'Cover Story: Chopper and the Quack Doctor Vol. 12: "Why Don't You Ask Him Yourself?"'
'Whether he was following Dr. Kureha or making house calls alone in the town, Chopper always heard stories about the quack doctor, from patients, their families, and even the townspeople shoveling snow outside. Every one of them had another tale about Hiriluk's outrageous disasters...'
'Back at the treehouse, Chopper brushed the snow off himself and transformed into his half-human form. He couldn't understand why Hiriluk, whose medical skills were so poor, kept treating patients and making things worse. Kureha, busy with her research, took a sip of wine, adjusted her glasses, and smiled.'
---
North Blue
A pirate ship with an enormous flamingo figurehead was docked along the coast.
Smoke and flames rose from many parts of the island town. Buildings lay in ruins while members of the Donquixote Family wandered through the streets with carefree smiles.
Inside one of the buildings, Donquixote Doflamingo frowned as the transmission before him suddenly cut off.
"It's a good thing the Government never finished developing that weapon," Diamante said as he lounged nearby with one leg crossed, casually eating fruit. "Otherwise, who could deal with something like that? Magma, ice, light... seriously!"
Leaning back on the sofa, Doflamingo smiled. "Wouldn't 'you' be able to?"
Diamante hurriedly shook his head. "No way! How could I possibly handle something like that?"
"Your Ripple-Ripple Fruit is actually perfect for dealing with steel cyborgs, Diamante. You can do it."
"Even so... that's impossible. There's no way I could."
"Very well. You can't."
The moment Doflamingo casually changed his tune, Diamante immediately roared, "Fine! If you insist, then yeah, I 'can' take down something like that!"
"That thing doesn't really matter," Trebol said as he shuffled over, his sticky coat swaying. "We've got no time for this kind of business anyway. Right, Doff? In eleven days we're going after the Op-Op Fruit! Right, Doff? And we'll finally find out whether Rosinante has betrayed us! Right, Doff? We've got no time, right? Right? Right?"
"That's right..." Doflamingo remained perfectly composed, completely unfazed by Trebol's endless chatter. The static-filled screen reflected in his trademark sunglasses as he said quietly, "He's my younger brother... but whether he's still 'family'... I can no longer be certain."
'Just what happened over at Du Feld's place?'
There hadn't been anyone visible in the transmission. So why had Big Mom's Baron Tamago suddenly looked as though someone had cut him clean in half?
'The New World... really is full of monsters.'
"That's what makes it interesting! Fufufufufufu!!" Laughing loudly, Doflamingo stood, spread his arms wide, and swaggered toward the door. "Let's go!"
---
New World , Interest Island
Deep inside the Underground chamber, the projection Den Den Mushi had been smashed into countless pieces. Bodies lay scattered across the room, and blood spread across the floor, soaking into a pile of shattered eggshells.
From the broken shell oozed what looked like egg yolk. Inside the strange yellow liquid floated a pair of eyes, eyes belonging to a soul itself. The soul-like "yolk" slowly wriggled together before taking shape.
Soon, it transformed into Baron Tamago once again, except this time his arms had become a pair of yellow chicken wings. Or rather... he should now be called 'Viscount Chick'.
"'Huff... huff...'" Still shaken, Viscount Chick panted heavily. "So it killed me in a single blow... That must've been the JoJo Pirates' 'ghost'..."
The ghost seemed to have already left. The room was now silent except for the blood covering the floor.
"Luckily, it didn't know how my ability works. As the Egg-Egg Fruit user, I won't die that easily. Killing me like that only lets me evolve into an even stronger form. BON!"
Without wasting another second, he hurried outside to find his assassin partner. As one of the world's finest hitmen, Poppy possessed an incredible instinct for tracking prey. He hadn't detected Giorno Giovanna's scent, only Jolyne Cujoh's.
"So... that means the ghost's power doesn't belong to Giorno... It actually belongs to Jolyne Cujoh?"
Outside, evening was beginning to fall. Viscount Chick beat his wings as he sprinted out of the Belly Building, thoughts racing. 'Since the ghost was over there just now, Poppy has probably already dealt with Jolyne Cujoh. If I bring her back to Mama, she'll definitely be pleased, '
His pupils suddenly contracted.
Walking straight toward him... was Jolyne Cujoh herself. She wore a fashionable pair of sunglasses, carried a shoulder bag, and looked completely relaxed, as though she were simply sightseeing. As they passed each other on the road, she didn't even spare him a glance.
"W-Wait! Jolyne Cujoh!!" Viscount Chick slammed on the brakes mid-flight, turned around, and shouted.
"Hm?" Robin looked back, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. "Can I help you?"
"Someone should've gone after you just now..." Viscount Chick forced himself to stay calm as he asked seriously, "Did you see him, BON?"
"If you're talking about the hitman..." A flash of reflected light slid across Robin's sunglasses. She took a Den Den Mushi out of her shoulder bag; its communication equipment had already been removed. Setting the little snail down, she let it crawl away. Tilting her head thoughtfully, she smiled. "I don't think you could say he's doing very well."
