The Ambitious Man
After shouting his final vow, Teach collapsed to his knees as if all his strength had been drained.
In the firelight, he knelt on the ground, his shoulders heaving violently, his breathing sounding like a broken bellows, and cold sweat pouring down his body like raindrops.
In the blurred vision, only that standing figure remained.
"Huff... huff..."
"Is this the end... of my filthy life..."
He slowly closed his eyes, like a prisoner awaiting death, letting the darkness completely engulf him.
--But right now.
"Boom--!"
The heavens and earth roared, and the Conqueror's Haki that had been suffocating him suddenly subsided!
The suffocating feeling, like a mountain collapsing, vanished instantly; the air began to flow again, and the night breeze swept over me.
"Ha... haa--!"
Teach suddenly burst out of the water like a drowning man breaking through the sea, gasping for air. His lungs trembled with the intense breath, and he coughed awkwardly, sweat and tears blurring his vision.
His pupils dilated due to lack of oxygen, and his heart pounded wildly in his chest.
"Whoosh--whoosh--"
Roy lifted his fingertip slightly.
The void trembled slightly, and two pitch-black wooden boxes silently appeared, hovering and rotating in mid-air.
Teach shuddered, trembling as he looked up, his eyes fixed on the two wooden boxes.
"So it really is your son... Xebec."
The deep murmur, seemingly from an ancient abyss, struck Teach's ears with crystal clarity.
"!!!"
Teach's pupils contracted sharply, and his voice trembled, almost tearing his throat:
"Roy!! How... how do you know about my father?!"
You weren't even born yet!
However, Roy remained completely unmoved, neither confirming nor denying.
With just a wave of his hand--
The two wooden boxes slowly descended and landed steadily in his arms with a loud thud!
In that instant, Teach felt as if the weight in his arms was an entire ocean pressing down on his heart, so heavy it was suffocating.
"Eat these two fruits."
"Then carve out your own niche and prove your ambition."
"Remember—as long as civilians aren't harmed, the Navy can turn a blind eye to your actions."
"Except for Pirate forces~"
His words were indifferent, yet they were as firmly etched into Teach's heart as an ironclad rule.
"Gurgle..."
Teach's apple bobbed, and cold sweat dripped down his beard.
"Is this a trap? A test? Or a blessing?!"
My brain was working frantically, and my reason was teetering on the brink of collapse.
But just as he looked up, he saw Roy's ambiguous smile, and his eyebrows twitched slightly—
With just a glance, he crushed all the doubts in his heart like a ton of rock.
"This is my last chance..."
"I absolutely cannot back down!!"
Teach gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with madness, and suddenly flung open the wooden box lid!
"Click--!"
The pitch-black air was torn apart by two eerie beams of light.
The two Devil Fruits lay quietly in the wooden box, their interwoven patterns seemingly mocking Teach's current fate.
His eyes widened in disbelief, and his mind instinctively searched through the "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia" that he had memorized for decades.
He recognized the first one at a glance.
--The peel looks like mud wriggling, and the murky, indistinct lines give the illusion that it can swallow everything.
"This is... Logia... Swamp-Swamp Fruit?!"
Teach's chest heaved violently, his teeth clenched, and his breathing was so heavy it sounded like he was about to tear his throat apart.
"Roy... he actually gave me a Logia- type power?! Has he gone mad?!"
Before he could even recover from his shock, his gaze had already fallen on the second fruit.
--It has a purple skin, is shaped like a cantaloupe, and is covered with plain spiral patterns.
Teach's brows furrowed suddenly, his mind racing, comparing each option... until his face turned completely grim.
"This thing... is Paramecia Gum- Gum-Gum Fruit...??"
"The ability is to turn the entire body, including internal organs, skin, bones... into rubber. It can stretch and bounce back, and is impervious to Physics impacts..."
"To put it bluntly, it's just a ridiculous ability that turns you into a rubber monster if you eat it?!"
His breathing became rapid, his beard trembled with anger, and he clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging, his inner turmoil escalating.
"What a joke!! This kind of trash ability doesn't even deserve to be eaten by me?!"
"Roy... are you trying to humiliate me?!"
But in the instant that anger erupted, Roy's cold and ruthless eyes flashed through his mind, and a chill ran through him.
A chill ran down my spine, and I broke out in a cold sweat.
"No... no."
He gritted his teeth, a thought flashing through his mind—
"Could this be... his true method of checks and balances?!"
"The Swamp-Swamp Fruit grants me power... but the Gum-Gum Fruit is just shackles?!"
"You want to trap me in a state of powerlessness to limit my ambition?!"
At this thought, Teach's eyes suddenly went mad, a sinister smile twisted his lips, and then he burst into a maniacal laugh that seemed to tear the heavens and earth apart:
"Thief--hahaha!!"
"Roy!! You underestimate me!!"
"Even rubber—I can grind it into fangs that devour the world!!"
Without further hesitation, he opened his gaping maw and swallowed both fruits at the same time!
"Gurgle--!"
Instantly, a tearing pain swept through my entire body!
The viscosity of the mud and the elasticity of the rubber collided wildly within his body!
His blood vessels bulged like venomous snakes crawling, and the muscles beneath his skin twisted violently as he rolled and struggled on the ground.
"Ahhh--!"
The screams seemed to come from the depths of hell, but his eyes were more frantic and clear-headed than ever before!
"I'm Teach, you know!!"
"I will never die here!!"
--Darkness and light intertwine, tearing and merging.
Roy stared at the scene before him, his fingers pausing for a moment, a sigh escaping his lips.
"Teach... truly worthy of being called the most original [Pirate]."
In his eyes, Teach had long transcended the category of "greedy person".
He was a strategist who had endured for many years, maintaining a low profile and patiently lying in wait until the opportune moment arrived;
They are ruthless opportunists who will seize opportunities without hesitation, even at the cost of betrayal and cruelty.
It is the embodiment of desire, turning dreams into endless ambition;
They are the destroyers of order, using plunder and betrayal to overturn the foundations of the world.
--Marshall D. Teach
He embodies the most primal and terrifying aspect of "Pirates "—
Insatiable greed, and ruthless willingness to pay any price.
"Smack--"
Roy snapped his fingers casually.
The dark barrier receded like a tide in an instant, and the world returned to silence.
Amidst the embers of the flames outside, Ace stood with his arms crossed.
At his feet, Lafitte, Van Augur, Jesus Burgess, and Doc Q were already scorched and battered by the flames, trembling and no longer daring to put up any resistance.
"All done, Roy."
Ace grinned, and the flames subsided with the wind, leaving only a scorched aura.
Roy nodded slightly, turned around and walked side by side with Ace, their figures gradually blending into the night breeze.
The wind swept by, carrying away his cold yet iron-like whisper, "Remember my words, Teach..."
That sound, like a curse, was etched into the depths of the night.
"Huff... huff..."
Teach slowly struggled to his feet, his hands bracing against the blood- and mud-splattered ground, his chest heaving violently.
A crimson light danced in his pupils, as if fire and darkness were intertwined.
He stared intently at Roy and Ace's departing figures, a chilling growl escaping his lips:
"One day... I will plunge this ocean into complete darkness!!"
Ruthless and sinister, yet burning with an intense determination.
That's the look in the eyes of an ambitious person.
(P. S.: There's been a very strong typhoon these past two days, please be careful.)