The Face-Saving Fruit Ability Activates... and Fails / Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi and the Imperial Flower

"Master, Asclepius must die. I don't care. I must strike first."

Yuxian smiled and said, "He's been coveting your blood for a long time, and you're still fine, aren't you?"

He was well aware of Asclepius's preferences; Medusa's blood was something he had always longed to study.

"It will be too late if something happens. I've decided to strike first." Anna shook her head rapidly. "Or we can leave now, get away from here, and get as far away from him as possible."

Anna was a little timid and looked at Asclepius with fear, just like a child seeing a doctor, instinctively afraid.

"Anna, don't be afraid, we will protect you," the children quickly comforted Anna.

Anna made up her mind and hid among the children, saying, "Then you must keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't get near me."

While Anna was feeling sorry for Yuxian, Asclepius slowly approached Whitebeard on the other side.

He slowly raised his cane, and an aura emanated from him, with a large pill appearing at the tip of the cane.

"Tsk, this is all we can do for now. I really want another dose of Gorgon blood."

"But that's enough for the current situation. Let's do it this way. Here you go."

A pill the size of a bowl flew towards Whitebeard's body and disappeared into it.

Counterfeit drugs: A useless lament from the underworld!

Asclepius was the true God of Medicine. He once invaded the realm of Hades, by creating a true Revival Potion, which angered Zeus, who killed him with a thunderbolt.

He's only using a replica of the Revival Potion now, but for Whitebeard in front of him, that's enough.

This tyrant, who had not yet truly breathed his last, suddenly had his eyes wide open in fury under the Revival Potion of Asclepius.

"Teach!!!"

Whitebeard opened his eyes and saw Blackbeard very close to him. He roared and Supreme Grade Sword Murakumogiri, into the ground, activating the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power.

A tremendous shockwave rushed toward Blackbeard was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly. He was terrified of Whitebeard and dared not confront Whitebeard directly.

With Whitebeard to deal with Blackbeard would be in serious trouble.

After rescuing the people Asclepius did not return to the Golden Deer, but instead walked straight towards Yuxian.

Everyone made way for him along the way; no one wanted to offend this man who could turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

No one can ignore the person who could instantly turn the nearly dead Whitebeard back to his former vigor and make Blackbeard howl in pain.

Everyone was watching his every move, while fewer people were paying attention to Whitebeard chasing Blackbeard.

Asclepius approached Yuxian and called out softly, "Master."

Then he turned his gaze to Anna and stared straight at Anna.

"What are you looking at! I will absolutely not let you draw blood! Forget about it!"

Anna, though outwardly fierce, roared at Asclepius.

If she hadn't kept hiding behind the other children, you really wouldn't have known she was scared.

Asclepius said, "Blackbeard said he has already told you to let me draw a vial of blood."

"Huh?" Anna blinked in confusion. She hadn't spoken to Blackbeard before.

But she quickly retorted, "Then go smoke Blackbeard's cigarettes, what are you doing here with me!"

Yuxian finally understood: Blackbeard had used Anna as a bargaining chip to get Asclepius to do this.

As expected of Blackbeard, he's not afraid of being beaten up by the kids when he returns to Chaldea.

If Blackbeard were to truly anger these little devils, he might have all the whiskers on his face plucked out.

"That won't do. Blackbeard's blood is useless. I want your blood." Asclepius seemed oblivious to the world's ways, convinced that Anna owed him a vial of blood.

"Ah!!!" Anna cried out in a panic, "Master, I must kill him, I absolutely must kill him!"

"Don't stop me! Please don't stop me!"

The children blinked, thinking: We didn't stop you, did we?

However, since Anna said that, they pretended to stop Anna and try to calm her down.

Yuxian looked at Anna with amusement. She was clearly terrified of Asclepius, yet she pretended to fight him to the death.

For some reason, Yuxian found Anna quite adorable.

Chapter 13, Section 432: The Face-Saving Fruit Ability Activated... Failed

Asclepius's appearance on Drake's ship was somewhat Yuxian.

He was the son of Apollo, the sun god, while Drake was known as the Woman Who Shot Down the Sun; the two seemed completely incompatible.

However, upon further reflection, Yuxian understood Asclepius's attitude towards Apollo, as Asclepius was quite dissatisfied with his father.

He had no affection or respect for his father who did not acknowledge him; the only person he respected was the Great Sage Chiron, his teacher.

If someone could actually shoot down the sun, Asclepius might even offer to help.

While Yuxian was catching up with Asclepius, Luffy finally recovered.

He saw Ace frozen in ice and was at a loss for what to do, so he paced around anxiously.

Fisherman's Friend Jinbe, came to Luffy's side Luffy said, "Let's take Ace away first, and then we'll think of a solution later."

Luffy nodded; that was the only thing to do now.

He carried Ace's ice sculpture and, under Jinbe's cover, began to retreat.

This move immediately provoked a backlash from the Navy, and the once calm battlefield began to boil over again, with a struggle centered around Luffy and Ace.

The scene became chaotic again. Yuxian shook his head. Ace was someone the Navy would never give up; it was a matter of their pride.

