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OPI Chapter 448: Of Soil, Souls, and Sovereignty
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 23:07:19 +0000 UTC“As expected of Esdeath. But since she chose to act willfully, she must now bear the consequences.” Imu, after receiving the report, gazed c
“As expected of Esdeath. But since she chose to act willfully, she must now bear the consequences.”
Imu, after receiving the report, gazed coldly at the holographic projection in front of him.
He was certainly not planning to abandon the Shinobi World.
However, he would not take action himself before Sakazuki and Kuzan had clashed with Lilith and Nahamah.
In addition, Imu had already mentally prepared for the possible deaths of Crocodile and Guren.
He had always believed that conquering all worlds was not child’s play—it would inevitably come with great casualties.
“Hm?”
Just then, Imu noticed an urgent report coming from Cipher Pol. Upon reading it, he was truly surprised.
Amatori Biba had awakened Conqueror’s Haki.
“That also means the awakening of Conqueror’s Haki in otherworlders has nothing to do with ‘Planetary Dominance.’ Otherwise, the first to awaken it should’ve been someone from the Titan World—like Historia, for instance.”
Imu muttered to himself, then shut the report.
After all, this wasn't an especially critical matter.
He turned off the Ster Den-Den Mushi, and the 3D projection in the study quickly disappeared.
Imu rose to his feet, preparing to head for the Shinobi World.
But the moment Enma reappeared—
Imu knew there was a high chance he wouldn't be able to follow through with today’s plan.
“Father, Senju Hashirama has agreed to help deal with the King of the Dead!”
Enma chirped cheerfully, her laughter bright and excited. “Also, I can feel it—King of the Dead is growing weaker and weaker. Unless something unexpected happens, he should be losing soon!”
“Hmm. What about Byrnndi World?”
Imu’s expression remained indifferent as he nodded.
He himself wasn't sure whether the King of the Dead’s defeat was a good thing or a bad one. What if Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo decided to show up next?
For now, he could only proceed step by step.
“I’ve already sent World to invite Shimotsuki Ryōma to the Underworld of the Titan World for a meeting. He’s also under orders that, if Shimotsuki Ryōma refuses… he is to bring him back by force.”
Enma spoke with some hesitation.
It was clear she still didn’t really want to treat Byrnndi World as a disposable pawn.
It was just that among her subordinates, he was the only one with a chance of forcing out Shimotsuki Ryōma’s true strength.
“Let’s go. Time to witness the famed Dragon-Slaying Sword Saint of Wano—Ryōma the Dragonslayer.”
Without hesitation, Imu summoned a personal Small Dimensional Gate and, together with Enma, stepped through the Kabane World Gate and returned directly to Starfish’s mainland.
Due to the sheer speed of the teleportation, the dozen or so stationed army soldiers nearby didn’t sense anything at all.
In the blink of an eye, the two appeared at the top floor of Pangaea Castle.
“Let’s enter the Underworld from here,” Imu said as he looked down at Enma beside him.
“Okay!”
Enma composed herself.
Then, with a swipe, she opened a dark purple-black rift in front of her, and gently tapped Imu’s soul out from his body.
In the next moment, as the rift vanished, only Imu’s physical form remained inside the Room.
...
Starfish World, Underworld.
“The stench and heat here are just as awful as ever... Only the River Styx could be called beautiful.”
Imu muttered under his breath, frowning at the heavy humidity and the sulfuric scent stinging his nose.
Still, just as he’d said, the endlessly flowing black river ahead of him was beautiful.
It shimmered with brilliant starlight. And with the sky above devoid of any stars, it looked as if all the starlight had pooled into the water instead.
According to Enma, this river naturally emitted its own starlight—something unique to the Starfish Underworld. The River Styx in the Titan World’s Underworld, by contrast, lacked such brilliance.
“If Father doesn’t like it here,” Enma giggled sweetly as she led the way forward, “then once I become ruler of this Underworld, I’ll remodel the place completely. Father can just tell me what kind of world he likes!”
