Deep inside a dimly lit, subterranean chamber beneath the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, a slow, echoing cadence of footsteps broke the absolute silence.
In the deepest recesses of the room, a lone figure hung bound to a massive iron cross, heavy chains wrapped tightly around his frame in multiple layers. His breathing was dangerously faint, his life force ebbing away with each shallow rise and fall of his chest.
As the heavy footsteps drew nearer, the bound prisoner slowly opened his eyes. His long hair hung in a tangled, disheveled mess, and a severe, dark scar stretched across a large portion of his torso.
A lone shaft of faint light illuminated his face, revealing the familiar features of former Marine Admiral Aokiji—now a high-standing member of Drake's Dragon Flag Pirates.
The footsteps eventually ground to a halt. Aokiji didn't bother raising his head, his downcast gaze fixing on the pair of boots planted directly before him.
For a long time, not a single sound stirred within the suffocating darkness of the chamber.
"What exactly is 'D'?" Aokiji broke the silence, his voice raspy and low.
He waited for a moment, but no response came. Aokiji didn't seem to care, pressing on with his question. "You ought to know, right? At some point in history, individuals bearing the initial 'D' in their names began emerging across this world."
"And almost every single person who carries that 'D' turns out to be anything but ordinary. Most importantly, without even realizing it, every one of them ends up standing in direct opposition to the World Government... Wouldn't you say so?" Aokiji suddenly snapped his head up, locking his sharp gaze onto the figure standing before him. "Lord Im!"
A long black cloak enveloped the visitor's entire frame. Because his back was turned to the faint light source, his facial features remained entirely obscured in shadow. The only visible detail was a pair of golden, desert-hued eyes glowing with an eerie, unearthly light!
A single glance into those eyes was enough to cause any ordinary man's knees to buckle, draining all strength from his limbs.
Im merely cast a faint, indifferent glance at the chained prisoner before turning away. Just as Aokiji assumed he would receive no answer, Im spoke.
"Do you have any idea what is transpiring up on the surface right now?"
"What?" Aokiji asked, a slight trace of surprise crossing his face.
"The very thing you just spoke of—the 'D'—has arrived."
"What did you say?!" Aokiji's pupils contracted sharply, his voice rising in sudden shock. "What do you mean by that?"
"Is it that difficult to comprehend? I am saying the 'D' you so eagerly anticipate has arrived. This marks the single greatest challenge the World Government has faced in all eight hundred years since its foundation."
"Monkey D. Dragon, son of Marine Vice Admiral Garp and father of the newly appointed Emperor, Straw Hat Luffy. He can comfortably be called the World Government's premier threat in recent history."
"And today, he has brought the full military might of the Revolutionary Army directly onto the sacred soil of this Holy Land."
"The Revolutionary Army is here..." Aokiji's brow twitched. A flash of shock rippled across his features before settling back into a calm composure.
He was well aware of the deep-seated friction between the Revolutionary Army and the World Government, and that open warfare had already erupted between the two factions a short while ago.
What he hadn't anticipated was how swiftly the Revolutionary Army would launch a full-scale, unrestricted offensive—or that they would successfully breach the defenses to push all the way onto the Holy Land of Mary Geoise itself.
A feat like this would have been considered utterly unthinkable in the past.
Yet today, the people of the world were no longer easily shaken by such news. The New Era driven forward by the Legendary Four Brothers had already brought forth far too many myths and world-shattering events.
First came their spectacular display during the Summit War, where they directly confronted Marine Headquarters and openly declared war against the World Government.
Then came their meteoric rise two years later, as each of the Legendary Four Brothers rose to power in rapid succession.
Admirals, Emperors of the Sea—monster-like titans who struck pure terror into the hearts of ordinary men—fell before them one after another.
They had instantly leaped to the absolute center of every debate among the world's powerhouses, with press syndicates across all four seas competing frantically to cover their exploits.
Major, world-shaping battles erupted endlessly, and Yonko fell in sequence.
