According to the description, the item effect is to summon a green healing wind over a large area in front.
The exact maximum area of this so-called "large area" is still undetermined.
But in Nao's view, as long as he gathered everyone together in the central square, it should be enough to cover them all.
Even if the area turned out to be smaller than expected, it didn't matter—he had two uses of the item anyway. If one wasn't enough, he'd just use it again.
As for whether it was worth spending such a rare, high-cost item on Flevance…
That wasn't even a question.
In Nao's eyes, when tens of thousands of lives were at stake, no amount of points or rarity could compare.
"Vice Admiral."
Momonga climbed up to the platform and whispered in his ear, "The final headcount is complete. All surviving citizens of the city are confirmed to be present."
"Good."
Nao gave a slight nod.
To avoid missing any residents, he had his Marines conduct two rounds of screening and headcounts throughout the city to ensure nothing was amiss.
"Well then… it's time to begin."
Turning his gaze to the people in front of him, Nao let out a soft breath, then slowly raised his right arm.
Bzzzzt…
Faint pale blue lightning began to flicker and dance in his palm.
...
At the southeastern edge of the square—
Dr. Trafalgar's family was leaning against a wall, nestled close together.
They had been busy transporting critical patients from the hospital, so they arrived late, bringing Law and Lami with them. By then, the only space left was this quiet, far-off corner.
"Mom…"
Little Lami curled weakly in her mother's arms. Even keeping her eyes open was difficult now—she could only part her eyelids slightly as she whispered, "Do you think… my illness can really be cured tonight?"
"Well…"
Her mother gently stroked her pale face, forcing a soft smile. She was just about to reply when an eager voice cut in—
"Hey! Don't say that, of course it can, Lami!"
Turning her head, she saw Law's face lit with excitement. He pumped his small fist. "It's Vice Admiral Nao himself who said so! If it's him, it's definitely true! You'll see!"
"..."
The female doctor's expression froze for a moment. She glanced at her husband in surprise.
She herself had long admired Nao as an idol, and her husband—who had personally witnessed Nao repel the entire invading army the previous night—held the same respect for him.
But… admiration was one thing; medicine was another.
Both were skilled, seasoned doctors. After over a month of watching every physician in the country fail to treat Amber Lead Disease, they knew exactly how terrifying it was.
So when Nao declared that he could cure everyone tonight, even they couldn't help but feel skeptical—devoted admirers or not.
But who would have thought—
The son who once scorned both Nao and the Marine now believed in him more fervently than either of them, hanging on his every word with childlike faith?
It's not that simple, Law…
She smiled wryly helplessly and was about to say a few words to comfort Lami when she saw Law excitedly shouting again:
"Lami, look! Vice Admiral Nao's starting!"
"Hm?"
The doctor instinctively looked up—just in time to see the man in the white coat of Justice standing tall atop the platform, slowly lifting his right hand.
Wummm!
Brilliant lightning erupted from his palm, transforming into countless thread-like blue rays of light, weaving into a large net that instantly enveloped the entire square.
Those nearly transparent pale blue threads, under the moonlight, were like countless flowing fireflies, so dreamlike and magnificent.
The female doctor stared in awe. By the time she came back to her senses, she realized that she was completely surrounded, wrapped in the delicate web of glowing blue threads. They seeped slowly into her skin, bringing with them a faint, tingling numbness.
Looking around, she saw her husband, Law, and Lami — and not just them. The same wondrous sight was happening to everyone across the massive square — all eighty thousand of them.
On the square itself, Momonga and Onigumo stood watch on either side of the platform. They dared not even breathe too loudly as they watched Nao focus intently, controlling the countless threads of blue light, terrified that any distraction might break his concentration mid-treatment.
Their nervousness made Nao want to laugh.
The "Healing Wind" was an incredibly miraculous item. If he suddenly developed some strange healing ability for no reason, it would only cause suspicion — so from the very start, he had prepared a more "reasonable" explanation and had already filled in his two adjutants.
