Mary Geoise, inside the Chamber of the Moon's bedroom.
Imu ultimately didn't dare to risk stepping into the world on the other side of the Stargate alone.
The reason was simple: what if there was a group of god-level powerhouses on the other side? What if they appeared the moment he stepped through and surrounded him? That would be the end of him. As the saying goes, those with nothing to lose fear nothing, but he wasn't just wearing shoes—he was dressed in splendor.
Moreover, no matter how he thought about it, there was no need to put himself in danger. The vast World Government he commanded had plenty of subordinates to utilize, so why not make good use of them? As for the issue of making the Stargate public, he felt that as long as it was done step by step, there wouldn't be any major problems. After all, the control of the Stargate was in his hands! In the end, he chose to suppress his curiosity and shut down the Stargate.
"Since I've decided to send people in to investigate, I need to plan carefully. The Five Elders will definitely be the first to know, but like me, they are part of the leadership and can't personally carry out the mission. It seems this heavy responsibility will have to fall on Cipher Pol."
Imu sat on his large bed, deep in thought.
"However, I'll wait until after this Levely to take action. The World Government is already busy enough as it is. But I can start selecting the CP personnel now."
It was just a pity that Rob Lucci, Kalifa, and the others were still too young, still training on Guanhao Island, which meant the people he was familiar with couldn't be used.
"Never mind, it's just gathering intelligence. They'll figure it out themselves when the time comes!"
At that moment, a pleasant chime sounded from outside. Imu was very familiar with this sound—it was the wind chime that rang whenever the maids needed to enter.
Sure enough, as soon as he stepped out of the bedroom into the living room, he saw a graceful maid holding a document folder, standing respectfully by the door.
"My lord."
It's worth mentioning that these maids, who were responsible for attending to Imu's daily life, didn't actually know his name. They only knew he was a Celestial Dragon of the highest rank, so they usually addressed him as "my lord."
"Mm, bring it here."
Imu sat on the sofa and casually gestured. The maid walked over, placed the document folder on the coffee table, gave a slight bow, and then left the Tree House.
Taking out the report from the folder, Imu's face showed a look of surprise as he finished reading it.
"What a brilliant idea! Truly brilliant! The Five Elders actually came up with such a clever plan. Impressive!"
The document outlined an operation plan. They intended to secretly create a treasure vault on an island in the New World that the Roger Pirates had once passed by. They would then fill it with a vast amount of treasure and have the Marine Headquarters and Cipher Pol conduct a joint operation to retrieve it, broadcasting the entire process live to the world. This would announce to everyone that the so-called One Piece Grand Treasure had been found.
"While it won't completely eradicate the emergence of pirates, it will certainly greatly diminish the influence of the Pirate King treasure rumors," Imu marveled, repeatedly praising the plan.
"As expected of the top boss of Cipher Pol. The schemes and tricks are indeed masterfully played!"
In his view, the only risk of this plan lay in the Marine's relatively weak presence in the 'New World' waters, which made them highly susceptible to large-scale pirate attacks, especially from the likes of Whitebeard and Big Mom.
As for Kaido of the Beasts Pirates, he wasn't much of a concern. For one, he had just entered Wano Country and was busy there. Secondly, Kaido's strength was still in its growth phase.
However, the Five Elders had clearly also considered the security issues, which was why the report mentioned joint operations with Cipher Pol.
This meant that the Marines would be led by Sengoku and Garp, while Cipher Pol would deploy CP0, along with one of their top-tier fighters.
With this arrangement, the entire escort fleet would have three Admiral-level combatants—two in the open and one hidden in the shadows.
As for the Marine Headquarters, they still had Fleet Admiral 'Kong' and Instructor Zed, so there was no need to worry about anyone sneaking in to attack their base.
That said, one of them was getting old, and the other, while still holding the rank of Admiral, had resigned from his position as an active Admiral. Therefore, Marineford could be considered as lacking an Admiral-level presence, making it appear somewhat weak on the surface.
"Three Admiral-level combatants should indeed be enough. Let them proceed with the plan!"
With this in mind, Imu decided to approve the execution of the operation plan and added a note to expedite the process, preferably completing it before the Levely convened.
He was all too aware of the power of the Great Pirate Era and thus took it very seriously, allowing no room for delay or negligence.
"Huh?"
At this moment, Imu noticed something else in the document folder. Pulling it out, he found information about Monkey D. Dragon and the 'Slave King,' King Taklama.
Looking at the detailed account and clear on-site photos in the intelligence report, he wasn't sure what to say. The photos showed nothing but a clear sandstorm—essentially, nothing was visible.
According to the report, Dragon was in a precarious situation and could be defeated by King Taklama at any moment. Seeing this, Imu's brow furrowed slightly.
He had naturally already reviewed the information on King Taklama, but as the 'Slave King' of the underworld, it was impossible for CP agents to uncover all his secrets.
All they knew was that twenty-three years ago, he had already demonstrated mastery of both Armament Haki and Observation Haki. There was also a brief introduction to his Paramecia-type Pet-Pet Fruit, which led to speculation that his Haki was exceptionally strong and that his Devil Fruit abilities had likely awakened.
However, the specifics of his awakened abilities remained unknown, as the 'Slave King' hadn't gone all out in recent years. After all, he was a 'businessman.'
But now, it was clear.
The awakened ability of the Pet-Pet Fruit allowed him to 'capture' natural sandstorms as pets, granting him abilities akin to those of a Logia-type user.
"This is quite interesting. As expected of an awakened Paramecia, it leans heavily into conceptual manipulation. To develop such a seemingly ridiculous Devil Fruit to this level—this 'Slave King' does have some skills."
Imu couldn't help but acknowledge King Taklama's talent.
Since it was possible to "capture" a sandstorm, could it also be possible to capture avalanches, volcanoes, tornadoes, and the like? Moreover, he suspected that the "Slave King" had not fully developed the awakened abilities of the Pet-Pet Fruit to their utmost potential.
After all, there was a difference between awakenings and awakenings!
What he was concerned about was the quantity aspect. It was written here that the "Slave King" only had one sandstorm pet. Was it possible that he could actually "capture" more "Nature Pets"? "However, turning a sandstorm into a pet reminds me of that 'Sand Crocodile' Crocodile. He should have already set sail by now, right?"
Ever since he successfully forcibly recruited Gecko Moriah into Impel Down, Imu had developed a collecting habit, always thinking about rounding up all these future famous talents in one fell swoop.
"This is something worth looking into. It shouldn't be too hard to find. I remember Crocodile and the nineteen-year-old Bullet had multiple confrontations, but each time they ended in a draw."
If it were him before the transmigration, he might not have remembered this so clearly. But after transmigrating and inheriting Imu's full strength, his mental faculties had also reached a superhuman level, and his memory had greatly improved as a result.
"Finding him and capturing him wouldn't be difficult, but the problem is how to control him and make him obedient. At least Moriah had his fellow tribesmen as hostages, but this Crocodile really has an air of being invincible. Moreover, how to use him after capturing him is also a problem."
At this moment, Imu shifted his attention from Dragon to Crocodile. It was simply because he didn't think Dragon would lose. As the son of the previous generation's protagonist, Garp, and the father of the next generation's protagonist, Luffy, wasn't it only natural for him to unleash his potential, overcome the odds, and turn the tables?