Chapter 298: Battling Im as One

"Oh? It has only just begun?" A deep, intriguing smile touched Im's flawless, exquisite face. "And you truly believe you possess the leverage to save them from my grip?"

Both Kuma and Dragon were bound entirely within her power; to snatch two living targets straight out of her hands was a task that bordered on absolute impossibility.

"Dragon! Kuma!" Sabo's face darkened into a furious mask. Just as he prepared to spring forward, Drake reached out to catch his shoulder.

He shook his head gently. "Sabo, stay calm."

"Dragon..." Luffy's pupils contracted to tiny points, his voice faltering awkwardly as he stammered, "T-That... is that guy really my old man...?"

"And that giant fellow beside him..." It was only then that he recognized the figure pinned in Im's grasp—wasn't that Tyrant Kuma?

"That's right. That man is Dragon—your biological father, Luffy," Sabo confirmed.

"Luffy's dad..." Ace's gaze shifted subtly. He had known the details of Luffy's parentage since childhood and had read numerous news dispatches regarding Dragon's exploits.

Yet Dragon was clearly clinging to his absolute limit; telling whether he was alive or dead was nearly impossible, and even if breath remained in his body, he wouldn't survive much longer.

At this critical threshold, the only miracle capable of saving Luffy's father was Drake's legendary medicine.

Involuntarily, Ace traded a swift glance with Drake, who offered a quiet, firm nod in response.

"STRIKE!" Drake suddenly barked.

"Hm?!" Im hadn't calculated that they would act with such absolute, ruthless speed. She instinctively attempted to crush both captives on the spot, only to discover her physical frame was completely locked in place!

"What is this...?!"

A flash of genuine shock crossed Im's eyes—a sensation of total paralysis she had never experienced in her long life. Her gaze swept across the four young men, locking firmly onto Drake.

It was him!

Only now did she recall that Drake was supposed to have been captured and sealed beneath the Holy Land—how had he broken free from her subterranean prison?

Something was deeply abnormal!

While her thoughts raced, all four brothers initiated their offensive simultaneously. Ace took the lead, driving a high-velocity flame spear straight toward Im's face.

A sudden cloud of pitch-black fog materialized out of nowhere, intercepting the spear mid-air.

Sabo unleashed a massive, Haki-infused dragon claw, driving his red fingers into the hand Im used to constrain Kuma. The intense spatial compression Drake exerted from afar threw Im's tactical stance into total disarray, leaving her momentarily bewildered by the force pinning her frame.

Purtch!

The fiery dragon claw ripped through the flesh of Im's arm, yet she refused to loosen her grip, acting as though the shredded skin and muscle belonged to someone else entirely.

"WHAT?!"

Sabo stood visibly stunned by the sight—wasn't the structural composition of her physical body nearly identical to those golden-masked agents they had fought earlier?

This was going to be exceptionally troublesome!

That was the immediate thought shared by the brothers. Im's absolute combat mass was terrifyingly immense, making the task of systematically crushing every bone in her frame a daunting challenge.

While Im's brows knit in annoyance, a heavy boot plunged straight down from the clouds above.

"GUM-GUM AXE!!"

This was no ordinary strike; Luffy clearly registered the horrifying pressure radiating from Im, having witnessed both his unseen father and former Warlord Kuma fall completely to her power.

Thus, he opened with absolute maximum output, holding back zero reserves.

"Hm?" Im managed to raise her head just as the heavy heel slammed square into her face.

KABOOM!

The surrounding spatial fabric shattered under the force.

In a flash of residual motion, Drake materialized alongside the impact zone, scooping up Revolutionary Army Commander Dragon—Luffy's father—into his arms.

Dousing his lips with a Senzu Bean, Drake executed a short-range spatial warp without a microsecond of delay.

"Luffy! Your dad is safe with you now!"

Luffy turned his head in shock—Drake's movement velocity was so absolute that even his Advanced Observation Haki had failed to predict the vector!

It took a fraction of a heartbeat for Luffy to process Drake's words before he barked back, "GOT IT!"

Vaulting across the stone, Luffy landed directly before Dragon, locking a vigilant, protective gaze onto Im.

