Blackbeard? Graybeard!

The clean and tidy room was warm and cozy thanks to the underfloor heating.

Marshall D. Teach sat on his bed, staring blankly out the window at the swirling snow, the howling wind, and the shadowy figures climbing the surface of another Drum Peak, in the distance.

He has been in this Drum Kingdom for two days. Yesterday, he had a full-body check-up at the so-called World Hospital and then checked into a guest room at this Medical Academy.

I wasn't actually abused during the process, but being manipulated by others was still unpleasant.

And things shouldn't have turned out this way!

But he had no choice. Not only did Aokiji escort him all the way here, but he also inexplicably stayed here, saying he liked the weather.

The only gain was that he learned his body could actually eat three Devil Fruits.

Very nice

"No, I have to find a way to get out of here. I refuse to believe that bastard can stay here forever. Since he's Admiral's successor, he must have a lot to do, right?"

Marshall D. Teach could only console himself with this thought.

[Knock knock knock]

Is Mr. Teach here?

Although he was only sixteen years old, the voice of the person outside the door was clearly that of a middle-aged man, but the tone sounded very polite and gentle.

"Exist"

Teach sighed and stood up, watching the four men in black enter through the door. The first man in black took off his sunglasses, revealing a friendly smile.

"I am Coulson, Senior Director in the Administrative Department. Nice to meet you."

"Officials from the World Government?"

Teach frowned slightly, then walked to the sofa and sat down. Picking up a Cherry pie from the coffee table, she said, "Sit down and let's talk. If you've brought something good, I can share one with you."

Coulson sat down as well, glancing at the three Cherry pies remaining on the table.

"That's a good thing, but we have rules that we can't just eat out. Ahem, let's get down to business. You should know your own physical condition, right?"

"Okay, so what are you going to do with me?" Teach asked calmly, eating his Cherry pie.

"That's right. The World Government wants to nurture you to maximize the value of this special physique, so they ordered me to bring these three Devil Fruits."

Coulson maintained an almost fake smile, but one that didn't offend anyone.

At the same time, the three men in black behind him placed the wooden boxes they were carrying on the coffee table one by one, then returned to their original positions, staring blankly ahead.

"."

Marshall D. Teach stared blankly at the three boxes in front of him, speechless for a moment.

What a grand gesture! No wonder it's the World Government; they just casually handed out three Devil Fruits.

Ah, wait a minute!

The key point is that he doesn't want to eat these inexplicable Devil Fruit. As a genius who has memorized the entire Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he prefers to choose fruit abilities according to his own ideas.

One of them is the Logia Dark-Dark Fruit. As for the other two, we'll deal with them later. But what do we do now?

What excuse should I use to refuse?

"Um, may I ask what kind of Devil Fruit these are?"

After hesitating for a while, Teach decided to ask first.

"Certainly."

Coulson had no objection and personally opened the first box on the left, revealing Devil Fruit with a crystal-clear surface, as dazzling as Diamond.

"This is the Paramecia Glass-Glass Fruit. According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, its ability belongs to the Super Creation category, allowing it to create and control various Hari creations. After Awakening, it can assimilate surrounding objects into Hari."

"."

Three big golden question marks appeared above Teach's head after hearing this.

Sitting opposite him Coulson seemed oblivious to his complicated feelings as he lifted the lid of the second box, revealing a Devil Fruit was entirely silver-black with striped raised patterns on its surface.

"This is the Paramecia Steel-Steel Fruit. Its ability is a superpower, allowing the user to manipulate long strips of metal remotely, or to turn any metal they touch into a long strip and then control it."

Next is the third Devil Fruit, which is entirely grayish-white, with one half of its surface rough and the other half smooth.

"And this last one is also Paramecia Fruit, the Cement-Cement Fruit. It belongs to Special Paramecia and can turn the body into powder, liquid, and solid cement. It can also create and manipulate various types of cement. It is definitely Devil Fruit with immense value and limitless potential!"

Coulson looked at Teach with a confident smile.

But the latter looked at him with a 'Are you kidding me?' expression. Yes, the abilities of these three Devil Fruit sounded good, but what was the point of combining them?

"Cement, steel bars, Hari, you want me to build houses?" Teach laughed in anger, his fists clenching tightly under the coffee table.

"Yes, you will be assigned to the Construction Division of our Administrative Department to participate in various important projects of the World Government, both now and in the future."

Coulson looked at Marshall D. Teach very seriously.

"With the abilities of these three Devil Fruits, coupled with your position as an official of the World Government, I can guarantee you a peaceful and worry-free life, and a life of abundance."

"You can also personally participate in the construction of facilities for the soon-to-be-established Whitebeard Kingdom. Not only will you be able to help Mr. Edward Newgate, but he will surely be very proud of you!"

"."

Marshall D. Teach was completely dumbfounded, his mouth agape but unable to utter a single word.

He thought to himself, "This guy's got a sharp tongue. He's completely shut me down. Now I have no choice but to agree, right?"

"Ahem, can I think about it for a few days? Also, I've looked at the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and I already have some Devil Fruit I like. Could you go back and ask around and help me find them?"

The yet-to-be-born 'Blackbeard' quickly came up with a clever idea.

He felt this was actually an opportunity; perhaps they could find the Dark-Dark Fruit with the help of the World Government. Wasn't that a better chance than joining the Whitebeard Pirates?

Once I have the Dark-Dark Fruit, who in this world can stop me!

However, Coulson's troubled expression completely dispelled his little scheme.

"I'm very sorry, but that won't work. As far as I know, the World Government is currently in dire need of infrastructure-related personnel, and this is also a decision made by higher authorities. Before we came, our minister instructed me to make sure you ate all of this before taking you to the Construction Division to report for duty."

There was no way around it; Teach was being targeted by some Daikoku behind the scenes, and there was no way to give him a chance to refuse.

Or.

If you eat these three Devil Fruits and obediently contribute to the World Government's projects, you will naturally be guaranteed a worry-free life.

Or.

You can choose to refuse, or even resist, and then get beaten up and thrown into Impel Down Level 5.5, where you'll be used as a biological experiment subject in a dark and gloomy environment.

It's worth mentioning that the three men in black behind Coulson were all elite CP9 users, and Aokiji was standing outside in the blizzard, seemingly just enjoying the view.

Marshall D. Teach was well aware of this.

He was puzzled as to why he was being treated so specially. Even with his special physique, it shouldn't be this much. Could it be because he was a member of the Whitebeard Pirates?

Baffling!

"Okay--I understand."

Under the watchful eyes of Coulson and the three men in black, Teach could only sigh and reach out towards the Cement-Cement Fruit with utter despair.

That's settled then. It's three Paramecia after all, and this one is even Special Paramecia comparable to Logia. If I develop it properly, it should become quite strong, right?

A dozen minutes later.

On Noah, Imu received news that Marshall D. Teach had eaten the Cement-Cement Fruit, the Steel-Steel Fruit, and the Glass-Glass Fruit, which made him burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, from now on there will be no more 'Blackbeard,' only 'Graybeard'!"

A huge thank you to reader zcrf6r for the 500 Qidian Coin reward! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!

A huge thank you to Lord Yiluo the 500 Qidian Coin reward! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!