“Alright, enough arguing! Stop making a fuss!”
Whitebeard’s deep and commanding voice roared out.
The scene instantly fell silent!
Everyone turned to look at Whitebeard, awaiting their captain’s orders.
However, Whitebeard did not immediately speak about the battle. Instead, he first looked at Cass, then shifted his gaze to Vir, who was casually eating a plate of fried rice.
“Vir, one of our boys is injured. Stitch him up.”
No one was surprised by these words. Their captain had always been like this—family came first. That was why they had all gathered under him in the first place.
All eyes turned to Vir.
But Vir did not move. Instead, he looked up at Whitebeard with a helpless expression and said, “Honestly, I’m not very good at stitching. My suturing skills are pretty average. Wouldn’t it be easier to just have Marco heal him?”
Though Vir’s stitching might not be perfect, compared to most doctors, he was still exceptional. He simply hadn’t done it in a long time and was out of practice—so he didn’t want to bother.
More importantly, Marco could just heal the guy instantly. Why did the old man want him to waste time on this?
No way!
Testing him over something this trivial?
Absolutely not!
But the moment Vir said those words, the way everyone looked at him changed.
Even Whitebeard’s expression shifted.
A doctor saying he wasn’t good at suturing?
What kind of doctor was that?
At that moment, Whitebeard truly gave up any expectations he had for Vir.
Even the rest of the crew began to have doubts.
Had Ace lied to them?
A legendary doctor? A medical expert?
Was it all just a sham?
Marco glanced at Whitebeard, who gave him a slight nod. Without hesitation, Marco walked over and let his Phoenix Flames wash over the injured crewmate’s head.
In mere moments, the bleeding stopped, the wound scabbed over, and then—vanished completely.
The young pirate, sensing the heavy atmosphere, quickly thanked Marco and made himself scarce.
Vir also noticed the shift in mood.
But he wasn’t fazed.
He had only spoken the truth.
He rarely did sutures.
He usually just used electric welding.
Wasn’t that way faster than stitching and waiting for the wound to heal naturally?
It was instant—better than letting the body slowly regenerate the flesh.
Whitebeard gave Vir one last look before turning his attention back to his children.
With a powerful motion, he ripped the IV lines from his body!
Then, he grabbed his massive naginata, Murakumogiri, and stood up!
His voice boomed, full of energy, “One of your brothers has been captured! Do I even need to tell you what must be done?!”
*CLANG!*
The massive blade slammed into the deck, shaking the entire ship!
The sheer weight of it made the entire ship tremble!
And the moment his words fell—
A unified roar erupted!
“KILL! KILL! KILL!”
The sheer force of their voices made the air ripple!
Everyone was brimming with fighting spirit!
Jozu’s face even turned red from shouting!
“Good! That’s what I expect from my sons!”
“Sound the order!”
“Prepare for war against the Marines!”
“A TOTAL WAR!!!!”
Whitebeard’s eyes burned with fury as he bellowed!
At the same time, he raised his naginata high, pointing it toward Marineford!
“WOOOOO!!”
The entire crew raised their weapons in unison!
Those without weapons raised their fists!
Their collective might seemed strong enough to tear the sky apart!
Even Vir couldn’t help but take notice.
He could only say one thing—this was truly the Whitebeard Pirates.
No crew could match this level of unity.
Goosebumps rose on his skin involuntarily.
He almost wanted to join in and shout along!
But he held back.
This was their family’s karaoke session.
It wouldn’t make sense for him to join in…
Before long, orders were being issued rapidly!
Every fleet under Whitebeard, every son of his out on missions, all began converging toward the Moby Dick!
No one hesitated!
No one ran away!
In their minds, there were only three words:
“KILL! KILL! KILL!”
The entire Whitebeard Pirates were like an impenetrable steel wall.
Wherever Whitebeard’s blade pointed, they would all charge forward!
The ones responsible for this situation would pay a terrible price!
Soon, however, many aboard the Moby Dick began worrying about Whitebeard’s health.
This wasn’t just some small skirmish.
The Marines were no pushovers.
And in his current state…
If Whitebeard went to battle…
Chances were, he wouldn’t make it back.
Even if he did, the aftereffects of overusing his abilities, the resurgence of old injuries, and the toll on his already declining body…
What kind of condition would he be in afterward…?
They didn’t even want to think about it.
But what could they do?
Convince him not to go to war?
Forget Whitebeard—his own sons would exile anyone who suggested that!
This war was inevitable!
