Blackbeard's Fury Over the Billion Beli

Hearing Roya say that.

Blackbeard Teach's expression instantly turned solemn. The fist in his hand slowly clenched, and a trace of killing intent seemed to flicker in his eyes.

Roya's actions had completely deviated from his plans.

Blackbeard Teach had originally made it clear that no Marines above the rank of vice admiral were allowed to come because he wanted to avoid any conflict with the Marines.

After all, he had only just become one of the Seven Warlords. If he killed someone at the rank of vice admiral or above from Marine Headquarters at a time like this, Marine Headquarters would certainly hold him accountable. If that happened, it would become much less convenient for him to use his status as a Seven Warlord to accomplish what he wanted later on.

But now...

Ace had already been escorted onto the warship by those Marines. It could be said that Blackbeard had completely lost his bargaining chip.

If that was truly the case, Blackbeard would definitely make a move.

However, Blackbeard was a crafty fellow. Naturally, he would not attack rashly. Instead, he began considering what kind of person Roya was.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Since when did you Marines learn to play dirty?"

"Or do you personally have your eyes on that billion Beli?"

"How about this, Roya? I think you're quite strong. Leave the Marines and join us. Let's conquer this world together. What do you say?"

Blackbeard Teach spread his arms again and laughed arrogantly as he extended an invitation to Roya.

In Blackbeard Teach's eyes, Roya was likely a greedy and ambitious man just like him. Otherwise, based on what he knew of the Marines, there was no way Marine Headquarters would go back on the billion Beli they had promised.

That left only one explanation: Roya was his kind of person.

After all, such people existed in every world, and the world of One Piece was no exception.

Blackbeard Teach immediately saw through it. Combined with the Conqueror's Haki Roya had displayed earlier, if Roya truly was the same kind of person, why not simply recruit him? Wouldn't that add another great fighter to his crew?

But then...

Roya casually waved a hand and said, "Not interested."

This time, Blackbeard Teach's face truly darkened. The endless killing intent within him was gradually stirred up by rage.

Roya was clearly trying to keep the billion Beli that originally belonged to him all for himself.

Click!

Van Augur, standing beside Blackbeard, raised his long rifle again and aimed it at Roya. This time, Blackbeard did not stop him, seemingly indicating that he had tacitly agreed to go to war with Roya.

The Marines beside Roya were not afraid either. They were all professionally trained Marines from Marine Headquarters. Fighting pirates was their duty. Seeing that battle was about to break out, they all raised their guns as well.

More than a hundred gun barrels were aimed at every member of the Blackbeard Pirates. The two sides faced off, creating a truly spectacular scene.

"Roya, I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the billion Beli, and we'll stay out of each other's way. Otherwise, don't even think about leaving this island." Blackbeard Teach's eyes were filled with killing intent.

Roya said nothing. He merely raised a finger and waved it, telling Blackbeard to forget about it.

This thoroughly enraged Blackbeard.

Blackbeard had been expected to attack immediately, but Burgess, the "Fighting Champion" standing beside him, suddenly leaped into the air, his thick arm tightly clenched into a fist.

Burgess shouted, "Captain, let me teach this guy a lesson for you!"

As he spoke, he had already charged forward, throwing his right fist at Roya with all his strength!

Burgess, who called himself a champion, had suddenly launched his attack, but Roya had already foreseen it with Observation Haki.

Observation Haki allowed one to predict an opponent's movements by sensing the presence of living beings and shifts in their emotions.

"Heh."

Facing Burgess, Roya merely curled his lip and gave a disdainful sneer.

Then, Roya directly used Armament Hardening to cover his arm. Just as Burgess's fist was about to come crashing down—

Roya struck!

Fist against fist!

Bang!

Crack...

After a dull impact, a crisp sound of bones breaking rang out.

A one-hit kill!

Roya's strength directly shattered the bones in Burgess's arm.

"Aah..."

With a thud, Burgess fell to the ground face-first, clutching his shattered arm and screaming in agony.

Everyone present was dumbfounded.

That included Blackbeard Teach. Burgess was his crewmate, and Blackbeard knew exactly how strong he was. No matter how powerful Roya was, he should not have been able to defeat Burgess in a single strike.

But the result was different from what he had imagined.

Is this guy really that strong? Blackbeard Teach muttered inwardly.

At the same time.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Van Augur, standing beside Blackbeard, was the first to fire at Roya. With his high-level Observation Haki, Roya easily dodged bullets moving at that speed.

Since the Blackbeard Pirates had opened fire, the battle had officially begun. The Marines could no longer hold themselves back and pulled their triggers, joining the fight.

In an instant.

The entire battlefield was filled with a storm of bullets.

Though these Marines were not especially strong, they were still Marines from Marine Headquarters and possessed some degree of skill.

More importantly, their fighting spirit was exceptionally strong. They were not the sort of soldiers who would easily become afraid and flee. Through their brave fighting, they successfully held back Van Augur, Lafitte, Doc Q, and the other Blackbeard crew members.

Only Roya and Blackbeard Teach remained, standing amid the hail of bullets and staring into each other's eyes.

"Roya, you really are quite strong."

"Are you really not going to consider joining us? As long as the two of us join forces, this world will definitely be ours! Hahahahaha!"

"What do you say, Roya? I'll give you one last chance to think it over. Will you join us?"

Even at this point, Blackbeard Teach had not forgotten to recruit Roya. Clearly, he did not take the other Marines seriously at all.

"I said, I'm not interested." Roya shook his head.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Since that's the case, I'll let you see what the power of darkness truly is!"

Rejected once again, Blackbeard was enraged.