Hadner and Hadman said nothing. They understood what Mostima meant, but where could they find a monster like that? They had waited for three years and gotten nowhere. The top pirate crews in the New World were almost at their peak, and joining them wouldn't lead to anything good. They wouldn't have high status, and they weren't interested in younger pirates like Kaido and Big Mom—or rather, they weren't compatible with them. Still, they couldn't help feeling a little hopeful.
"Boss, it seems like there's about to be trouble at a bar. Should we go take a look?" A pirate came hurrying in and spoke to Mostima.
"Ebby, what happened?" Hadner asked, folding his arms across his chest.
If Teach had been there, he would have recognized this young pirate called Ebby as the one who'd charged him a fee at the harbor.
"Here's what happened. A new pirate arrived on the island this morning... I felt a pressure coming from him. Remembering what you said aboard the ship, I followed him for a while. He went into a tavern, and now the Mad Saber Pirates are heading there to claim the place for themselves. I thought there might be a serious clash, so I came straight here," Ebby said quickly.
Ebby was a promising recruit whom the crew was investing in. He had a naturally sharp intuition and, under Mostima's tutelage, had awakened Observation Haki. With his considerable talent, Mostima had put him in charge of watching over the harbor. That way, he could spot any trouble early and report it.
"Is that so? He sailed the seas alone in a little boat." Mostima rubbed his chin. "You felt pressured by him. How did he compare to me?" he asked, looking at Ebby.
"I—" Ebby faltered, unsure how to answer.
"Tell the truth. I won't blame you," Mostima said gently. Ebby relaxed, then held his breath, seeming to think it over as he recalled Teach's appearance.
After a long while, he opened his eyes and glanced at Hadman standing beside Mostima. The violent Hadman frightened him more than the gentle Mostima did.
"What are you looking at? There's nothing to be afraid of. Tell the truth," Hadman barked, glaring at Ebby.
"All right." Ebby nodded. "I feel... I feel he's much stronger than the captain." It was true. Ebby was naturally able to sense how much a person threatened him, which gave him a knack for Observation Haki. "If the captain's an eagle, that man is a horned dragon. He looks rather ordinary, but when I used Observation Haki to sense him, I couldn't sense anything at all. That's the truly terrifying part. He's like an abyss. The more I think about him, the more his image keeps coming back to me."
As Ebby spoke, fear crept across his face. "I remember there was an unusually large storm from yesterday into this morning. How wide was it again?" Hadner said, as though something had just occurred to him.
Hadner asked the question, but his gaze turned to Shuke, the navigator with glasses who was standing by one side of the dueling grounds.
"Hm?" Shuke froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and pulled a notebook from his coat. "It was unusually long-lasting, so I wrote it down. I calculated the storm's range: it covered seven or eight islands, including White Sand Island. It reached pretty much our whole sea." He flipped through his notes, pushed his glasses up with two fingers, and answered seriously.
The moment he finished speaking, everyone fell silent. It was hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to cross such a massive storm in a single ship. Added to Ebby's assessment that the man was even more fearsome than their captain, it made no sense that someone like that could remain unknown.
Curiosity stirred in Mostima and the others. He slid his silver sword back into its sheath and turned toward the entrance, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Come on. Let's go see this fellow for ourselves."
At Mostima's command, the others followed him toward the tavern.
"Haha, let's go! To the tavern! I'm claiming the whole place today—Mad Blade Schiller!" Dozens of pirates strode down the middle of the street. At their head was a three-meter-tall pirate carrying a huge, serrated cleaver. He had a thick beard and shouted back at the others.
"Haha, thanks, boss!" the pirates behind him cheered. Residents and pirates alike stopped along both sides of the road to make way for the Mad Saber Pirates and avoid trouble. The residents' gazes held both fear and revulsion. The other pirates looked wary, not only because of the Mad Saber Pirates' many misdeeds and bloodthirsty ways, but also because of their captain Schiller's great strength. With a bounty of 130 million, he was well known throughout these waters.
The Mad Saber Schiller at the head of the group was especially fond of brutal, bloody slaughter. He would watch his opponents beg for mercy, then use his serrated cleaver to gut them alive. He was cruel and would brook no refusal. If anyone crossed him, he didn't spare even his own crew. His crew feared him more than anything, just as he preferred. He enjoyed using fear to control others.
Teach laughed as he ate, making no effort to be graceful, though he wasn't messy either. The remaining two bowls of fried rice and a plate of braised meat arrived, and the second bottle of rum had been opened. He gave it a sniff, breathing in the aroma, and seemed to get lost in it. His eyes grew hazy and his cheeks flushed slightly; he looked drunk.
Teach had been born with a high tolerance for alcohol, and his time with the Whitebeard Pirates had strengthened it further. He only looked drunk; this was one of his ways of relaxing, a way to savor good liquor and pay it the respect it deserved. What was the point of drinking if you didn't get drunk? Gradually, it had become a habit—a natural reaction of his body.
"Ze-hahaha! Little Loya, how about coming to sea with me?" As soon as the food arrived, before the window connecting the kitchen and the back room had even been shut, Teach laughed at Loya. "It'd be even better if you knew how to make cherry pie. You could be our pirate crew's little cook, and we'd treasure you like a precious jewel. Ze-hahaha!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a steel fork shot out, its tines gleaming sharply. Thunk! It grazed past Teach's ear and embedded itself deep in the wooden wall behind him. The handle trembled as it stuck out.
"Go to hell, you old drunk! I'm not going to sea with you." Loya's hair stood on end like flames. Not a single vein showed on her forehead, and Teach didn't care in the slightest. He exchanged a glance with Doyle in front of him, smiled, and took a small sip of rum.