Several hundred meters away, beside the roadside... Poppy, the Charlotte Family's elite assassin, lay covered in wounds, unconscious between life and death. His strange assassin's mask had fallen into the pool of blood beside him.
"Then I definitely can't let you leave like this!" With a sharp 'shing', Viscount Chick drew the sword hidden inside his cane. "If Mama finds out... she'll be absolutely furious."
Robin sighed. "I don't want to fight you. Unlike Giorno, I don't enjoy fighting."
Viscount Chick's blade gleamed with a cold light as he suddenly smiled. "That sounds like a bluff... Is it because your 'ghost' isn't here, Jolyne Cujoh?"
'So he mistook B.I.B. for my ability?'
Robin glanced off into the distance. Liam's Stand had probably gone to watch the excitement over where the blind swordsman and Sentomaru were fighting.
Behind her, Viscount Chick swung his sword. "And you've still got time to look somewhere else?! Jolyne Cujoh!"
---
B.I.B. flew toward the place where Fujitora's Observation Haki sensed the battle raging. It was rather interested in 'Ruiner OR72', the failed prototype that seemed to be an earlier version of the Pacifista project.
However, after passing through one side of the Belly Building, it suddenly stopped in midair. It turned its head and looked back.
'If I'm not mistaken...'
Like a ghost, B.I.B. silently drifted into the thick wall. Inside was complete darkness, but that meant nothing to it. It could clearly distinguish another type of stone embedded within the wall. The boundary between the two materials was perfectly defined, with sharp, unmistakable edges, and B.I.B. had seen that kind of stone before.
After drifting around inside the wall for a while, it finally confirmed its suspicion. It was the shape of a Poneglyph.
B.I.B. floated back out of the wall, lined up its target... and kicked.
'BOOM!!'
The wall exploded apart. A massive Poneglyph was sent flying straight out of the building with a single kick.
'So they hid it in here...'
B.I.B. immediately chased after it, catching one corner of the massive stone with one hand as it floated in midair. It looked toward Robin's location. Originally, it had intended to throw the Poneglyph over to her, but then it glanced toward Fujitora's battlefield instead.
If both a Poneglyph and 'Jolyne Cujoh' appeared on the same island, there was no guarantee Aokiji's suspicions, already fading, wouldn't return. The amusing joke that '"the Government's most wanted Devil Child has openly become one of the Seven Warlords"' hadn't come true yet.
Sharing the same mind as its original body, B.I.B. naturally had no intention of ruining Jolyne Cujoh's identity halfway through.
After thinking for a moment... its helmet detached from the armor and floated in front of the Poneglyph. The armor itself remained suspended in the air, holding up the enormous stone. The faceplate's narrow eyes glowed faintly as it rapidly scanned every line carved into the Poneglyph.
Then... the armor lowered its arm. The faceplate's eyes flashed once. With all its strength, it hurled the Poneglyph toward the sea.
'Whoosh, '
The giant stone became a black streak shooting across the sky before crashing into the turbulent ocean and sinking to the bottom.
'"Done."'
The faceplate returned to the armor. B.I.B. dusted off its hands and continued toward Fujitora's battlefield to watch the show.
---
"You never should've activated it!!" Sentomaru roared as he swung his giant axe, splitting apart an incoming mass of ice.
The surrounding buildings had already been reduced to rubble. Some ruins burned with flames, others were frozen solid beneath thick frost, and most had simply been blasted apart, as though pierced by some terrifying force.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere. Some had burned to death, some had frozen solid, and others had holes blasted straight through their chests.
The surviving subordinates of the Loan Shark King cried and cursed.
"Were we supposed to just let you steal it?! As if it'd be that easy!"
"It isn't easy anymore," Sentomaru raised an arm to block a laser beam, flipped backward, and said coldly, "Assuming you think your lives are worth something."
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The towering steel cyborg slowly approached. Half its body was covered in flowing magma, while the other half was frozen solid with ice. Its expressionless face never changed.
Every so often, its body convulsed violently. Each spasm caused magma, freezing energy, and brilliant golden light leaking from the steel plate sealing its mouth to erupt uncontrollably. Most of the people present had died after being caught in those random outbursts.
The overflowing magma swallowed the man who had been shouting only moments ago, burning him alive as he screamed.
The blind swordsman used his Gravity Blade to hold a mass of molten magma suspended in the air. A trace of pity flashed across his face before disappearing. With a swing of his sword, he hurled the molten mass out toward the sea. Soon, thick clouds of steam billowed into the sky in the distance.
"It's time to end this, Sentomaru." Feeling both scorching heat and bitter cold drawing closer, the blind swordsman leveled his Guardless Tachi at the failed weapon, 'Ruiner OR72'. "It must be destroyed here."
Sentomaru nodded. "There's no other choice."
The Guardless Tachi flashed. A brilliant slash streaked through the air.
But Sentomaru's eyes widened in surprise. The attack wasn't aimed at Ruiner OR72 at all. It was aimed... at the empty sky beside them.
An invisible wave of gravity shot forward, passing straight through the black armor floating nearby as a spectator.
'(End of Chapter)'
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