Blackbeard: I'm Going to Make Trouble

At this moment, Teach wanted nothing more than to pin Marco to the ground and rub him against the wall, shouting, "Aren't you usually so awesome? How come you couldn't even notice this little trick? You piece of trash, you idiot, eat shit!"

But at this moment he had to force a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Thank you... Marco, Brother Marco, but you don't need to trouble yourselves with such a small matter."

"It's alright. Although you Teach a bit sleazy, we all know you're a good person. You need to have confidence!" Marco said earnestly.

"Yeah, Teach, it's not your fault you're ugly, but going out and scaring... cough cough, I mean, you..." Jozu racked his brains to find Teach's good points, and after a solemn moment of contemplation, he nodded and said, "You're a good guy, and those good girls certainly won't miss out on you as their scapegoat."

Teach gasped, almost thinking that his ambition had been exposed and that's why the two of them were giving him a dressing down.

"Thank goodness, it seems my strange behavior didn't arouse their suspicion. Wait, doesn't that mean they were telling the truth?" Teach felt as if his heart had been pierced a thousand times. He was confident in his appearance; although he was a bit dark-skinned, his looks should be enough to cover up his flaws. "Sigh, whatever. The path of the strong is destined to be lonely. Besides, I'm going to become the Pirate Kings... A man like me can't be defeated by this setback."

After some divergent thinking, Teach seriously considered the matter again, "What exactly is going on? Why hasn't anyone else noticed anything amiss except me? Could it be that I'm actually the strongest one, and Nightmare and Red Hair are just putting on a show?"

Marco noticed that Teach, who had previously exuded a decadent and desperate aura of a loser, had suddenly become energetic, his eyes shining brightly and his whole body radiating Haki. Marco couldn't help but wonder if Teach had gotten his brain caught in a door today.

Boom!

A terrifying aura soared into the sky, and the domineering will was like the might of heaven, instantly silencing the bustling hall. Everyone was trembling with fear, not knowing what had happened, only feeling their legs bending uncontrollably, as if they were about to prostrate themselves at the feet of this terrifying will.

Blackbeard's hard-won momentum was completely wiped out, making him realize once again the gap between himself and that level. A small difference can lead to a huge difference, which further strengthened his determination to obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"As expected, I knew Nightmare wasn't a simple character. There's no reason why he wouldn't have noticed something that even I could see!" Blackbeard wasn't too frustrated; on the contrary, he was somewhat relieved that someone had finally made a move, otherwise he would have been unable to hold back his outburst.

However, to Teach's utter bewilderment, Roy went straight for Red Hair.

"Red Hair, there's no need to hide it anymore. Scopper Gaban is on your ship, so he's probably here for me!"

Boom!

Another burst of Conqueror's Haki surged into the sky, colliding violently with Roy's aura. The golden arena seemed unable to withstand such pressure, and cracks spread rapidly like a spider web, as if the golden arena would collapse at any moment.

"Golden Solidification!"

With a loud shout, the cracked gold quickly closed up, and the crumbling hall stabilized once more. The one with this ability was undoubtedly the Gild Tesoro.

The people in the hall were all powerful figures who dominated the New World, so they wouldn't be knocked unconscious. However, they were all horrified. Those who had never seen the Four Emperors make a move simply couldn't imagine the gap between themselves and that level.

"This is... a clash of Conqueror's Haki between Red Hair and Nightmare!"

"They're too strong! My Conqueror's Haki is as laughable as child's play compared to these two monsters!"

"Wait, Scopper Gaban? Hiss! Could it be the one I know..."

"Idiot, anyone Nightmare specifically mentions is no nobody, and the only one with that kind of strength and influence is indeed that person, the third-ranking figure on the Pirate Kings's ship, known as the Pirate Kings's Left Hand, Scopper Gaban!"

"Wow! Red Hair, one of the Four Emperors, has teamed up with a legend among pirates just to deal with Nightmare alone. This is... so exciting!"

"Just how powerful is Nightmare that he would actually make one of the Four Emperors lower himself to join forces with someone else?"

These people are all the kind of people who love to watch a good show and are naturally happy to see this kind of thing happen.

"Phew, those two monsters finally did something good!" Bazel patted his chest with lingering fear, then gathered the dozen or so Celestial Dragons were foaming at the mouth from the impact of Conqueror's Haki together, preparing to pack them up and take them away. "These old guys will be much easier to deal with once they're unconscious!"

Inside the Whitebeard Pirates' private room.

"Hmph, they're all bad news, it'll be good if they fight!" Jozu said with dissatisfaction.

"It seems the threat I sensed was the battle between these two monsters. After all, while Jozu and I are mostly fine, it won't be easy for the others to avoid the aftermath of their fight." Marco breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, that's good. As long as I'm more cautious, there shouldn't be any major problems. It's better than these two monsters attacking our Whitebeard Pirates."

Teach stared blankly, completely bewildered. "What's going on? Why did Nightmare suddenly attack Red Hair? Damn it, Nightmare's actions have drawn everyone else's attention. Now that's great, he's even more unrestrained in his attacks!"

"No!" Teach was startled, realizing a possibility. "Nightmare did this on purpose. His goal was to cover up the auctioneer's actions. No wonder no one noticed the auctioneer's behavior. With Nightmare's deliberate cover-up, unless someone like me is keeping a close eye on the Dark-Dark Fruit, even someone with top-tier Observation Haki might not be able to detect anything."

"Red Hair might be able to do it, which is why he took the initiative to attack, leaving Red Hair no time to attend to other matters."

"Damn it, I didn't expect Nightmare to also have his eye on the Dark-Dark Fruit. If this fruit falls into his hands, there's no way I can take it back from him!"

Teach gritted his teeth, thinking angrily, "This might be an opportunity. He's currently being held back by Red Hair. If I seize the chance to snatch the Devil Fruit, Nightmare won't have time to make a move against me."

"That's right. Even if Red Hair recognizes me, he's being held back by Nightmare, so he won't dare to attack me rashly. This is a golden opportunity to keep these two people who can stop me in check!" Teach felt more and more that this was an excellent opportunity. As for whether he would be exposed and the consequences of exposure, he had completely put those things out of his mind.