Trump Card! Peak Whitebeard!

Under the gazes of the two men, Chen Ye remained calm.

He did not beat around the bush, nor did he hesitate in the slightest.

Because every word he was about to say would completely overturn this world's understanding of the words "Power and Space-Time."

"Pops, Brother Marco."

Chen Ye spoke, his voice not loud, yet it clearly drowned out the roaring waves.

"Before that, I need to explain my own situation."

"My Devil Fruit ability is somewhat special."

At the words "Devil Fruit," Marco's body instinctively tensed.

Because Marco and the others had always been curious.

What kind of fruit had Chen Ye eaten to replicate the world-destroying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit?

"It can't grant me Paramecia abilities, nor can it let me transform into Logia elements."

Chen Ye slowly raised his right hand and spread it open before them.

"After researching it for some time, I discovered that its true ability is 'absorption.'"

"Absorption?"

Marco blurted out, his brows tightly furrowed.

"That's right, absorption."

Meeting Whitebeard's gaze, Chen Ye spoke frankly.

"Through prolonged Physical Contact, I can absorb... or rather, 'analyze' the energy and traits of powerful individuals."

"Pops, when I kept giving you massages before, it wasn't merely to ease your pain."

"That was also part of activating my ability."

Marco instantly recalled everything!

He suddenly remembered Chen Ye's actions over the past few months aboard the ship.

The boy had spent nearly all his time at Pops's side, caring for him with meticulous attention. Those hands that seemed to be massaging him had hardly ever left Pops's body!

So that was it...

So it had all been intentional!

Whitebeard said nothing. He merely listened quietly, his expression unchanged, but the giant hand tightly gripping Murakumogiri revealed the turmoil in his heart.

Chen Ye continued.

"This absorption has its limits."

"When my absorption of a particular target reaches a certain level, or rather, reaches a critical point..."

He deliberately paused there.

The deck beneath the night sky was terrifyingly quiet.

Marco and Whitebeard both tensed at once.

They had a powerful premonition.

What they were about to hear would be the most insane secret, one capable of overturning everything they had believed for decades!

Chen Ye raised his head. His eyes shone brighter than ever, filled with confidence.

"Then I can open a temporary 'door'!"

"A Space-Time Door connected to that powerful person's peak period!"

Boom—!!!

A Space-Time Door!

Connected to a powerful person's peak period!

The moment those words left his mouth, they struck Marco and Whitebeard like thunder from the heavens, leaving them utterly stunned!

Marco's body swayed violently, and he nearly lost his footing.

His eyes, usually carrying a trace of laziness, were now wide as bells, filled with indescribable shock and absurdity!

What had he just heard?

Space-time?

A powerful person's peak period?

What kind of monstrous Devil Fruit was this? This was power only a god could possess!

It had completely exceeded the bounds of Devil Fruits!

This was simply... power that should almost be impossible to possess!

Yet when his gaze fell upon Whitebeard, every cry of shock caught in his throat.

Because Whitebeard's mountain-like body had gone rigid.

He stood motionless, like a petrified statue.

Yet centered on him, an invisible aura powerful enough to make even the sea tremble was wildly spreading in every direction!

Crack... crack...

The Moby Dick's railing groaned beneath the unbearable pressure!

Marco knew that was not Conqueror's Haki.

It was Pops's emotion—his soul, suppressed for far too long, resonating in the fiercest and most primal way upon hearing those words!

His peak-period self?

The self who was healthy and whole, whose presence swallowed the horizon, who dared stand against Roger with just one man and one ship?

The self who made the Marines quake at the mention of his name, made even the World Government wary, and truly reigned over these seas...

The "World's Strongest Man"!

That thought was like an exploding star, detonating within his aged and silent inner world!

It was too crazy!

And too distant!

And... far too tempting!

Chen Ye ignored the avalanche-and-tsunami-like turmoil in their hearts.

His explanation was not over yet.

He stepped forward and stood directly before Whitebeard. Facing the aura powerful enough to suffocate even an Admiral, he spoke his true plan word by word.

His ultimate trump card!

"So, Pops."

"My method does not rely on schemes, nor does it rely on any sophisticated tactics."

He raised his head and looked directly into those Emperor's Eyes, slightly widened in shock. His voice suddenly rose, carrying an unshakable conviction.

"My method is—"

"To summon the you who reigned over the seas, who was unmatched, healthy and whole, and at the height of your power!"

"To let the real 'Whitebeard' personally take part in this war!"

Dead silence.

A silence more absolute than any before.

At that moment!

It was as if!

The wind stopped.

The waves subsided.

Marco stood there with his mouth open, his mind completely blank.

He was so shocked that he could not even manage the most basic thought.

Let... let Pops at his peak join the war?

This...

This was both thrilling and shocking.

Meanwhile, Whitebeard's massive body began to tremble slightly.

Because an emotion he had forgotten for far too long, called "excitement," was surging wildly from the deepest depths of his soul into every inch of his limbs and bones!

Then he lowered his head, looking at the arm covered in needle marks and scars, looking at this broken body riddled with holes from the erosion of time and illness.

After being affected by aging and illness for so long,

he had... not felt that sensation in a very long time—the feeling of power filling his entire body, as though one punch could shatter an island.

For this rescue of Ace, he had already prepared to burn the last of his life away with this ruined body.

But now, Chen Ye was telling him—

he still had a chance.

A chance for his former self to reappear in this world!

Chen Ye looked at the incomparably complicated expression on Whitebeard's face. He knew that this final dose of powerful medicine had to be administered by his own hand.

He slowly let out a breath.

That breath seemed to cast off every disguise, leaving behind only the purest sincerity and trust.

"Pops."

"The power I showed before—the Vibration Power that imitated yours—was only an insignificant trace I gained after absorbing some of the energy you leaked out."

"That is not my trump card."

Chen Ye raised his head. His eyes were clear and resolute, reflecting Whitebeard's stunned face.

"My trump card has never been myself."

"My trump card..."

"Is you at your peak!"