A subtle bead of sweat trickled down his temple as a complex, unfamiliar emotion welled up in his chest—a strange surge of restless excitement.

He refrained from turning around to face Dragon, perhaps not yet prepared for an official father-son reunion, given that he had spent his entire life assuming he didn't have a dad to begin with.

Regardless, his priority was guarding Dragon, requiring his focus to remain anchored entirely on the monster in the center of the crater.

"Sweep the Eight Desolations!"

Drake compressed his accumulated physical energy across the blade of his sword. This technique was the absolute first sword skill he had mastered, refined over countless hours of dedicated training to a state of flawless perfection.

The condensed energy wrapped so tightly around the steel that its visual thickness vanished, appearing as a razor-thin two-dimensional plane.

A flash of cold steel cut through the atmosphere, cleanly severing the entire arm Im was using to hold Kuma.

"WHAT?!" the surrounding onlookers gasped in absolute shock.

Not even Ace or Sabo had calculated that Drake's single sword stroke could slice through Im's frame so effortlessly.

Yet after severing her arm, Drake's expression darkened with deep concern rather than joy, as a terrifying sight unfolded before their eyes—zero blood leaked from the severed stump!

Why?!

What manner of entity was this Im? Drake recalled the original lore surrounding the World Government, where rumors alleged Im was a sovereign who had ruled since the Void Century eight hundred years ago.

He had long suspected she had undergone the ultimate operation of the Op-Op Fruit—the Perpetual Youth Surgery.

Yet looking at her now, her condition extended far beyond mere eternal youth or simple invulnerability. Drake's eyes snapped wide in utter disbelief as a brand-new arm rapidly sprouted from the severed stump, as though the lost limb had never existed in the first place.

"QUICK! SABO!" Drake yelled.

Sabo instantly decoded the directive. "ON IT!"

In a flash of fire, Sabo scooped up Kuma and rocketed away from the drop zone. Meanwhile, Im recovered her stance, lunging forward with mind-boggling speed, her fist surging with a suffocating, lethal pressure.

HUMMM...

Flames roared violently around Ace as he whipped his heavy spear around, driving the tip forward like an ascending dragon.

"GUM-GUM..." Luffy had shifted into his Gear Fourth state at an unmapped microsecond, radiating an extraordinary aura as his compressed fists rained down in a blinding barrage.

ROAR... KABOOM!!

The clash of absolute power detonated in mid-air, as Ace, Luffy, and Im locked in a fierce, static deadlock.

"Impossible..." Im's ringed pupils flickered in genuine disbelief—these two young men actually possessed the kinetic density to hold her assault at a standstill!

"Old man! Can you handle the battlefield down below?!" Drake called out to Dragon, who had regained consciousness and was staring fixedly at Luffy's back.

Sabo deposited Kuma beside Dragon. "Dragon, leave this monster to the four of us. The forces down on the plaza need your leadership."

Fierce winds whipped around them as Dragon offered a firm, heavy nod amidst the tempest. He could clearly register that the combat output of all four young men equaled or surpassed his own peak—a reality he would never have believed prior to this hour.

Yet standing before the living proof, he had zero margin to doubt.

Reading Dragon's inner thoughts, Sabo offered a warm, subtle grin. "Dragon, once this war is settled, let's throw a massive banquet right here in Mary Geoise—together with Luffy and his crew."

"How does that sound?"

"A grand idea! It shall be done," Dragon replied almost instantly, before adding, "Of course, only after every threat on this field is thoroughly resolved."

"Heh... of course," Sabo nodded with a knowing smile that made Dragon feel a rare touch of awkwardness.

"Alright, leave the high sky to us. Head down below—our allies are waiting for you."

Dragon offered the four brothers a heavy, meaningful nod. "In that case, I leave this domain in your hands."

Casting one last, lingering glance at Luffy's back, Dragon turned without hesitation, diving toward the primary plaza alongside Kuma.

Watching the receding silhouettes of his commander and friend, Sabo let out a quiet laugh. It was his absolute first time seeing Dragon display such a human, vulnerable side—perhaps this was the undeniable bond shared between a father and his son...