Teach's New Dream, the Three-Person Team Appears

Darkness, swaying, and screams.

Along with the cannon fire of God Valley and the moldy smell of an unfamiliar cabin.

They made up all of two-year-old Marshall D. Teach's memories from recent times.

Amid the chaos and exhaustion, his consciousness sank into deeper darkness, trying to hide.

Through the haze, he felt someone pick him up.

A familiar voice, choked with joyful sobs, sounded beside his ear:

"Teach, thank goodness..."

His eyelashes trembled a few times before he laboriously opened his eyes.

What greeted him was his mother Alice's face, illuminated by firelight.

"Ugh—"

The grievances he had held in for so long burst through the dam. Teach buried his face in Alice's neck and wailed.

As he cried, he suddenly noticed something strange.

Why were he and his mother glowing?

He raised his head slightly and saw rings of blue flames coiling around them, flowing slowly.

The flames touched his skin, yet they did not feel scorching. Instead, they were soothing.

The pain was rapidly fading within that warmth.

Then, following the source of the flames, he turned his head.

The next moment, little Teach's crying caught in his throat.

The deck was burning.

At the heart of those flames stood a monster.

It was a half-man, half-bird creature. His feet had turned into talons, and a pair of enormous wings spread behind him.

Hans, who had looked so vicious not long ago and had knocked him out with one punch, was now sprawled across the deck, groaning in pain.

More than a dozen people lay scattered around Hans, howling and rolling about at the edge of the flames.

That sight was branded deep into Teach's heart.

Power.

Without any flourish, it crushed everything.

"Are you going to talk or not?! Are you going to talk or not?!"

Lin Nuo controlled his strength as he pounded Hans's face, already swollen like a pig's head, at a terrifying pace.

"Ugh... I'll talk..." Hans forced out weakly.

"Talk? Talk about what...? Ask me something, damn it! Ask!"

"Didn't I ask?!" Lin Nuo said in surprise.

"Ask what? You've been beating me this whole time! You never fucking stopped!"

Gathering the last of his strength, Hans screamed in utter collapse.

Only to receive another precise punch to the cheekbone.

"Fine." Lin Nuo withdrew his fist and tilted his head. The flames on his wings flickered along with the motion.

"Then I'll ask you again."

Hans: "..."

His vision darkened. He practically wanted to die.

"You're a pirate hunter, yet you colluded with pirates and made such a big show of capturing people. What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I-I..." Hans's eyes darted around as he stammered.

"Of course it was for money! The more people I caught, the more ransom I got..."

Before he could finish, the talon pressing on his chest abruptly tightened, instantly piercing his armor and digging into his flesh.

"Ah—! I'll talk! I'll talk!" The searing pain made Hans no longer dare to hide anything.

"It was for a Devil Fruit! It was all for a Devil Fruit—!"

Lin Nuo loosened his talon slightly. "Explain clearly."

Hans gasped for breath. "Some time ago, a freak dressed all in white and covered from head to toe suddenly came to our base on the island."

"He showed us a Devil Fruit and said that as long as we followed his orders and captured a group of outsiders who had recently drifted into this area..."

"That fruit would be our payment, and he would provide the operating funds too."

"So," Lin Nuo said, his voice betraying no emotion.

"You just went and agreed to help some guy whose background you knew nothing about?"

"I had no choice."

Hans wore a miserable expression. "That guy was as strong as you. Everyone at our base attacked together, but we all went down without even touching the corner of his clothes."

"Besides, he really did show us the Devil Fruit. I saw it clearly. It couldn't have been fake."

Lin Nuo listened in silence, his thoughts churning as he rapidly weighed the truth of Hans's words.

Unfortunately, he had too little information.

For now, he could only conclude that Hans was a thug, incapable of verifying the white-clad man's identity or true purpose.

Not having anyone around who could gather intelligence was indeed troublesome.

It seemed he needed to recruit a few reliable companions first.

The talon pulled completely free from Hans's chest, dragging out a few strands of blood.

With a flick of his finger, Lin Nuo sent several blue flames flying onto Hans.

"Go." Lin Nuo rose to his feet and returned to human form, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Gather all your men. Find an open area by the harbor and stay there honestly until I decide what to do with you."

"Don't even think about running. You know the consequences."

Feeling an itchy numbness around his wounds, Hans scrambled to his feet and staggered off the ship.

Only then did Lin Nuo turn around, his gaze falling on Alice and Teach.

Seeing that they were safe and sound, he felt relieved, and even more hopeful.

Since he had encountered Alice and Teach here.

Then Ivankov, Ginny, and Kuma, who had also been sent flying by Kuma's paw, could not have landed too far away from him.

They had to be on some island within these waters.

Once he found them, he would never let them leave again.

He would lead them away from the fate of being captured by the Celestial Dragons and persecuted to death, toward another path together.

Lin Nuo withdrew all the flames and walked over to Alice.

"How are your injuries?"

Alice held Teach and shook her head. "They're nothing serious."

"Lin Nuo, you saved me again... and Teach too. I really don't know how to thank you."

At that moment, Teach, who had been lying in her arms and secretly peeking at Lin Nuo, suddenly mumbled.

"Th... thank you."

Lin Nuo froze for a moment, then a smile appeared in his eyes. He reached out and ruffled Teach's messy black hair.

"You're welcome."

He glanced at the spreading flames around them. "This ship isn't safe to stay on. Let's get off first."

Alice nodded.

The three of them walked down the already tilted gangplank and stepped onto the relatively stable ground of the dock.

The instant their feet touched solid ground, the two spoke at the same time.

"How is Rocks?"

"Have you seen Rocks?"

As the words fell, both of them paused, then saw the answer in each other's eyes.

Lin Nuo took a deep breath and briefly told Alice what had happened at the God Valley battlefield after she and Teach had been sent flying.

As Alice listened, there was more trust than worry in her eyes.

"I can feel it. He's still alive. He must still be alive."

It was an indescribable bond between them, and the faith that had sustained her all this way.

Lin Nuo nodded, then asked.

"How did you get captured by these people?"

"Teach, I, and many of the people sent away at the time all landed near the peninsula," Alice recalled.

"With the help of kind locals, we built a temporary camp and barely managed to settle down. Everyone thought we were safe."

"Then those people suddenly appeared and attacked the camp."

"You know what happened after that."

Lin Nuo's gaze sharpened as he pressed on. "Alice, did you see any of my friends at that camp?"

He described Ginny, Kuma, and Ivankov with his purple afro in detail.

Alice thought carefully, and her eyes brightened slightly.

"I remember them. They did appear at that temporary camp.

"That purple-haired boy even helped maintain order. He had a very loud voice."

"The pink-haired girl was very clever. She was always asking around for information."

"What about Kuma? A chubby boy who didn't talk much?" Lin Nuo asked anxiously.

Alice shook her head apologetically. "Sorry, I don't remember him."

"Maybe he didn't land in the same place as us."

"Then Ginny and Ivankov weren't captured with you?"

"They..." Alice frowned. "They left without saying goodbye the night before the camp was attacked."

"Where did they go?" Lin Nuo's heart rose to his throat.

"I remember someone mentioning that when they left, they said they were going to Tenpan City."

"Apparently, not only was information well-connected there, but there were also many shipyards and skilled navigators."

After hearing that, Lin Nuo felt even more doubtful.

What exactly was going on? Not only had he ended up here, but Kuma and the people he had saved had not gone to the Sorbet Kingdom either.

God Valley... what other change had happened there?