When Aokiji said that, everyone’s first reaction was that it was completely impossible.
After all, Vir’s age was right there for all to see.
So young—there was just no way someone like him could possess medical skills advanced enough to treat Whitebeard.
It was just too hard to believe.
But Momousagi, sitting quietly on the side, seemed lost in thought…
She didn’t know why, but somehow she just knew it had to be Vir.
The guy could detoxify someone with just a kiss…
Treating Whitebeard shouldn’t be that hard, right?
Worst case… another kiss?
“How could he possibly heal Whitebeard? Where would he even get those kinds of medical skills?”
Onigumo immediately retorted.
He still hadn’t gotten over the time Vir nearly kicked him to death.
So hearing this now, he jumped up to refute it.
“He’s from the Drum Kingdom, right? Even the best doctors there couldn’t do anything about Whitebeard’s condition. Who could he have possibly learned from? Self-taught? To that level?”
After hearing Onigumo’s argument, the others also started to think it made sense.
Yeah, this clearly didn’t add up.
But then—!
The Marine who had just gone to report to Sengoku suddenly burst back into the meeting room.
His face was full of panic.
“F-Fleet Admiral! We’ve got a situation!”
Sengoku shot him a glare.
After all, barging into a high-level strategy meeting like this was completely unacceptable.
But judging from the man’s panic-stricken expression, Sengoku could tell it must be urgent.
So he let it go.
“Speak.”
Given permission, the man hurriedly reported, “Just now—just now, all of our spies planted aboard the Moby Dick suddenly lost contact.”
“In the final moments before contact was cut, one of them managed to send back a message.”
“He said that one hour after Vir ‘The Deceptive Doctor’ boarded the Moby Dick, Whitebeard unleashed that earth-shattering punch!”
“He was… one of our most deeply planted undercover agents on Whitebeard’s crew! Now… now he’s dead.”
Silence.
The room fell into dead silence once more.
Everyone wore the same expression of shock.
Vir.
It was really him.
Again.
Still him.
Always him!
Just what kind of miracle did he pull off to heal Whitebeard?
Who did he learn medicine from?
These questions swirled in everyone’s minds.
Then suddenly—
Sengoku whipped his head around.
Staring intently at the messenger.
“What did you just say?! How long?! One hour? He healed Whitebeard’s old injuries in one hour?!”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
As soon as the words left the man’s mouth, Sengoku snapped.
The rest of the room finally started to register it too.
“No way! What is he, a god or something?!”
“This is insane! What kind of technique could possibly pull this off?!”
One hour?
One hour?!
And Whitebeard’s long-standing injuries were completely healed?
What the hell?!
Is this some kind of joke?
Just how advanced is this guy’s medical skill?
This is getting out of hand.
At first, all they were concerned about was his combat power.
A threat, sure.
But not a huge one.
Now?
His medical skills had thrown a whole new wrench into their plans.
If Whitebeard had truly returned to his prime…
This wasn’t a joke anymore.
Everyone knew what that meant.
This war—
Just got a whole lot harder.
And Sengoku knew that better than anyone.
They needed countermeasures, and fast.
“Enough! Everyone shut up!”
“Whitebeard’s return to peak condition is already a fact. Complaining is pointless. And we’re not backing down—we’re going to fight this war.”
“So the only thing we can do now—is bolster our forces.”
At that, everyone looked at each other.
Bolster our forces?
Weren’t they all already gathered here?
Then Sengoku continued: “I will request Instructor Zephyr to join the battle. Additionally, I will attempt to summon Fleet Admiral Kong out of retirement.”
Fleet Admiral Kong?
If they could actually get him to step onto the battlefield…
That would be a massive boost—not just in strength, but morale too!
And if Zephyr agreed to fight?
That’d basically lock in their win.
Even if Whitebeard was back at full power, he probably wouldn’t be able to shake the Marines.
Moreover, Kong’s presence would serve another crucial purpose—
Supervision.
That’s right.
Supervision.
That alone might be even more valuable than his personal combat ability.
Just having him on site would drastically reduce any chances of Marines slacking off.
For the Marines, this was an unparalleled advantage.
No one raised any objections to Sengoku’s plan.
After discussing some logistical details—
The meeting quickly came to an end.
As they exited, Momousagi stopped the intelligence officer who had reported the situation earlier.
“That Vir… do you have any updates on him? Is he still on Whitebeard’s ship?”
She asked softly.
Almost like she didn’t want anyone else to hear.
The man gave her a strange look at first—
But considering her rank, he still answered honestly with their best intel.
“According to our analysis, that guy is either still enjoying himself aboard the Moby Dick…”
“Or he’s already on his way back to the first half of the Grand Line.”
“After all, he is the Straw Hat Pirates’ doctor. He can’t just stay with Whitebeard forever.”
What he said made sense, and it did align with what the intelligence unit had speculated.
But the reason he hadn’t mentioned it earlier was simple—the current priority was Whitebeard.
Someone like Vir, a minor figure in comparison, wasn’t even worth their attention right now.
“So, where is the Straw Hat Pirates’ crew currently heading?”
Momousagi pressed on with another question.
“They’re probably on their way to Fish-Man Island, right? We’re not entirely sure—we haven’t been keeping close tabs on them lately.”
After he finished speaking, Momousagi let him go.
The man turned and left immediately.
He had plenty of other matters to attend to.
Momousagi stood in place, lost in thought for a while, before finally heading toward the harbor.
She was part of the special forces.
In the original events, she hadn’t even taken part in the Summit War.
Though she was assigned a role this time, that wouldn’t come into play for at least another two weeks.
For now, she had full freedom of movement.
But she hadn’t walked far when—
At a nearby corner, Chaton was leaning against the wall, waiting for her.
Only now, his eyes gleamed with an unusual light…
When Momousagi appeared, he asked in a calm tone, “Where are you going?”
Without even turning her head, Momousagi replied, “Sabaody Archipelago.”
Hearing that, Chaton instantly felt his heart sink into despair.
He had heard everything from earlier.
Momousagi had been asking around about Vir.
She found out that he might return to reconnect with the Straw Hat crew.
Then she asked about the Straw Hats current movements.
Fish-Man Island…
And what’s right above Fish-Man Island?
Sabaody Archipelago.
What was she going to do there? Arrest him?
Impossible…
Even Admiral Akainu couldn’t capture Vir.
Then why was she going…?
In that moment, Chaton felt as if he already knew the answer.
What he couldn’t believe was—
That a single kiss… was all it took to take his goddess away…