As soon as Werther finished speaking, a strange change came over the Underground Altar.
Pale green lights appeared all around him. Like fireflies in the night, they drifted slowly toward him.
The moment Werther noticed them, every muscle in his body tensed. He blurred into an afterimage and retreated.
Once he had moved away, the pale green lights stopped and hung in midair.
"You found my true body. It seems I underestimated you."
A hidden door in the side wall slowly opened with a series of stiff clicks that grated on the nerves.
The door was well concealed, its seams packed with dust.
It opened fully onto pitch-black darkness. Like the gaping maw of a beast, it swallowed the light outside.
"If you had handed over that drug, you might have had a chance to live. A pity."
Footsteps sounded from within, and a person emerged.
Werther narrowed his eyes. It was another Antonio Alexander.
Werther glanced toward the Antonio Alexander seated behind the desk.
Noticing his gaze, the figure behind the desk gave an eerie smile. Then his body withered, turning into a wooden sculpture in an instant.
Just as Werther had suspected, the figure he had seen earlier was not Antonio Alexander's true body. The one who had emerged from the hidden door was.
A Devil Fruit power related to trees was most likely a Paramecia, followed by a Logia. A Mythical Zoan was the least likely.
Werther weighed the possibilities in silence, keeping his eyes fixed on the enemy before him.
"What, are you too shocked to—"
Clang! Before Antonio Alexander could finish, Werther sent a slash of Sword Aura at him.
Antonio Alexander started to turn aside, then stopped himself at the last moment.
Squelch. Drops of blood spattered onto the floor. Antonio Alexander had not