https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1367-Don-t-Be-Too-Arrogant-Old-Man/13543123/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1369-This-Grand-Line-Will-Surely-Be-Liberated/13543129/
Chapter 1368: I Think I Did Better Than You
Chapter 1368: I Think I Did Better Than You
Im gazed silently at Kuro for a moment, then shook his head in disappointment. "It seems you still don’t understand. Just like those pirates, this world isn’t stagnant. It needs overseers to keep it alive while preventing greater chaos from invading. Excluding chaos itself isn’t wrong."
"Take you as a Navy officer—most of the time, you fight pirates to maintain order. You’re also de facto overseers."
"Local police maintaining governance? They prevent chaos from spreading too. They’re overseers as well."
Im said calmly, "No matter what you intend, as a Navy officer, your purpose aligns with mine. We’re not different. So why not submit to me? Let’s make this world more orderly together."
"Twenty Royal Families’ descendants? I’ll accept eliminating them, but you must promise not to oppose me anymore. How about it?"
Kuro stared at Im, gradually frowning. He slowly lowered Autumn Water, no longer pointing it at him.
Seeing this, Im’s pupils flickered with a hint of a smile. "That’s right. Follow me. Let’s—"
"What are you saying?"
Kuro stretched his wrists, his expression disdainful. "Don’t make excuses for your laziness. Where did you learn this nonsense? The invisible hand? Shock therapy? You’re just irresponsible!"
"Oh, you think certain people are threats to chaos, so you ‘act’ to eliminate them. But you never ask why chaos arises in the first place. You treat symptoms, not root causes. You solve problems by silencing people, then ignore the aftermath. You think chaos stems from people themselves? Have you ever considered whether your governance itself is flawed?"
Kuro clicked his tongue. "Old man, times have changed. When the Revolutionary Army appeared, you should’ve reflected. Instead, you fixate on Joy Boy, on Nika—ancient relics long detached from this era. You still fear them because you—"
"You’ve kept this world in a state of stagnation. For you, no change is the ultimate system!"
"And that", Kuro’s face darkened, "is truly disgusting."
He raised two fingers, brushing them along the blade. "I’m different from you. Though becoming this wasn’t my intention, when food’s served, I’ll take a bite. Otherwise, I’d be ungrateful."
Golden light enveloped the blade as Kuro slung it onto his shoulder. His voice, like wind, echoed in Im’s ears.
"Shinmeiryu Style: Mystic Art!"
Im’s pupils constricted. His eyes couldn’t even trace this technique—it was unknown, capable of killing him.
I can’t die!
Not before Joy Boy appears!
Instinctively, Im glanced at the colossal Luffy behind him, a trace of nostalgia in his eyes. Then he lunged forward, Rapier stabbing at Kuro.
As long as this move hadn’t landed, he still had a chance.
But the blade pierced only Kuro’s phantom image, fading the figure.
In an instant, Im reacted, swinging his sword sideways—
Too late. A ribbon bound his wrists.
Kuro appeared at Im’s side. Six ribbons from his body surged, binding Im’s neck, limbs, and waist, paralyzing his strength.
"Strength is fundamental, you said. True. You can capture my strength, but mine can also entrap you—even if just for a moment!"
"You bastard!"
At last, rage flared in Im’s pupils. It felt like a bug he’d casually crush had overturned his fate. He strained, trying to break free.
"Would I give you that chance?"
Kuro advanced. More Wu Sheng Kong Sha erupted from his body, re-binding Im as he broke free. Kuro kicked him, a devastating blow sending Im crashing backward, slamming into the wall, ascending rapidly. Under Wu Sheng Kong Sha’s lethal force, they shattered the ceiling, smashed through the upper wall, and burst onto the Empty Throne’s platform, appearing before everyone.
As Im had said, beneath the Empty Throne, the Five Elders’ corpses lay scattered. Their deaths varied—some shattered into ice fragments, others beaten to death, others torn by claws. Undoubtedly, the Five Elders’ battle had ended.
They were never strong to begin with, especially against the Navy’s elite here.
Now all eyes looked upward, watching Kuro descend like a feeding spider, dragging a "prey."
Who is that?!
Everyone’s pupils contracted.
They hadn’t expected someone to exist beneath Mariejois, right behind the Throne.
Was this the one who sat on the Throne?
"You won’t succeed!" Im roared. "Without overseers, you’ll never know what happens on the Grand Line! The extraterrestrial threats, the hidden dangers—Navy alone can’t handle them! You’re criminals! You’ll plunge the world into chaos!"
"Didn’t I say", Kuro raised his blade, "you alone have no qualification to judge guilt or innocence. Irrelevant to how the world changes. Now, I just don’t like you—"
The blade fell.
"Ultimate Mystic Art!!"
The golden-lit blade slashed downward, cutting diagonally across Im’s body.
Hiss!!
The blade pierced through, no blood spurted, but Im shuddered, his body gradually slumping.
The ribbons vanished, letting Im’s form drift down, gently floating onto the Throne.
Kuro descended before him, staring coldly. "The will of inherited generations, the tide of eras, and people’s dreams are unstoppable. You don’t even grasp this. You’ve deserved death long ago."
He reached out, seizing the figure’s hand, pulling lightly—
Before countless eyes, under the live broadcast Transponder Snail in Buggy’s grasp, the one who sat on the Throne was dragged down by Kuro.
"That’s enough. This Throne was always meant to be empty. Let it be so again."
They called him strong? His strength lay in omniscience. Without cheating abilities, he’d be utterly countered.
But against unknown methods, he’d be easily defeated.
Like himself, he fixated only on the known world, eliminating all unknowns, solidifying the world into this state. But the unknown—
"Refusing to face it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. When problems arise, solve them. Don’t be an ostrich, pretending nothing’s wrong because you don’t see it. Pulling out seedlings won’t improve the soil. Perhaps not. Our methods differ."
Kuro murmured, "I don’t know what the future holds. But at least… I think I did better than you."
(End of Chapter)
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