Did Ace not want to go back either?
Garp and Whitebeard were both at the center of the battlefield, facing off against that monster.
But as a son, as a grandson, he knew better than anyone that this was not a battlefield he could participate in. Not in his current state.
The gap between his strength and that level was still too wide.
Going there would just be throwing his life away.
"Relax. I know what I am doing." Luffy grinned.
The Moby Dick's logistics crew were all unconscious, so it was Marco and the other commanders who brought Luffy large amounts of food.
Barrels of meat, whole grilled fish, piles of bread, fruit, and even barrels of alcohol.
These supplies, originally meant to feed hundreds of pirates, were now all piled in front of Luffy.
Luffy's eyes lit up.
He grabbed a piece of meat on the bone, larger than his head, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Crack, crack. The meat and bones were easily crushed and swallowed.
Then came the second grilled fish, the third piece of meat, the fourth loaf of bread. His eating speed was terrifying. The food did not seem to be consumed so much as devoured by an invisible black hole.
Visibly, his withered, elderly-looking body began to swell and fill out. His gray-white skin gradually regained its color. The fine cracks slowly healed as new tissue filled them.
Was this a human body?
Even the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders, who had seen all sorts of strange things in the New World, looked shocked.
But in contrast, the expression of pain on Luffy's face grew more apparent. Fine cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Straw Hat Boy, this is no joke!"
Ivankov crouched nearby, his face grim. "Even eating is painful. Just how bad is your condition?!"
Eating caused him pain. Luffy had experienced this before.
Why? This time, it was not from the Pirate King Training Plan's punishment.
Back at Impel Down, Luffy's arm had been contaminated by Magellan's deadly poison. After fighting him, there had still been venom residue. Dealing with it had been quite troublesome.
After learning about Ivankov's ability, he had asked him for an injection of Emporio Tension Hormone.
It had worked very well.
He had been feeling energetic ever since.
As the Horu Horu no Mi user, Ivankov knew better than anyone the side effects of that injection. It was an overdraft of the body's foundation, causing intense pain and weakness lasting for days or even weeks.
The barely suppressed pain on Luffy's face now was clearly the side effect taking its toll.
Forcing himself to eat and fight in this state was practically suicide.
But—
"Little Ivankov, do that move again," Luffy said.
"Are you insane?!"
Ivankov shrieked, his huge head suddenly leaning close. "How can your body possibly withstand the side effects of a second Tension Hormone injection?!"
"Things more painful than this, I have already endured." Luffy grinned.
Back on the Sabaody Archipelago, when his crewmates had all been sent flying, that punishment had been happening every moment.
When it came to pain, he had experience.
As long as your mental strength was strong enough, pain was just like a stimulant.
A stimulant?!
Hearing this, Marco gasped.
The side effect of using something like that once was enormous. Using it once was bad enough. Now he wanted to use it a second time.
A normal person would have already passed out from the pain after the first dose. Of course, looking at Luffy now, Marco could see he was not exactly a normal person.
The food that had been brought was visibly diminishing.
Luffy's stomach swelled up like a balloon. He became round and bloated, his face so fat that his original features were barely recognizable.
This went beyond being full. It completely defied human physiology.
Marco had seen a lot. He quickly figured it out.
"Are you using that Marine technique?"
"It is Life Return, is it not?"
Ivankov said, "An advanced application of the Marines' Six Styles. By using your will to control your body, you can direct the energy from the food you consume exactly where it is needed. You can heal injuries, restore stamina, and even store energy for later use in battle."
The food Luffy was eating was making his body almost as big as Whitebeard's.
Consuming such a massive amount of food at once, then using Life Return to absorb and convert it all in a short time, would be very effective.
But what about the difficulty?
Luffy did not respond.
He just kept eating. Eating like crazy.
It was as if he wanted to swallow the entire Moby Dick's food supply.
Finally, after the last piece of meat was swallowed, Luffy stopped eating.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His swollen, ball-like huge body began to visibly shrink.
Fat and bloat dissipated. His swollen stomach quickly flattened. His pudgy cheeks regained their sharpness.
In just a few breaths, Luffy had returned to his original lean, agile form.
He stretched his arm and looked at Marco. "Not enough. Is there more?"
"There is."
Marco's throat moved. The way he looked at Luffy was like he was looking at some kind of monster.
But was he really going to be okay?
At this moment, Ace personally carried out a huge amount of food. His expression was complicated. "Luffy, I leave it to you."
Pops's body was covered in wounds.
Golden Lion still had a ship's wheel stuck in his head.
The only one they could rely on was Garp?
Luffy nodded firmly and continued eating.
Again, he consumed a vast quantity of food, making his body swell up.
"Little Ivankov. Give me another injection."
"Stop joking."
Giving two injections in such a short time would kill someone. If something happened to Luffy, how would he explain it to Dragon?
Luffy had recovered quite well using Life Return, but the side effects from Ivankov's Devil Fruit ability could not be eliminated that way.
It requires a long period of rest to let the body adapt and slowly recover.
