"Where? Where is Doflamingo?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru's sharp gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield.
The moment she sensed the crucial point, she raised her voice and shouted.
Sengoku, already suffering a headache from the endless series of unexpected incidents, stiffened when he heard her words and immediately realized something was wrong.
Following Tsuru's line of sight, he quickly scanned the battlefield and soon locked onto a certain spot.
It was right behind Buggy's group.
"THERE!" Sengoku's roar cut through the noise of the battlefield.
"WHAT IS THAT?"
"A BALL?!"
Cries of shock rose one after another.
Everyone turned to look and saw a round ball wrapped tightly in white bandages, tied with several transparent threads, bouncing into view.
The ball rolled across the ground.
Through the gaps in the bandages, a familiar face appeared.
It was Doflamingo.
"What the hell is with that outfit?" Sengoku's voice was filled with disbelief.
"This is your doing too, isn't it, Cain?" Garp crossed his arms and looked at the four people in front of him—Luffy, Cain, Sabo, and Yamato—as he asked in a low voice.
Cain did not answer.
He only watched his old man warily, every muscle in his body tense, guarding against the possibility that Garp might move at any moment.
On the other side, facing the wave of murmurs around him, Doflamingo showed no expression at all.
Or rather, his signature sunglasses hid his eyes, making it impossible for anyone to read his emotions.
He lifted his chin slightly, looked over the state of the battlefield, and spoke loudly.
"Marines, Pirates! Akainu and Whitebeard are both the main forces in this war. If they're going to fight, why not make it a fair duel?"
As his words fell, the three people who had been struck by those three colored bubble bullets underwent astonishing changes at the same time.
The first was Zephyr.
The Sea-Prism Stone arm that had been attached to his right arm fell to the ground with a heavy clang, revealing his original arm underneath.
He straightened his hunched back slightly, and his posture instantly became firm and upright.
The exhaustion and battered look on his face disappeared, and his entire aura changed completely.
Whitebeard was the same.
The hand gripping Murakumogiri steadied.
His body, once tormented by illness, gradually recovered.
Color returned to his pale face, and even from his bare scalp, several strands of long golden hair seemed to faintly appear.
"WAIT, WHITEBEARD… GOT YOUNGER?!"
"ZEPHYR-SENSEI TOO! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
Shouts of shock erupted again.
"This is Ain's ability?!"
Zephyr's eyes sharpened, and he immediately looked around.
Only then did he realize that his students, Ain and Binz, had already disappeared.
Regret and loss surged through him, but he quickly gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
'It's all right. I'll use this power to save you.'
Zephyr understood the reason for this change all too well.
Ain's Modo Modo no Mi could reverse the age of objects and people by twelve years.
Zephyr and Whitebeard had both been affected by her Devil Fruit ability, restoring their bodies to the state they had been in twelve years ago.
But this ability was not without flaws.
They could not fully unleash their Haki.
Not could not use it—could not fully unleash it.
Top-tier Haki could indeed break certain Devil Fruit abilities, but only if the person affected possessed Haki far beyond the opponent's reserves and strength.
And they had to actively release it, coating their entire body in an excessive amount of Haki before they could forcibly dispel the fruit's effect.
In other words, Zephyr and Whitebeard could still use Haki now, but only the most basic forms of Armament and Observation Haki, and only locally.
A wide-range burst of Conqueror's Haki was absolutely off-limits for Whitebeard.
The moment he used it, they would immediately be knocked out of their younger states and might even suffer backlash from the burden placed on their bodies.
Clearly, Whitebeard soon realized this as well.
He moved his limbs, feeling the long-lost strength flowing through his body, but his gaze darkened slightly.
His physical condition had improved, but it now came with many restrictions.
His strength was still far from his true prime.
Even so, it was enough.
He turned his head, his gaze locking precisely onto Doflamingo.
"Gurararara. I don't know what you're planning, brat, but I'll thank you for now."
Whitebeard's laughter shook the air.
Then he raised a hand and pointed toward Akainu not far away.
"That magma brat over there doesn't seem to be in very good shape."
As Whitebeard spoke, the bandage ball around Doflamingo suddenly burst apart.
Countless scraps of bandage scattered in every direction.
His body slowly stretched out, and the fatal injuries that had covered him were now completely healed.
Obviously, ordinary medical treatment could never have accomplished such a thing.
In other words, his injuries had not been healed.
They had disappeared.
Or perhaps, more accurately, they had been transferred.
And the one who had taken on all those injuries was none other than Akainu.
Akainu, who had barely maintained the aura of an Admiral moments ago, was now as pale as paper.
He had taken on all of Doflamingo's injuries, fatigue, and pain from a body that had been only a step away from death!
Although he had immediately used his Devil Fruit ability to turn elemental and avoid most of the damage, the remaining small portion still had a tremendous effect on him.
But he was still a Marine Admiral.
Even heavily injured, his physical strength and will to fight were far beyond what Doflamingo's could compare to.
Even now, despite his injuries, Akainu stood steadily where he was, his fierce gaze locked onto Whitebeard.
He was still fully capable of facing the opponent before him.
The wounded Marine Admiral, Akainu and Whitebeard, restored to his sixty-year-old state, but with his Haki methods restricted and his prime still out of reach.
At this moment, the two of them were almost evenly matched.
A battle between equals was about to erupt!
…
Deep within Marine Headquarters, inside a room that had already been blown apart and left in ruins—
"Stop struggling! These threads were made by that guy's Devil Fruit ability. We can't break free."
Lilith leaned against the cold wall, looking helplessly at Ain and Binz beside her as they kept twisting their bodies.
Lilith, who had been missing for quite some time, along with Zephyr's students Ain and Binz, were now tied together with countless threads and tossed into this dark corner.
Lilith sighed and spoke again.
"I was clearly forced to help, so why did I get tied up too? That person is seriously strange!"
Hearing this, Ain abruptly turned her head and glared at Lilith, shouting angrily,
"WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU? YOU CAN COMMAND BARTHOLOMEW KUMA, AND YOU HAVE ALL THAT STRANGE TECHNOLOGY. WHY ARE YOU HELPING PIRATES?!"
"Don't accuse me like that."
Lilith curled her lip.
"I'm only being forced. After all, they're vicious pirates."
As she spoke, she looked up.
Three extremely fine threads were connected to each of their heads.
Clearly, those threads were what had quietly moved them away from the battlefield.
Although their bodies were no longer being controlled, they were bound so tightly that they could not move.
"At least Kuma is here, so we're safe for now. That guy also can't afford to let you lose consciousness."
Following Lilith's gaze, Bartholomew Kuma stood motionless in the shadows of the room, like an emotionless statue.
And in another room, the mysterious person disguised as Sengoku expressionlessly turned off the Den Den Mushi.
As the screen of the final Den Den Mushi went dark, Marine Headquarters' connection with the outside world was completely severed.
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator