Zero felt like he’d just heard the most absurd joke in the world.
Yet the constant waves of weakness surging through his body served as a relentless reminder—
That monstrously talented guy had yet another identity: a peerless master of medicine and poison.
Zero was left with nothing but shock.
This brat was just plain bizarre.
And it was beyond ridiculous.
No matter which of the three you looked at, it left him speechless.
Combat strength? Ridiculous.
Medical skills? Formidable.
Poison arts? ...Let’s not even talk about it. He needed to hurry back and find a way to detox.
This poison wouldn’t kill him, but it would leave him severely weakened.
If left untreated for too long, something bad might happen.
Still, he wasn’t worried.
Mary Geoise had the world’s best doctors.
No poison could stump them.
It wouldn’t take long for them to whip up an antidote.
There was no reason for him to stay any longer.
But what he didn’t know was—
The moment he stepped out, Impel Down descended into chaos once more...
Inside the cell holding three elite-level prisoners, Luffy sat around listlessly.
Vir had told him earlier that he’d be back soon to take him away.
He never expected that this time, he wouldn’t even get to see Ace.
That so-called Chief Warden was way too strong.
If not for Vir, they all might’ve died here.
Earlier, during their fight, a single drop of poison had flown into the cell and landed on a prisoner’s corpse.
In mere moments, the corpse dissolved into gas.
In such a cramped space, there was no way to dodge such a wide-range ability.
Luckily, Vir was a beast.
He straight-up one-shotted that guy.
Just as Luffy was thinking this, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Turning around, Luffy’s face lit up with a grin.
But the moment he spoke, he realized something was wrong.
"Vir! What happened?! You’re covered in wounds! Y-You... you’re not gonna die, are you?!"
Luffy’s excited expression instantly twisted into panic.
The three top fighters also turned to look.
Buggy was the first to rush over, his face even more frantic than Luffy’s.
"Big Da— I mean! Bro— Agh! Vir! Are you okay?! You can’t die! If you die, what are we supposed to do?!"
Tears were already streaming down Buggy’s face.
And he meant every word literally.
If Vir died, they’d be stuck here—
Trapped until they rotted away in this hellhole.
Right now, in Buggy’s eyes, Vir was a treasure more precious than any map.
He could not fall here.
Drenched in blood, Vir ignored Buggy’s desperate father-seeking behavior.
His head was pounding.
That bastard’s final attack had grazed his temple.
The damage, combined with the massive dose of poison laced in it, left Vir dizzy and disoriented.
Shaking his head, Vir pulled out a mineral water bottle from his medical kit.
He chugged the entire thing in one go.
Almost instantly, he felt better.
Then, he grabbed a three-liter bottle, unscrewed the cap, and dumped it all over himself.
The water washed over his wounds, slowing the bleeding until it finally stopped.
But that was all he could manage for now.
His "sit-up" recovery was already kicking in.
Soon enough, most of his injuries would heal.
The medicine was just to purge the debuffs—
So he could exit "combat mode".
Otherwise, the poison’s lingering effects would keep him locked in battle status.
"Alright, time to go. Ace’s execution is in less than half an hour."
Looking at Luffy, Vir opened a long-distance spatial door.
The moment Luffy heard this, his anxiety spiked.
He leaped toward the portal—
Only for Vir to yank him back.
The other side was the sea... he had to go first.
But just as he held Luffy back,
A certain red-nosed guy went "SHWOOOOSH!" straight into the portal—
Too fast to even stop.
From the other side, a distant "SPLASH!" could be heard...
Under a cloudless sky, an electric-powered ship raced across the endless sea.
On the deck, Buggy lay sprawled out, water still gushing from his mouth as he mumbled:
"Why didn’t you say so earlier... Why didn’t you say so... You should’ve said so... Why didn’t you..."
But Vir had no time to deal with him.
At this speed, they’d reach Marineford in three to five minutes.
Going early wasn’t particularly useful.
No one would be injured this soon.
Right now, it was probably still the "greeting phase" of the war.
He was rushing over for one reason—
Those two troublemakers.
Even though this was supposed to be their training experience, Vir wasn’t going to give them too much help.
They had to rely on themselves.
But this was a top-tier battlefield.
Death didn’t wait for an invitation.
Better to get there early.
Couple of whacks later, Buggy was peacefully asleep.
The deck fell silent, leaving only the trio huddled in the corner, trembling too hard to make a sound...
An uninvited guest had arrived.
"Didn’t expect this, did ya?! Didn’t expect me to survive and make it here, right?!"
Missing one leg, one eye, one ear, one hand, one-and-half a kidney, a chunk of intestine, and down to two hearts—
Blackbeard laughed wildly, his face twisted in madness.
While Vir and Zero had been fighting, Blackbeard—who had fallen through the shattered floor—had somehow overcome the pain threatening to break his mind.
Sure, he was missing a few parts...
But that didn’t mean he was out of the game.
Once he got out, he’d replace everything with machinery!
Flesh was weak—it was time for a mechanical ascension!
Now, all he needed was to recruit strong enough allies here.
If he could pull that off, everything would still be worth it.
Everything would still be possible!
Once he got the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, once he recovered, the first thing he’d do was kill that damned man!
So damn close to losing his mind!
He’d make sure that kid felt the same pain!
"You lot—worthless prisoners with no dreams!"