In Mary Geoise, inside Imu's private bedroom.
Ultimately, Imu didn't dare take the risk of stepping alone into the world on the other side of the Dimensional Gate.
The reason was simple: what if there was a group of god-level beings on the other side? The moment he set foot inside, they might surround him in an overwhelming display of power. Wouldn't that spell instant doom?
It's easy to be reckless when you have nothing to lose. Imu, however, was draped in privilege and power.
Besides, no matter how he looked at it, there was no need to risk himself like that. With such a vast World Government at his disposal, he had more than enough subordinates to send in. Why not make full use of them?
As for the issue of having to eventually reveal the Dimensional Gate to others—well, as long as things proceeded step by step, it shouldn't be a problem. After all, the control of the Dimensional Gate remained in his hands!
In the end, he chose to suppress his curiosity and shut down the Dimensional Gate.
"If I've decided to send people in to investigate, I need to plan this properly. The Five Elders will definitely be the first to know—but they're leaders, like me, so it's impossible for them to carry out the mission themselves. Which means this burden can only fall to CIPHER POL."
Imu sat on his bed, deep in thought.
"But I'll wait until this session of the World Summit ends before taking action. The World Government is already swamped. Still, I can start narrowing down candidates for the CP unit."
At that moment, a pleasant chime rang from outside—a sound Imu had become very familiar with. It was the bell that rang whenever the maids needed to enter.
Sure enough, when he walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, he saw a neatly composed maid standing respectfully at the doorway, holding a document folder.
"Milord."
It was worth noting that the maids who attended to Imu's daily life actually didn't know his name. All they knew was that he was one of the highest-ranking Celestial Dragons, so they simply addressed him as 'Milord'.
"Mm. Bring it here."
Imu sat down on the sofa and gestured casually. The maid stepped forward and placed the folder on the coffee table, bowed slightly, and quietly left the room.
He pulled out the document and began to read. As he finished, surprise flickered across his face.
"What a brilliant idea. Truly ingenious! The Five Elders actually came up with such a clever plan. Impressive!"
The document contained an operation plan: in the New World, on an island once visited by the Roger Pirates, they would secretly construct a treasure vault and fill it with a large amount of treasure. Then, through a joint operation between the Navy Headquarters and CIPHER POL, they would broadcast the entire retrieval process live and publicly bring the treasure back to Mary Geoise—declaring to the world that the so-called One Piece had been found.
"While it won't completely eliminate the emergence of pirates, it'll definitely weaken the legend of the Pirate King's treasure," Imu clicked his tongue in admiration, repeatedly praising the plan.
In his eyes, the only real risk in this plan lay in the fact that the Navy's presence in the New World was relatively weak—making them susceptible to large-scale pirate attacks, especially from the likes of Whitebeard and Big Mom.
As for Kaido of the Beasts Pirates, he wasn't much of a concern. For one, he had only recently entered Wano and was preoccupied there. Secondly, Kaido's strength was still in its developmental phase.
Clearly, the Five Elders had also considered the security risk, which was why the report specified that it would be a joint operation with CIPHER POL. They even requested that he send the God's Knights as final backup.
The implication was that the Navy would be led by Sengoku and Garp, while CP would dispatch CP0, including one of its top combatants. In case all else fails, the God's Knights would intervene to save the situation.
That way, the entire treasure transport fleet would be protected.
"That should be more than enough. Let them proceed with the plan."
With that thought, Imu decided to approve the operation. He even wrote an annotation urging prompt execution, ideally before the World Summit convened.
He was well aware of the immense influence of the Great Pirate Era. It was something that required absolute seriousness—no delays, no complacency.
"Eh?"
Just then, Imu noticed there was something else in the folder. When he pulled it out, he found a report concerning Monkey D. Dragon and the 'Slave King'.
He scanned through the detailed intel and accompanying field photographs—but honestly, he didn't know what to make of it. The photos were nothing but a blur of wind and sand. In simple terms, they showed... absolutely nothing.
According to the report, Dragon's current situation was extremely precarious—he could be defeated by King Taklama at any moment. At this, Imu's brow furrowed slightly.
He had, of course, reviewed the intel on this King Taklama before. But given the man's status as the underworld's 'Slave King', there was no way CIPHER POL could have uncovered every detail about him.
What they did know was that twenty-three years ago, the man had already demonstrated the use of both Armament Haki and Observation Haki. There was also a rough description of his Paramecia-type Pet-Pet Fruit, and based on that, they speculated he possessed strong Haki and had most likely awakened his Devil Fruit ability.
However, the specifics of his awakened ability remained unknown. After all, over the years, the 'Slave King' had never truly gone all out—he was a businessman, after all.
But now, things were much clearer.
The awakened form of the Pet-Pet Fruit apparently allowed him to 'capture' natural sandstorms as pets and control them, effectively granting him a power akin to a Logia-type ability.
