Blade

At that moment, tears filled Ace's eyes as he leaned against the wall in the corner and sobbed softly.

The question that had troubled him for half his life was finally put to rest. An unprecedented sense of relief showed on his face, and exhaustion washed over him.

Yet neither the distraught Ace nor the ailing Whitebeard noticed the sleepless man outside the cabin curling his lips into a grin.

"Zehahahahaha! Roger's son—the Gold Roger? What astonishing news. Perhaps it'll come in handy someday..."

Marshall D. Teach picked up a barrel of wine, walked out the door, and gazed into the distance.

The moon shone brightly amid sparse stars that night, with not a cloud in the vast sky. Yet his mood was nowhere near as enchanting as the view before him.

"Twenty years. A full twenty years have passed, yet the fruit I've been waiting for still hasn't appeared. Dark-Dark Fruit, when will you finally appear before me?"

His gaze turned distant. He had abandoned his mother and younger sister and chosen to board Whitebeard's ship for the sake of obtaining that Devil Fruit he had seen in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia—the one he had dreamed of day and night...

Only here—only in the territory of Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors who held the largest domain in the New World—could he obtain everything he wanted!

"A man's dreams will never end! Zehahahahahaha!!!"

The next day, Marine Headquarters issued an announcement to the world: the Great Marine Recruitment had officially begun.

In an instant, countless people who had suffered pirate oppression and endured the torment of plunder, as well as those who wished to protect the populace, answered the call and joined the Marine recruitment drive.

At the same time, a secret operation was quietly being discussed inside