Teach!
Marco shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the vast expanse of the New World.
Everyone’s ears went numb from the sheer force of the roar.
Terrified seagulls flapped their wings and scattered from the top of the masts in a frantic rush, and a massive ring of white foam splashed violently against the wooden sides of the ship.
Marco’s entire body was completely covered in the brilliant blue flames of his mythical Phoenix form.
He didn’t transform into his full avian shape just yet.
But that kind of overwhelming, suffocating killing intent didn’t need a full transformation to be expressed.
His eyes turned red.
It was the terrifying kind of glare where the pupils contract into tiny dots and the whites of the eyes become completely bloodshot with raw fury.
The First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Phoenix Marco, was pushed past his limit.
He had been drinking, laughing, and sailing with Thatch for as many years as he had been on this ship.
They were true brothers.
And he had just watched Thatch get stabbed.
From behind.
He only wanted to do one thing now, and that was to tear the traitor apart.
However, Ace was even faster than him.
With a sharp clack, a dagger was unsheathed from its scabbard.
The flames around Ace’s body surged outward without any warning, exploding into a roaring blaze.
The temperature of the fire was too high.
Within three seconds, the sturdy wooden deck beneath his feet turned from a rich brown to a charred, crumbling black.
The wood fibers curled violently at the edges as thick wisps of white smoke rose into the air.
I truly treated you as a brother.
Ace walked toward Teach, taking one heavy step after another.
On your first day in the Second Division, I was the one who took you to the kitchen to find food so you wouldn’t go hungry.
When you lost a fight and messed up a mission, I was the one who took the scolding from Pops for you.
On your birthday, it was Thatch and I who bought you drinks and celebrated late into the night.
With every single word he spoke, the flames surrounding his body grew stronger and more intense, reflecting the deep betrayal burning in his heart.
You fucking tried to kill Thatch over a Devil Fruit?
The shocked crew members on the deck automatically pulled back to both sides, clearing a wide path.
They huddled together in tight groups, some with pure anger twisting their faces, others with complete bewilderment and disbelief.
A few of the newer, less experienced crew members were shivering in the corners.
They were not shivering out of fear of Teach, but out of absolute terror of Ace and Marco.
The raw conqueror-like aura leaking from these two commanders was heavy enough to crush several ordinary pirate ships into splinters.
Teach knelt flat on the ground and looked up, his large frame trembling.
There were still fresh tear stains streaking his face.
Commander, this is fake!
The video screen is lying!
Listen to me explain…
Ace ignored his pleas entirely and held his dagger horizontally across his chest.
Raging flames spread upward along the steel blade, turning it into a sword of pure fire.
The Fourth Division members had already drawn their weapons and surrounded the area.
Thatch was shielded safely behind Marco’s blue flames.
His face was still incredibly pale, but his gaze had shifted from pure shock to something else entirely—something very quiet, cold, and deep.
He was looking directly at Teach.
This was the brother he had known, trusted, and protected for twenty long years.
It turned out every single day, every single smile, and every single conversation was nothing but a sickening lie.
Enough.
A voice came from the direction of the giant captain’s chair.
It wasn’t a loud shout.
But everyone on the massive flagship stopped moving instantly.
Whitebeard.
The old man was still sitting firmly in his giant chair.
His massive wine cup was placed carelessly by the armrest.
The giant polearm Murakumogiri stood tall to the right of the chair, its brass-wrapped scabbard gleaming brightly in the salty sea breeze.
Whitebeard’s massive right hand rested heavily on the hilt of Murakumogiri.
It was this very hand.
That was shaking.
It was not shaking from fear.
Edward Newgate had never feared a single thing in his entire life.
When he was young and in his prime, he wasn’t afraid of clashing weapons with Roger, he wasn’t afraid of fighting the entire force of the Marines, and he wasn’t afraid of brawling with Fleet Admirals.
His hand was shaking solely because of pure, unadulterated anger.
He was forcing himself to suppress it.
He was holding back with every ounce of his strength.
If he didn’t hold it back right now, the devastating power of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit would shatter the entire sea and sink the ship the moment he lost control.
His beloved sons were still standing on the deck right in front of him.
He could never allow himself to hurt his own family.
So he held it back.
Suddenly, the air around them rang out with sound after sound.
The cracking noises were very fine and sharp, sounding exactly like someone treading on thin ice in the dead of winter.
Visible white cracks split the very atmosphere one by one around the massive hand gripping his blade.
Teach.
Whitebeard spoke.
Teach remained kneeling flat on the deck, completely motionless under the pressure.
Whitebeard looked down at him.
His fierce golden pupils stared at the massive frame kneeling on the ground, taking in that fat, aggrieved face covered in fake tear stains and running snot.
He looked at him for a very long time, as if trying to find a single trace of the son he thought he knew.
You’ve called me Pops for twenty years.
Whitebeard said.
His voice was unnaturally flat and quiet.
It was exactly like the eerie surface of the sea right before a devastating storm hits.
And I’ve been your Pops for twenty years.
On the deck, some of the hardened pirates began to shed silent tears.
It wasn’t out of sadness for Teach, but rather a confusing, painful mix of humiliation and heartache that felt stuck deep in their throats.
Whitebeard picked up his giant wine cup and took one last, massive gulp.
From now on…
He crushed the heavy wine cup in his fist.
That was the second one he had destroyed today.
Sharp glass shards pierced deep into his palm, and fresh red blood mixed with the leftover alcohol, dripping slowly onto his thigh.
He didn’t care about the pain at all.
You are not worthy of that name.
Teach knelt there, his whole body trembling violently.
This time, it wasn’t an act.
This time, he was truly, deeply trembling with fear.
