"Who's that kid? Is he here to assassinate Pops?" Marco joked. A moment later, a hand smacked him hard on the head. "Idiot, who'd bring a package that big to an assassination?" Wyper snapped. With her long blue hair, Wyper was still very young.
"Look, he's here already," Vista said with a smile. Teach stopped in front of Whitebeard. Just standing before him was enough to make anyone feel an immense pressure.
"Kid, what do you want?" Whitebeard asked, looking at Teach.
"Let me join your crew, Pops," Teach said with a grin. "Huh?" The whole area went quiet. Everyone stood as if turned to stone. "He's calling him Pops before he's even been accepted?" "That kid's got some nerve."
Whitebeard stared into Teach's eyes. After a long silence, Teach met his gaze without flinching. Then Whitebeard burst into laughter. "Gurararara! If you want to join, then come aboard."
Teach let out a breath of relief, immediately followed by overwhelming excitement. His heart pounded. Before he grew stronger, the Whitebeard Pirates were undoubtedly the safest place for him, and he could grow even better here.
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates were friendly toward their new crewmate. They came over one after another to introduce themselves, and Teach soon hit it off with them.
Some of the crew went ashore to gather supplies, while the rest stayed aboard and found ways to pass the time. "Hey, Teach! You're a swordsman too, right? How about a spar?" Vista said, looking at Teach with eager interest. He'd clearly noticed the two swords at Teach's waist and the sword on his back. A swordsman's instincts told him they weren't ordinary blades.
Teach was about to accept when Wyper spoke up. She gave Vista a disapproving look. "Don't pick on the new guy, Vista. Teach, how about showing us what you can do?" she said, then glanced at Marco, who was playing cards nearby. "Marco, since you're still a trainee, this match is yours. Don't let us down."
Marco blinked. He hadn't done anything wrong, but he didn't refuse. He was still a trainee, and he wanted to see how strong Teach was too. Anyone who'd come all the way to join the Whitebeard Pirates—and had been accepted by Pops—couldn't be as ordinary as he seemed.
At this point in time, Wyper—who would one day be known as the Ice Witch—was the Whitebeard Pirates' big sister. With her beauty, she also had tremendous prestige among the crew.
Marco stood up. "This is a pain, but if that's how it is, I won't hold back." He walked over to Teach. The pirates formed a large circle around them, leaving an open space for the fight. Teach and Marco stood in the middle.
Teach smiled and drew the two swords at his waist. "Likewise. I can't let you underestimate me." His breathing shifted again and again, and the air grew hot. He pointed both blades at Marco and charged.
Teach's swordsmanship was built on a solid foundation. His footwork kept changing as he cut toward Marco from a precise angle. Marco was extremely fast and sprang backward, but Teach kept up his relentless assault, striking again and again. As soon as Marco dodged one slash, another came at him. He had no chance to counterattack.
"Hey, Marco! Did you skip breakfast?" "You're doing this badly against a new guy? At this rate, you'll never get promoted from trainee!"
The crew burst out laughing. Young Marco was still relatively weak, though he had plenty of talent and would grow stronger soon. But he wouldn't truly rise to prominence until after he ate the Phoenix Fruit.
Even some of the stronger pirates looked surprised. Marco was being pressured by Teach's swordsmanship. Perhaps the others hadn't noticed, but they could feel the heat pouring into the air. It was rapidly draining Marco's stamina.
Marco was physically strong and fast, and each time he narrowly dodged one of Teach's blades. The spectators could see clearly that if things continued this way, Marco was bound to lose.
"This isn't good." Marco tilted his head to the side, dodging Teach's Purgatory, and glanced behind him. He had almost no room left to retreat. I have to counterattack, or I'll never hear the end of it. Marco got serious, and his speed suddenly increased. He kicked the Thunder Fang in Teach's hand. Teach held on firmly, but his balance faltered. Marco seized the opening and appeared at Teach's right side in an instant. This is bad, Teach thought.
Teach's body reacted. As he turned, he swung Purgatory, but Marco was already in front of him. Marco kicked Teach in the chest.
Teach flew several meters backward, but didn't fall. He drove his sword into the deck to steady himself and made no further move. Instead, he thought about the fight. He still had too little combat experience; Marco had exploited his opening with ease. Teach had trained his basic swordsmanship thoroughly and had fought the ferocious beasts in the mountains, but fighting another person felt completely different. It wasn't as instinctive as using hand-to-hand combat.
Still, that was a good thing. With so many strong people aboard, this was the perfect place to hone his swordsmanship. The thought flashed through his mind, and Teach smiled. He pulled his sword from the deck and returned the Famous Sword: Thunder Fang to its scabbard. Teach was more proficient with a single sword than with two. If he hadn't even mastered single-sword style, how could he possibly use two swords well?
Everyone noticed the change in Teach. "So he's better with one sword?" He was also wielding it one-handed. It was clear he hadn't mastered two-sword style yet.
There were plenty of swordsmen aboard. Among the famous two-sword fighters were Kozuki Oden and the Flower Swordsman, Vista. Teach's stance was clearly different now that he held a single sword; his movements flowed more smoothly.
"Haha! Again! I'm getting serious now. Don't die on me." The air grew hotter than before. Teach's hand turned bright red, flames clinging to his blade as he charged at Marco.
Was he a monster? The flames reached all the way to the hilt, scorching Teach's arm, yet he didn't even change expression. His sleeve burned to ash, but he didn't so much as blink.
This could certainly threaten Marco. Even the pirates watching had to take Teach seriously. No matter how strong someone was, they couldn't face such scorching flames without flinching—though monsters like Kozuki Oden and Whitebeard were exceptions.
