Mutual Exploitation

In truth, if it had only been Whitebeard and Akainu fighting, the restored Whitebeard might have been able to suppress Akainu. But defeating or killing him would still have been difficult.

After all, Akainu was in his prime and was quite possibly the strongest Marine Admiral in history. Aside from Conqueror's Haki, the gap between Akainu and Whitebeard in every other ability was not that great.

Whitebeard would have had to put in considerable effort to take down Akainu. Just like when he had fought Kaido—they had battled for three days without a winner.

But at this moment, Akainu was practically alone. What he faced was the entire Whitebeard Pirates.

Besides Whitebeard, Marco, Jozu, and Vista were all powerful fighters capable of trading blows with Akainu for a while. They certainly could not win in a prolonged battle, but holding him off briefly would not be a problem.

And there was also Rune, that underhanded bastard with the Dark-Dark Fruit.

While Akainu's attention was fixed on Whitebeard, Rune had secretly nullified his Devil Fruit ability. That one dirty move turned Akainu from merely somewhat disheveled into his current unconscious state on the ground.

"I'm going to check on the civilians on this island."

Rune stopped paying attention to Akainu on the ground and headed straight inland. Before long, he found many of the island's original residents.

They were all silent as cicadas, trembling with fear. When they saw Rune, their eyes were filled with terror as well.

Rune ignored them.

Beside a Transponder Snail, he found an old man's body.

Looking at the old man's wounds, Rune felt conflicted. If he had not sheltered them under Whitebeard's name, pirates would have come after them again and again.

But now, because of Rune's protection,

this old man had died at the hands of the Marines.

If the old man had not tried to warn him, he could at least have lived until now.

But after Akainu's defeat, those who had betrayed Rune...

Rune might not kill them all, but at the very least, he would no longer protect them.

Yamato stood beside Rune, her feelings equally complicated. Looking at the old man's body, she did not know what to say for a moment.

"Bury him here. This is his homeland."

As Rune spoke, darkness poured forth and swallowed the old man's body. Then Rune carried the body, walking step by step toward a secluded part of the island.

With Rune and Yamato working together, they quickly dug a pit. Rune placed the old man's body inside, then casually picked up a stone and used it as his grave marker.

After finishing everything, Rune silently put away the Whitebeard Pirates flag he had previously given them and walked over to the unconscious Akainu.

The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit surged forth. Rune pressed a hand against Akainu's chest and directly seized his ability. Before long, a magma-like Devil Fruit condensed in Rune's hand.

This was the Dark-Dark Fruit's special ability.

In the original timeline, Blackbeard had relied on this ability to build his pirate crew.

But now...

Rune looked at Marco. "Marco, can you heal Akainu? Just make sure he doesn't die. I have something to say to him."

Marco's blue flames fell upon Akainu. Not long afterward, Akainu woke from his unconsciousness.

A trace of confusion appeared on his grim face, and when he looked at the Whitebeard Pirates in the distance, his expression became even uglier.

He had lost. As a Marine Admiral, he had lost to pirates.

"I know that no matter what I say, I can't change the justice in your heart. Nor do I want to change your beliefs. I only want to tell you one thing."

Rune looked at Akainu. Since Blackbeard wanted to use the Marines to screw him over, then he would use the Marines to screw over Blackbeard in return.

There had been no news of him before, so Rune had been unable to target him. But now that he had shown himself, things were much easier.

"The person who told you about Luffy's identity was called Marshall D. Teach, right? Go back and tell Sengoku and Garp that this man..."

Rune had almost said that Teach was Rocks's son, but remembering that Whitebeard was nearby, he changed his wording.

"...is someone who survived God Valley."

After saying that, Rune turned and left. The Whitebeard Pirates looked at Akainu but did not continue attacking him.

Since Rune intended to have Akainu deliver a message, he naturally would not kill him. And the Whitebeard Pirates had never been a bloodthirsty crew, so they would not slaughter people who could no longer resist.

"Oh, and Akainu."

Rune smiled faintly. "Next time you want to set a trap to capture me, bring Kizaru and Aokiji too."

After jumping back onto the Thousand Sunny, Rune was in a terrible mood. Tashigi, who had witnessed everything from afar—watched Rune bury the old man and take back the pirate flag—felt even worse.

She had never imagined that, as Marines, they could actually lay hands on innocent civilians.

The Moby Dick set sail, with the Thousand Sunny following close behind. Akainu could feel that his Devil Fruit ability was gone, but he had no idea why.

Rune's words also left him thoroughly baffled.

Marshall D. Teach, God Valley... what did any of that have to do with Sengoku and Garp?

"Thatch, this is the Devil Fruit I promised you."

After returning to the Moby Dick, Rune immediately sought out Thatch. He still remembered their previous agreement: when he found a Devil Fruit in the future, the first one would go to Thatch.

The Magma-Magma Fruit was not particularly useful to Rune, even though it was a Devil Fruit with tremendous destructive power.

If Rune continued training his Conqueror's Coating for a few more years, its destructive power would not be inferior to that of the Magma-Magma Fruit.

The second fruit he needed was still a Mythical Zoan.

"This is the Magma-Magma Fruit. We took it from Akainu."

Rune tossed the fruit to Thatch. "I'm heading back to my ship. Whether you eat it or not is up to you."

Before Thatch could say anything else, Rune jumped straight back onto the Thousand Sunny. Seeing this, Whitebeard's aged eyes revealed a hint of satisfaction.

Whitebeard truly saw a little of his younger self in Rune.

And when he compared him to Ace...

Whitebeard increasingly felt that he might have chosen his successor too soon.

"Rune..."

"Don't say anything."

Tashigi wanted to say something to Rune, but he stopped her. Rune frowned, though he did not lose his temper with her.

He knew Tashigi was a good Marine. Whether during her time in the Marines or after she boarded his ship, her actions had always lived up to the word "justice."

It was just that Rune was in a terrible mood right now and did not feel like talking to her.