That explanation was simple:
He had accidentally discovered that under moonlight, his lightning powers could interact with the Amber Lead toxin in the human body — drawing it out and purging it completely.
That would do nicely.
By attributing the Healing Wind's effect to a "special resonance" between lightning and the Amber Lead toxins, no one would question the source of his power, nor would the higher-ups start coveting a man capable of curing all diseases.
As for whether this "explanation" made any sense scientifically or medically…
Nao merely shrugged.
Who cared? The scientific logic of this world had always been absurd anyway. If he said it worked, then it worked.
Who was going to challenge him to an academic debate about it?
Thirty seconds later.
The Healing Wind completed its activation. From Nao's perspective, he could clearly see countless green light points mixed within the lightning net he released, slowly healing all the people in the square.
The range not only covered the entire square but also spread to two surrounding blocks. The effect was much stronger than Nao had anticipated.
"Looks like I can save the last usage,"
Nao felt relieved. After waiting a while longer to ensure the healing effect had no omissions, he lowered his right hand.
The blue lightning net enveloping the square, under his control, gathered together like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea. With a hum, it transformed into a pillar of lightning shooting into the night sky and disappeared.
...
Is it over?
The female doctor blinked at the sky where the lightning had disappeared, then instinctively looked down at the girl in her arms.
The next instant, her eyes widened — a surge of joy and disbelief flooding her chest.
The white spots that had covered Lami's body were receding like a retreating tide, and the child's face — pale as paper for over a month — was finally beginning to regain color.
"Mom?"
Seeing her mother's stunned expression, Lami blinked, confused at first — until she too looked down and saw the changes in her own body.
Her eyes went wide. She wriggled free from her mother's arms and jumped to her feet, laughing and crying all at once:
"It's gone! Mom, brother! My illness is gone!"
"It's really gone, Lami!"
Law's face lit up in pure delight. Suddenly remembering something, he rolled up his sleeve and peeked at his arm —
Sure enough, the white spots that had spread nearly to his underarm had vanished completely.
He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, bursting into laughter as he lifted Lami high into the air and spun her around in circles.
"What did I tell you, Lami? You just have to believe in Vice Admiral Nao! He always has a way!"
"Ahh—too high, Brother! Put me down!"
It's… really gone…
Watching her children laughing and playing, the female doctor couldn't help but laugh as well — but before long, that laughter broke apart. She covered her mouth, eyes reddening, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"It's supposed to be a happy thing, you dummy. Why are you crying?"
Beside her, Dr. Trafalgar chuckled as he wiped her tears away, but his own voice trembled.
There was no need for him to check whether his own illness had been cured — he already knew.
He stood up and looked around. Everywhere he turned, he saw people laughing and crying, hugging, collapsing to their knees in joy. Scenes just like theirs were unfolding all across the vast square — east to west, north to south.
For a moment, it felt unreal.
As if the past month of hellish torment had been nothing but a nightmare.
As if none of it had ever happened.
As if they had all been brought back to the flower festival — dancing, singing, alive.
And the thirty-something-year-old man could no longer hold back his tears.
...
"This is… really something,"
On the high platform, Momonga watched the scene below and couldn't help but show a heartfelt smile.
On the platform, Momonga smiled, his voice soft and genuine as he watched the sight below.
He turned his head and found that Onigumo had just lit a cigar, his eyes frighteningly red, really like a spider's.
"Why are you crying?" Momonga teased.
"Bullshit."
Onigumo took a long drag, cursing through the smoke. "I was clearly choked by the smoke. Can't you see well at night?"
Momonga smirked but didn't push it further. Then he suddenly noticed Nao stepping down from the platform's side and shot Onigumo a quick look — both of them hurried after him.
"Why did you come down so suddenly?" Onigumo asked, puzzled.
"What else was I supposed to do?"
Nao turned with a tired smile, his face a little pale. "If I stayed up there any longer, I'd probably be mobbed by all those excited citizens. Might not even keep my uniform intact."
