"Damn! If you're the Azure Dragon, then what am I?" Kaido roared in anger, transforming into a blue dragon and taking to the sky, only to be swatted down by Imu, the Azure Dragon, with a single tail swipe.
"How can one person use so many different abilities at once?" Sengoku's expression was grim.
"Have the rules of Devil Fruits been completely broken?" Tsuru muttered to herself.
"She's a god, she really is a god!" Some pirates were mentally shattered by the shock, crying out in panic.
Imu reverted to human form, reveling in the disbelieving stares of the ants below.
"Haha, Mu has already merged with the source tree that gave birth to all Devil Fruits, which is also the source consciousness of this world."
"All abilities, all rules, are now under Mu's control!"
"The Mu of now is law! Is the world! Is a true god!"
In the crowd, Gaban spoke gravely: "So this is [One Piece]… the power to 'piece together' the world. The Tree of Devils that connects to the world's source. You made it to Laugh Tale too?"
Those nearby were all shaken.
The truth of [One Piece] was this?
The ultimate secret of Laugh Tale was a tree?
"Of course." Imu said calmly. "Mu was the first to conquer the Grand Line and reach the final island, Laugh Tale."
"It was under that very tree that Mu plucked the top-tier [Fallen Angel Fruit], along with several other fruits containing powerful rules."
"With this initial 'power of the gods', Mu was able to rally strength, defeat the great kingdom that attempted to deceive people's hearts with freedom and equality, and establish a rule that has lasted eight hundred years!"
Everyone was shocked. The fall of the great kingdom and the establishment of the World Government actually stemmed from the struggle for and control over the power of the [Tree of Devil Fruits].
After hearing this, Gaban sighed: "When we landed on that island back then, everyone just laughed. Our whole crew didn't eat Devil Fruits. The treasure we had spent our lives searching for turned out to be the thing we least wanted. How could we not laugh at such a twist of fate?"
Rayleigh sighed as well: "We originally planned to pick some Devil Fruits to sell, but the fruits on that tree couldn't be taken away. It seemed they could only fall naturally. Fruits picked manually would return to the tree after leaving the island."
He looked at Imu: "Can you help me understand? How did you manage to take Devil Fruits away?"
Imu smiled faintly: "Weren't you the vessels? Have your crew members eat them, then after returning, kill them and extract the Devil Fruits from their bodies using a certain method."
Her answer sent a chill down everyone's spine, 'What kind of despicable scum would treat their own crew members as living containers?'
Sengoku suddenly asked: "Since you knew of that tree's existence eight hundred years ago and even obtained the initial power from it, why did you only choose to absorb the tree itself now?"
"It seems merging with that so-called Tree of Devil Fruits should have posed a great danger, right? So much so that even you had to wait eight hundred years?"
Imu was not evasive and said calmly: "That tree is less a giver of power and more an aggregate of all desires and emotions of every intelligent life on this planet."
"If one does not possess a 'god-heart' strong enough and firm enough to stand above all desires and look down upon all beings, the consequence of merging with that tree is being consumed by desire."
As she spoke, Imu suddenly laughed: "Speaking of which, Mu should actually thank Chiaki Setsuna."
Ace was stunned: "Thank Captain?"
Imu laughed: "He thought his actions were very covert, but Mu saw through it. He was hunting down users of Zoan-type Mythical Beast fruits."
"Although Mu doesn't know how he did it, he indeed devoured the demon wills of those Mythical Beast fruits."
"Under normal circumstances, after an ability user dies, their Devil Fruit would rebirth in a nearby fruit or return to the Tree of Devil Fruits, waiting for its next natural fall."
"But the ten top-tier demons he devoured were completely annihilated. The power of the Tree of Devil Fruits was weakened, which allowed Mu to truly merge with this source tree!"
Hearing Imu's laughter, Rayleigh sighed inwardly: "I originally thought that only someone with a pure heart like Luffy's could remain unbound. I didn't expect this 'god', saturated with desire, to get there first."
Imu looked delighted: "On this planet, the only one who ever made Mu feel threatened was that guy Chiaki Setsuna. But he was foolish enough to actively reveal his resurrection time."
"Now, Mu has arrived ten days early. Where is he? Does he dare come out and fight Mu?"
Just then, a calm voice sounded: "Since you asked so nicely, I'll grant your wish."
Imu was startled and looked toward the source of the voice.
A figure was walking leisurely from another dimension, standing in mid-air. It was Setsuna.
After his rebirth, his appearance had not changed at all compared to two years prior.
His soul, having grown strong beyond limits, had long since solidified his own existence, and his newly regenerated body naturally replicated the soul.
Imu gritted her teeth: "Weren't you supposed to need ten days to resurrect?"
Setsuna smiled calmly: "Something as trivial as resurrection takes only a few minutes."
Imu felt a surge of shame and anger but quickly calmed down, regaining her composure: "Heh, Mu knows your progress over these two years must be immense. If we were starting from the same starting line, Mu would surely not be your match."
"But unfortunately, the Mu of now has become a true god, controlling all things, omnipotent!"
"And you? You're just a mortal who has just resurrected. How can you fight against the world itself?"
She spread her arms wide, and the radiance of countless abilities once again swirled around her, as if showing off her supreme authority to Setsuna and the whole world.
Setsuna remained very calm: "You just said that because I devoured ten top-tier devils two years ago, it greatly weakened the power of the Tree of Devil Fruits."
"So, you were able to take advantage of the opening and successfully seize control of that world-source tree?"
Imu sneered: "What? Regretting it now? Regret chasing power back then by devouring those top-tier devils, only to pave the way for Mu's ascent to godhood?"
Setsuna shook his head slightly: "You got one thing wrong. Although the power of the Tree of Devil Fruits was indeed weakened, it wasn't weak enough for you to control."
"Gaia Consciousness didn't choose you because your will was so strong. It chose you because it was afraid. It was afraid of me, the Planet Devourer."
Setsuna's tone was deep and resonant. He had devoured the Gaia Consciousness of the One-Punch Man World's Earth. The Gaia Consciousness of the Naruto World had first been devoured by Kaguya and was now within him.
From the perspective of the Gaia Consciousness in the One Piece World, he was a great demon king who had devoured two Gaia Consciousnesses. Naturally, it was terrified.