Planning

At Rune's request, Flower Sword Vista escorted Rune to his own room. Marco's room was right next door, so at least here, Rune was safe.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit... This was the fruit Blackbeard had schemed for so long to obtain..."

Rune activated his elemental form, sealing the entire room off with darkness. This way, no matter what he said inside, no one else would hear him.

At the same time, if anyone sneaked nearby, Rune would sense them immediately.

Logia Fruits were incredibly powerful even when using only their most basic abilities!

The Dark-Dark Fruit was naturally no exception!

Within the isolated darkness, Rune began developing the Dark-Dark Fruit's abilities. Since he had known of this fruit in advance, and knew some of its abilities from before his transmigration—

It did not take long for Rune to figure out how to use Dark Water and Dark Liberation. Still, he would need some time to practice before he could use them proficiently.

As for Black Hole and Black Star, he could not test them aboard the ship. Rune planned to secretly try them somewhere deserted later.

"I can seize one more Devil Fruit ability. That is a trait of the Dark-Dark Fruit, but the Tremor-Tremor Fruit definitely won't work."

Thinking of Blackbeard's combination from his memories, Rune dismissed the idea. The Dark-Dark Fruit paired with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit appeared complementary, one handling defense and the other offense.

But Rune felt that the ceiling of such a combination was not especially high.

After all, while the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was powerful, if one trained Haki to its limit, it might not be impossible to unleash the same power with iron fists!

And the Dark-Dark Fruit's weakness of making its user more susceptible to injury would remain completely unaddressed!

Rune felt that his second fruit would be best as a Zoan. A Mythical Zoan would be even better.

Zoan Devil Fruits could enhance a user's stamina and vitality, perfectly compensating for the Dark-Dark Fruit's flaws. Under normal circumstances, Zoan abilities also boosted strength, which would make Haki attacks even more powerful.

Furthermore, once a Zoan Fruit awakened, it granted tremendous defense and recovery. For Rune, who possessed Conqueror's Haki, it could not have been a more suitable choice.

But where could he find a powerful Zoan Fruit?

The first person Rune thought of was Kaido of the Beast Pirates!

This greatest teacher in the pirate world possessed the Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon Form!

That fruit suited Rune perfectly!

Besides that, Rune thought Marco's Phoenix Fruit would also suit him well. Though the Phoenix Fruit did not have much offensive power, its defense and recovery were incredibly strong, making up nicely for the flaws the Dark-Dark Fruit brought Rune.

But those two fruits...

Were both impossible to get.

The current Kaido was no weaker than Whitebeard and was likewise an Emperor of the Sea. Compared to him, Rune was no more than an ant.

Marco was the big brother who had always taught him. Rune was not someone like Teach; he could not possibly steal Marco's fruit.

Even in the world of pirates, there was still such a thing as loyalty and righteousness!

Besides, the matter of Devil Fruits could wait. Right now, the most important thing for Rune was figuring out how to kill Teach.

Otherwise, as long as Teach remained alive, Rune would remain in danger. One could be a thief for a thousand days, but never guard against thieves for a thousand days!

In a few days, the Moby Dick would dock for supplies. Rune intended to seize that opportunity to lure Teach out and kill him.

But to accomplish that, he first needed to improve his strength.

At the same time, he needed to make thorough preparations and find some helpers.

Rune had never underestimated Teach. For that man to endure in the Whitebeard Pirates for over twenty years, he was undoubtedly strong.

However...

Rune was not without advantages either.

That was, he had a good relationship with most of the Whitebeard Pirates! If Rune asked them for help, none of them would refuse him.

Just like Flower Sword Vista today—if someone else had asked him to accompany them to apologize, Vista probably would not even have bothered responding.

But Rune, as a new member of the Whitebeard Pirates,

Possessed an affinity that even Rune himself could not understand!

After thinking for a while, Rune settled on his goals.

His short-term goal was to kill Teach and force this man secretly coveting the Dark-Dark Fruit out of the picture. With someone like Teach, Rune could only rest easy once he was dead.

His long-term goal was naturally to grow stronger, overthrow the World Government, and topple Imu's rule. But achieving that would require far more than strength alone.

Even the legendary Rocks of the past—a figure so powerful that it took the combined efforts of two legends, Roger and Garp, merely to barely defeat him—had been destroyed by Imu, his family ruined as he met a miserable end.

But now that Rune had the Dark-Dark Fruit, it was not as though he had no chance at all.

For now, though, he should focus on improving his strength first.

"In terms of what I have, I am actually no worse than those top powerhouses. The Dark-Dark Fruit is unquestionably a god-tier Devil Fruit; otherwise, Teach would not have patiently endured for so many years just to get it. I also possess all Three Types of Haki. Although my mastery is still low, Haki can be trained..."

After weighing things up, Rune decided that he would devote his visible efforts to training Haki. That way, he could improve his strength while also establishing a persona to deceive Teach.

He would make Teach believe that after eating the Dark-Dark Fruit, Rune had decided it was utterly useless and therefore did not value its abilities. Perhaps when the time came for Rune and Teach to face each other in a fight to the death, he could give him a big "surprise."

The next day.

After getting up, Rune did as usual and asked Marco to spar with him. This time, he also called many crew members over to watch.

"I heard from Vista that you ate the Devil Fruit Thatch brought back. Do you want me to help you develop its abilities today?"

Marco cared deeply about his little brother. He himself was a powerful fighter who relied on Devil Fruit abilities, so naturally, he hoped Rune could develop his Devil Fruit into something formidable as well.

"Don't mention it. That Devil Fruit's ability is utter trash."

Rune shook his head, looking utterly pained.

"For a Logia Fruit, aside from doubling the pain I suffer, it is practically useless! If I'd known it had an ability like this, I would have been better off not eating it!"

Rune waved his fist. "I'd better keep training Haki. If I train it to the limit, I can become a powerhouse like Pops!"

An unconscious aura spread from Rune's body, and several of the watching crew members fainted on the spot. Rune could only feel helpless about it.

Right now, he still could not freely control his Conqueror's Haki.

Much less use an advanced technique like Conqueror's Coating.