This was one of the drawbacks of Ivankov's ability.
"Hurry. There is not enough time."
Luffy cut him off. His gaze shifted to the distant battlefield. "Besides, things do not look right over there. Even if we want to leave, there is no guarantee we can."
There, the dark purple flames had already re-formed into a human figure.
Imu's figure appeared again. The black trident and grimoire were completely intact. It was as if the previous attack had never caused any damage.
And Garp, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion formed a triangle around it.
Seeing Luffy's determination, Ivankov threw caution to the wind.
"Fine. I do not care what happens to you later!"
He used his ability to give Luffy another injection of the stimulant.
Emporio Tension Hormone!
Pfft.
The needle pierced Luffy's neck. The dark red liquid entered his vein.
Almost immediately, Luffy's body convulsed violently.
Veins bulged on the surface of his skin. His pupils contracted sharply, then dilated.
Aura burst from within him but was forcibly suppressed.
"Gyaah!"
Luffy growled, dropping to one knee and punching the deck. A spiderweb of cracks spread from his fist.
Pain. Indescribable pain spread through every nerve in his body.
But soon, that feeling came back.
The Center of the Battlefield.
Imu's figure had completely re-formed.
Dark purple flames burned quietly around Him. His indifferent gaze swept over Garp, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion before finally stopping at the distant Moby Dick.
"Is it on that ship?" Imu murmured to himself.
The next moment, his figure vanished without warning.
"Hey, what are you trying to do to my sons?!"
Whitebeard's expression changed drastically. He swung Murakumogiri, the power of the Gura Gura no Mi tearing through the air in an attempt to intercept.
His slash hit nothing. Alarm bells rang in his heart.
But.
Imu completely ignored Whitebeard, his voice cold. "Those who side with Nika. The evil bloodline. All will be eliminated."
"Do not delude yourself, you monster!"
Whitebeard roared, leaping into the air. Murakumogiri, wrapped in the white light of the Gura Gura no Mi, slashed at Imu's back with all his might.
The slash landed solidly.
Imu's body was cut in two from shoulder to waist. Dark purple flames scattered.
Whitebeard himself did not notice. The moment his inner negative emotions surfaced, a strange cold spread up the blade, piercing straight into the depths of his soul.
A dark, twisted, malicious whisper sounded in his mind.
It was the fear buried deep in his heart.
Fear of aging. Fear of death. Fear that one day he would no longer be able to protect his sons. The nightmare of the Whitebeard Pirates falling apart.
The moment his mind was disturbed, Whitebeard was hit.
Two pitch-black, slender shadows silently reached out from Imu's split body and pierced through Whitebeard's chest without a sound.
Garp looked up. He saw this familiar yet unfamiliar sight.
Many years ago, at God Valley, that bastard Rocks had also been pierced by this attack.
"Whitebeard, you bastard! Did I not tell you not to let its attacks hit you?!"
Garp's roar came from below.
His iron fist, wrapped in black-red Conqueror's Haki lightning, struck Imu's not-yet-fully-reformed body like a meteor.
The Fury Haki scattered the dark purple flames again, turning them into sparks.
But the two black spikes piercing Whitebeard's chest did not disappear.
They were like parasitic worms, firmly rooted inside Whitebeard's body, their ends still faintly writhing.
Imu's body re-formed nearby.
His gaze passed over the enraged Garp and landed on Whitebeard.
"Mu does think you are a useful piece of power. Go, exterminate. Kill that which should not exist, and kill the evil bloodline that has glimpsed the second level of the world."
As long as humans had desires, as long as they had senses, they could not resist his power. It was an erosion that targeted the very root of the soul.
Whitebeard was stunned.
He did not feel the pain of being pierced. On the contrary, the old wounds in his chest, the hidden ailments in his back, the accumulated fatigue and weariness of countless years were
receding at an alarming rate.
Long-vanished vitality flowed through his limbs again. It was as if he had returned to his prime. No, even more energetic than his prime.
"Mu commands you. Erase everything here."
Imu's voice echoed directly in Whitebeard's mind like a supreme divine decree.
"Kokuten Shihai!"
Black lightning flickered. The stench of decay began to spread.
Everything here?
The Marines, the prisoners, the Impel Down guards, and even his own sons in the Whitebeard Pirates?
"Impossible!"
Whitebeard roared. Murakumogiri shook. Conqueror's Haki surged.
But the next moment, he felt the control of his body slipping away.
His body began to change, too. His skin turned white. Strange black patterns appeared.
His muscles swelled uncontrollably. His joints creaked. The corners of his mouth stretched, revealing inhuman fangs.
Behind him, something was tearing through his clothes, breaking out of his body. A pair of pitch-black wings.
"Stubborn, just like that damned one." Imu said flatly.
"Was this the pain Rocks suffered back then?"
Whitebeard spoke with difficulty.
He had seen it.
Many years ago at God Valley, the sight of Rocks gradually turning into a monster after being pierced by something pitch-black.
