Chapter 160: You Are the Greatest Expert Under Heaven

Noticing that my lord Imu had accepted the proposal and was about to enter negotiations with Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, Saint Garling quickly stepped forward before Sengoku and the others.

"Sengoku, withdraw at once."

Saint Garling believed that Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen barely qualified to negotiate with my lord Imu.

After all, his battle record was verifiable.

Furthermore, he was not of the D. family.

The scale of the Battle of Marineford, in terms of high-end combat power, was almost comparable to the God Valley incident of that year.

Yet the results were completely different.

At God Valley, Rocks had lost, and the Rocks Pirates were consequently disbanded; now, however, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had managed to make my lord Imu agree to peace talks, an extremely rare occurrence.

Most importantly, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen genuinely desired peace.

This had even stirred my lord Imu's heart, hoping to subdue Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen in this manner.

Unlike Rocks, who was both a criminal of the D. family and attempted to overthrow the World Government.

But the Marines had no seat at the table; the Marines were merely dogs raised by the World Government, and what dog would stand around watching its master negotiate?

Moreover, the coming talks would very likely involve certain secrets regarding the World Government.

Naturally, the fewer people present, the better.

Look at Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's subordinates; they were very perceptive and had all left the scene, while the Marine high command remained here, unaware of propriety.

If not for the fact that Sengoku and the others were all Marine high command, and the World Government was in need of personnel, merely knowing of my lord Imu's existence would already be grounds for death.

Though their hearts were filled with ten thousand unwillingnesses, the master and disciple of Garp and Kuzan were still dragged away by Sengoku.

"Garp, go save people first."

In this battle, the Marines deployed fifty thousand elite soldiers and hundreds of officers; although all had lost consciousness, surely one or two lucky ones should still be alive.

Since the decision for the World Government to seek peace could no longer be changed, let us go save people first.

Save one if you can save one.

Saving a person one second earlier adds one second to their chance of survival; these are the roots of the Marines.

As for that damn Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, there should be a chance to settle the score later... perhaps.

Thinking of his dear son, Rosward, who was about to be wanted by the World Government, Sengoku's heart grew ice-cold.

Garp was clearly moved by Sengoku's words; silently, he hoisted the exhausted Zephyr onto his back and followed Sengoku to search for Marines showing signs of life.

Their backs were indescribably desolate.

Kuzan exhaled a breath of cold air; though his blood boiled with anger, his heart was nonetheless cold as solid ice.

Perhaps Dragon's choice was the right one.

The rotting World Government indeed no longer had any reason to exist.

To attempt peace talks with Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, the executioner who had killed fifty thousand Marines and hundreds of officers, nearly wiping out an entire generation of the Marines.

How absurd, how laughable.

As the three parties withdrew, only Saint Saint Saiwen, Tetsu, and Imu, possessing the body of Saint Natsurou, remained in the ruin that was Marineford.

"My lord Imu."

Saint Saint Saiwen smiled and held up two fingers.

"I have only two conditions: first, please release my two brothers: Buggy and Barette."

"In return, I will capture Wano Country as soon as possible and become a member of the Fudejia Alliance."

"Second."

"Captain Roger said: You are the greatest expert under heaven, but I do not submit; I wish to fight you."

War itself is not the goal, but a special, violent tool used to achieve objectives.

In this battle, Saint Saint Saiwen had already achieved most of his goals; Yuzhi Xiliu and the Great Bear had awakened Conqueror's Haki by killing Celestial Dragons, and had made the Marines and the World Government know pain.

Only one point remained unachieved—

To test the depths of Imu.

Rocks' failure was vivid before his eyes; naturally, Saint Saint Saiwen would not repeat Rocks' mistake.

If he could feign cooperation,

there was no need to launch a full-scale war.

Moreover, using the challenge against Imu to occupy one condition was Saint Saint Saiwen's deliberate attempt to lower the opponent's guard.

Of course, if Imu rejected the proposal.

Then Saint Saint Saiwen would have no choice but to beat the Drum of Liberation, transform into the grinning Nika Nika form, and fight Imu; if he could not win, he would simply continue to trade homes.

Saint Saint Saiwen was an invincible man with nothing to his name; as long as the Donghai Dihuang was still there, wherever he went was home.

And Imu was the ruler of the seas for eight hundred years, controlling the World Government; in terms of wealth and resources, no one on the seas could compare.

By any calculation, the advantage lies with me.

Imu's voice came with a mixed male and female reverb.

"You are different from them."

For eight hundred years,

Imu had seen countless rebels; not one had not clamored to overthrow the World Government and reveal the truth of the Void Century.

Those who voluntarily submitted were few and far between.

Especially someone like Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, who possessed considerable strength, would never join the World Government's ranks.

"Mu agrees to your two conditions and additionally grants you the status of a God Knight."

The Shallow Sea Contract, the Deep Sea Contract, and the Abyss Contract are Imu's greatest secrets.

They have never been leaked to the outside world.

As long as Barzab acts like Harald, even if he only signs the most basic Deep-Sea Contract, escape from control will be impossible forever.

By then, loyalty will not matter at all.

What matters is that after controlling Barzab with the Deep-Sea Contract, Im's ranks will welcome a high-end combat power comparable to Harald.

Compared to the high-end combat power about to be obtained, what are a hundred ordinary descendants of the Gods? The Navy's sacrifice is completely negligible.

Hearing this, Saint Saint Saiwen no longer dwelled on the identity of the God Knights.

Im's contract is absolutely impossible to sign, unless a method to immunize against the contract can be found.

But benefits must be taken as much as possible.

Not a single bit can be missing.

Good brother Buggy must be saved; Barrett is merely an incidental gift.

Even for the untamable Golden Lion, Saint Saint Saiwen did not worry about the Golden Lion betraying him, let alone Barrett, whose mind is full of the thrill of battle.

Barrett can be suppressed with one hand.

Saint Saint Saiwen patted Iron Thunder on his shoulder.

"My Lord Im."

"I'm going to make a move."

With those words, the Sky-Piercing Thunder Cage enveloping the entire Marineford and piercing heaven and earth suddenly disintegrated with a boom.

The next second,

the thunderstorm filling the sky seemed to find its sole monarch, transforming into hundreds of millions of roaring purple lightning dragons that poured down upon Saint Saint Saiwen from the center of the shattered cloud vortex.

A world-destroying thunder waterfall continued to bombard.

The ground did not just crack; it vaporized directly amidst the blinding lightning, turning into a sky-obscuring storm of molten dust and a furious wave of debris.

Right in the center of this destructive singularity,

the blurry figure did not vanish; all the thunder was collapsing and condensing toward Saint Saint Saiwen—

Before the dust and smoke had even dispersed, a towering silhouette pierced through the haze, standing proudly.

It was a thunder giant over a hundred meters tall, its entire body formed from the solidification of the purest, most violent purple thunder.

Countless liquid thunder magma surged and flowed over its surface, and the electric charges in the entire space emitted a wail.

As if paying homage to their monarch.

And in the thunder giant's hand was the great hammer Iron Thunder, wreathed in purple thunder and red-black lightning.

Since awakening the Goro Goro no Mi, this was the first time Saint Saint Saiwen used the complete form of the Lei Shen.

Looking down, Saint Saint Saiwen's face was blurred like a deity amidst the flashing lightning and rolling thunder; the direction of his gaze was precisely where Im was located.

This strange phenomenon caused Sengoku and others to become alert.

Upon seeing the hundred-meter-tall thunder giant, Sengoku's throat moved, as if he had been covered and locked by a great terror of life and death.

"Quick, quickly take the wounded away."