"Interesting... that's definitely in line with what Paramecia awakenings are about—pushing conceptual boundaries. To develop such an absurd-sounding fruit into something this formidable... this 'Slave King' really is something."
Imu found himself acknowledging King Taklama's capabilities.
If he could 'capture' a sandstorm... then didn't that imply he could also capture an avalanche? A volcano? A tornado? Imu even suspected the 'Slave King' hadn't fully developed the potential of the awakened Pet-Pet Fruit yet.
After all, not all awakenings were created equal.
What caught his attention now was the number. The report said the 'Slave King' had only one sandstorm pet. But was it possible that he could 'capture' multiple 'natural pets'?
"Turning a sandstorm into a pet... that reminds me of that 'Sand Crocodile'—Crocodile. He should've set sail by now, right?"
Ever since forcibly recruiting Gecko Moria into Impel Down, Imu had developed something of a collector's obsession—always thinking about gathering all the talented figures who were destined to make a name for themselves.
"This might be worth looking into. Shouldn't be too hard. I remember Crocodile clashed multiple times with Bullet when they were nineteen, and neither ever came out decisively on top."
If it were before he transmigrating, he might not have remembered all this so clearly. But after merging with Imu's power, his mental abilities were practically superhuman. His memory had naturally improved as well.
"Finding him and bringing him back won't be hard. The real problem is how to control him and make him obedient. With Moria, at least, there were fellow clansmen to use as hostages. But Crocodile? He really seems to have no weaknesses. Even if we capture him... how exactly do we put him to use?"
At that moment, Imu's attention shifted entirely from Dragon to Crocodile.
After all, he didn't really believe Dragon would lose. As the son of the previous generation's protagonist, Garp, and the father of the next generation's protagonist, Luffy, wasn't it practically destiny for him to pull off a miracle comeback and defy the odds?
Besides, wasn't Garp also lurking nearby?
...
It had been three days since the joint fleet of the Marine Headquarters and the South Blue Branch launched their assault on the Kingdom of Thutmose.
From the sea, one could clearly see the island's interior. In the distant central region, the skies were no longer dominated solely by sand-colored storms—now, a swirl of green wind, brimming with vitality, surged upward to challenge them in equal measure.
Meanwhile, the desert battlefields along the coastal edges had fallen silent. The brutal close-quarters combat had ended with the Marines retreating to their ships. Only the blood-soaked sand, the severed limbs scattered across the ground, the dried-out corpses, splintered axes, and broken blades remained as silent testimony to the carnage that had taken place.
Roughly a day earlier, Rear Admiral Ivan had ordered a full temporary withdrawal of Marine forces from the battlefield.
The reason? The sheer number of soldiers in the Slavekeeper Legion was overwhelming. Those robust young fighters, each wearing a green collar around their necks, kept pouring out from underground in a seemingly endless tide, while the Marines had a fixed number of troops—troops whose stamina and morale were steadily declining.
In truth, Rear Admiral Ivan hadn't initially planned to retreat.
But everything changed after ten headquarters officers, who had accompanied Rear Admiral Dragon in his surprise assault on Shabak City, returned via the underground tram and brought back detailed intelligence. Finally, there was a clear understanding of the situation regarding the Slavekeeper Legion.
First: the enemy's rear lines—no, their underground reserves—still held over ten thousand young fighters, all ready to join the battle at any moment.
Second: due to the effects of the Pet-Pet Fruit, those soldiers could exert their physical strength to the absolute limit. In combat, unless they received a direct new order from King Taklama himself, they would never retreat or break ranks.
Third: despite facing King Taklama head-on, Rear Admiral Dragon hadn't been defeated in a single blow. On the contrary, he was still holding his own and currently locked in a fierce battle with him.
Taking all this into account, Rear Admiral Ivan ultimately decided to withdraw to the ships. Continuing the fight would only lead to a slow death through attrition—and ultimately, total annihilation.
And so, the current state of things was as follows:
The bulk of the Marine forces retreated while fighting, returning to their ships to rest, heal, and recover. On the other hand, the Slavekeeper Legion was now caught in a state of confusion.
The original orders they'd received were to halt the Marine invasion at all costs, hold the line until new commands arrived from the king, and then evacuate the island by ship together.
But now that the Marines had withdrawn, their opponents had vanished. All they could do was return to the trenches, standing by for the next wave of Marine attacks or awaiting further orders.
As for returning to the underground chambers beneath Shabak City? That was out of the question.
Until they received an official retreat command, such a move would directly contradict their last order—and under the influence of the Pet-Pet Fruit, that would be interpreted as 'unauthorized escape'. The green rings around their necks would immediately block the attempt.
As a result, these tens of thousands of Slavekeeper Legion troops were effectively imprisoned by the power of the Pet-Pet Fruit within the confines of the battlefield.
The very thing that had empowered them—the Pet-Pet Fruit—had now become their downfall.