He had never imagined that, years later, he would be the one to endure such an attack.
But it was different.
Whitebeard's eyes, gradually being eroded by the darkness, suddenly burst out with starting light.
"Do not underestimate humans, monsters!"
With a roar, his right arm, not yet fully controlled, rose with unbelievable force of will. He swung Murakumogiri backhand.
Crack.
The two spikes piercing his chest were cut off in a single slash.
The severed spikes turned to black smoke and dissipated. Where they had been, the spread of the black patterns on Whitebeard's chest noticeably slowed.
"You monster, this old man will not let you run wild any longer!" Garp seized the opportunity and pressed forward again, his iron fists raining down on Imu like a storm.
"Hey, try this!"
Golden Lion laughed wildly, floating in midair, raising both hands.
On the distant sea, several damaged Marine warships, along with giant iceberg fragments, were forcibly lifted by his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi. They turned into a meteor swarm, blotting out the sky, and came crashing down on Imu.
Imu looked up. His gaze was still cold.
"Hey, Garp. What is wrong with Newgate?"
Golden Lion floated over to Garp, his expression unusually serious.
He stared at the ferocious black wings on Whitebeard's back, and the black patterns spreading and then being suppressed on his body. An ominous premonition rose in his heart.
"No time to explain."
Garp's face was as grave as iron. His fists cracked as he clenched them. "The worst-case scenario is that we may have to fight him."
"Him?"
Golden Lion was taken aback. Then he understood. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Hey, hey. Are we going to have to fight that monster version of Newgate?"
As if to confirm Garp's words, the next moment, from within the shattered debris of icebergs and warships, Whitebeard suddenly let out an inhuman roar.
"Gyaaah!"
The sound wave, carrying Conqueror's Haki and the aura of dark erosion, swept in all directions.
The black wings on his back fully spread, a dozen meters wide. Each flap brought a pitch-black hurricane.
This form, and the Conqueror's Haki emanating from Whitebeard, sent a chill down the spines of the three Admirals.
"Well. Now it is time to go there."
Imu ignored them. His figure floated in the air, swiftly flying toward the Moby Dick.
The awakened Nika fruit, the inheritor of Joy Boy, the evil bloodline that had glimpsed the second layer of the world's truth—all were mistakes that could not be allowed to exist.
They must be eliminated.
"Hey, where did these monsters come from?"
It was only then that Marco noticed a large group of creatures he had never seen before, appearing around them.
A cyclops over thirty meters tall, its skin like rock.
A three-headed hellhound, its mouths dripping corrosive saliva.
A skeletal knight covered in bone armor, flames burning in its eyes.
Even a fat woman with a twisted face, wielding a kitchen knife.
They were pouring in from all directions. Their target was clear.
The Moby Dick.
"Hahaha! The Boss's orders. You bastards cannot escape!"
Not far away, Killingham's arrogant laugh could be heard.
"Is that his ability?"
Luffy noticed Killingham laughing in the distance.
"Hahaha! Fear as much as you want! Your nightmares are my strongest army!"
Killingham looked down at the chaotic battlefield, smug.
This was his power.
The awakened ability of the Mythical Zoan, Ryu Ryu no Mi: Kirin form.
Making dreams tangible.
He could pull the objects of others' fear from their nightmares into reality, turning them into immortal monsters to assist him in battle.
There were far too many unconscious people on this battlefield.
The severely wounded Marines, pirates, and prisoners—their fears and nightmares became an endless source of energy for Killingham.
The deck of the Moby Dick.
Luffy slowly straightened up.
The effects of the second Tension Hormone injection had kicked in.
His skin once again took on the unique gloss of rubber. His hair turned white and fluffy. Threads of steam rose from his pores.
Gear Fifth, Nika Form.
Reactivated.
Luffy looked at the nightmare monsters swarming in from all directions and grinned. "As expected, they are all monsters."
"Now is not the time for reflection!"
A voice sounded from his shoulder.
It was Nika.
She had transformed back into the form of a small white tanuki. She jumped onto Luffy's shoulder, her expression grave as she looked at a figure streaking across the distant horizon.
"I am only going to say this once, so remember it."
Luffy was stunned.
It was the first time he had seen Nika so serious.
"That guy fears only two people. Joy Boy and Davy Jones."
Nika said, "He fears anyone becoming the next Joy Boy or Davy Jones. He will use every means to eliminate them. And I can only use this move once."
She turned her head and stared into Luffy's eyes. "Next time, if you are not strong enough to contend with his power, you are dead. Understand?"
Luffy frowned and cut her off. "Hey. I am the man who will become the Pirate King. Watch me tear this monster apart right now!"
He felt like Nika was about to do something not very good.
"Hmph. Pirate King."
Nika curled her lip as if she wanted to laugh but could not.
She turned her head back to look at the dark purple figure now nearby. The aura around her began to undergo a fundamental change.
It was as if something had snapped.
"Go back where you belong!"
Nika roared.
Centered on her, an indescribably terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward.
***
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