One Piece: I am Imu-Chapter 286: The Rise of Academy City

Since that encounter with the entity known as Truth, Imu had practiced Biological Alchemy several times. Despite the fear that such a presence might instill, he had no intention of abandoning the use of alchemy.

First, because he had already understood that common alchemy did not depend entirely on the Truth.

Although the effectiveness of alchemy required the existence of such an entity, its use was not subject to its permission or approval. In other words, Truth did not have the power to prohibit others from practicing alchemy, nor could it alter its effects.

This was because the very existence of Truth followed an unbreakable logic, as did the principles of equivalent exchange and conservation of energy.

Therefore, more than a god, Truth seemed to represent knowledge itself and the concept of alchemy, a manifestation of the rules created by human intelligence.

However, for some unknown reason, that entity had developed consciousness, emotions, and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

On the other hand, Biological Alchemy combined perfectly with his medical skills and the powers of the Surgery Fruit, allowing him to perform interventions so precise that even death would become a difficult option for his victims.

As for Human Alchemy, I had no interest in touching that terrain at the moment.

It wasn't that he had any moral qualms. The problem was that every time he considered trying it, his intuition warned him of imminent danger.

Anyone else could ignore that feeling, but Imu always trusted his sixth sense.

He knew very well that sometimes intuition was more reliable than any logical analysis.

So, without thinking too much, he decided not to get involved with Human Alchemy.

But he could let others try it. He firmly believed that there would definitely be arrogant and conceited fools in the future who would use their souls to explore the depths of human alchemy for him.

Several days passed, and so far, Truth had not attempted to request access to the second Dimensional Gate.

This made it clear to Imu that assimilating the knowledge of a new Universe was neither a quick nor easy process.

On the other hand, if Truth wanted to move his main body outside of his own universe, he would have to cross the Dimensional Gates. However, due to his own logical rules, he needed Imu's approval.

From this perspective, Imu considered himself and the World Government to be extremely fortunate.

If they had encountered an irrational and ruthless entity, perhaps Imu would have been able to protect himself under the safeguard of the Star Map and emerge unscathed.

But the World of the Titans would have had to be abandoned, immediately closing the Dimensional Gate.

And in that process, there most likely wouldn't have been enough time to evacuate the personnel to the Demon Slayer World.

...

Time at Starfish World passed slowly and in the blink of an eye, it was already May 1st.

This day would go down in the history of the World Government. Because the World Government Academic City officially opened its doors.

The campus was located on five floating islands above the Red Earth Continent.

These islands are connected by eight SkyTrain tracks, and beneath each one are two giant elevators that link them to the surface of the Red Earth Continent, allowing easy access to visitors.

At this time, a crowd of people were queuing up to enter the elevators under the supervision of police officers.

They were the first students admitted along with their families, most of them coming from the nobility of the affiliated nations or from high political-military spheres.

But among the crowd, there was a special figure.

It was the imperial prince of the Teigu World and a tall, robust man with blue hair and bull horns, wearing a wide white tunic.

It was the biological Teigu known as Susanoo, which the emperor had given to the prince as his personal bodyguard.

"Father, I will do my best to become a worthy heir to the empire..." the prince murmured, his gaze fixed on the clouds above his head, his expression full of determination.

"It's our turn to go up." Susanoo whispered beside him.

The prince nodded firmly. "Alright, let's go!"

...

The opening of the Academy City attracted great attention both inside and outside Starfish World.

Anyone with a certain status knew that the World Government had practically gathered all of the most prestigious scholars in the Starfish World and moved them there. Among them, there were even experts from various disciplines from the Other Worlds conquered by the World Government.

For the nobility and royalty, the most attractive thing about Academic City was not only its prestige, but the fact that graduates would be given priority to enter the World Government as officials.

Of course, students could also choose to stay in the Academic City as researchers or join the institutes of the Academy of Sciences.

In any case, their future was assured.

Despite their hedonistic lifestyle, nobility and royalty were not alien to reality. In this era of expansion through the Dimensional Gates, each of them had their own ambitions.

If they wanted to take advantage of the benefits of this new era before anyone else, their best option was to get on board the World Government's ship.

Furthermore, having a son working within the World Government was a guarantee of security for the family, no matter what happened in the future.

Therefore, they were willing to invest large sums of money to secure a place in the first generation of students.

It could be said that most of the funding for the construction of the Academic City came from contributions from these nobles and monarchs.

...

Meanwhile, at the other end of the red earth continent, where the Headquarters of the Armed Forces was located, the atmosphere was no less lively.

The reason was that the Armed Forces had scheduled the First Triennial Combat Power Evaluation Examination for the same date as the opening of the Academic City.

Borsalino watched with resignation the numerous officers coming and going.

Even naval officers could be seen in the crowd.

Alongside Borsalino were Kaido, Enel, King, and Shiki, who had recently been promoted to General of the Air Force.

"For the next five days, every officer, without exception, will be evaluated here. And that includes you: generals, admirals, be prepared." Zephyr explained in a stern tone.

"It's really a headache." Borsalino just felt so tired.

It's understandable that there are unqualified people among the lieutenant generals and major generals, and they need to pass this kind of test to ensure the quality of combat effectiveness, but where are there such people among the generals and admirals?

Not long after, Zephyr met up with Raymond and Sengoku who arrived earlier, and they seemed to be talking about something.

Seeing this, the others grouped together in a general manner according to rank.

"What is that?" Borsalino asked, pointing at about fifty black machines of various sizes placed in a cleared area.

The others followed his gaze with curiosity, until Sakazuki explained, "That's called a treadmill. As I understand it, the Academy of Sciences made them especially for this test."

"They serve to run on them while displaying the time and distance traveled. In other words, they save us the trouble of going around the Red Line," he added in his usual serious tone.

Kuzan and Borsalino exchanged an uncomfortable glance. They could both read the same thought in each other's eyes: This sounds exhausting...

"Oh, by the way, this test prohibits the use of skills. What will be tested is the officers' physical endurance." Sakazuki commented.

Garp laughed: "Bwahaha! Sounds interesting!"

"Yeah, that's a great idea! I just hope those machines hold up, or they might break before I can enjoy the race. Worororo~!" Kaido also laughed wildly.

Just at that instant, Zephyr, Sengoku, and Raymond approached together.

Raymond, who was acting as host, smiled and announced, "All officers below the rank of lieutenant general can stay here to observe the officers' physical test or go to the rooms prepared for you to rest."

"As for lieutenant generals and generals, please follow me. Your test will be held elsewhere."

Soon Sengoku and the others arrived in front of a gym that, at first glance, seemed quite ordinary.

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Raymond stepped forward and opened the doors, revealing the interior.

The lighting in the place was strange, with a dim purple hue covering the entire room.

"Come in," Sengoku said, hands in his pockets. "Your first test will be to run 200 laps and do 2,000 push-ups within a five-hour time limit. If you complete that, you'll have passed."

"What!?" Garp rubbed his ears, as if he had heard wrong. "Just that? And they give us five hours on top of that? Is that really necessary? Sengoku, are you sure you didn't mean 20,000 push-ups and 2000 laps?"

"I'm absolutely sure." Sengoku replied calmly.

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