Under the star-studded night sky, everyone followed Jerry's gaze and turned their attention to Mihawk.
However, the world's greatest swordsman didn't even have the desire to respond. He turned around with his characteristic stoic expression and walked into the Red Force's cabin, leaving everyone with only a view of his distinctly non-bald head retreating into the shadows.
Jerry blinked in confusion, turned back to look at the defeated Shanks, and raised his arm to scratch his head thoughtfully. "What's that supposed to mean? Your friend doesn't seem particularly interested in acknowledging my victory."
"Get lost! Cough..." Shanks rolled his eyes dramatically and groaned with obvious irritation. "Can't you let me maintain some dignity for just a moment? Brat! He doesn't want to deal with you, not me!"
"Oh, maybe he has social anxiety issues," Jerry replied with a dismissive shrug. "I'm heading back to my ship first. You can lie there and contemplate your defeat as long as you need."
Before he finished speaking, Jerry had already flashed back to the deck of the Black Star in a blur of motion.
After greeting everyone with casual waves, he was about to say something when a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him.
"Big Brother Jerry! That's amazing—you actually won!" Carrot flew over with obvious excitement, cheering enthusiastically before her expression grew worried. "Are you okay with all those injuries? And Big Brother Ace, he..."
"He hasn't been cut open for surgery yet, so that's encouraging," Jerry replied, momentarily confused before the implications hit him. "These are just minor scratches on me. I'm fine. What exactly happened to Ace?" His enhanced senses had already detected Deuce's location in the medical bay, and he was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation.
Skull stepped forward to deliver a concise summary. "Ace sustained critical injuries during his fight with Beckman. Deuce is trying to save his life right now."
Hearing this urgent news, Jerry immediately turned and strode toward the medical bay with determined purpose. "I need to see him immediately."
"We're coming too!" Carina declared, speaking for the group before being pulled along by Carrot as they hurried to catch up.
Seeing their collective concern, Skull and Brook followed closely behind.
"Boss Ace and Beckman both got seriously messed up," Skull explained rapidly as they walked. "We received reports earlier that Beckman was also critically wounded. The Red-Haired Pirates are fighting just as hard to save him..."
After absorbing this information, Jerry maintained his brisk pace and nodded grimly. "Understood. Let's check on Ace first."
He walked quickly to the medical room door and knocked with restrained urgency.
After hearing Deuce's muffled response from within, Jerry nodded to Skull and the others, then slowly pushed the door open and entered the sterile environment.
"How is he?" Jerry asked immediately, observing Deuce working frantically beside Ace's bed.
After several more minutes of intense concentration, Deuce finally straightened his hunched back, wiped sweat from his forehead with a blood-stained hand, and released a long, exhausted breath. "The surgery went as well as could be expected, but like I explained before..."
"Even after healing, there'll be permanent damage and complications, right?" Jerry completed the thought directly.
"Yeah..." Deuce paused, staring at Ace's unconscious form with obvious concern, and nodded silently.
"Alright, let me give this a try," Jerry said, glancing at the system interface in the depths of his consciousness and quickly locating the skill that had been lying dormant in the corner, half-polished and mostly forgotten.
[[Function 2: Healing Spring; Note: Greatly enhances personal recovery and injury healing; can summon healing springs to treat others' injuries at the cost of stamina.]
Since acquiring this ability, Jerry had been primarily using the passive recovery effects for his own benefit. The skill had proven so effective for personal healing that he'd completely forgotten about its potential for treating others.
After all, his philosophical idol—a certain tree-like character—had once declared that "studying medicine can't save people in the pirate world."
Therefore, Jerry had never considered himself a healer, nor had he thought about taking over Deuce's medical responsibilities.
But with the current emergency situation and his countless personal experiences with this recovery skill's power, he felt completely confident in its effectiveness.
After hearing Jerry's proposal, Deuce turned around and stared in astonishment.
After a long moment, Deuce snapped back to reality and said urgently, "Jerry, you're already injured this badly, and you're still jumping around like nothing happened!? Come on, lie down and let me treat your wounds properly."
Jerry gently brushed away Deuce's outstretched hand and waved dismissively. "I'm fine—the bleeding stopped ages ago. Don't worry about me right now."
After delivering this reassurance, Jerry strode forward, bypassed the concerned navigator, approached Ace's bedside, and studied the wounds that had received preliminary treatment.
Since Skull had explained the situation in advance, Jerry's attention immediately focused on the damage to Ace's liver, right lung, and the injuries near his heart—the most life-threatening areas.
"Boss Jerry, how does it look?" Skull and the others crowded at the doorway, asking with obvious anxiety.
"It should be manageable," Jerry responded in a low voice, as much to reassure everyone else as to convince himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jerry extended his right arm and gently pressed his open palm against Ace's abdomen.
Instantly, a clear, transparent blue stream of energy quickly gathered into a luminous sphere that completely enveloped Ace's entire body.
As everyone watched with nervous anticipation, they first observed that the smaller wounds across Ace's body were healing at an incredible rate visible to the naked eye.
Then, countless tiny points of light gathered from the surrounding area and concentrated on the severely damaged parts of Ace's body, creating what appeared to be some kind of mystical healing ceremony.
This extraordinary "treatment" continued for several hours. As the moon reached its zenith overhead, the excitement on Deuce and the others' faces became increasingly obvious.
Jerry slowly withdrew his hand only after the azure energy had completely merged into Ace's body and the healing process appeared complete.
He took a deep breath and impatiently pulled a banana from his storage space, stuffing it into his mouth to replenish some energy.
"That should do it," Jerry said through his chewing. "Deuce, give him a thorough examination. I need to get some real food and rest for a while."
Hearing Jerry's somewhat garbled words, Deuce nodded with obvious excitement. "No problem at all!"
As Jerry patted his clothes and prepared to leave, Cavendish—who had apparently regained consciousness at some point during the healing session—raised his arms tremblingly from his nearby bed. "Cough... Jerry, I... I want one too!"
Hearing this pathetic plea, Jerry turned his head to glance at Cavendish, who was wrapped in bandages like an elaborate mummy. Without stopping his exit, he walked straight out the door while leaving only a few words echoing in the air.
"You're not dying, right? We'll talk about it another day. I'm practically starving to death. That's final. Until we meet again!"
Cavendish's outstretched hand froze in midair as he let out a miserable wail. "No! I still need to livestream updates for my fans! Ah, it hurts so much..."
A stream of blood spurted from his reopened wounds, causing Deuce to roll his eyes helplessly before hurrying over to treat the damage Cavendish had inflicted on himself through excessive movement.
Seeing that Cavendish was still primarily concerned with such trivial matters even while seriously injured, Skull and the others smiled with relief and followed Jerry's path back to the main cabin.
Jerry demolished an enormous quantity of food in record time, then rushed to the deck, grabbed his fishing rod, cast his line into the dark waters, and collapsed onto his reclining chair like a man who'd fought two consecutive battles.
"Whew... feels like I just went through hell twice in one day," he muttered with exhaustion. "I'm completely wiped out."
The adrenaline was finally wearing off, and Jerry could feel every cut, bruise, and strained muscle from his legendary duel with one of the Four Emperors. But as he lay there under the stars with his fishing line trailing in the calm water, he couldn't help but smile slightly. They had won, Ace would recover, and the Laugh Tale pointer remained safely in their possession.