Blackbeard's Decision
"Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me? Nightmare Fallen Sea just like that? Is this the end of the legend of the Great Pirate Era?" The scene before them was so shocking that many people stopped fighting and asked in disbelief.
As soon as they finished speaking, they began to regret it, realizing that they had done something stupid. How could they discuss such things with the enemy during a battle? Who knows if the enemy was secretly laughing at them?
However, to their surprise, the opponent who had been fighting them fiercely and seemed determined to fight to the death also withdrew from the battle and started arguing with them about the issue.
"Idiot, don't forget that Nightmare has a way to resurrect. If he were so easy to kill, how could the World Government tolerate him flirting with the Big Mom Pirate Crew? This sea is Nightmare to be a monster even harder to kill than Kaido!"
"Damn it, have you lost your mind? Red Hair and Scopper Gaban have an overwhelming advantage. For them, killing Nightmare once or killing Nightmare a hundred times makes no difference!"
"Utterly foolish! Are all the Whitebeard Pirates such simple-minded idiots? It is said that Nightmare has eyes that can see through the fog of the future. Didn't you see that Nightmare is still acting so confidently? It's clear that this defeat was expected by him. Perhaps this was his trap to lure us in!"
"How dare you insult the Whitebeard Pirates! You bastard, I'll tear you to pieces!"
"Ha, come on then, who's afraid of you? Without Whitebeard, you're nothing!"
The two sides quickly got into a heated argument, their faces red and necks thick, their eyes bloodshot, and they started fighting again.
"That bastard Nightmare is not far from death. You old man, you've miscalculated. Hahaha... Hiss!" Seeing this, Chaton felt all the gloom of the past few days vanish in an instant. Even the salty sea breeze became wonderful and sweet. Ignoring his injuries, he laughed heartily. However, his joy turned to sorrow, aggravating his still unhealed wounds, and a large amount of blood gushed out from his chest.
"Are you an idiot? I've been saying from beginning to end that as long as we thwart your Navy's plans, that's all that matters. As for the battles in the sky, they have nothing to do with me. Besides, what's there for a Navy guy like you to be excited about in a battle between pirates? Could you be a Red Hair planted by Shanks in the Marine Headquarters?" Golden Lion shook his head, looking Chaton up and down with a look of pity for an idiot, and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Golden Lion wasn't worried about Roy's safety at all. As a member of the dark and violent organization Akatsuki, he knew roughly what Roy had up his sleeve. The part he knew was enough for him to conclude that the current situation posed no threat to Roy.
Chaton's pained yet smiling expression froze. Was he supposed to tell him that he had been humiliated by Nightmare?
Momousagi also had doubts. Judging from Golden Lion's attitude, he didn't seem to have much interaction with Nightmare. Could it be that she guessed wrong?
"Lord Roy... Lord Roy has fallen!" Smoothie was terrified, her face paling, and she lost her composure, almost giving Ulysses a chance to exploit her weakness.
"Calm down, don't worry. That guy is much stronger than you think. This kind of situation is far from enough to kill him." Although Katakuri disapproved of Roy's methods of poaching people, he had no doubt about Roy's strength.
"Nightmare... can it really fall so easily?" After Hawkeye forced Jozu back with his sword, he looked at the almost frozen scene in the sky, lost in thought.
"Aren't you going to think about a way out? After Nightmare falls, you'll be next!" Lucky Roux, whose role in the team was to be the tank, was still furious at being beaten up, and he taunted Enel.
"Fallen... Heh, think what you will, but you're right about one thing: I really should start thinking about my escape route, otherwise, being caught in the crossfire would be very troublesome!" Enel stopped fighting, picked at his ear, and said lazily.
"Damage... trouble?" Ben Beckman frowned slightly. Logically, he should have been overjoyed to hear that Enel was preparing to escape. Even Nightmare's most capable subordinate was preparing to abandon him and flee. Didn't this prove that their plan today had succeeded? But there was always a lingering gloom in his heart, making it difficult for him to be happy.
"According to Dragon, Nightmare is the person he knows best who is the most deeply hidden. It's more believable that Kaido was killed than that Nightmare fell. But Enel's expression doesn't seem fake. He seems to be really preparing to leave first. It seems there must be something I haven't noticed." Beneath Kuma's white-rimmed glasses, fluctuations of data analysis flickered.
"Is Nightmare really going to fall?" Bazel's expression behind the mask shifted unpredictably, but he ultimately withdrew his half-step. "If Nightmare is truly all show and no substance, the combined strength of Red Hair and Scopper Gaban is more than enough. Conversely, if Nightmare is hiding his true power, my approach now would be playing right into his hands. Therefore, the best course of action is to observe the situation and wait patiently for developments."
"It's too late! I have to eat the Dark-Dark Fruit before Red Hair completely defeats Nightmare, otherwise all my efforts and waiting will be in vain!" Teach's eyes revealed a sinister glint, as if he had made a major decision. His body seemed to have opened a valve, and his blood flowed backward. Even Teach couldn't help but let out a scream.
In that instant, the flow of blood in Teach's body was accelerated to the extreme, the veins under his skin bulged, the sound of a waterfall crashing against rocks came from his body, and the mist exhaled from his nostrils was scarlet. His blood energy was completely ignited.
Just as Blackbeard's future pirate flag shows, the three skulls symbolize his three hearts. Only a monster like him can truly unleash his body's potential without regard for anything else. An ordinary person would have long since died because one heart couldn't keep up with the blood supply.
Gild Tesoro and Doflamingo's expressions changed drastically. This ridiculously strong monster in front of them was actually fighting desperately, causing them to curse out, "Damn, has this guy gone mad? It's just a Devil Fruit, and he's really risking his life?"
They underestimated Teach's desire for the Dark-Dark Fruit. In their view, many people would give their lives to obtain Devil Fruit, but that was only because they were at the bottom of the sea and chose to fight to the death to gain the power to change their fate. A monster like Teach, who was already close to being Four Emperors without relying on Devil Fruit, would have a morbid craving for this Devil Fruit. In their opinion, this was simply the behavior of a madman.
I'll do another three updates tomorrow, then temporarily revert to my two-update-per-week mode. Please allow me a short break to rest and recuperate. I expect to have at least another week of explosive updates this month.