Elsewhere, in the deepest reaches of Pangaea Castle, lay the Flower Room.
Eternal, precisely regulated "sunlight" shone through stained glass, casting dappled colors over exotic flowers, rare plants, and tranquil streams.
A sickeningly sweet floral fragrance drifted through the air,
mingled with tremors of pain.
Upon the cushioned couch, the dense shadow that represented the "master of the Empty Throne"-
Imu's consciousness-seemed more unstable than ever,
almost curled up against the cushions.
The devastating blow Spark had dealt its manifested body at Egghead, and the scouring force of the Haki Joy Boy had left behind,
burned its very "existence" again and again.
Yet at this moment, amid that excruciating agony,
Imu forced itself to maintain an outward appearance of "calm,"
even a deliberately cultivated, condescending "indifference."
The shadow's silhouette remained seated upright.
Meanwhile, not far in front of the couch stood a figure utterly at odds with these eerie surroundings:
"Blackbeard," Marshall D. Teach.
The wounds Gern and Luffy had inflicted on him together at Egghead had vanished without a trace.
His skin was smooth and unbroken. Even his old scars had faded considerably.
Blackbeard flexed his arms and clenched his fists, feeling power far beyond anything he had possessed before surging through his body,
along with boundless vitality.
He did not know why his missing teeth had failed to grow back, but his grin kept widening all the same.
"Zehahaha... Zehahahaha!!!"
"So this is... the power of immortality?!
I can't feel pain, and my wounds heal in the blink of an eye... Zehahaha! Incredible! This is absolutely incredible!!"
He reveled in the immense joy of gaining "immortality."
He could already see himself using this power to rise again,
surpassing his former heights and truly ruling the seas.
The loss of Jesus Burgess, Shiryu, and Van Augur?
Gern and Luffy,