Watching from the Shadows, an Explosive Fruit Combination

After Hans and the others were dealt with, White Shell Town returned to peace.

Fishing boats sailed out one after another, casting their nets into the sea and sounding their horns as they docked.

Town center.

A man carrying a box camera pushed open the door of the newspaper office and walked out.

He hugged a cloth sack full of Beli, glanced around, and pulled down the brim of his hat.

"Ha! I'm rich, I'm really rich!" He briskly turned into an alley and soon vanished into the crowd.

After he left.

On the rooftop of a nearby tall building, someone had appeared at some point.

The person wore a pure white suit and a pointed top hat, with only the lower half of his face visible.

He stood silently, gazing at the empty horizon in the distance.

At that moment, a gray pigeon flew in from behind, yet before it could touch him, it passed straight through the back of his head.

The pigeon circled once before landing on his outstretched right hand.

"Although we were one step too late, we found them."

As soon as he spoke, a series of landing sounds came from the rooftop.

One, two, three...

Within seconds, twelve figures in identical white suits and pointed hats leaped onto the rooftop.

Their builds and attire were completely identical, even their stances were exactly the same.

"Target confirmed. Course southeast."

"Understood." Twelve voices overlapped.

As the sea breeze swept past, the people on the rooftop vanished as if erased by a rubber, leaving only drying bed sheets swaying in the wind.

White Shell.

Inside the cabin, Teach stood on tiptoe and slowly shuffled forward step by step.

He reached the left side of the lower deck and struggled to push open the wooden door.

Inside was the storage room. Lin Nuo stood before the shelves, taking inventory.

"Uncle Lin Nuo," Teach called, looking up at him. "You can't see the Marines outside at all anymore."

"Good." Lin Nuo looked down at him and pushed the last wooden crate into place.

"Everything's more or less sorted out. Perfect time to go get some air."

He dusted off his hands and made to leave.

"Wait." Teach grabbed him.

"I walk slowly. Can you take me..."

Lin Nuo stopped, turned around, and stared at Teach for two seconds.

"No—" he drew out the word.

"I'm going to lock the cabin door and make sure you can never get out! Hehe!"

With that, he really did turn and rush outside.

Bang! The cabin door swung shut behind him.

Teach froze for a second.

"Waaah—don't!!" He stumbled toward the door and desperately pounded on the wooden planks.

"Let me out! I'm telling Mom! Come back right now!"

But all he heard outside was Lin Nuo's laughter fading into the distance.

On deck, Alice stood behind the helm, her eyes fixed on the sea ahead as both hands held the ship on course.

Lin Nuo climbed out through the hatch and walked over to her.

"That's enough. I'll take the helm from here," he said, reaching for the wheel.

But Alice lightly shifted aside, avoiding his hand.

"No need."

"But..."

"Lin Nuo." Alice kept her gaze on the sea.

"Do you remember the task Rocks gave you at God Valley?"

Rocks's... task...

Alice's words gradually stirred Lin Nuo's memories.

"You wanted to join my pirate crew, didn't you, Lin Nuo!"

Rocks's laughter rang in his ears, full of confidence and arrogance.

"Approved! You're allowed to join my fleet! But you'll have to start as an apprentice crewman. Even if you saved my family, you can't be an exception."

"Now, I'm giving you your first assessment."

"Bring Alice and Teach safely back to the ship!"

God Valley burned, the battlefield in chaos.

When Rocks pushed his wife and child toward him, there had been a rare solemnity in his eyes.

"Your task is already complete, Lin Nuo."

Alice's voice pulled him back to reality.

She finally turned to look at him.

Sunlight reflected pale golden specks in her pupils.

"Now, you don't have to keep trying to take care of me in every way just because I'm your captain's family."

"Let's continue traveling as companions."

She released one hand, clenched it into a fist, and bent her arm.

"Don't let appearances fool you. I'm actually quite strong too."

"At least I can help with steering and navigation instead of dumping everything on you."

Lin Nuo looked at her.

After a moment, he suddenly smiled.

Alice smiled too. She thought Lin Nuo had taken her words to heart.

But the next second, Lin Nuo's smile suddenly became a little strange.

He rubbed his chin and muttered, "I think... I'm starting to understand why Rocks gave up on Shakky and fell for you instead."

"And why he became so devoted that he was willing to risk his life to save you."

"Huh?" Alice blinked.

"I never expected it," Lin Nuo said with a shake of his head. "That overbearing brute had another side to him after all."

"L-Lin Nuo, what are you talking about?" Alice rarely looked flustered as she turned back and gripped the helm tightly.

