Luffy and the others all turned their heads away at this moment.
The last time Vir did some welding, Nami and Usopp were moved to tears for an entire night.
Those tears never stopped.
Flowing with their eyes open, flowing even more with their eyes closed.
It was like they’d been chopping onions for hours.
Completely unstoppable!
The two of them just sat there, crying all night long.
At first, watching the bright flashes of welding seemed kind of cool.
But come nighttime, their eyes felt unbearably sore.
It felt like someone had squeezed lemon juice straight into their eyeballs.
Luffy and the crew may have laughed at the two of them all day long.
But seeing their miserable state made it clear—staring at welding light was a terrible idea.
Now, everyone was behaving.
Not a single person dared to look.
Even the ever-reckless Luffy had no such thoughts.
He was truly afraid that Vir would tell him, “This is an illness, and it needs treatment.”
And then arrange a “treatment plan” just like he did for Aokiji.
That would be an absolute disaster.
Vir, at this moment, watched as Aokiji’s face started shifting into an indescribable state under Robin’s handiwork. He couldn’t sit still anymore.
This was his dear friend, his sworn brother.
How could he let him walk around like this, unable to face the world?
This was his mistake!
He had to fix it!
Without hesitation, Vir grabbed Robin’s slightly shaky hands.
He started smoothing out Aokiji’s face.
The uneven bumps and dents began to flow seamlessly. Where Vir welded, there were no visible traces.
After guiding Robin through the finishing touches and patching up the previous welds, the welding process was finally complete.
Thinking about the powerful ability he was about to obtain, Vir’s face lit up with joy.
Now, old man just needed to get some teeth back in.
This should be the last step.
The nose was already welded back just now.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You’ve earned 230,000 negative points!]
The system notification kept ringing, always in the thousands.
Vir had already become numb to it.
Aokiji’s teeth had all been shattered just now.
Vir had no intention of fixing them.
Individually implanting them seemed like a hassle.
So, he simply pulled out a set of dentures.
Custom-made.
Almost indistinguishable from real teeth.
The only downside was that they were prone to falling out.
But that was an easy fix.
Just weld them in place.
Without further ado, Vir got to work.
No nonsense.
He took out the dentures and shoved them directly into Aokiji’s mouth.
Only… the size seemed a little off.
Just a tad too big.
No problem!
Vir pulled out a hammer!
With a mighty swing, he smashed the stuck dentures right in!
With a loud *clank*, they were embedded perfectly.
It’s not like this was an eye—no need to be overly delicate.
No one would think he’d need to call a dentist out for this, right?
If one hit can settle it, why waste time?
The next steps were all routine.
The welding kit was still here anyway.
Vir didn’t call Robin over this time.
Mouths were tricky to work with.
Even he had to be careful while welding here.
*Zzzzt—Zzzt…*
The bright welding light began to shine once more.
Thick smoke continuously poured out from Aokiji’s mouth.
Some of it even got sucked into his lungs as he breathed.
Aokiji was speechless.
Welding fumes were actually toxic, but he couldn’t be bothered.
It didn’t affect him.
It was just that Vir’s decision to weld inside his mouth had completely shattered his mental defenses.
No doubt about it—he had still seen too little of the world.
Enel, watching from afar: “At least you still have to inhale it first. I got welded directly inside my lungs! Even the breathing step got skipped!”
As Vir worked bit by bit, though slower than before, the welding was much sturdier.
Before long, the sizzling sound finally stopped.
Luffy and the others curiously looked over.
But the moment they saw it, their faces changed.
To be honest, at first glance, it was kind of funny.
At second glance, it was pretty terrifying.
For a moment, none of them knew what kind of expression to make.
All they could do was furrow their brows and stare with strange looks.
At this moment, if anyone wanted to recognize Aokiji, they could only do so by his nose.
Only his nose remained exactly the same.
Everything else? One eye was bigger than the other, but that wasn’t the real issue.
The real problem was the dentures, completely exposed like a freakish grin!
Aokiji tried to close his mouth but completely failed!
Because the dentures were too big, he looked like he was constantly flashing an exaggerated smile.
And it was a full grin!
Kind of like Brook.
At this moment, his mental state completely collapsed!
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of reactions he’d face once he returned.
Garp: “I just thought of something hilarious.”
Sengoku: “My wife is giving birth.”
Kizaru: “Kowai ne~ Kuzan-chan~~”
Akainu: “Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!
It’s over. I’m done for.
Aokiji’s resolve shattered.
Even his laid-back sense of justice was shifting towards utter despair.
At this moment, only Sanji understood Aokiji’s pain.
Men like them, handsome beyond words, cared deeply about their appearances.
If their looks were ruined, their entire philosophy and way of life would crumble!
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You’ve earned 500,000 negative points!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the ability: Advanced Armament Haki! (About to break through to Supreme Level!)]
It’s here!
It’s finally here!
Vir stared at the system page, momentarily dazed.
Then, excitement kicked in!
Advanced Armament Haki, about to break into the Supreme Level.
This…
This just skyrocketed his Haki to an entirely new tier!
Vir could now fully feel the power of Armament Haki.
Even with just intermediate-level Armament Haki, he had been able to injure Aokiji like this.
Sure, there were other factors, and Aokiji wasn’t defending.
But no doubt about it—the biggest boost in attack power came from Armament Haki.
At full release, it was even stronger than a triple-strength charged attack.
Armament Haki was the most solid technique in the later stages of battle.
Aokiji’s Haki level was truly strong.
Right now, it was advanced, but two years later, when he fought Garp, it should’ve broken through to Supreme Level.
Garp was definitely at Supreme Level.
And here he was, with only a 200 million bounty, already possessing peak Advanced Armament Haki.
Absolutely insane.
Now, Vir felt that if he unleashed his full power, combining Haki with his other techniques…
His strongest attack could probably barely reach the level of an Admiral.
But only barely.
Meaning he was much stronger than a Vice Admiral candidate.
Still, it was only for a single strike…
Sigh.
While this stolen ability was flawless and undeniably powerful…
For him right now, it was limited.
His stamina could only sustain one full-powered use of Armament Haki.
In terms of overall combat strength, he was probably just past Vice Admiral level…
In short bursts, he could reach Admiral candidate level.
That was plenty for now.
No one in the first half of the Grand Line should be able to take him down.
But endurance was a man’s pride!
This couldn’t stand.
He needed to boost his physical endurance ASAP!
He was falling behind!
The words “not lasting long” had even entered his thoughts.
He had techniques, he had tricks, but he just couldn’t keep going for long.
Unacceptable!
Next stop—Water 7 and Enies Lobby!
Hopefully, Lucci and his crew could put up a fight!
He needed more physical endurance!
A Door-Door Fruit would be nice.
Everything else? Just give him raw physical strength!
Time to make a wish!
—–
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