At this moment, Marine Headquarters received an earth-shattering piece of news.
“What did you just say? Do you even know what you’re talking about?!”
Inside the Fleet Admiral’s office, Sengoku stared at the intelligence officer in front of him, shouting in shock.
Because when they first received the news, they had been far more stunned than Sengoku was now.
They had repeatedly verified the information with their field agents, over and over again.
Only after pushing the poor informant to the brink of frustration did they finally accept the truth of the report.
And thus, the current scene unfolded.
“It’s true, Fleet Admiral! Absolutely true. Our man has no reason to lie—he saw it with his own eyes!”
The officer explained, a bit flustered himself.
But the more he spoke, the darker Sengoku’s expression became.
“Enough!”
Sengoku raised a hand, cutting him off.
“You’re dismissed.”
As soon as the words left Sengoku’s mouth, the man looked as though he had been granted amnesty. He saluted and hurried out the door.
Sengoku was left alone, his face grim, deep in thought.
A few moments later, he grabbed the Den Den Mushi at his side.
“All personnel of Vice Admiral rank and above—report to the conference room within five minutes!”
His voice echoed across all of Marineford via the loudspeakers.
Everyone lifted their heads in shock.
The tone in the Fleet Admiral’s voice… something was definitely wrong!
Every officer of Vice Admiral rank and above dropped what they were doing and sprinted toward the meeting room.
“Kowaine~ What’s going on~? Why the rush~?”
Kizaru, with his usual sleazy look, was the first to arrive at the conference room.
“Arara… whatever it is, it definitely isn’t good news.” Aokiji muttered, wearing sunglasses and a face mask as he arrived right behind him.
“Don’t scare me~ We’re on the brink of war, you know~ Bad news could be really bad~”
“Maybe it’s about Whitebeard. Looks like we’re about to get busy again.”
As he spoke, Aokiji stepped into the room and took his seat.
Kizaru sighed and followed, his expression as lethargic as ever.
One after another, the officers arrived.
But no one said a word.
The silence in the room was suffocating.
Well… except for the sound of Garp munching on senbei.
Even his expression wasn’t pleasant.
After all, Ace had just been sent to Impel Down.
He’d been planning to visit him shortly.
Just then, Sengoku entered, his face as dark as a stormcloud.
He took his seat at the head of the table.
Everyone who saw his face immediately understood—this was no ordinary situation.
“I’ve just received some bad news. It’s about Whitebeard.”
Sengoku didn’t waste any time and got straight to the point.
But the moment he said that, everyone frowned.
Whitebeard?
What could possibly be going on with him?
The man was already ancient.
Was this really worth calling everyone here?
“Our intelligence reports say they witnessed Whitebeard destroy an entire island.”
Sengoku’s tone was deadly serious.
But as soon as he finished, Akainu scoffed in doubt.
“Destroying an island? That’s not anything shocking. Is that really worth summoning all of us?”
No one else said anything, but their expressions suggested they were thinking the same thing.
For Whitebeard, that’s practically routine, isn’t it?
“No… he didn’t just destroy it.”
Hm?
What did that mean?
Everyone looked puzzled.
“Sigh… That guy…”
“With a single punch… he reduced an uninhabited island—half the size of Marineford—into dust.”
Sengoku let out a sigh and spoke those words.
And the moment he did, the entire room went dead silent.
Even Garp stopped chewing.
He looked at Sengoku, shocked.
The others’ expressions? Even more ridiculous than Garp’s.
Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads!
Even Akainu looked stunned.
Now this was a problem.
Sinking an island and pulverizing it are completely different concepts.
Especially with one punch…
Just how much destructive power was that?
“With Whitebeard’s current state… how could he possibly manage that?” Akainu was the first to voice the obvious question.
And Sengoku sighed again.
Then he shared the one likely explanation.
“Exactly. With Whitebeard’s health as it is, there’s no way he could do that.”
“Which means there’s only one possible explanation left…”
“He’s been healed.”
Boom.
The room erupted.
Healed?
Whitebeard’s chronic illness—healed?
Impossible!
Even Marco the Phoenix, their own ship’s doctor, couldn’t do anything about it!
For years, Whitebeard had been searching for someone—anyone—who could cure him.
But nearly every top physician in the world had already shaken their heads and given up.
And now, at this critical moment… he suddenly gets cured?
Who could possibly have that kind of medical ability?
Any famous doctors appeared recently?
Famous… doctors?
Wait—
A figure suddenly flashed in Aokiji’s mind.
Someone dressed in white.
“…Could it be… Vir?”
Aokiji muttered uncertainly.
But Vir’s medical skills—were they really capable of curing Whitebeard?
That was a condition even the world’s greatest doctors couldn’t touch.
How could a guy like him pull off something like that?
And yet…
Right now, he seemed like the only possible explanation.
—–
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