Chapter 545: Descent of the Emperor: Chaos on the Red Line

Im was about to hit the teleport function, planning to send herself straight to Mariejois on the Red Line.

Then she’d activate the ship’s self-destruct, taking Karl with her. She refused to believe an explosion fueled by every bit of energy aboard wouldn’t be enough to end him.

But before she could even begin, something creaked loudly overhead. It wasn’t Karl breaking through—

He’d grabbed the hull with his right hand and gave it a violent shake, spinning her around inside Uranos until she couldn’t even stand. She had no time to press teleport or self-destruct—she’d just found her footing when the warship lurched forward at incredible speed.

Karl was wielding the ship like a javelin, hurling it straight back toward the Red Line. In that moment, the vessel became a rogue star, accelerating across the sea.

…

“Damn it, we’re surrounded,”

Marco stood at a small crossroad, every direction blocked by a weapon of war. Their intent couldn’t be clearer.

The plan was obvious—wipe out all the troublesome helpers first, leaving only those strong enough to survive a head-on clash with these machines. But by that point, who would be surrounding whom?

“Still, if you want to take me down, you’d better have what it takes.”

Blue wings unfurled as Marco tried to take flight, but the moment he pushed off, a war weapon ahead threw a spear that pinned his wing to the bone wall.

A sharp, twisting pain gripped him.

“How?”

“How did that attack actually hit me?”

Marco winced. “Even weapons coated in Armament Haki haven’t been able to land a blow like that. Why is this happening now?”

“Did the World Government come up with something that lets these weapons hit special targets?”

But the four war machines didn’t give him time to wonder. They advanced, each wielding a spear.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

With their spears closing in, Marco desperately tried to tear free his left wing, but the spear held him fast, fixed in place like a nail.

Every attempt to break free sent pain shooting through him, as if his entire left arm might be torn off.

“Quake!”

Crack!

A spear stopped a mere centimeter from Marco’s eyes.

The space around them shattered like glass, and the bone wall at his side exploded apart.

Towering and formidable, Whitebeard appeared, driving his fist forward and blasting the four war machines away with his Devil Fruit power.

“Pops!”

Whitebeard stood guard in front, casting his massive shadow over Marco. “Gurarararara! Marco, you realize now you still have a long way to go, don’t you?”

Back in the New World, constant clashes with Karl’s crew had built their strength and experience, but real life-and-death battles were still rare for them.

This scene was the perfect lesson for Marco. When your body’s pinned and a fatal blow is coming, the only thing you can do is fight back with everything you’ve got—maybe even take a few down with you. Waiting to die isn’t an option.

Even if your enemy is overwhelmingly strong—even unbeatable—the will to draw your sword and fight must always be buried deep inside you. If not, death’s all that’s waiting. But if you go down swinging, there might be the faintest sliver of hope.

“You’re right, Pops!”

“Still, this bone maze is a pain. They want to pick us off one by one, but let’s see if their teeth are up to the challenge.”

“Quake!”

Whitebeard unleashed his power again, smashing down a ten-meter-tall wall of white bone in front of them.

“Meteor Volcano!”

“Yasakani no Magatama!”

“Great Weide—Thunder Bagua!”

Across the plaza, others were also breaking teammates free and realizing why this maze had appeared.

It was designed to split them all up for easy pickings. Not everyone there was the equal of a Fleet Admiral—if the war machines focused fire, even the mighty could fall.

Spotting the trap, everyone reached the same decision: destroy the bone labyrinth with overwhelming force.

Their choice foiled Nassourang Saint’s plan.

With attacks rumbling across the square, the walls were soon reduced to ruins. The two sides clashed in open battle again, but this time only top-tier fighters went after the war machines, giving them no chance to close in.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Sengoku, and the Navy arrived through the river passage onto the Red Line, only to find the Sacred Land reduced to wreckage.

“What in the world happened here?”

Luffy shrugged, then spotted towering figures all around—giants, Revolutionaries in colorful gear, and a legion of black-suited men.

Their battles were just as much contests of resolve as of weaponry.

Luffy called out in awe, “Usopp! Look—giants!”

Standing a few steps back, Usopp scrambled over. “Really? Where?”

“Amazing!”

Usopp, always the tall-tale king, had bragged about meeting giants from the Giant Kingdom before. But he never thought his first real encounter would be here.

Since Karl had spirited away the two giants from Little Garden in advance, they’d found no trace on their own journey there.

“Are those the Revolutionary Army?”

“And members of the Holy Knights.”

“Is that Crocodile…”

“Wait, look—even Whitebeard’s here!”

Everyone was shocked. On the field now were not just the Revolutionary Army’s top trio, three Logia-type Devil Fruit users, and Whitebeard, Kaido—even Shanks.

The scale and sheer chaos up here dwarfed anything below by ten times or more.

All across the battleground, giants stood in endless ranks. Thunderous explosions echoed from all sides—the fight was far from over.

“L-Luffy, look up!”

Usopp adjusted his glasses, then looked skyward. There, blazing down from above, was a massive red fireball.

It wasn’t slowing at all, and it was headed for the center of the plaza. If that hit, even an Emperor would feel it.

“Huh, same power as me?”

Issho and Aramaki had just finished off an Army general and reached the plaza edge, spotting the meteor blazing through the sky.

To snatch a meteor from outer space and slam it down like that—that was Issho’s calling card.

But Issho didn’t remember launching anything so huge himself!

“What? I thought that was your doing.”

“Isn’t this your signature move?”

Aramaki had never heard of anyone else who could pull down meteors from space.

If it wasn’t Issho, then whoever triggered that meteor was on a whole different level.

“Wait, there’s someone on top of it.”

Sharp-eyed Usopp spotted a black figure trailing a red glow atop the fireball, but from this distance, it was impossible to make out who.

“No way—is there really someone who can do that?”

Garp: “Who is that?”

Sengoku: “Yes, that’s right.”

“The Hidden Emperor of the New World, first among the Four Emperors—Titan Karl!”

“Who’s Karl?”

Chopper heard Sengoku’s words and immediately looked at Robin.

On their ship, Robin knew far more about the New World than anyone else—she was like a walking encyclopedia.

“Is that Karl?”

“Karl—origin unknown, age unknown, combat strength unknown.”

“He first joined the most notorious pirate crew of all time—the Rocks Pirates.”

“Even Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, and the Golden Lion were once under its banner.”

Nami asked, “Then didn’t that crew rule the seas?”

“So why did it just vanish without a trace?”

Robin explained, “Ha, world government and navy never let such a dangerous name spread across the seas.”

“Look, what is that?!”

With Usopp’s terrified scream, everyone glanced skyward. Out of the fireball had appeared a colossal black figure, a huge horn atop its head, pitch black body, red light flickering around the neck.

Even from a great distance, they could make out the towering form—thousands of meters long, blanketing half the Red Line in shadow.

“That’s Lord Im!”