Marco felt helpless. Why did he have to fight this monster? Still, he gritted his teeth and charged in.
Teach's single-sword style wasn't as fast as his earlier two-sword style, but every strike was more deadly. Marco had to stay on guard.
The two of them fought for more than ten minutes, but neither could get the better of the other. "Gurararara! You little guys sure have plenty of energy. Let's call this one a draw. You can fight again next time."
Whitebeard spoke up, and Teach immediately stopped. He was starting to feel tired, both physically and mentally. But the way the crew looked at him had clearly changed. The fight had earned him their recognition.
The Whitebeard Pirates didn't plan to stay on the island for long. Once they'd gathered enough supplies, they were ready to set sail. Shopping and hauling everything aboard took only two hours. The crew who'd gone ashore returned one after another, and the Moby Dick was about to depart. Teach stood on deck, leaning against the railing and looking at the familiar little town where he'd lived for twelve years. The harbor was nearly deserted; most people had been frightened away by the Whitebeard Pirates. They were Great Pirates at the top of the New World, after all. How could anyone not be afraid?
Suddenly, Teach felt a familiar gaze. He turned around instinctively and spotted Monica and Mody in a corner of the town. "Goodbye, Teach! You have to come back! I'll wait for you!" Monica shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. Tears glistened in her eyes.
Their eyes met. Teach waved at them, beaming. "I'll definitely come back! Uncle Mody, take good care of Monica for me."
"You idiot! Don't come back if you can't make it big. And don't you dare make my daughter cry!" Mody shouted, clenching his fist.
"Hahahahaha!" The town grew smaller and smaller, until the island was just a speck in the distance. Only then did Teach turn away.
He spun around, his pupils contracting as his heart gave a sudden jolt. A crowd of pirates had quietly gathered behind him, standing motionless and staring at him.
"What the hell are you doing? You nearly scared me to death!" Teach yelled. Even after living two lives, he'd still been badly startled by the sight.
They paid him no mind. Marco wore an inquisitive grin. "Teach, did we hear that right? 'Monica, I'll wait for you to come back'?"
The others wore similar grins, clearly curious. "Teach, didn't you say you're only twelve? You've already got a girlfriend?"
Teach was speechless at their gossip. He folded his arms, raised his chin, and replied disdainfully, "So what? You bunch of single losers are just jealous."
It hit them like a bolt from the blue. The pirates were all devastated, their mouths hanging open. "S-single losers?"
Seeing their reaction, Teach smiled to himself. So what if I've got a girlfriend?
That alone put him ahead of most people.
He said nothing, but they could practically feel Teach's disdainful stare, like an arrow driven into their hearts. Teach turned and walked away, leaving them behind in low spirits.
He'd only been joking around. Training was what mattered most. He hadn't fought at full strength earlier; he'd only used basic swordsmanship alongside the breathing method of Flame Style Swordsmanship.
Teach's real strength lay in hand-to-hand combat, and Marco had been held back by Teach's relentless attacks. More importantly, neither Teach nor Marco had fought with killing intent.
Teach went to his room. It was small, and most pirates preferred to sleep outside on the deck. He'd already put his things away, and now he began training. He strapped heavy weights to his limbs, custom-made by a blacksmith at his request. Each arm had two bracers, each weighing half a ton, and each leg had two weights as well.
Teach was far stronger now than before, but with the weights on, every movement took enormous effort and rapidly drained his stamina.
He'd only started wearing them a month ago and still hadn't gotten completely used to them. He needed more time to adjust.
Teach held a heavy sword and swung it over and over, each stroke making a faint whistle through the air. He began practicing his swordsmanship. His breathing shifted repeatedly, and the air around him grew hot. His slightly long hair lifted in the rising static, and sparks of electricity flickered across his body.
Teach didn't want to reveal how strong he was. He would leave the Whitebeard Pirates sooner or later. He wanted to gather powerful companions of his own, and he didn't want to spend more than twenty years aboard the Whitebeard Pirates like in the original story. At first, it would be fine, but during the decade-plus after Whitebeard became one of the Four Emperors, life aboard the Whitebeard Pirates had grown too comfortable. They lacked the fierce competition of the Beasts Pirates and weren't constantly expanding their strength like the Big Mom Pirates. Even compared with the Red-Haired Pirates, they had plenty of members and solid mid-level fighters, but too few top-tier fighters. After Whitebeard's death, only Marco had been left to hold the crew together.
Teach felt the rhythm of nature's breath and spread his Observation Haki throughout every corner of the room, keeping it active at all times. He hadn't expanded its range any further, but it continued to improve, growing more precise and perceptive.
That's right—it was Observation Haki. It was arguably Teach's only cheat. When he came to this world, his two souls merged and his mental strength soared. As a result, Teach awakened Observation Haki and gained an extremely powerful talent for it. Over the past six years, he'd kept his Observation Haki active as often as possible to train it and expand its range. If he hadn't turned it off earlier, they wouldn't have managed to sneak up on him.
The sky gradually darkened, but Teach never stopped moving. "Knock, knock, knock!" Someone rapped on the door. "Teach, the banquet's about to start. Come on out!" Marco called from outside.
Teach stopped and smiled. "Just a minute. I'll be right there."
Teach dipped a towel into a bucket of water, wiped himself down, and changed into clean clothes. Then he opened the door with a smile. Though it was night, the ship was brightly lit. The air was filled with the scent of delicious food and wine.
A new journey was about to begin.
Before you continue