Imu’s Presence
As soon as Luffy punched Akainu to the ground, Aokiji realized that he needed to move.
Luffy was much stronger than he expected. With his ability, Akainu should've been able to burn Luffy's Megazord.
But he didn't.
Luffy seemed to have coated his entire Megazord with Armament Haki. It wasn't hardening, but it was Haki nonetheless.
So, it could protect itself from the ship.
But the fact that Luffy used such a large amount of Haki without getting exhausted put Akainu in a difficult position for the future.
He rushed towards Luffy without wasting any more time. His body released an extreme amount of ice, freezing the ground itself.
From the ground, an ice structure slowly rose.
It was a massive giant with a large grin. He wore a large hat and even had a large beard.
All of them are perfectly carved in this giant.
When Robin saw this, her eyes widened for a moment, and she covered her mouth with her hand, whispering.
"Saul!"
She didn't cry, knowing Aokiji was going to use this ice giant to fight Luffy.
Luffy naturally didn't recognize this person. Even if Robin had told him about Saul before, he couldn't recognize him from a beard and a hat.
"Aokiji!"
Luffy saw the stomp coming his way with his Observation Haki. He released the thrusters on his back, sending him flying towards the Marineford building.
But just when he reached there, he stretched out his hand towards the execution platform and caught Ace.
"Hehehe! Ace, I got you."
A loud voice came from inside the Megazord, followed by laughter from Luffy.
Luffy then turned toward Aokiji, who was standing next to Akainu, and stuck out his wooden tongue.
"Weee! Do you think I forgot the mission? I was just distracting you guys."
"Straw Hat!"
At this moment, a large golden Buddha appeared above Luffy. This golden Buddha was none other than Sengoku, who was trying to stop Luffy.
But he was still a step late.
Luffy tried to fire up his thrusters, but it was lacking power.
"Oh no! I can't use this anymore."
"But it doesn't matter. Sanji!"
Luffy spun his hand as fast as possible and flung Ace towards their ship.
Sanji instantly jumped using his Lightning Fruit and caught Ace, without touching his sea stone lock.
At this moment, Ace just stared at Luffy with confusion and amazement.
"Is that really Luffy?"
"Are you surprised? Then again, you lived with him for ten years, so you should understand what kind of person he is."
"So, it might be a little confusing, but yes, that is Luffy. He is not only stronger but maybe smarter than you, Ace."
Sanji teased him as he brought Ace next to Zoro.
"Mosshead!"
Zoro gritted his teeth but didn't attack Sanji for his remark. He coated his sword with Advanced Armament Haki.
"Hey, wait!"
Ace was startled by his ferocious look as he didn't understand why Luffy's crewmate would attack him.
But before he could react, Zoro's sword tore through his sea stone handcuffs, splitting in the middle and into four more pieces.
Thud!
As the sea stone cuffs fell, Ace felt his strength returning. It felt weird yet amazing.
"Ace! Boys, Ace is free. Let's return!"
Whitebeard saw Luffy rescuing his brother and immediately gave out order.
The Whitebeard Pirates felt confused. They came into this war with the determination to die, but ninety percent of them were still alive.
And, not only did they not die, they also managed to rescue Ace.
Except, it wasn't them. It was Ace's brother who rescued Ace.
So, did they just come here to watch?
"Straw Hat, you have saved your brother, but you can't save yourself!"
Saturn roared as he furiously rushed towards Luffy and extended his leg towards him.
The poison-coated leg could easily destroy his Megazord, but before it could even reach close.
A sword struck it and stopped it in the middle.
"Hey, Saturn, my captain is a little busy with the Admirals. Let me be your opponent!"
Liam chuckled as he held the sword with half an invisible hand. At this moment, he knew Ace was saved, but he was going to disappear soon.
At this moment, his Conqueror Haki exploded. It wasn't as strong as Luffy, but it had become several times stronger than before.
His desire to keep the crew safe before his disappearance strengthened his Haki even more.
"Boy, you do not understand what you are facing." Saturn moved the other two limbs and struck him.
But Liam instantly pushed back his first limb, before slashing his other two limbs.
