An Unexpected War

"You want to go out with the Fourth Division?" Thatch smiled. "That's not impossible, but the Whitebeard Pirates have so many divisions. Why did you think of following mine?"

Yota might have been a prisoner, but because of his heaven-defying healing abilities, his treatment aboard the ship was equal to that of a Squad Commander. Even without Whitebeard's health issues, Yota's medical skills alone deserved that level of treatment.

It could be said that no division could afford to disrespect him. After all, no one dared to pick a fight with a doctor, especially one of the world's foremost miracle doctors.

Hearing Thatch's question, Yota smiled faintly and thought, Of course it's because of the Dark-Dark Fruit. I spent two months before finally modifying myself into an anomaly like Teach.

Since I've already gotten some benefits from Teach, I might as well see it through and take the Dark-Dark Fruit from this future villain too.

That way, Teach won't betray the crew, the Summit War won't happen, Ace won't be in danger, and I'll save your life too, Thatch. Ah, by that calculation, my merits are truly boundless.

Naturally, Yota would never say such things aloud. The excuse he gave for joining the Fourth Division was that he loved good food!

The moment he said that, Thatch readily believed him. After all, Yota was a Munch-Munch Fruit user. Loving food was only natural.

Besides, Yota's appetite was right there for everyone to see. As a Munch-Munch Fruit user, he ate no less than Luffy, a Gum-Gum Nika Fruit user. Even throughout the entire Whitebeard Pirates, his appetite ranked among the very top.

What did loving food have to do with the Fourth Division? Well, aside from being the Fourth Division's Squad Commander, Thatch also served as the Whitebeard Pirates' chef. His cooking was the finest in the entire crew, and most of his division members were his kitchen assistants as well.

"Sure! Anyone who loves good food is a brother! Come with us when we put to sea this time, Brother Yota." Thatch thumped his chest with a hearty grin.

More than a month passed. Yota followed the Fourth Division on several outings, but the Four Emperors' Pirate Crews in the New World actually saw fewer real battles than the pirate crews that had only just set sail.

After all, the Four Emperors had already formed something close to a stable political system. Within their territories, nearly every other pirate was effectively one of their subordinate groups. Their only challengers were one another.

As for other Pirate Crews entering the New World, very few truly had the courage to challenge the Four Emperors. And among those capable of doing so, the strongest in the past decade—and the one closest to succeeding—was the Spade Pirates.

Thus, most of the time, the Fourth Division Yota followed saw no fighting. Occasionally, they would help island nations within Whitebeard's territory deal with newly arrived pirates who did not know the rules and acted recklessly.

However, that leisurely time soon came to an end. A major conflict erupted between the Beasts Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates, and the two sides seemed ready to go to war once again.

As for the reason behind the conflict? Cough, cough, cough. Naturally, it was because of the Spade Pirates. His own "son" was about to join the Whitebeard Pirates—how could Kaido possibly swallow that?

At first, Kaido wanted to go straight to the Whitebeard Pirates and cause trouble. King and Queen were the ones who stopped him, proposing that they try diplomacy before resorting to force.

Although the two All-Stars usually did not get along, both had been beaten up by the Spade Pirates last time and knew exactly how strong they were.

With the Beasts Pirates' current combat strength, if they truly faced a Whitebeard Pirates force that had absorbed the Spade Pirates, their outcome would likely be far from pleasant.

The Spade Pirates had not yet joined the Whitebeard Pirates, but if the Beasts Pirates applied outside pressure, things would become difficult to predict.

Kaido looked like a reckless brute, and when he drank too much, he often went on drunken rampages. But when sober, his intelligence was still fully intact.

The Beasts Pirates were not necessarily a match for the Whitebeard Pirates alone. If the Spade Pirates were added to the mix, there would basically be no point in fighting. So he agreed to King's suggestion.

However, Whitebeard only glanced at the letter King delivered before tearing it apart.

Whitebeard had long disliked the Beasts Pirates. Kozuki Oden had been like a brother to him, after all. If not for the enormous consequences of a war between the two Pirate Crews, and Whitebeard's age making him unwilling to see his sons die in battle, the old man would have taken Murakumogiri to Wano Country and started cutting people down long ago!

And now Kaido actually had the nerve to send him a letter demanding that he hand over his own sons and daughters—he already regarded Ace and Yamato as his children? Kaido was dreaming!

If Whitebeard had not been a man who followed the rules, even King, who had delivered the letter, would have been cut down!

After hearing the news King brought back, Kaido naturally flew into a rage. With a wave of his hand, he prepared to get started!

The Fourth Division's ship was on its way to rendezvous with the Moby Dick. Standing on the deck, Yota silently pondered, I wonder if there'll be any butterfly effect... If there's no Dark-Dark Fruit, which two Devil Fruits should I look for instead?

Yes, two Devil Fruits. After analyzing Blackbeard's body, Yota had become certain that Blackbeard's body could actually withstand three Devil Fruits.

As for why Blackbeard had only eaten two Devil Fruits in the original story? Perhaps he had not found one he liked, or perhaps he had been hiding his true strength all along.

I remember there's a legendary Vampire Devil Fruit in Suiko Town... Luckily, its name is unusual and the Vampire Devil Fruit is rather rare, so I remembered that movie.

It would be best if I could still get the Dark-Dark Fruit. With the Dark-Dark Fruit, I could freely seize a third Devil Fruit.

Yota was still thinking about all sorts of random things when the Fourth Division's ship arrived at the rendezvous point. From afar, he could already see the massive silhouette of the Moby Dick.

Besides that, Yota heard wave after wave of cheers. It seemed that the entire Moby Dick was holding a banquet.

"What's going on? A war is about to start, so they're holding a feast beforehand to raise morale?" Yota tilted his head, somewhat unable to understand these pirates' actions.

After all, pirate banquets were nothing like the ancient legends of rewarding the three armies. Pirates drank at their banquets—and they drank heavily.

It might not matter much to pirates, who were already chaotic, undisciplined, and unorganized by nature, but drinking before a war was a little too relaxed, wasn't it?