If Ace is rescued this time and Marineford is destroyed again, the Navy's prestige will be completely destroyed in the eyes of the world, and pirates will become even more rampant in the future.

With Whitebeard focused on dealing with Blackbeard, Kizaru and Aokiji were able to free up their resources to fight Luffy.

Unlike Akainu, who believes in absolute justice, their justice is not so extreme, but they share the same goal in retrieving Ace.

Ace cannot leave.

Under the attack of the two admirals, Luffy's situation became extremely precarious.

At this crucial moment, Shanks finally arrived.

Despite being delayed by Kaido of the Beasts, he still managed to arrive at Marineford at that moment.

No one can ignore his arrival; the Four Emperors are indeed the Four Emperors, and their reputations are legendary.

Kizaru and Aokiji's expressions turned serious, and their hearts skipped a beat; this time, things were going to be difficult.

Whitebeard is currently fighting the Blackbeard Pirates. Once he can spare some time, coupled with the ever-present threat of Drake, they won't be able to withstand the pressure from three Four Emperors.

Admitting defeat is definitely not an option; all that's left is to fight tooth and nail.

The Yasakani no Magatama!

Ice Age!

They both need to increase their output at the same time; hiding their abilities won't work anymore.

Shanks and Kizaru Aokiji, exchanging blows for a single round before separating. This exchange resulted in a draw, clearly indicating that their strengths were evenly matched.

However, the fact that Shanks could hold his own against two Marine Admiral fighting at full strength speaks volumes about his power.

"Wow! It's that bad guy! Should we go and beat him up?"

When the children discovered Shanks' arrival, they remembered their previous encounter and didn't have a good impression of him.

They stealthily began to slowly approach, their eyes Gilgamesh, glancing at Shanks every now and then, clearly ready to do something naughty.

Shanks shook his head with a wry smile. He had already figured out what these children were thinking, so he immediately stopped fighting with Kizaru and Aokiji.

He said helplessly, "You guys are too vengeful, aren't you?"

"Oh dear, we've been discovered!" When their sneak attack failed, the children walked past without a care in the world.

"Hmph! Don't think we'll forget what happened last time so easily."

"That's right! Tell us, what should we do? If you don't give us a satisfactory answer, we're going to beat you up today!"

The children's accusatory attitude turned what should have been a serious scene into something somewhat comical.

Pfft!

Kizaru couldn't help but laugh. He was a person who liked to laugh, and the children's words made him laugh.

"What are you laughing at? Believe me or not, we'll beat you up too. You were lucky you escaped just now!"

The children, however, showed no mercy to Kizaru and immediately turned their anger towards him.

This time it was Shanks' turn to laugh.

"So you've offended them too, it must have been tough for you, right?"

The two looked at each other helplessly, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

These children are of unknown origin, yet their strength is not to be underestimated; who knows if they have even more powerful methods up their sleeves.

Shanks looked at the children and said with a smile, "What do you want? I'll see if I can grant your wish."

As soon as he said that, the children immediately gathered together to discuss it.

"What should we want? It can't be too simple."

Do you want money?

"No! In the end, all the money will just go back to the Master, and we won't get any benefit from it."

"Why don't we ask for something delicious? Let's ask him if he has any good food that we haven't tried before."

"Okay, let's do it that way!"

After the children finished discussing, they put on airs and acted like little adults.

"Do you have anything we've never eaten before? It has to be something really, really delicious. Don't try to fool us; we've eaten plenty of good food."

Shanks found the children's requests both amusing and exasperating; they really were childish, asking him for treats.

Shanks thought for a moment and said, "I do know a lot of delicious food, but I don't have any with me right now. How about I take you guys to eat some later?"

"Ah! You're trying to get something for nothing. We'd better beat you up instead."

The children, of course, would not be satisfied with such an answer; something they cannot eat immediately is unlikely to attract them.

Shanks gave an ugly smile, now he was supposed to get some good food.

However, these children are not easily appeased. If you really anger them, they can give him a good beating when he's fighting Marine Admiral. That would be enough to make him suffer.

Yuxian stood at a distance, watching the children make things difficult for Shanks with amusement, without making any move to help him out; he just stood there and watched the spectacle.

It's good for the kids to make a fuss. He was also a bit unhappy with Shanks' behavior last time, which caused Mash to scold him for many days. He had to get revenge.

Even the User of the "Face Fruit" ability's face-saving ability eventually failed.

The children in front of him didn't give him any face.

Seeing that Shanks wasn't speaking, the children began to urge him, "Have you thought it through yet? Why are you taking so long!"

Their patience is limited; they won't wait for Shanks forever.

The situation put Shanks in a difficult position, and he couldn't help but look at Yuxian and Musashi in the distance, hoping that they could step in and help him out.

Yuxian smiled, but remained motionless.

Musashi went even further. She had at least eaten Shanks's food, but now she pretended not to see it and kept comforting Kuina, making Kuina roll her eyes at her.

How could she not know Musashi's usual character?

Shanks stood there awkwardly, unsure whether to move forward or backward; he was in a really difficult situation.

Chapter 14, Section 433: The Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi and the Emperor Flower