"Hey, hey, am I really that old in a young woman's eyes?" Teach rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Don't go saying things like that, little Loya. Keep your temper in check, or you won't be able to find a husband."
"I'm still a young man, haha," Teach said with a laugh.
Doyle smiled. It had been a long time since he'd been this happy. He took out a glass and poured himself a drink.
Crash! One of the open doors was smashed in two. Everyone turned toward the entrance and stopped what they were doing, their faces filling with alarm. "It's Mad Blade Schiller! What is he doing here?"
As if announcing his arrival, Schiller strode in with his cleaver in hand. He said nothing at first, instead surveying the tavern. There weren't many people inside, but the fear on their faces filled him with delight.
Schiller gripped the handle and let the blade drag along the floor, carving a deep groove in the wood. He grinned cruelly. "I'm claiming this place today. You trash can get out."
"Haha, you heard the boss! You looking to die?" Schiller's arrogance left everyone stunned. When they still didn't move, the pirates behind him laughed wildly, displeased.
To them, this was an insult. But might made right in this world, and they couldn't fight back. One by one, they set down their bowls and chopsticks and left, frightened but even angrier. As they filed outside, the Mad Saber Pirates roared with laughter. They loved watching people look helpless and angry.
The arrival of the Mad Saber Pirates drew plenty of attention. Seeing one person after another driven out of the tavern gave the crowd an even clearer picture of the crew's vile behavior.
People were curious and liked to watch a spectacle, so before long the crowd grew larger.
"Is this the place?" The group arrived outside the tavern and looked in from among the crowd. "Boss, the Mad Saber Pirates are getting too brazen. If this goes on, it'll hurt business on the island," Hadner said. "Our companions are gathering now. Should we wipe them out together?"
Hadner had long been dissatisfied with the Mad Saber Pirates, a blight on the island. To keep the island peaceful, they needed to wipe out the crew or drive them away. The island's stability had attracted many pirates to settle there, bringing them enormous profits. And to keep other forces from setting their sights on the island, they needed to demonstrate their strength. The Mad Saber Pirates were undoubtedly a perfect target to make an example of.
"Don't rush. Let's see how things go first." Mostima looked into the tavern, toward the counter. Teach was seated at the table in front of it, right in the middle, so Mostima had a clear view of his back.
"Hey, did you hear me? Are you deaf? Get out of here! I'm claiming this tavern!" Schiller's attention turned to Teach in front of him. He hadn't expected his reputation to have no effect on the man, and anger rose in his chest.
"Haha, mind waiting a moment? This fried rice is so delicious. I'll be done soon, and the rum's good too. Want to try some?" Teach smiled, picked up a bottle of rum, and offered it to Schiller, who had come up behind him.
Schiller felt insulted. Bang! The bottle slipped from Teach's hand and smashed on the floor, shattering into pieces. The liquor splashed all over Teach and spread across the floor.
"Oh! That man's done for. Mad Blade Schiller's going to lose his temper!" people outside cried.
"Ugh, the floor's soaked. Doyle, do you have a rag? I'll help you clean it up," Teach said to Doyle.
"Don't trouble yourself. Leave this to me." Doyle shook his head and gave Teach a long look. "Haha, thanks, then. It was my fault it got dirty in the first place," Teach said with a smile.
"If you don't eat your fried rice now, it'll get cold and won't taste as good." Teach picked up his spoon and was just about to dig in when a hand swung in from the side, knocking the fried rice and plate to the floor.
The fried rice spilled everywhere, and the room fell deathly silent. "Who do you think you are? If you like the fried rice so much, eat it while it's hot." Schiller struck in a rage. Then, his eyes glinting with mockery, he walked over to the piles of fried rice on the floor, raised his foot, and stomped twice. Footprints remained in the food.
Loya couldn't help covering her mouth. She loved good food, after all; otherwise, she wouldn't have put so much effort into learning to cook.
"Haha, now the fried rice is right there. Eat it! Eat it while it's hot!" Schiller said. "Eat it! Didn't you hear the captain? He told you to eat it!" the pirates behind Schiller shouted excitedly. Their excitement only grew at the sight of such a cruel act.
Teach said nothing. With everyone's eyes on him, he stood up, took two steps to the side, then bent down and picked up the plate.
"Hey, hey, he can put up with that? Is he even a man? If it were me, I could never stand that kind of humiliation. I'd fight back even if it meant dying," Hadman said angrily, clenching his fists. "Maybe Ebby got it wrong. How could a man like this be stronger than our boss?"
"Hadman, don't say anything. Just watch," Haduno said gravely. Hadman froze. The area around them had gone utterly quiet. He turned and noticed how serious Mostima looked as he watched the inside of the tavern.
"Don't worry, I'll make you another serving!" Loya spoke up, addressing Teach. Her opinion of him had changed greatly.
"Shut your mouth, wench!" Schiller roared. He swung his great cleaver at the counter, splitting it in two. Several bottles of liquor stored underneath smashed, spilling their contents and soaking the floor.
"Haha, don't scare the young lady." Teach smiled as he picked up his spoon and carefully scooped the fried rice from the floor into a bowl. "The young lady worked hard to make this. Besides, wasting food is shameful."
Teach laughed and gathered all the fried rice from the floor onto the plate. He scooped up a spoonful and shoveled it into his mouth. "He actually... he actually..." "He really ate it!" Everyone there, and everyone outside, stared at the scene in dumbfounded disbelief.
"How could he eat that?"
Teach smiled as he chewed, seeming to savor every bite. "It still tastes the same. So delicious. This is the best fried rice I've ever had."
Before you continue