Whitebeard’s tone was simply too flat.
It was chilling straight to the bone.
For twenty years, he had heard Pops get angry, heard him laugh roaring laughs, heard him curse at enemies, and even heard him cry for fallen comrades.
But this kind of absolute, dead calm…
He had never heard it before in his life.
This was not a lecture.
This was a death sentence.
The final tense string in Teach’s heart snapped with a sharp pop.
Keep acting?
It was already completely useless.
The mysterious video inventory system in the sky had exposed every single secret he held.
Pops’ cold gaze told him everything he needed to know: if he kept playing the fool, there would be nothing waiting for him but a swift, brutal dead end.
Teach knelt on the ground, his body trembling silently for three long seconds.
Then, he stood up.
The tear stains on his face weren’t even dry yet, and snot still hung disgustingly from his upper lip.
But his eyes had completely changed.
Those eyes that had been hidden, avoided, and masked with fake honesty and shallow grievance for twenty years…
Were now completely exposed to the world.
There was no loyalty left in them, no gratitude for the ship that raised him.
And there was certainly no brotherly affection for his crewmates.
They were the ruthless, calculating eyes of a wild beast.
Zehahahaha!
The iconic, sinister laughter erupted from deep within Teach’s throat—coarse, sharp, hoarse, and completely manic.
The soft crying on the deck stopped instantly.
Every single pirate looked at Teach in horror.
They saw a complete and total stranger standing in front of them.
If I can’t hide it anymore, then I won’t!
Twenty years, twenty long years!
I’ve served heavy plates for twenty years on this broken, aging ship, scrubbed the wooden deck for twenty years like a slave, and called that old man Pops for twenty years!
He spread his thick arms wide and roared at the massive sky screen above them.
Do you think I actually enjoyed this pathetic life?
Every single meal I ate, every sip of cheap wine I drank, every time I put my arm around your shoulders and smiled—it was all a grand act I performed while holding back my deep disgust!
His voice grew louder and louder, echoing across the sea.
This sea belongs to me!
The next era is mine!
Why does an old relic like Whitebeard get to sit in that glorious chair!
Why does a dead man like Roger get to be the Pirate King!
It’s my turn now!
It’s Marshall D.
Teach’s turn!
His right hand suddenly reached down for his waist.
A heavy flintlock pistol was resting there.
Teach gripped the dark handle of the flintlock and raised the muzzle in a flash: He was aiming directly at Thatch.
The Dark-Dark Fruit hadn’t actually appeared in the real world yet, but Thatch was already identified as the future holder in Austin’s video broadcast.
If he killed Thatch right now and broke that future connection, there might still be some room for him to maneuver and steal the fruit later.
The gun fired with a deafening blast.
Bang!
But the lead bullet didn’t reach Thatch’s chest.
Marco had already moved, instantly blocking the trajectory.
His Phoenix form was fully active now.
The bullet slammed directly into the swirling blue flames, the intense heat melting the metal into liquid, and the minor wound healed itself in a fraction of a second.
Teach’s pupils contracted in panic.
He didn’t hesitate.
He turned and ran as fast as his heavy legs could carry him.
He rushed straight toward the ship’s outer railing.
As long as he could jump into the open sea…
He had a small escape boat hidden away beforehand.
He had a contingency plan ready for this exact scenario, having thought about it and planned it out since his third year on the ship.
He had gone over every single escape route in his head hundreds of times over two decades.
But in his panic, he forgot one crucial thing.
He was currently standing on Whitebeard’s ship, surrounded by the strongest pirate crew in the world.
Where do you think you’re going, traitor.
Jozu’s massive body shimmered as it turned into solid diamond, blocking the main path.
The incredibly fast speed-type combatants from the Third Division blocked the entire left corridor.
Armed members of the Seventh Division blocked the starboard side completely.
Dozens of furious members from the Twelfth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Divisions poured out from the lower cabins, weapons drawn.
Teach was entirely trapped in the middle of the wide deck, surrounded on all four sides by his former brothers.
He stopped running, panting heavily as sweat poured down his neck.
The flintlock was still gripped tightly in his hand, but the muzzle was shaking uncontrollably.
Zehaha…
Zehahaha…
He was still trying to laugh, but the laughter was broken, desperate, and hollow.
Whitebeard slowly stood up from his chair.
He casually ripped away the medical lines connecting him to the life-support machines around the giant chair, pulling the thick needles straight out from his arms as small droplets of blood splattered onto the floor.
The terrified medical nurses screamed and backed away into the shadows.
The legendary old man stood tall and proud.
He was a giant of a man, standing nearly ten meters tall, casting a massive shadow over the deck.
He picked up his supreme grade blade, Murakumogiri.
The moment his weight shifted, the entire Moby Dick sank half an inch deeper into the ocean.
Teach.
Whitebeard called his name one final time.
Teach’s desperate laughter stopped instantly.
He looked up at the legendary man he had called Pops for twenty years.
The undisputed strongest man in the world.
The Yonko was holding that impossibly long Naginata, walking toward him step by step with absolute gravity.
With every single heavy step Whitebeard took on the deck, the thick wood cracked and split into deep seams.
Teach’s lips were trembling with absolute terror.
Without the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he knew he was nothing compared to the monster standing before him.
Just then…
The giant sky screen moved again, changing frames.
Everyone’s attention across the entire world was forcibly dragged back to the sky.
Austin’s clear narration cut in at just the right moment, his tone sounding even deeper and more ominous than before: After killing Thatch and defecting from the crew, Teach successfully consumed the Dark-Dark Fruit and formed the notorious Blackbeard Pirates.
But this terrible betrayal was only the beginning of the chaos.
A brand new, terrifying scene appeared on the bright sky screen.