Clear Stream and Mudslide

Not only did Blackbeard fail to feel any goodwill toward the man because of his words, his wariness rose to an entirely new level.

The other man knew his memories had been altered, which meant he had already existed inside his body before that.

And he had actually failed to notice!

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

"Drop the act. From the sound of it, do you mean to say you bear me no ill will?" Blackbeard snorted. "Then why did you hide inside my body for so long without showing yourself?"

"If you hadn't been unable to keep it up today, I'm afraid you would've continued lurking inside me, wouldn't you?"

The man seemed to have anticipated this question long ago. He chuckled. "You've wronged me there."

"This old man's soul has resided within the Dark-Dark Fruit for who knows how many years. My extreme weakness caused me to fall into slumber."

"Only after you obtained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and kept growing stronger did I, residing within the Dark-Dark Fruit, sense the changes in the outside world and awaken once more."

"Back then, even speaking was difficult for me. How could I have spoken to you?"

"Only after absorbing the Dark-Dark Fruit's power day and night did this old man recover enough strength to stand here and speak with you."

"As for why I still didn't come out after recovering a little, naturally, it was a test for you."

"Even if you obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit, if you were nothing but complete trash, this old man would rather go back to sleep than assist you."

"You did not disappoint me. You discovered me and passed my test."

"As for my purpose... there is probably only one: to put you on the throne of a