"Teach, are you trying to betray Pops?!" [Diamond] Jozu and [Phoenix] Marco stood before Whitebeard with dark expressions, confronting [Blackbeard] Teach. Teach himself was not the problem; the problem was the captains of seven or eight divisions standing behind him.
They were relatively pure-blooded pirates. They simply could not adapt to becoming the Revolutionary Army's "dogs." In their eyes, maintaining their current conditions and situation was best. They did not want any changes at all, and anyone who tried to disrupt what they already had was their enemy.
—But they had forgotten that the one helping them maintain the status quo was Whitebeard, the very man who wanted to change it.
If Whitebeard no longer wished to maintain the status quo, then they would have no choice but to change.
But these pirates had not grown this big for nothing. They immediately thought of using their status as sons to force Whitebeard's hand. Everyone wanted to pressure Whitebeard into maintaining the current state of affairs.
People like Thatch and Vista were caught in the middle, torn between both sides. They did not particularly care either way, but they lacked opinions of their own. All they could do was watch as more and more people gathered behind each side. Teach seemed to have found himself a stage, bouncing about as he put on his performance. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he cried, "Pops, can you really bear to make us join the Revolutionary Army, let them exploit us, and even strip us of our freedom?"
"Teach, how dare you speak to Pops like that?!" Marco exploded in fury.
But Teach ignored him completely. As though nothing stood between him and Whitebeard, he stared straight into Whitebeard's eyes, tears and snot pouring down his face as he tried to