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Chapter 422: Kaido: What a Majestic Look!
"Pfft..."
An incredibly short, stifled snort leaked into the dead silence of the tavern, sounding exceptionally piercing.
Imu's body stiffened. Her eyes instantly grew colder than a polar ice cap, sweeping across the room like two sharp knives. "Who?"
Just one word caused the temperature inside the tavern to seemingly plummet by twenty degrees. It was a suppression originating from the very hierarchy of life itself. The unfortunate pirate who had made the noise rolled his eyes back and fainted dead away beneath a table, utterly terrified.
No one else dared to speak. The sunglasses on Doflamingo's face looked like they were about to crack. He was violently trembling, frantically pinching his own thighs. As one of the most lawless scoundrels on the seas, he had seen his fair share of grand spectacles in his life.
But right now? He genuinely wanted to die, because he was on the verge of losing control.
That was Imu! The Ruler of the World! She was sporting an exaggerated, comical lump that belonged in a gag manga, yet she was forcing herself to act as if absolutely nothing had happened. The sheer contrast was deadlier than Conqueror's Haki.
Imu, of course, knew exactly what these insects were staring at. Her forehead was burning. The fiery, stinging pain felt as though that old bastard Garp was still tap-dancing on her skull. She wanted to pull her hood lower, but she held back. As a God, acknowledging such an injury meant admitting that a mortal's attack was effective.
She had to ignore it. She had to remain aloof.
"Have you stared long enough?" Imu's voice betrayed neither joy nor anger. She walked up to the bar, not even looking Blake in the eye, and coldly rapped her knuckles against the wood. "Water."
Blake held his coffee cup, staring at the lump with keen interest for three full seconds. "That will be one hundred million Beri, thank you."
Imu's eternally frozen face finally twitched. "One hundred million for a cup of water?"
"This is a specially made ice water for 'reducing swelling and cooling down.'" Blake pointed at the lump, smiling like a greedy merchant. "You look like you need to cool off."
Imu said nothing. She simply reached into the void, pulled out a Black Card between two fingers, and tossed it onto the table. The motion was incredibly smooth and cool—if one could ignore the massive lump that was still throbbing in time with her breathing.
Right at that moment, the spatial vortex behind her rippled again.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" The boisterous, raspy laughter arrived before the man did. Naturally, it was none other than Garp.
A burly figure tumbled out of the vortex. Literally tumbled. Garp was drenched in blood, jagged bone exposed on his left shoulder, looking utterly miserable. But he was smiling brighter than a kid on New Year's Day.
"Sengoku! Sengoku!" Garp slapped the floorboards before he even managed to stand up. "Did you see it? Was the crack of my punch crisp or what?"
Sengoku's golden, Buddha-like hair practically trembled. He rushed over, desperate to gag his suicidal old comrade. "Will you shut your mouth, you imbecile!?" Sengoku hissed, sweating bullets. "Do you want Marine Headquarters to be disbanded right here and now!?"
Garp shoved Sengoku aside. He staggered to his feet, ignoring the blood still flowing from his wounds. Reaching into his tattered pants pocket, he pulled out a handful of senbei and shoved it into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch. He chewed obnoxiously loud.
"Afraid of what!?" Garp pointed at the figure sitting at the bar, laughing until tears streamed from his eyes. "Hey! You in the chair! Does your head hurt? Want this old man to rub it for you? Bwahahaha! That was the 'Fist of Love,' ordinary folks don't get to enjoy that!"
Imu's hand froze around her water glass. Dense, spiderweb cracks spread across the glass, crushed under her grip.
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, the head of the Five Elders, was currently kneeling in the corner of the tavern. He kept his face buried firmly against the floorboards, not daring to look up. He was genuinely terrified. He feared that Lord Imu would sink the island in the very next second, wiping out all of these "eyewitnesses" to silence them.
"Monkey." Imu didn't turn around, but her physical, materialized killing intent had already wrapped itself around Garp's neck. "You truly have a death wish."
Garp nonchalantly picked his nose. "Plenty of people want to kill this old man, you'll have to get in line. Besides..." He broke into a wide grin, flashing teeth stained with blood. "Would you even dare to make a move inside this shop?"
The words acted like a paralyzing spell. The rampaging energy fluctuations surrounding Imu instantly calmed. She glanced at Blake behind the bar. The silver-haired young man was casually wiping a glass, looking completely harmless. But Imu had already tested him back on the deserted island. The ability to casually manipulate space and toy with the laws of two different worlds... Even as a God, Imu had to be wary of him.
"Hmph." Imu scoffed, downing the hundred-million-Beri glass of water in one gulp. The icy liquid slid down her throat, but it did absolutely nothing to quell the raging inferno in her chest. Because it felt like that lump was swelling even larger.
"Kaido," Imu suddenly spoke, calling out the specific individual in the corner.
Kaido, who was currently chugging from his wine gourd in a desperate attempt to hide the smirk on his face, choked violently. "Cough, cough, cough!" The Strongest Creature across land, sea, and air was suddenly at a loss for what to do.
"H-Here!" Kaido even stood up straight on reflex, like an elementary student called on by a strict teacher.
Imu turned around. Those eyes, patterned with black concentric rings, locked onto Kaido. "Is it funny?"
Cold sweat dripped down past Kaido's dragon horns. He had never been afraid of anyone in his life. Even back on Rocks' ship, he dared to throw hands with Whitebeard. But facing this monster who had just beaten Garp half to death and possessed seemingly limitless energy, he was genuinely intimidated.
"N-No... I wouldn't dare." Kaido shook his head like a rattle. "Um..." Being a straightforward brute, Kaido's brain severely short-circuited under extreme tension. He pointed at his own forehead. "That style... is very unique. It's very... majestic."
Dead silence. Even Whitebeard couldn't help but facepalm. That stupid dragon. If he didn't know how to speak, he really should have just cut his own tongue out.
The corner of Imu's eye twitched frantically. Majestic? Sporting something that looks like a unicorn horn, and you call it majestic? This is humiliation. Naked, blatant humiliation!
"I think your hide would make a very suitable rug." Imu's voice was laced with ice.
Kaido immediately shut his mouth. He plopped back down into his chair, grabbed a massive chunk of meat on the bone, and shoved it into his mouth, deciding never to speak again for the rest of his life.
On the other side of the tavern, Shanks pulled the brim of his hat down low. He gripped his wine glass tightly. Right now, his broad shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. He was fighting the urge to laugh with everything he had. Laughing out loud right now would invite calamity upon the Red-Haired Pirates. But he genuinely couldn't help it.
"Hey, red-haired brat over there." Garp suddenly leaned in. Reeking of blood, he squeezed onto the bench right next to Shanks. "Got any booze? That God is stingy as hell, didn't even offer a sip of water after a fight."
Shanks sighed helplessly, sliding his own bottle to Garp. "Vice Admiral Garp, please just say a few words less. Can't you see the top of that person's head is about to smoke?"
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