That was an undeniable fact!
Then, should they try to convince Whitebeard not to personally take the field?
Let the brothers lead instead?
If they tried that, they’d get a fist to the face and a roar from Whitebeard:
“You think I’m WEAK?!”
No doubt about it.
Their old man would definitely do something like this.
So right now…
Aside from healing Whitebeard’s body, there really seemed to be no other way out of this.
With that thought, everyone instinctively turned to look at Vir.
Whitebeard saw his sons looking at Vir—how could he not know what they were thinking?
At this critical moment…
He also wished his body could return to its peak condition.
This frail and sickly state was truly unbearable.
Even if the cost was death, he was willing.
After all, with his current body, he couldn’t even say with certainty that he could bring Ace back.
Dying there himself was of no consequence.
But… if he couldn’t even save Ace, then what would be the point of his death?
Yet, what could he do?
Was he supposed to rely on some brat who couldn’t even stitch a wound properly?
Hope that this kid could fully heal him?
That seemed even less likely than the Marines suddenly having a change of heart and releasing Ace.
At that moment, Marco stepped forward, stopping in front of Vir.
Though he, too, found it hard to believe Vir could do anything…
This was their last hope.
“Vir… please take a look at our old man.”
Marco’s tone carried both sorrow and a plea.
They had all foreseen what would happen to their old man if nothing was done.
Hearing this, Vir didn’t hesitate. He nodded at Marco before walking towards Whitebeard.
“Vir, just do your best!”
Jozu called out loudly from behind.
The others didn’t speak, but their gazes conveyed the same message as Jozu’s.
Just do your best…
Vir stood before Whitebeard.
Looking up at his face.
“Sit down. You standing there is making my neck sore.”
Vir said flatly, tilting his head up.
Whitebeard was momentarily stunned.
But he soon followed Vir’s words and sat down.
‘Well… things can’t get much worse. Might as well let the kid give it a shot.’
‘I’m not expecting a full recovery. Just… let it have some effect.’
As Whitebeard thought this, Vir slowly placed his hand on the old man’s sturdy chest muscles.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, a faint arc of electricity emitted from Vir’s palm.
It sank into Whitebeard’s chest and disappeared.
Vir slowly closed his eyes.
Following the arc of electricity, he sensed the complex condition inside Whitebeard’s body.
The others quickly realized—
Vir was diagnosing the situation.
One by one, they gathered around, nervously staring at Vir’s closed eyes.
Even though they didn’t hold much hope.
They still wanted to hear some good news about their old man from Vir.
Whitebeard felt the electricity coursing through his body and turned his attention to Vir’s face.
‘How will this brat react once he sees just how wrecked my body is?’
‘Will he make a half-hearted attempt… or just walk away?’
Just a few seconds later, Vir slowly opened his eyes.
At that moment, a flicker of emotion appeared in his gaze.
Whitebeard’s body—
It was in terrible shape.
So terrible that even Vir—someone who had seen countless gruesome injuries—was shaken.
He was honestly questioning how this man was even still standing.
How could he sit here so calmly, as if nothing was wrong?
Every organ—his heart, liver, lungs, kidneys—even his muscles and blood vessels, were riddled with countless tiny fractures.
It was due to his Gura Gura no Mi.
Years of its shockwaves had rebounded into his own body, and this was the result. Not surprising at all.
With the suppression of precious medicines, Whitebeard’s composed expression was understandable.
But now that he had removed all his medications…
Every heartbeat was like a blade slicing through him.
Every tiny movement—
His muscles would tear in agony.
How had this giant of a man managed to keep such a normal expression?
For the first time, Vir felt a profound sense of shock from the depths of his heart.
In the original story, when he unleashed those overwhelming attacks—before his enemies could even react, he was probably already in unbearable pain.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
If he fought for too long, all of these damaged organs would erupt in unbearable pain!
They wouldn’t rupture immediately.
But he would have to stop and rest before they could function again.
That was probably why, during the war at Marineford, Whitebeard had collapsed to his knees multiple times.
His tolerance for pain far exceeded anyone’s imagination.
Yet despite that, he still had to kneel under the weight of that agony.
Because of the pain.
The kind of pain that could bring such a monster to his knees in the middle of battle…
Vir couldn’t even begin to fathom how excruciating it must have been.
At this moment, as Vir looked into the eyes of this old man who stared back at him with an unchanging expression—
A deep respect flickered in his gaze.
He truly deserved the title—
“Strongest Man in the World”