Chapter 546: Fury of the Black Dragon

“Roar! Karl…”

Boom!

Im transformed into a massive black dragon and let out a furious roar to the sky, never expecting Karl’s enormous fist to come crashing down in response.

Karl, still clinging to the last few seconds of his super transformation, unleashed a punch that sent the black dragon hurtling to the ground. Like a meteor, Im slammed into the site of the old palace, leaving a crater several kilometers wide.

The resulting tidal wave swept everyone nearby off their feet—fighters were tossed like ragdolls, even those at admiral level couldn’t withstand it. The roar obliterated the remains of the palace, leaving barren earth as far as the eye could see.

As Karl landed from midair, he noticed everyone’s gazes fixed on him. With a flash, he stowed away his red underwear. After all, his Superman time was up, and the thought of his little ‘fashion statement’ getting out was less than appealing.

But even these subtle details didn’t escape Usopp’s keen eyes. Meanwhile, Franky pushed his glasses up with interest, as if recognizing another member of his tribe.

“No doubt about it, that’s Ye Fan!”

Luffy stared at the Vivre Card in his hand, his finger shaking as he pointed toward Karl falling from the sky.

“Wh-what!?”

Nami’s hair practically stood on end. She pointed up with a trembling hand. “Luffy, did you just say that’s Ye Fan? Our crew’s vice-captain Ye Fan?”

You couldn’t blame Nami for such a reaction—every crew member stared up in shock.

If Karl was actually Ye Fan, what was his reason for boarding their ship? As one of the Four Emperors of the New World, Karl was hardly the type to do anything on a whim.

“We can talk details later, but now’s the time to decide—are we going up there or not?”

Sanji’s face clouded as he looked at Karl falling from above. Maybe he was young and clueless back then,

but from childhood, he’d known his father, Judge, once served on Karl’s crew.

He’d heard even the technology for the modified humans likely came from there.

That made Sanji resent Karl indirectly. If it weren’t for Karl, his father might never have raised such cold-hearted children. Maybe Sanji’s childhood wouldn’t have been so stifling and miserable.

“I get it now!”

Luffy smacked his left fist into his right palm, then pointed ahead.

“Let’s go. Of course we have to! Not just to help Karl, but to see Shanks again too.”

Luffy wasn’t dumb—in the moment he realized Karl was Ye Fan, a thousand memories flashed through his mind.

Who knew what Karl’s real goal was? Still, after living as classmates for so long, if he’d meant them harm, none of them would’ve made it this far. And Luffy spotted Shanks maneuvering on the battlefield, which made his decision clear. Whatever the reason, he needed to go up.

“Alright, if the captain’s decided, we’d better not hold back!”

“Straw Hat Pirates, move out!”

Luffy waved a hand grandly, setting off at a run at the head of the group.

“Yohohoho! I’ve never seen a scene this intense—my blood’s boiling! Well, not that I have any blood.”

Brook brought up the rear, feeling as if his long-silent heart was pounding again—even if he didn’t actually have one.

“Sengoku, are we… going in, too?”

Garp felt his resolve shaken deep down.

For the D. family, centuries of anticipation might finally end today.

And if the Revolutionary Army handled things their usual way, the ordinary folks of the sea would at least have somewhere safe to go. Worst case? Maybe they’d just be ruled by a fresh batch of Celestial Dragons.

“We’re the Navy—we’ve always stood for justice!”

Kong strode out with conviction, eyeing the wavering marines. “This time, we’ll just be observers. After all, it’s always the victors who write the history books.”

Other than the hardliner Udyr and a few close followers who looked ready to charge in, not a single marine budged. Kong’s presence kept the whole Navy planted where they stood.

Meanwhile, with Luffy’s group throwing themselves into the fight, the battle started turning one-sided.

“Ahahaha!”

“Enjoy the battle!”

Against Jinbei, Hawk Eyes and even Sakazuki, the so-called war machines couldn’t last. Luffy’s God Fruit let him soften their attacks as if they were nothing but rubber—assimilation made the machines lose all their edge.

That gave Sakazuki and Kuzan an idea—take advantage of the exposed points to infuse them with magma and Absolute Zero.

No matter how tough those bodies were, the cycle of searing heat and bitter cold cracked them to pieces.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

The black dragon, hundreds of meters long, beat its massive wings and hovered unsteadily in the air. Even just the wind from each wingbeat sent tornadoes spiraling down below.

“Joy Boy?”

The moment that voice rang out, everyone looked up.

The monstrous dragon head fixed its gaze directly on Luffy.

Im’s power surged inside, an endless tide growing stronger with every breath.

“So that’s Im?”

“Lord Im!”

“Is that the opponent we’ll have to face?”

Everyone’s face darkened seeing Im’s black dragon form.

Anyone who made it to the Red Line had clashed with war machines—the sight of those familiar scales brought a chill. They recognized the same plates that made the machines’ bodies virtually indestructible came from Im.

Right now, Im had just grasped the concept of energy fusion from the recent explosion, focusing it in his body to forge a nuclear energy core. Realizing the breakthrough, Im gazed skyward.

“Karl, I should thank you—you helped me unlock my ultimate power.”

With that, Im unleashed the black dragon Nidhogg’s ultimate power—the air twisted with outrageous suction, but the true targets weren’t everyone present, it was anyone who’d ever eaten a Devil Fruit.

“No, don’t! Somebody help!”

“No!”

At first, the World Government members did their best to struggle, unwilling to die like this.

But Im’s Conqueror’s Haki swept the field, leaving everyone pale with fright.

Even Shanks found himself frowning at the overwhelming pressure.

The Haki Im unleashed was several times stronger than anything Shanks had done at his peak. Centuries of hiding really did make Im a formidable monster—his fighting strength was terrifying.

Im’s body became a bottomless black vortex, the suction energy practically endless. To power-users, it was like Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit, only deadlier.

Some World Government Devil Fruit users standing too close were already sucked off their feet and merged with Im midair.

“Karl, what will you use to defeat me now?”

Feeling wave after wave of power flood his body, Im let out an earthshaking roar, ramping up the suction and dragging Devil Fruit users into the sky, trying to fuse them all into himself. In this moment, Im completely broke past any limits—his entire body kept swelling larger and larger.