Controlling thousands of threads of lightning, guiding them precisely into tens of thousands of people — it wasn't just a matter of skill. It was exhausting. In just a few minutes, it had drained him as much as a three-day battle with Big Mom.
"Vice Admiral…"
Momonga looked at the fatigue etched on his face. He wanted to speak, but the words caught in his throat. When Nao turned away, he simply watched the white cloak fluttering behind him — staring at those two characters for Justice, as if to carve them into his heart.
When they reached the base of the platform, many Marines were already waiting in the shadows. Seeing that their commander had truly healed every last citizen of the White City, they stood tall and proud, their chests swelling as cheers and laughter echoed from the square.
"Vice Admiral!"
"Vice Admiral!"
Nao smiled faintly and said,
"Good work, everyone."
Nao smiled and nodded to each of them before glancing back at the square.
"Pass the word," he said calmly. "We'll gather before dawn and set out—returning to Headquarters."
He was clearly worried that if they waited until morning, they'd never get the chance to leave at all.
The Marines burst into light laughter at that, answering in unison before preparing to disperse. But just then, Nao caught sight of a group approaching from a nearby street—Wilson, Shumi, and the other CP-0 agents.
Though they still wore their sharp white suits and carried themselves with that intimidating air, all of them looked visibly worn down.
The leaders, Wilson and Shumi, also seemed somewhat absent-minded, walking with their hands in their pockets, heads down, almost bumping into Nao before they snapped back to reality and hastily apologized.
"What's with you guys?" Onigumo snorted. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
During this whole emergency operation, the CP-0 agents—under Wilson and Shumi's command—had worked hard alongside the Marine, running themselves ragged through the night. After those two days together, even Onigumo's usual disdain toward CP agents had softened somewhat.
"Mr. Onigumo…" Wilson sighed and shook his head, then turned toward Nao. "Vice Admiral Nao, we actually... came to bid you farewell."
"Huh?"
Onigumo blinked. "Farewell? What farewell? We were just about to return to Headquarters later; wouldn't it be convenient to give you a ride?"
Nao, however, didn't ask much, just stared at the two captains. He knew they would naturally explain.
Sure enough.
After exchanging a glance, Shumi spoke with a strained voice:
"We can't. Our superior has already arrived at the North Blue's secret base. He's waiting for us there. We have to go report to him... No, it's less like reporting and more like confessing our crimes."
"Confess?"
Onigumo frowned. "What crimes could you possibly have?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Nao answered evenly, "Plenty of crimes, I'd say. For example, failing to carry out your duty to safely escort the king to the Holy Land. Or—let me guess—after I intervened in Flevance, instead of immediately reporting it to your superiors, you joined in and helped the Marine, didn't you?"
"..."
Wilson and Shumi froze, staring at each other. Finally, Shumi gave a helpless smile.
"As expected, nothing escapes you, Vice Admiral."
"Everything you said is true," Wilson admitted with a sigh. "But the real problem is that our superior connected those two charges. He believes that because of us, you intervened in the first place—that the entire situation in the White City turned out this way… all because of us."
That wasn't entirely wrong.
Nao's eyes flickered. Looking back on it, the chain of events truly had been one long coincidence. If Wilson's team hadn't run into trouble with that Sea King during their escort mission—and if the Thunder Hawk hadn't happened to be nearby—
then Flevance's fate would have taken a completely different course.
"So, unless a miracle happens," Shumi said with a bitter smile, spreading his hands, "we'll probably be sent to Enies Lobby for interrogation. We won't go to prison, but… a heavy internal punishment is pretty much guaranteed."
"That's outrageous!"
Before Nao could respond, Onigumo exploded in anger.
"People like you—CP agents who actually have a conscience—are the ones being punished? While the real criminals remain in high positions and get to judge and punish you instead?"
"Uh…"
Shumi started to say something in reply—but before he could, a cold, mocking laugh drifted down from above, cutting him off.
"Criminals?"
"Heh heh… how amusing. And who might this little Marine Rear admiral be, to speak so boldly?"