One Piece: Don't Worry, I'm a Doctor

Chapter 457: Chapter 457: Once More

The Five Elders and the others were still frozen in their starting positions.

They had stiffened mid-movement.

Originally, they had planned to take advantage of Vir’s exhaustion and gang up to take him down. But the current situation forced them to halt in their tracks.

If they pressed forward now, death was certain.

Just his Observation Haki alone had instantly killed Saint Garling. Charging in now would merely require Vir to spare another thought to kill them too.

This guy…

He possessed power that could utterly crush them!

Even as their hearts raced with shock, they faced reality. Charging meant instant death. Holding back might give them a slim chance to turn things around.

Vir paid no mind to the reactions around him. His brow furrowed slightly, his expression grim.

His Observation Haki wasn’t supposed to have the power to instantly eliminate opponents of this caliber.

Unfortunately for them, after inheriting Imu’s physical prowess, his mental strength had inexplicably skyrocketed.

His spiritual power, once a mere 21, had leaped to 30.

Though he didn’t know the exact reason, the gap was like a chasm.

His Observation Haki had transformed as a result.

With just a single thought, he could pull off something this absurd.

But because of that guy’s interference, it seemed he wouldn’t have time to fully recover his stamina…

The moment Vir’s thought settled, the headless corpse moved.

A clear, visible membrane appeared around the body, encasing it completely.

It looked fragile, as if it could shatter with a touch, but Vir knew better. Even if he unleashed another attack powerful enough to blast a chunk out of the Red Line, it wouldn’t so much as scratch that membrane.

Imu’s trump cards were truly something else.

Vir couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration.

His plan to strike during her revival window was thwarted.

Within that membrane, the headless corpse began to regenerate. Broken body parts reformed rapidly, and in mere seconds, Imu reappeared, her face twisted with rage.

Her furious gaze locked onto Vir, who stood atop the cliff’s edge.

There wasn’t a shred of underestimation in her eyes anymore.

This guy had killed her twice in a row.

Back when she fought Joy Boy in that earth-shattering battle, she’d only used up one life to completely turn the tides.

But against Vir, in just a few minutes, two lives were gone.

Now, she was down to her final live.

All of it came from a certain relic she possessed—

It had the ability to reverse injuries, even fatal ones.

But it could only be used three times. Joy Boy had forced her to use it once, and now Vir had made her use it twice.

In other words, if she died again, it would be for real.

This situation, combined with Vir’s earth-shaking attack earlier, put Imu on high alert.

She could also tell at a glance that Vir’s stamina was depleted but recovering rapidly.

Without hesitation, the newly revived Imu unleashed her ultimate move on Vir.

The membrane surrounding her vanished the moment she fully regenerated—a protective mechanism that automatically triggered on the third use.

As Imu stood, her body began to darken. A layer of shadow enveloped her completely.

A massive shadowy figure materialized behind her, its eyes glowing red, locking onto Vir with equal intensity.

This time, Imu wasn’t playing around.

With a single thought—

The darkness cloaking her body vanished in an instant, along with the shadowy figure. It crossed space and time, appearing before Vir in a flash.

The speed was so great that even Vir couldn’t react.

It arrived in an instant.

As if it had locked onto his very soul, it embraced him tightly.

Then, it clung to him like glue.

Vir didn’t bother trying to remove or escape it. He could clearly sense that the thing was latched onto his soul.

Looking at Imu, who seemed somewhat weakened, Vir’s expression shifted slightly.

This woman was planning to permanently sacrifice a powerful ability to take him down.

Vir’s guess was spot-on. That was exactly Imu’s plan.

At this point, Imu’s fear of Vir had reached its peak. She had initially thought his strength lay in his poison techniques, but his true power was on par with hers.

He even had that kind of super-powered burst technique.

Even she had no chance to dodge or react to it.

In this situation, if she didn’t pay a steep price to take Vir out quickly, what if he had another trick like that up his sleeve?

Capsizing in the gutter once was enough.

Doing it again would just be foolish.

This move, which required sacrificing an ability, wasn’t something easily countered.

The shadow only needed to glance at Vir to lock onto him completely. No matter how he dodged or blocked, it was useless.

It would cling tightly to the target’s soul and unleash a terrifying self-destruction.

When it exploded, the target’s soul would be obliterated.

The cost of this move was steep, but its effect was worth it—a guaranteed kill.

However, after using it, Imu would be temporarily weakened.

After all, it involved forcibly ripping an ability from her body.

Imu’s series of actions sent everyone into a panic.

The fact that she could stand again had already left them dumbfounded. She had revived once already, and now she was doing it again.

Could she… be immortal?

Up above, Whitebeard and the others couldn’t help but consider this possibility.

Those were clearly fatal wounds—the kind that killed in one hit.

Her standing up once was one thing, but doing it again? The idea that she might be immortal started to seem plausible.

If that were true, how could they possibly win this fight?

Forget the fight itself.

Watching the shadow tightly coiling around Vir, watching its form swell ominously, even from thousands of meters away, they could still feel the terrifying aura it exuded.

Not only had Imu revived again, but she had also launched a deadly attack on Vir.

Vir… he didn’t seem able to break free.

Indeed, even as the shadow continued to expand, Vir remained motionless.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move—he couldn’t.

He could only watch as the shadow before him grew larger, faintly threatening to blot out the sky.

Yet, there wasn’t a trace of panic on his face.

As if the one facing death wasn’t him.

The reason was simple.

The ability he’d swiped from Marco hadn’t been used yet.

[Phoenix Rebirth: Automatically activates when Host is in a near-death state. Upon activation, Host will be engulfed in flames and restored to peak condition within three seconds!]

[This ability can only be used once!]

Source: .com, updated by novlove.com