High above, in the void, the aftermath of the battle was slowly settling.
At last, everyone could clearly see what was happening in the sky again—and the moment they did, shock spread across every face.
The next second, Kong couldn't help but cry out in disbelief.
"This… how is this possible? How did he do that?!"
As the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government, Kong rarely lost his composure. Yet now, he was completely shaken by what he saw.
High in the air, Lin Xuan floated calmly in the void.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, he hadn't been ambushed and killed by Im and the others. Instead, he still looked utterly composed.
At that moment, he raised one hand and pressed it firmly against Im's massive sword.
Void energy burst endlessly from the blade, tearing at the surrounding space and trying to crush everything in its path.
Yet no matter how violent the power was, Lin Xuan did not move an inch.
At the same time, the attacker who had struck from behind had already landed a devastating punch on Lin Xuan's back.
A destructive force exploded outward.
Together, Im and the sneak attacker's blows were enough to tear this entire region of heaven and earth apart.
But covering Lin Xuan's body was a layer of pitch-black armor.
It was precisely this armor that blocked their combined assault.
"Armament Haki?"
Im frowned, his expression turning ugly.
He had believed that with a sudden attack, they could seriously injure Lin Xuan—or even kill him outright.
But in the end, this was the result.
Seeing Im's confusion, Lin Xuan smiled faintly and explained calmly:
"Is that all your attacks can do? I just coated my Susanoo with Armament Haki, and you still can't break through my defense."
"Hmph!"
Im let out a cold snort.
On Planet Namek in the Dragon Ball world, Hashirama Senju looked at the black armor covering Lin Xuan with interest and smiled.
"Armament Haki really is a good thing. The deeper you train it, the stronger it becomes. With Lin Xuan using it like this now, its power is truly remarkable."
Madara Uchiha didn't deny it. He only snorted softly.
"Hmph. Coating Susanoo with Armament Haki was my idea first."
Back in the One Piece world, Lin Xuan no longer paid attention to Im.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward another person.
It was a man over two meters tall, middle-aged in appearance, wearing a white robe. His hair stood upright and curled slightly at the ends, giving him a cold yet dignified presence.
When Lin Xuan saw him, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He said lightly, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be one of the so-called Twenty Founders who established the World Government, right?"
As soon as he spoke, both Im and the short-haired middle-aged man showed subtle changes in their expressions.
Down on the battlefield, everyone—including Kong, Sengoku, and the others—was completely dumbfounded.
The so-called "Founders" were the twenty kings who had created the World Government in ancient times.
Eight hundred years ago, twenty kings from all over the world gathered at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise. Together with their families, they formed the united government of the world.
The laws, order, and security system of this world were all established by those twenty founders.
The Celestial Dragons were their descendants.
That was why the Celestial Dragons could live in luxury and act without restraint.
But that was history from eight hundred years ago.
And now, Lin Xuan was claiming that this middle-aged man before him was one of those legendary founders.
How was that possible?
So much time had passed. How could anyone still be alive?
Just as everyone was drowning in doubt, the middle-aged man suddenly smiled brightly and said cheerfully:
"Impressive. I didn't expect that after all these years, someone would still recognize this old man. Looks like I wasn't completely forgotten!"
Lin Xuan laughed softly and shook his head.
"I don't know you. I just sensed the weight of time on you. In this world, the only ones who could live this long—besides that old turtle Im—are probably people like you."
"Heh heh. You're not stupid," the man chuckled.
But as he spoke, his gaze toward Lin Xuan gradually grew colder.
"However, there are some things that must never be touched. Once you cross that line, it means you've reached the end of your life."
He looked Lin Xuan up and down, his face filled with regret.
"What a pity. Such an interesting fellow. If possible, I really wouldn't want to kill you."
At this moment, Im stood respectfully at the man's side, completely devoid of his former arrogance.
Lin Xuan looked at their confident expressions and couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't know where you get your confidence from, but with just the two of you, even working together, you still can't kill me."
"You're right," the man nodded with a smile. "You are indeed very strong. With just me and Im, it would be extremely difficult to kill you."
Then he shook his head lightly.
"But… who told you there are only two of us?"
"Then how about adding us?"
At that moment, several figures suddenly appeared around them.
Wave after wave of supreme pressure swept across heaven and earth.
Each of them wore long robes of different colors.
Some looked elderly.
Some appeared middle-aged.
There was even one who looked like a child.
Including the white-robed man, there were eight of them in total.
Every one of them radiated terrifying power—power even greater than Im's.
Eight Founders.
This…
Was the true strength of the World Government.
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T/N:
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