The sky was just beginning to brighten. The morning sea breeze carried a chill.
Moby Dick, Deck
The bow was heavily damaged. The deck was riddled with craters, two masts had snapped, and the ship's sides were battered and broken…
Thirteen Division Commander Atmos said angrily, "This is all because of him, the ship's been wrecked like this!"
Marco stood nearby, expressionless. "The fact that the ship didn't sink from that fight is already the best possible outcome."
Vista, the Flower Sword, stroked his mustache as he leaned against a relatively intact section of the railing and smiled. "That's because… he never had the intent to fight Pops to the death in the first place."
"Otherwise," Izo added as he walked past the others toward Giorno… "He wouldn't have waited until after using the Phoenix Fruit to heal Pops before making his move."
Naturally, the victor was Whitebeard.
He set down Murakumogiri and sat on a broken section of the deck steps.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates crowded around one corner of the deck. Izo pushed through the crowd and saw,
The three new companions, the Fish-Man, the human, and the Longleg, standing in a defensive triangle formation, protecting Giorno, who was sitting against the railing, along with the female pirate Jolyne Cujoh, tending to him.
"Move aside!"
"Aren't you our comrades now? Why are you protecting them?!"
"Out of the way! I'm going to punch this guy, he tried to kill Teach and even attacked Pops!"
"They saved us first," Lobster said simply, then fell silent.
The other two shared the same expression, standing firmly in front of Liam and Robin without budging.
From behind them, Liam, sitting against the railing, said helplessly, "Don't act like I'm about to die and need protecting, alright? cough cough…"
As he spoke, he coughed up blood.
Suppressing her worry, Robin took out some food from the Den Den Mushi storage and handed it to Liam. He immediately started eating.
"If you're injured, shouldn't you be treated first?" Many of the Whitebeard crew couldn't help but complain. "Why is the first thing you think of eating?!"
With his mouth stuffed full of meat, Liam rolled his eyes and mumbled, "For me, this is the best medicine…"
As he spoke, wounds on his neck, face, chest, and elsewhere suddenly burst open again, blood spurting out like a leaking balloon.
"Who are you kidding?! You're clearly bleeding!!" The crew shouted.
But as they kept shouting, their expressions changed.
They stared in shock as Giorno's wounds began to visibly heal.
"Hey, hey… he was literally bleeding just now, how are those wounds healing so fast?!"
"Could it be… meat really is medicine…" A bandana-wearing pirate muttered seriously, only to get punched by his balding companion. "As if that's a thing!"
"Settle down, all of you," Izo stepped forward. "He did heal Pops, he's done us a great favor. Are you really planning to kill them? I won't allow it!"
The samurai from Wano rested his hand on the hilt of his gun and swept his gaze across the crew.
"Without virtue, you can't survive on this sea. Have you forgotten Pops' words?"
"Gurararara… well said, Izo!" Whitebeard laughed loudly from where he sat.
Then his laughter faded, and he looked past the crowd at Liam.
"So… Giorno. If you want to kill Teach, you'll have to step over my corpse first! Even if it's just words, since Teach calls me 'Pops,' I must fulfill my duty as a father!"
Sitting there while Robin kept feeding him nonstop, Liam managed to say,
"If I can't beat you, then what's the point of trying to kill him?"
Robin quickly stuffed more food into his mouth, handsome guy, please just talk less!
"You bastard! You still haven't given up on that idea?!" Marco finally lost his patience, pushing through the crowd and rushing forward, only to be blocked by Lobster and the other two.
But then, a hand came from behind and tapped Lobster's shoulder.
"Step aside. I'm fine now." Liam had somehow already stood up behind them, with Robin at his side.
He smiled and said, "Does a person's resolve disappear just because they've been knocked down?"
"…?!" Marco's pupils shrank.
He could clearly see that Giorno's injuries had almost completely healed in such a short time.
Izo was also shocked.
This man's recovery ability… was even more terrifying than Lord Oden's.
"Is he even human, or some kind of beast?" Thatch, the chef and Fourth Division Commander, exclaimed in shock. "This kind of recovery ability, it's practically like an Awakened Zoan!"
Whitebeard glanced over, uncorking another jug of sake. "I only knocked him down… He's still far from being defeated by me!"
In other words, Pops believed that, even after fighting him all night and sustaining such heavy injuries, Giorno still had the ability to keep fighting?
The Whitebeard Pirates felt a chill in their hearts. To receive such an evaluation from Pops himself, this Giorno really was monstrously strong.
Some of them recalled the scenes from the night before, when Giorno fought Pops…
At times, Giorno would be sent flying and crash into the deck like a blazing meteor, smashing into craters right in front of them, yet they didn't even have the courage to approach.
At times, when Giorno dashed past them, it felt like a prehistoric beast wrapped in flames brushing by, making their instincts scream and their hairs stand on end.
At other times, it was his techniques, flying Shigan, Rankyaku, the shockwaves of Rokuōgan, or the terrifying power of that iron staff infused with Haki, that made them truly realize:
The young pirate who could clash head-on with Pops… was on a completely different level. His strength was far beyond theirs. Perhaps, just as the commanders had said, Giorno hadn't intended to fight Pops to the death. Otherwise,
First, he wouldn't have healed Pops beforehand.
Second, the intensity of the battle would have escalated even further, and the Moby Dick might not have survived at all.
Or rather,
If Giorno had truly intended to fight them seriously, the best strategy at the very start would've been to sink the Moby Dick immediately. After all, Pops and many on their ship were Devil Fruit users!
But Giorno… wasn't.
Before coming here, he had deliberately removed his own abilities…
So he planned all this in advance… Marco felt both frustrated and furious.
He demanded, "You were willing to clash with Pops just to try and kill Teach, why?!"
If anything had happened to Teach, or Pops, because of this, Marco would have blamed himself for the rest of his life.
"Didn't I already say there's no reason?" Liam replied irritably. "If I have to give one, then I just don't like his face."
"Bullshit! Teach clearly said you've never even met before!" Marco snapped.
"So what? Can't I dislike someone the moment I see them?"
"That's way too half-assed, isn't it?!" The Whitebeard crew shouted angrily. Marco glared at Liam, seemingly deciding where to punch him.
"Alright, alright, then let me think of another one." Liam scratched his head and lowered it in thought. "Hold on a second…"
"You're making it up now?!" The crew roared. "That's even more half-assed!!!"
Whitebeard drank his sake and said calmly, "If you don't want to say it, then forget it. As pirates, we've all already accepted the possibility of being killed one day… I have, Teach has, and Giorno, you should too."
He continued, "If you try to make a move on Teach again next time, then we'll all be staking our lives. Any objections?"
Liam looked up at him and smiled. "Nope."
"I do."
Amid everyone's surprised gazes, the female captain beside Giorno spoke calmly:
"My life will be on the line too."
Liam turned to look at her.
Robin didn't look back.
"…Alright, alright. Here's the thing." Liam spread his hands and said earnestly to the Whitebeard crew,
"I have a friend…"
Robin glanced at him as he spoke.
(End Of This Chapter)
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