One Piece : Admiral Falcon is Pissed off again today!

Chapter 569 - 569

Michael had long been mentally prepared for the prospect of facing Lily as an enemy in a life-or-death battle.

Compared to that, it was far easier to accept than the idea of marrying Lily.

If anyone could twist paternal love into something else, Michael would definitely give them a thumbs-up...

Then flip them the bird and send them straight to jail.

What nonsense!?

That would not only tarnish Michael's feelings for his daughters but also sully Lily herself.

She might have committed countless misdeeds over the past eight hundred years, but those misdeeds came with their own consequences to bear.

For instance...

"Do you have anything left to say?" Michael slowly rose to his feet and stood before Lily.

As he looked down at his daughter, a wave of sorrow welled up in his heart.

"What is there to say? The victor is king, the loser a bandit..." Lily said calmly, without a trace of remorse.

"My only regret is that I didn't succeed just now."

"If you had really succeeded, I'm afraid you'd have been taken out by your sisters at home before I even had a chance to act."

Before Michael could finish speaking, several figures darted out from the side.

"Father! Are you alright?" Hancock leaped high toward Michael, like a young swallow returning to the nest...

Only to crash into Michael's chest with a flying shoulder tackle.

If not for Michael's formidable physical resilience, that hit might have been enough to kill him!

Even so, he felt a heavy impact on his chest, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

The daughter who appeared the most mature behaved even more childishly than Yamato.

"Hancock..." Michael looked at her with a forced smile. "Are you trying to take me out so you can inherit my estate, is that it?"

"Ahem, I was just worried about you!" Hancock rubbed her shoulder, offering a slightly guilty smile.

"Besides, could I even inherit your estate? I don't have the confidence to outlive you, you know."

Following closely behind, Yamato merely nodded towards Michael.

Then he turned around, fixing his gaze intently on Lily.

On this woman who, for over eight hundred years, had been secretly manipulating the entire sea from the shadows.

The so-called "mastermind behind the scenes" now lay quietly in place.

"Why won't you stand up and keep fighting?" Yamato frowned as she asked, "You seem to still have strength left... Hmph, as Father's daughter, is your willpower and obsession only enough to bring you this far? Then it seems you're not that much stronger than us after all..."

"Stand up? Keep fighting?" Lily tugged at the corner of her mouth, then revealed a brilliant smile.

"No, that would be far too tiring... I've already given my all, struggling in this world for over eight hundred years. It's time to close my eyes and have a good, long sleep."

Yamato was taken aback.

Such words...

Rather than showing weakness, they sounded more like a final testament.

"Yamato, don't ask any more."

Kozuki Toki approached slowly at that moment, though in her arms she carried a blue-haired girl identical to Lily.

The princess of Alabasta, Crocodile's niece, Nefertari Vivi.

Her eyes remained tightly shut, but as Kozuki Toki held her against her chest, feeling her body being moved, she actually furrowed her brows slightly.

Though the movement was slight, it at least meant...

She was still alive.

"Toki-nee, what do you mean by this?" Yamato frowned, "Don't tell me you actually think this woman is some kind of good person? She must be gathering her strength, preparing to hit us with a vicious blow from behind!"

"You're quite vigilant... It seems spending some time as a Pirate has actually sharpened your wariness." Kozuki Toki smiled, then handed the princess Vivi in her arms to Yamato.

Yamato was stunned, looking up and instinctively reaching out her hands to take Vivi.

"Protect her well. After all, she is the direct spark that ignited this final war." Kozuki Toki said, then turned to look at Michael.

"Father, you must have sensed it, right?"

"...Yes." Michael fell silent for a moment before finally nodding slowly, "I sensed it... Lily's gradually fading power and life."

To be precise, Michael had sensed it from the very beginning.

Lily... this time, she hadn't absorbed any of Vivi's life force, which shared the same origin as her own.

She had been teetering on the edge of losing control and death when she began this brief, climactic battle with Michael.

Rather than saying she came to fight...

It would be more accurate to say she came seeking an answer.

Kozuki Toki sighed.

The years had left no trace on her face, yet they had bestowed upon her a heavier wisdom.

Sometimes being too clever, seeing through another person at a glance...

Wasn't such a pleasant thing.

"Toki... I don't remember you being so fond of sighing."

"When people get older, they always like to reminisce about the past, then sigh slowly to express their regrets." Kozuki Toki stood before Lily, before her sister.

Sisters from over eight hundred years ago now faced each other calmly once more.

"This should be the first time the two of us have stood together peacefully since overthrowing the Great Kingdom, right?"

"You call this peaceful?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

Though she bore no wounds, her life force was rapidly draining away as the power of the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Demo was consumed, "I'm about to die, you know."

"A dying man speaks from his heart... Every path a person takes is chosen by themselves, but..." Kozuki Toki furrowed her brow.

"This fruit was given to you by me."

"What? Do you want me to thank you?" Lily flashed a provocative smile. "You truly delivered power right into my hands."

Michael watched his two daughters, still at each other's throats even at such a time, and simply shook his head.

Looking at Lily, he couldn't help but marvel at how miraculous her current state was.

Her originally weak physique, strained by the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Demon was already riddled with holes like a tattered cloth.

Yet, because she had undergone the Immortality Surgery of the Ope Ope Fruit, she had achieved a truly peculiar state.

To be precise, Lily had already been half-dead ever since she ate the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Demon Form.

The powerful backlash had nearly drained all her life force...

This was also one of the reasons she had accepted the Immortality Surgery.

For over eight hundred years, she had tried her best to maintain a balance between power and life force...

It was precisely because of this that she preferred to manipulate politics rather than conquer everything with her formidable strength.

But upon seeing Michael again, upon seeing the Archangel of the End...

It was as if Lily had glimpsed her own fate.

She knew...

Her end had arrived.

Eight hundred years of self-torment, eight hundred years of waiting...

Were about to reach a conclusion.