The flying slashes cut through his limbs like cutting through butter.
At this moment, Liam chuckled and said.
"Oh? Who am I facing? Is it you, Five Elder Star? Or, is it Imu who can turn others into his subordinates using Abyss?"
When he said that, an absolute shock appeared on Saturn's face.
"W-wh-who are you? You are not supposed to know that."
His voice trembled.
For the first time, Garp and Sengoku heard his voice shaking in fear.
It was shocking, so much so that they didn't know what to say.
But something even more shocking happened next. From the body of Saturn, a new force emerged.
The Conqueror Haki was like waves hitting the sea and trembling it. The Whitebeard Pirates fell one after another.
"Damn you!"
Whitebeard furiously released his Haki, but it was overwhelmed in an instant.
But there was another one whose Haki was comparable to this.
Luffy wasn't just going to let that Haki overwhelm his allies. He instantly came out of his Megazord and narrowed his eyes while in Gear Fifth.
A powerful Haki burst out and clashed against Imu's Haki.
At this moment, Liam's Haki also emerged and clashed against Imu's Haki. He was clear that Imu took control of Saturn's body.
Although he wasn't sure how Imu knew their conversation or if he was listening to it.
He knew this battle had just gone up from facing Five Elder Stars to facing the King of the World.
Bang!
The clash of their Haki was legendary. Liam had to merge his Haki with Luffy to make it strong enough to contend against Imu's Haki.
As their Haki clashed, most of the Devil Fruit powers became unstable.
Even Admirals weren't completely able to resist this much Haki.
"Joyboy!"
Imu/Saturn uttered the word as he stared at Luffy.
"Joyboy? No, my name is Monkey D Luffy. Hey, are you the one who defeated Joyboy eight hundred years ago?"
Luffy asked, looking straight at his eyes.
"Your presence has disrupted Imu's rule. You shall be eradicated."
Imu turned his attention away from Luffy and stared at Liam. He waved his hand, and a strange circle appeared in mid-air.
From this circle, a large gun appeared. He held the gun and targeted Liam.
"Hey, hey, are you serious? Using a gun against me?"
Liam wasn't sure if Imu was outright stupid or if the bullet would instantly hit him.
Bang!
Without any hesitation, Imu shot straight at Liam.
But Liam wasn't just going to let the bullet hit him. His Observation Haki had predicted its exact location.
It wasn't an instant attack. Before it could even reach him, Liam swung his sword.
Coated with Armament Haki and Supreme King Haki, his sword slashed with a gigantic bullet.
Boom!
Upon collision, the bullet exploded.
While Imu was busy attacking Liam, Luffy clenched his fist, charging up the heat in his fist. The more he waited, the hotter his fist became.
So much so that it started radiating heat from his fist until he finally couldn't bear it and shot forward.
[Gomu Gomu No- Dawn Supernova]
Luffy's fist struck Imu/Saturn on the face, burning his skin and skull with an extreme heat of supernova.
Followed by the powerful Supreme King Haki that restricted the Abyss's ability, forcing Imu to release the control over Saturn for a split second.
This wasn't just Luffy with Gear Fifth. This was Luffy with the ambition of two Luffy's combined into one.
The Supreme King Haki was so strong that it made Imu tremble for a moment, but his abilities started working once again.
Although it didn't heal Saturn's face completely. A large burn remained on his face.
"Cough! Cough! Damn it, Imu! Why the hell are you using exploding bullets?"
Liam came out of the explosion coughing heavily but sustaining no injuries.
It was quite normal. Liam was a Yonko-caliber pirate. If this could one-shot him, then Luffy in the Elbaf arc wouldn't be able to do much either.
Imu simply ignored Liam and stared at Luffy, saying.
"You are coming close to Imu's level, but you do not understand the power that Imu possesses."
Just when Imu was about to take action, a powerful Supreme King Haki burst out, shaking the very ground.
A man wearing a black robe, holding a sword, with flip-flops, walked on the ice between some of the strongest people in the world.
With red hair and three scars on his left eye, he stared at Luffy and Imu, releasing his Conqueror Haki to its fullest as he said.
"Let's stop this war here and now!"