In earlier years, such claims would have been dismissed as absolute impossibilities. Anyone hearing such news would have regarded it as a wild, preposterous fairy tale.
Has this person completely lost their mind? Dreaming to the point of self-delusion?
That would have been the natural, immediate reaction of any rational person.
Yet now, the global population had built up an absolute immunity to such shockwaves. Even if someone were to announce that the World Government had been completely overthrown, their first reaction would no longer be disbelief.
Instead, their immediate thought would be: Did the Legendary Four Brothers finally make their move against the World Government? When did it happen?
Though they would still be profoundly stunned, they would no longer dismiss it as a sheer impossibility.
Just a short while ago, news of Pluton's awakening had shaken the world once again. Now, hearing that the Revolutionary Army had engaged the World Government in an all-out war on the Holy Land barely registered as a surprise.
"Given how much attention you pay to the 'D', it implies you know something deeper, doesn't it?" Im asked, his back still turned toward Aokiji.
Aokiji stared at Im's cloaked silhouette, his mind briefly drifting back to the scene of his capture.
The combined combat mass of the four Elders had indeed been exceptionally troublesome, but it wasn't a predicament he couldn't have maneuvered out of.
After all, if an elite Marine Admiral committed to a full tactical retreat, even two Yonko operating together wouldn't necessarily be able to lock him down.
Yet Im's sudden intervention back then had made the surrounding reality feel entirely surreal. A single, casual strike from this entity had rendered him critically wounded.
Even now, recalling that moment sent a cold wave of lingering dread through his soul.
It was genuinely difficult to process: he was a proud Marine Admiral, a powerhouse representing the absolute apex of global military force, yet he had been completely incapable of withstanding a single strike from this figure!
A tier of strength like this felt entirely untouchable. Even if the Revolutionary Army managed to defeat every single soldier in the World Government's ranks, they would still stand zero chance against Im.
The outcome was already decided!
Once this war concluded, rivers of blood would inevitably wash across the world—a tragic outcome he desperately wished to avoid.
Yet currently, he couldn't even guarantee his own survival...
"In truth, the 'D' is simply the inheritance of a shared will. It doesn't belong to any specific, sacred bloodline, yet everything seems guided by a strange, invisible fate. Almost every individual who carries the initial 'D' in their name turns out to be an irredeemable, stubborn fool!"
Ignoring the prisoner behind him, Im continued in a detached, airy tone. "From the moment they are born, these people subconsciously possess a nature that passionately yearns to break free from all shackles. Every single one of them is like this."
"And to them, the very existence of the World Government is the ultimate shackle!"
Behind him, Aokiji's eyes flickered slightly. This was the first time he had ever heard such a perspective. Are those who bear the 'D' truly born to be natural enemies of the World Government?
Suddenly, something seemed to cross Aokiji's mind, and he dismissed the notion with a quiet snort. "And here I thought you were about to reveal some grand secret. You're just spouting nonsense."
"Do you know a certain man?"
"Bwahahaha..." Im suddenly spun around, letting out a low, echoing laugh as he looked at Aokiji. "I know exactly who you are referring to. You mean the 'Hero of the Navy,' Monkey D. Garp, don't you?"
Seeing Aokiji remain silent, Im continued, "He is indeed a member of the Clan of D. But as I just stated, it is a subconscious drive."
"Which means what kind of person they ultimately become is determined by their environment and life experiences as they grow. Garp became a Marine because he possessed a heart that genuinely wished to uphold justice."
"However, even though he became a Marine, there is one core trait that can never be altered." A subtle smile touched Im's lips before fading just as quickly.
Aokiji's pupils contracted sharply. He felt the ambient temperature in the chamber plunge violently—a bone-chilling cold that differed fundamentally from his own ice, striking directly at the absolute core of his soul.
In the next microsecond, Im's detached voice resonated through the dark: "As a carrier of the 'D', they will forever loathe the feeling of being shackled! Their so-called justice is nothing more than following the personal justice defined within their own hearts!"