The wooden box thrown out was caught steadily by Whitebeard, and the moment it touched his hand, the outer box shattered under the impact, leaving only a piece of emerald green grass leaf.
"Is this... the thing you used to recover your strength back then?"
"Good memory, but this is a special one, Newgate, don't say I don't remember our old ties.
I still remember how you looked when you invited me onto Rocks' ship, from then I wanted to have a full-blown fight with you, but this fifteen-year gap was too much.
Go save your weak son, then fight me to your heart's content. Compared to dying on a sickbed, such an ending suits you better!"
"You really are a lunatic. Do you want to be the one to bury me so badly? Do you think the Navy will just watch us fight here?"
"They won't. Though I hate others interfering in my battles, having a few more powerful enemies isn't unacceptable."
"Gurarara, you'll regret it. I'm... Whitebeard!"
Whitebeard tossed the grass leaf into his mouth, not caring about any strong side effects it might have. Marinfanto was the chosen place for his curtain call, as long as he could rescue his son, he didn't care about what happened next.
Plus, Kaidou wouldn't stoop to the level of poisoning him.
Bang... bang...
As the grass leaf disappeared in Whitebeard's mouth, his heart began to beat powerfully, blood started to flow faster within his body, and white steam wafted from his form.
Dry skin regained elasticity, wrinkles on his face gradually smoothed out, and the once aged pupils now possessed the unique glint of youth.
"Gurarara, this feeling is really... long-lost! Everyone, clear the way, don't come near me!"
"Dad, he's actually... become young?!"
"Is this really dad?!"
"Yes, it's dad. When I first joined the pirates, dad was like this!"
The youth-returned Whitebeard boosted the morale of the Whitebeard Pirates, and everyone chose to follow his lead and retreat to the sides, knowing full well the terror of Whitebeard in full force.
In the sky, Marco, who was skirmishing with Kizaru, was momentarily caught off guard and kicked onto the ice, his regenerative flames beginning to heal his injuries.
The transformation in Whitebeard was unexpected to everyone, even Kizaru forgot he was in a skirmish, otherwise, it wouldn't have triggered Marco's passive ability.
Rubbing his eyes, Marco couldn't believe what had happened, this was beyond the realm of medical miracles.
"This is... a divine miracle..."
...
"Damn it, what the hell is going on?!"
Up on the execution platform, Sengoku didn't know how to comment on the current events; the thread of logic had completely collapsed in his mind. Since Kaidou appeared, he had been speculating on possible outcomes, but he hadn't foreseen this.
Whitebeard's rejuvenation, the destruction it would wreak upon Navy Headquarters, would be devastating. Only those elderly who experienced that era knew the terrifying power of a young Whitebeard.
"Damn it! Why is the broadcast still ongoing?! Cut it off immediately!"
At this moment, Sengoku realized the broadcast was still running. Due to the Navy's previous successful operations adding that they could protect the sea with enough might, they hadn't cut the broadcast.
But with the young Whitebeard reappearing, Sengoku knew the ensuing battles would be crueler, immediately ordering the Navy to cut the Marinfanto feed.
But he was too late; the rejuvenated Whitebeard had already made the latest newspaper headlines.
"Fufufufu, youth... it truly is a terrifying force! The monsters worldwide will go mad over it, even those controlling the world from hidden corners couldn't resist such temptation!"
Doflamingo's expression became equally excited, the power of youth was something he desired as well. Initially, his goal was the Eternal Life Surgery provided by the Op-Op Fruit, but now he seemed to have a new target.
"Fufufufu, let's kill each other. This war is becoming more interesting!"
Clenching his fists, countless parasitic strings emitted from his hands, the surrounding Navy and pirates fought death battles like puppets under Doflamingo's control.
Meanwhile, a cigar unexpectedly dropped onto the ice surface. In this battlefield fraught with artillery shots, no one noticed this cigar, but looking up along the trajectory saw a pale-faced Queen.
A few soul-like wisps could faintly be seen hovering behind Queen, only reentering his body after quite some time.
"Do you guys think... I should retreat now?"
Queen felt immense pain; he couldn't accept what was happening in front of him. If the news of Whitebeard rejuvenating spread, there wouldn't be any good days for him.
"Holy Beast Lord and Kaidou aren't in Wano Kuni; escaping back wouldn't make a difference."
"True, Shaina's right, and don't think you're all that capable; most times, you're just a useless drag."
"Ha... for the first time in so many years, I really wish I were a useless drag. You two simply don't understand anything..."
Queen no longer cared to refute Shaina and King's words, contemplating a grave matter whether security measures in Wano Kuni should be replaced with lethal weapons; current measures seemed insufficient.
"But speaking of it, luckily the Platinum Lead disease was attributed to someone else's name, otherwise, things really would become troublesome."
When the public disclosure of the Platinum Lead disease occurred, the Hundred Beasts Fruit concocted a massive fictional medical team, which was one of the few good news for Queen.
"Where did that Blackbeard guy go? He wouldn't back out at the last moment, would he?"
Shaina and King didn't care about Queen's future; instead, they searched for a trace of Blackbeard on the battlefield but found nothing.
Just as they were searching for Blackbeard's whereabouts, massive changes unfolded at Marinfanto once again.
The muscles on Whitebeard's arms bulged as he intended to break through the Navy's encirclement wall, when suddenly a horrific scraping sound emanated beneath the ice, and even the inner bay sealed by Aokiji began to shake, as if something was about to rush out from under the ice.
And near the Gate of Justice, a gigantic tsunami appeared in everyone's sight. The tsunami's scale was more terrifying than the one Whitebeard previously triggered with a Seaquake, like an apocalyptic wave, surging toward Marinfanto...