“You can alter the environment here?” That genuinely caught Imu off guard.
“Sure can. Once recognized by the will of the Underworld, the ruler is free to shape it however they like, so long as it doesn’t interfere with fundamental functions. Things like terrain and atmosphere can reflect personal taste.”
“Of course, renovations still depend on available materials. Like, I can’t conjure up lakes and forests in the Titan Underworld where everything’s made of white sand. That’s why all the buildings in my High Court are white.”
After hearing her explanation, Imu halted his steps. Under Enma’s puzzled gaze, he extended his Haki through the air and drew a clump of Underworld soil from the ground to examine up close.
“As expected, this soil isn’t ordinary.”
Just now, when Enma mentioned 'using local materials', Imu began to wonder whether it might be possible to use alchemy to transmute the soil of this place into other types of materials.
But after testing it, he found that alchemy based on the elemental structure of soil in the real world had no effect whatsoever on this Underworld soil. That clearly meant there was a significant difference between the two.
The soil of the Underworld, despite its pitch-black appearance and seemingly mundane nature...
...might very well be considered a rare necromantic material in some magic-based worlds. The same could be true for the trees growing here.
Of course, the water flowing in the River Styx was without a doubt an even higher-grade material.
Looking at it from this perspective, the raw materials of the Underworld itself clearly held tremendous value for development.
It was just a pity that the Zero-Magic World’s system of magic didn’t include any necromancy.
Even worse, their conventional magic relied heavily on ambient mana in the air—making it virtually unusable in worlds where no such mana existed.
“Is something wrong, Father?”
Enma tilted her head and blinked wide-eyed in curiosity.
“Nothing.”
Imu casually tossed aside the clump of dirt, then gestured for her to keep leading the way. After all, only she knew where Shimotsuki Ryōma lived.
It was only just now, from Enma’s mouth, that Imu learned Ryōma didn’t reside in the Citadel of the Dead, where the King of the Dead ruled, but lived alone in seclusion within the Other Shore Garden. Any wandering soul that trespassed would be instantly annihilated.
Even the shinigami under the King of the Dead had to stop outside the garden and call from a distance if they wished to meet Ryōma.
...
“We’re here, Father. Look—there it is, the Other Shore Garden!”
Enma soared through the air with Imu, pointing toward a distant land glowing crimson red.
What stood out most was the black River Styx that snaked across the terrain, and beyond it, a manor styled entirely in the architectural fashion of Wano Island.
Thanks to Imu’s extraordinary vision, he could even see butterflies shimmering red, flitting back and forth among the glowing red spider lilies that blanketed the field.
The scene possessed a strange and haunting beauty.
“Father, did you know? Those butterflies weren’t originally here. It was only after the King of the Dead took control of the Kabane World's Underworld and discovered that they could transform into Kabane as expendable soldiers that they were brought in by the thousands.”
“They love hanging around the red spider lilies. The most interesting part is that each one has the power to evoke fear. If someone gets surrounded by a swarm of Kabane Butterflies, even a fairly powerful demon or spirit could go mad, or else be left trembling in fear day and night.”
Enma truly loved telling Imu about the Underworld. She’d been chattering the whole way, and still had more to say.
Soon, the two of them landed back on solid ground, choosing the northern slope of a hill to stay hidden.
To avoid alerting their target, Imu refrained from using Haki to probe the manor.
But his mind was already hard at work, contemplating how best to deal with Ryōma.
According to Enma, the man was fiercely loyal to the King of the Dead.
“He’s here!”
It was hard to say how long they’d waited, but at last, the figure of Byrnndi World appeared.
He didn’t look too different from when he was alive—still just as burly and brutish. The only visible change was the color of the Justice coat he wore, now purple instead of black.
Just how much of his former strength remained was uncertain.
But unfortunately, among all of Enma’s subordinates, he was still the strongest.
