It was still that same vast yet almost empty Council Chamber...
"Has that brat Kizaru still not woken up?"
The hot-tempered old man asked in a low voice. Age spots covered his bald head, and his untrimmed white beard hid almost half his face.
Sitting opposite him, the man still cradling Shodai Kitetsu-which radiated an eerie aura even inside its sheath-was now swathed in bandages. He nodded expressionlessly and said,
"He was stabbed in the liver and suffered extensive burns. If not for Vegapunk, he would already be dead. Fortunately, his life is no longer in danger. It's only a matter of time before he wakes up."
"You're in even worse shape than when you returned from the Goa Kingdom. How much of your strength did you use this time?"
The man with the long beard stood and calmly looked at Baldhead, who was reclining in his chair, as he asked.
The bald man frowned, reluctant to answer. After a moment of silence, however, he finally spoke.
"I didn't use my ability, but otherwise... everything I had."
At that, the faces of the other four members of the Five Elders, including the long-bearded man, darkened.
"Sengoku, Garp, those two brats Kizaru and Akainu, and even you ended up this badly wounded, yet he still escaped?"
The old man leaning on a cane finally showed a flicker of emotion as he asked in surprise.
Baldhead nodded expressionlessly and said,
"He ate a third Devil Fruit, and a particularly troublesome Logia at that-the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"What?"
"One man actually ate three Devil Fruits?"
The old man whose head was covered in age spots spoke in astonishment.
"I don't know how he managed it, but it's the truth."
Baldhead spoke again.
"This wildcard is nearly beyond our control. We cannot let him keep