The Situation Didn't Seem All That Bad?

Bane did not know whether this was truly a World-Crossing Gate, since he had never seen one with his own eyes.

For now, he would call it a World-Crossing Gate.

The moment the World-Crossing Gate opened, it felt as though time and space around it had slowly frozen, remaining so until the gate fully took shape.

Bane could feel that his stamina would not sustain the gate for long. At the same time, he instinctively sensed that he could seemingly close it at any moment!

This was unlike the World-Crossing Gates described in the newspapers. Over the past two weeks, Bane had gathered quite a bit of information about them. As far as he knew, World-Crossing Gates came in all sizes. Some large ones towered into the clouds upon appearing and could be clearly seen from a hundred miles away.

Others were the size of ordinary doors and did not stand out much.

But without exception, these World-Crossing Gates were uncontrollable when they first appeared. They could not simply be closed at will, and he had never heard that opening one consumed anyone's stamina.

Could my transmigration have changed somehow? Is my legendary benefit package finally arriving!? Bane thought excitedly.

At the same time, the originally dazzling halo of colors dispersed, allowing Bane to gradually make out the situation beyond the gate.

The space and time on the other side seemed not to have fully stabilized yet, as though they were still frozen.

Taking advantage of this head start, Bane poked his head through the gate for a look. Well, would you look at that—there was an unexpected windfall!

The scene outside appeared to be the site of a murder. A man dressed like a cook lay on the wooden floor of a dim room, his back stained with blood as though someone had stabbed him through the heart from behind. The killer had not yet left, and from Bane's current angle, the killer happened to have his back turned toward him.

Judging by his build, the killer was fat and burly. A black bandana was wrapped around his head, while a messy mane of long, wavy hair spilled from beneath it and hung over his shoulders. Many of its ends were tangled into knots, making it clear that he was normally rather uninhibited and unkempt.

The killer seemed to have just succeeded and was in high spirits. He held a bloodstained dagger in one hand, presumably the murder weapon, while his other hand raised a strangely shaped fruit high in the air. That was likely the target he had murdered to steal.

From the very first glance, Bane had found the scene incredibly familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before.

It was not until he clearly saw the strange fruit the killer was holding almost against his own face that he suddenly realized what was happening.

"Isn't that a fucking Devil Fruit?" Bane exclaimed.

It could not be helped. Devil Fruits were far too distinctive in appearance, and Bane had once been someone who enjoyed reading those manga and watching anime.

He had already found the scene familiar, and now that he saw the Devil Fruit, he immediately understood the situation.

The World-Crossing Gate had opened into the Pirate World, and this very moment should have been the final night that Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, spent working under the Whitebeard Pirates!

The night he murdered Thatch, the Whitebeard Pirates' 4th Division Commander, and seized the legendary most sinister Devil Fruit in history—the Dark-Dark Fruit!

Just as Bane realized what was going on, time and space on the other side seemed to return to normal in an instant.

"Zehahahaha! Thatch, blame your own fate. This Dark-Dark Fruit is absolutely—" Teach laughed wildly as he held the Dark-Dark Fruit.

It was as if he intended to vent all the ambition and desire he had hidden away over the years, showing off his achievement before a corpse.

But before he could finish speaking, he seemed to suddenly notice something wrong. It was as though someone behind him was watching him!?

Bane was also a decisive man. Before Teach could finish, he directly reached out and snatched the Dark-Dark Fruit that was being held right in front of his face!

He did not dare waste a single word. The instant he seized the fruit, Bane silently thought, Close the gate, because he knew very well that although Teach had only begun acting arrogant after obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was still tremendously powerful even without it.

After all, he was the man who had left an indelible scar on Shanks's face even when Shanks was going all out.

The reason he had remained obscure within the Whitebeard Pirates was because he deliberately kept a low profile, not because he was weak!

What Bane had just done was practically shitting on Teach's head. Given how much Teach valued the Dark-Dark Fruit, this grab had instantly made them mortal enemies. With Bane's strength—enough to get his head smashed open in a street brawl—he probably could not even take one hand from Teach. Running away was what mattered most.

Thus, the instant Teach turned around, he saw Bane closing a door that had appeared out of nowhere!

"Bastard! Give me back the Dark-Dark Fruit—" Teach roared furiously as a powerful aura erupted from his body.

He reached out to grab the bastard who had appeared from nowhere inside the gate, but in the next instant, the gate vanished, taking his Dark-Dark Fruit with it!

Teach's face turned green in that instant!

He had waited for so many years in the Whitebeard Pirates for a chance to obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, all to finally make a name for himself. Yet he had already killed Thatch, and the fruit had already been in his hands, only for some bastard who came from nowhere to steal it at the last moment. One could imagine just how stifled he felt now!

Without caring about anything else, Teach instantly released his powerful Observation Haki, covering the entire ship and the surrounding sea.

At the same time, his furious roar and explosive outburst of Haki had alerted the others aboard the ship to the abnormality.

"Teach!?" Very soon, a handsome young man shoved open the cabin door and rushed in with concern. "What happened!?"

Had Bane still been there, he would have recognized this handsome young man at a glance. He was the spark that ignited the Summit War, the biological son of Pirate King Roger, the beloved son of the World's Strongest Man, and the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, Portgas D. Ace!

Ace rushed in and asked, but before Teach could answer, he spotted Thatch lying in a pool of blood.

"Thatch!?" Ace cried out in shock and fury, hurrying forward to crouch beside Thatch and check on him.

At the same time, Teach quickly regained his composure. His Observation Haki had failed to find the bastard who had stolen the fruit of his victory, and the current situation also needed to be dealt with!

"After Thatch and I finished drinking, he was about to see me out when someone suddenly opened a bizarre gate inside this cabin. He must have been some kind of ability user. That guy snatched the dagger from my waist, stabbed Thatch through the heart from behind, and stole Thatch's Devil Fruit!" Teach gritted his teeth and angrily recounted what had happened.

After confirming again and again that Thatch had stopped breathing, Ace's expression became filled with rage. His eyes carried pain, but he did not suspect Teach.

After all, he had deep trust in his comrades of the Whitebeard Pirates. Moreover, Teach's furious expression just now clearly did not look faked. More importantly, in Ace's eyes, Teach had absolutely no reason to murder Thatch!?

And Ace had never been especially meticulous to begin with. The moment Teach opened his mouth, Ace believed him on the spot!

"Did you see what he looked like? He dared lay hands on someone from the Whitebeard Pirates. Even if he runs to the ends of the earth, I'll find him and kill him to avenge Thatch!" Ace asked, grief and fury written across his face.

Teach nodded, suppressing his anger as well. "I saw him clearly. We'll have an artist draw his portrait later. I'll definitely find that bastard and cut him into a thousand pieces!!!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the World-Crossing Gate, Bane stood in a dim hallway, looking at the Dark-Dark Fruit he had stolen from Teach. He stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Now that it's left that world, does this Devil Fruit still possess its original abilities?"

But considering how many bizarre powers that did not belong to this world had crossed through World-Crossing Gates and shone brilliantly here, then... this Dark-Dark Fruit should still work, right?

Regardless, feeling the World-Crossing Gate within him that seemed ready to open again at any time as long as he had enough stamina, Bane smiled and thought to himself, The situation didn't seem all that bad?