"Rocks and I..."

Just then, the cabin door flew open with a clatter.

Teach came staggering onto the deck with tears all over his face and buried himself in Alice's arms.

"Lin Nuo, Lin Nuo said he was going to lock me in the storage room forever!"

Alice patted Teach's back, half amused and half helpless. "The cabin doors on this ship don't even have locks."

His crying stopped abruptly.

Teach raised his head from her arms and blinked again.

"Ah..." He slowly turned around.

"You lied to me!!!"

The two chased and fought across the deck—though really, Lin Nuo deliberately slowed down so Teach could catch him.

Alice watched them, shook her head with a smile, and continued focusing on the helm.

People's joys and sorrows were never shared.

While Lin Nuo and Teach were fooling around, outside the starboard side of the White Shell.

A pair of dead fish eyes stared at them fixedly.

Moria was soaked from head to toe, leaning against the ship like a drowned rat.

"Lin Nuo... you bastard..." he gritted out weakly.

"You knew I was chasing after you... and you just ignored me completely..."

"And you're over here having such a great time!"

As if sensing his resentment, Lin Nuo stopped chasing Teach, walked to the rail, and greeted him.

"Yo, Moria. How's the training going?" Lin Nuo asked with a grin.

"T-Training?" Moria nearly cursed out loud. "You call this training?"

"This is attempted murder! What if I run out of strength and drown?"

"Were you planning to have that woman or this two-year-old brat fish me out?"

"Don't say that." Lin Nuo crouched down and propped his chin on his hand.

"Right now, you're one of only two fighters aboard besides me. That's a heavy burden. Naturally, you need to train more. You have to push yourself to exhaustion with both aerobic and anaerobic exercise to unlock your potential."

"What are you talking about?" Moria looked utterly bewildered.

Lin Nuo cleared his throat and gave him a serious instruction.

"What I mean is, starting today, you have to do at least one thousand push-ups, one thousand sit-ups, one thousand squats, and swim one hundred kilometers every day. And on top of that..."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Hearing Lin Nuo list exercise after exercise as if reciting dishes from a menu.

"I'm not training!" Moria cut him off, his face turning dark.

"Then do you want to get stronger?" Lin Nuo asked.

Moria choked.

"Getting stronger is easy. Just eat a powerful fruit and you'll get there immediately!"

After a pause, he asked what concerned him most. "Why did you leave the archipelago? How are you supposed to help me get the Shadow-Shadow Fruit now?"

"What if the fruit gets transported away!"

Lin Nuo's teasing expression vanished.

"Don't panic. In my opinion, the person who has the Shadow-Shadow Fruit is most likely an agent of the World Government, not a pirate."

"Agents like that usually have procedures they must complete. You don't need to worry about the Shadow-Shadow Fruit for now."

"Among the people I'm looking for are those with powerful fruit abilities, as well as people who are exceptionally good at gathering intelligence."

"Once we find them, they'll be a huge help for what we're doing right now."

"But what if we miss it..."

"Even if we do," Lin Nuo said seriously, "if I find other powerful fruits in the future, I'll give one to you."

"I keep my word."

Moria stared at him for several seconds before finally clicking his tongue and saying nothing more.

With a stiff expression, he shifted toward a patch of sunlight and closed his eyes, waiting to dry off.

At that moment, Teach quietly crept up beside Lin Nuo and tugged on his pant leg.

"Uncle Lin Nuo." His eyes sparkled as he lowered his voice. "I want to eat a fruit too. I want powers..."

"Can I?"

Lin Nuo suddenly froze at those words.

Right... if Teach followed him and never joined the Whitebeard Pirates later on, would he still be able to eat the Dark-Dark Fruit?

If he couldn't, would that affect his unknown ability to contain multiple fruits?

And if it didn't...

All sorts of absurd combinations suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit with the Glint-Glint Fruit, the Door-Door Fruit with the Op-Op Fruit... combinations of fruits that had already been eaten and fruits that had not appeared in his mind.

But the next second, some terrible memories from his previous life suddenly flooded back.

"What if Teach ate the Love-Love Fruit..."

In his imagination, the grown-up Blackbeard wore a fluffy pink dress, twisted his burly body, pinched his voice, and shouted, "Mero Mero Mellow"~

Then he raised a sweaty ninety-yard foot and kicked someone into a statue with Perfume Femur...

Lin Nuo shuddered violently.

No.

That could never be allowed to happen.

Even if fruits had different effects depending on who ate them, he was still afraid that this Phoenix would be permanently petrified in the mind...