require precision. If too much force was exerted and the ice layer broke, wouldn't everything collapse?
"By the way, I can send Kuzan. He is a user with the Ice-Ice Fruit. Is there anyone who can control ice more professionally than him?"
"He could extract the treasure silently and then restore the ice sheet to its original state. Next time Chinjao goes to take a look, his expression will be quite exciting!"
"It happens that the naval branch base on Fish-man Island has not been built yet. Once he goes to the Jewel Ice Sheet and then comes back, I believe the base will be completed. There is no problem with the timing."
After Imu made the decision, he prepared to pick up the Den Den Mushi from the coffee table and call the Five Elders. As for Shandora on Sky Island, he planned to go there himself.
Think of it as a trip to Sky Island and bring back some souvenirs.
However, before he could do so, the Den Den Mushi started ringing on its own. He picked it up and listened: "Imu-sama, Figarland Shanks has been sent to Figarland's manor. Buggy is still on his way to Punk Hazard."
"I know, don't let that kid get away."
"Yes, Imu-sama."
The Den Den Mushi buzzed, closed his eyes, and fell back into a deep sleep. Imu put the receiver back.
"Shanks"
To be honest, he wanted to use this person in his heart. After all, he is a talented person. He has the qualifications of the Four Emperors, and he is still of Celestial Dragon blood.
But the problem is that this kid was adopted by the Roger Pirates since he was a child, and his body and mind have been completely 'polluted'. Now that he is fifteen years old, his three views have long been formed, and it is difficult to train him back.
But Roger is dead, and the Roger Pirates have been disbanded, which is a good thing.
"Forget it, let's keep him for now. If you think about it carefully, his only usefulness lies in his combat power. And in the future, the last thing the World Government will need is that. In that sense, it's not as useful as Buggy."
Imu coldly decided to ignore Shanks for the time being. As for whether he would simply forget about him later, causing his whole person to become useless, he would not think about it.
Unless, one day, Shanks could completely reform, fully accepting his identity as a Celestial Dragon, perhaps then his training could be considered.
"Perhaps Mihawk can meet him as an elite Celestial Dragon. If he can develop into a good friend like in the original work, that would be great."
If Mihawk can't make Shanks change his ways, then forget it!
Meanwhile, in the Domain of the Gods in Figarland Mansion, Shanks was sitting on a sofa with a grim expression, staring at the clothes arranged on the table.
Celestial Dragons Clothing!
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