Blackbeard's Attention

Sengoku's eyes lit up at once.

That was right. Whitebeard's second division commander, and the traitor who had dared make trouble under Whitebeard's nose—capturing either one would be a tremendous achievement, and would also deal a hard blow to the increasingly arrogant Whitebeard Pirates in the New World.

He immediately picked up the Den Den Mushi on his desk and pressed the dial button. His voice was steady, carrying an unquestionable command. "Notify Vice Admiral Momonga to report to my office immediately.

At the same time, issue orders for him to lead a team to West Blue 74th Branch at once, taking full responsibility for investigating the disappearances within its jurisdiction and pursuing Fire Fist Ace and Blackbeard Teach."

The orderly on the other end of the Den Den Mushi answered respectfully.

After hanging up, Sengoku walked to the window and gazed out at the pitch-black sea and the brightly lit Marine fortress in the distance. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

No matter what monsters and demons were hiding in the West Blue, if they dared cause such a commotion under the Marines' very noses, they had better be prepared to be utterly crushed.

Deep in the West Blue lay an uninhabited island whose outline was only vaguely marked even on official sea charts.

Within a sheltered bay ringed by jagged reefs, a bonfire crackled. Orange flames licked at the sea beast meat suspended above it, while dripping fat hissed in the fire and sent up white smoke scented with charred meat.

The salty night wind carried the crash of waves against the rock walls, but it could not disperse the wild, sinister atmosphere around the bonfire—this was the Blackbeard Pirates' temporary hideout.

Jesus Burgess stood bare-chested, his sandbag-sized fists hammering the reef over and over. Amid dull booms, dense fist-shaped craters appeared in the hard black stone. His knotted muscles were filled with a savage, fearless ferocity.

Atop a distant reef, Van Augur meticulously wiped down his beloved rifle, "Senriku." His Feihong eyes swept over the vast sea from time to time, missing not the slightest movement even in the dead of night.

Lafitte sat beside the bonfire with an ornate cane in hand, flipping through a stack of intelligence gathered from the black markets of nearby ports. A soft, teasing smile rested on his lips.

Wrapped in a black cloak, Doc Q lay sprawled on a nearby rock, cradling his sickly horse, Stronger. Every so often, he erupted into a gut-wrenching coughing fit, as though he might breathe his last at any moment.

Marshall D. Teach sprawled across the thickest beast hide beside the bonfire, his open shirt exposing his fleshy belly. One hand gripped a piece of roasted beast meat dripping with grease, while the other held half a bottle of hard liquor. As he chewed, he would occasionally burst into his signature "Zehahahaha" laughter.

He had deserted the Whitebeard Pirates over a year ago. Relying on the formidable power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he had gathered this group of capable crewmates before him, but no one knew better than he did that this little foundation was still far from enough to support his ambitions.

What he wanted was fame, status, and a bargaining chip that would let him leap onto the table of power on these seas—such as a seat among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

"Captain, something interesting has come up." Lafitte stopped turning pages and handed over a crumpled intelligence report. His cane lightly tapped the paper. "Nearly a hundred ships have vanished without a trace along the routes around Laskamp Island over the past year.

Pirate ships, slave ships, even standard Marine patrol vessels—they all disappeared without managing to send out a single distress signal. The Marines searched the entire sea area and couldn't even find a plank. The colonel at Marine Branch 74 couldn't hold on any longer and has already requested reinforcements from Headquarters."

Teach took the report casually, chewing on his meat as he gave it a cursory glance. He had not thought much of it at first—the West Blue was chaotic to begin with, and pirate clashes or gangs turning on each other were everyday occurrences.

But when his gaze landed on the coordinates of the disappearance zone marked in the report, his chewing abruptly stopped.

He snatched up the full map of the West Blue spread out beside him. His rough finger traced across it, from the uninhabited island where they were hiding to the core disappearance zone marked in the report. The straight-line distance was less than eighty nautical miles.

"Zehahahaha... Interesting! This is far too interesting!" Teach suddenly erupted in thunderous laughter, making even the bonfire flames sway wildly.

"It was right under our noses? In this uninhabited sea with not even a fixed shipping route, there was something this amusing hidden away?"

"That's right, Captain." Lafitte nodded, lightly tapping the blank uninhabited region on the map with his cane. "What's even stranger is that the last known locations of every missing ship were concentrated around this area.

The chart shows nothing here but uninhabited islands, with no known faction bases. Merchant ships normally never come this way, and whenever the Marines head in, it's as if a black hole appears out of nowhere and swallows every ship that gets close."

"Oh?" Teach raised an eyebrow. A fierce curiosity and calculating gleam flashed through his narrowed eyes.

He understood the rules of these seas all too well.

To erase nearly a hundred ships without a sound, even intercepting fully armed Marine patrol vessels before they could send a distress signal, could not possibly be the work of ordinary pirate infighting, much less sea monsters.

Anyone capable of such a thing was either an overwhelmingly powerful lone expert, or a mysterious force that operated with extreme secrecy, possessed a complete structure, and had unfathomable strength.

"Captain! Who cares what it is? Let's sail over there and tear them apart!" Burgess stopped punching and roared in a deep voice. "Whatever mysterious force it is, before your Dark-Dark Fruit, they're all worthless trash!"

"Zehahahaha, don't be hasty, Burgess." Teach waved a hand. Rather than rebuking his recklessness, he tapped the intelligence report with his fingers again and again, calculating rapidly.

What he lacked most right now was a bargaining chip that would let him expand quickly in the gap between the Marines and the Four Emperors.

If the force lurking in the shadows truly possessed such strength, then it was either a juicy prize he could swallow in one bite, or a piece he could use to borrow strength.

Besides, this force was operating right beside his hideout. How could he allow others to sleep soundly beside his bed?

He would never allow an unknown presence to make such a commotion around his territory.

Moreover, Fire Fist Ace was currently chasing him from place to place. He happened to need a foothold that was concealed enough and could provide resources. If this sea area could truly evade Marine searches perfectly, it would be a paradise bestowed by heaven.

"Van Augur." Teach lifted his gaze toward the sniper atop the reef.

"Yes, Captain." Van Augur stopped cleaning his rifle and bowed slightly.

"At dawn tomorrow, take a small boat and scout the outskirts of this disappearance zone." Teach's tone lowered, the amusement fading from his eyes until only vicious calculation remained.

"I want to know exactly what is hidden in these waters, and exactly who dares swallow so many ships under the Marines' noses in the West Blue. Remember: scout only. Do not engage. Under no circumstances can you expose our location."