Blackbeard's Bad Luck

The two sides met at the stairwell, and Blackbeard's group was visibly stunned when they saw Sal and the others. Blackbeard himself had been mentally prepared for someone causing havoc in Impel Down.

But this lineup was far too extravagant. Setting aside Sal, whose name had spread far and wide recently, the four famous powerhouses were all far from ordinary.

Blackbeard was cunning and arrogant, but his cautious nature told him with certainty that his side was no match for them.

Enemies were especially quick to anger when they met. The moment Luffy saw Blackbeard, he furiously prepared to attack. However, Sal grabbed his arm. Luffy alone was no match for Blackbeard.

A trace of killing intent flashed through Sal's calm eyes. Among the people on the seas Sal was wary of, Blackbeard certainly had a place—not because of his strength, but because of the kind of person he was.

For the sake of one goal, he had hidden within the Whitebeard Pirates and pretended for over twenty years. If the Dark-Dark Fruit had not fallen into the hands of the Fourth Division Commander, he would certainly have continued playing the devoted son.

And when the opportunity came, Blackbeard had acted with extreme decisiveness—one could even call it vicious.

He and Thatch had once been on good terms. If he had been willing to pay a price, there was a strong chance he could have obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit. But he had not. He ambushed and killed a friend he had been close to, then swiftly plotted against both the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates.

The Marineford War could be said to have been set in motion by Blackbeard Teach, because he had handed Ace and Ace's heritage over to the Marines.

A person like that would be fine if he were weak. But once he reached the strength of a Four Emperor, as he did later in the original story, he would become an enormous problem. All these factors gave Sal the intent to kill here. If he eliminated Blackbeard Teach now, there would be far fewer troublesome matters later.

When enemies met on a narrow path, Blackbeard did not panic. Instead, he burst into laughter and proposed a plan he found satisfactory.

"Augustus D. Sal, let's cooperate. Don't let some petty grudge disrupt both our plans. You want to break out of prison, and I have my own plan as well. If we join forces, Impel Down will belong to all of us."

Teach's words were highly convincing. Someone unfamiliar with him might have believed them. But Sal had once come from Blue Star. He would not believe a single word Blackbeard said.

Moreover, the little movements as the other side slowly backed away to widen the distance also exposed his true intentions. They made it clear to Sal that Teach was not as confident as he appeared.

Sal followed his suggestion and replied.

"We need to discuss it. Please wait a moment."

Sal gestured to everyone and even quietly stated his plan.

"Keep them here. Blackbeard is a major problem. After Impel Down, he will definitely head to Marineford. He will become our enemy, and by then, they will have more than just these people—they will also have some troublesome figures from Level 6."

"I agree."

Jinbe and Ivankov were the first to voice their support. If a battle was inevitable, it was better to settle it while the other side was still weak.

Crocodile frowned slightly. He did not want to stir up extra trouble. But Sal, Ivankov, Jinbe, and even Byrnndi World had all come to an agreement, leaving Crocodile no choice but to accept it unhappily.

Perhaps Blackbeard noticed the change after Sal's group finished discussing.

Teach's burly body swiftly turned, and he fled while shouting at his companions.

"Run..."

The five members of the Blackbeard Pirates ran toward the passageway, but their speeds differed, and the gap between them quickly widened.

At that moment, Sal and the other five gave chase together, soon intercepting Burgess at the very back. Seeing that he had been caught, the arena champion could only stop and roar, intending to make a final desperate struggle.

"You damned bastards, I'll kill you—"

Before Burgess could finish speaking, Crocodile had already drifted to his side and grabbed his arm with one hand. He activated his Devil Fruit ability and drained the moisture from Burgess's body, instantly shriveling his arm into something like a dried corpse.

"No..."

The change in his body filled Burgess with fear. Before he had time to struggle further, Sal arrived and smashed Burgess's heart with a punch. Burgess might have been able to endure it two years later, but right now, he was far too weak.

[Greatly altered the fate of an A-rank character. Reward: 500 points]

[A-rank character has developed negative emotions toward the host. High-level fear. Experience increased by 500]

Burgess's death did not cost the group much time. Doc Q, riding a horse, was instead the second to be caught. Surrounded by three Shichibukai-level powerhouses, he soon followed Burgess's fate. The old man's face remained frozen in death, his eyes wide open.

The deaths of the two men had, in fact, bought time for their teammates. Blackbeard and the other two had already fled far away. Continuing the pursuit would mean playing hide-and-seek, likely wasting even more time.

Seeing that the enemies had already escaped, Ivankov suggested,

"We should leave quickly. Magellan hasn't appeared yet."

The escape group soon reached Level 3 without incident and hurried toward Level 2.

Although Blackbeard's group escaped, his decision had cost two men their lives, leaving Lafitte and Van Augur dissatisfied.

"Captain, why did we run? We still had the strength to fight."

Seeing the authority he had worked so hard to establish being questioned, Blackbeard Teach flew into a rage.

"Idiots! Those four are all powerhouses comparable to the Shichibukai. With Sal, whose strength is unknown, fighting them brings us no benefit. Burgess and Doc Q died only because they ran too slowly. What matters most now is reaching Level 6 and recruiting crew members."

To Blackbeard, companions were merely tools to be used. As long as he recruited crew members on Level 6, the deaths of Burgess and the others would become irrelevant.

The three gathered themselves. After Sal and the others had completely left Level 4, they once again headed downward. Unfortunately, another set of footsteps sounded ahead.

A four-meter-tall figure blocked their path: Magellan, the warden of Impel Down. Because he had gone to release Shiryu, the chief guard, he had taken the elevator to Level 6 before rushing back up from there, which was why he had missed the battle on Level 4.

Though he had raced against time, when he returned to Level 4 and saw Impel Down's forces utterly defeated, with wounded people scattered everywhere, even the calm Magellan was consumed by rage. He was determined to make the prisoners pay for their blood with blood.

And the first enemies the enraged Magellan encountered were the unlucky trio of Blackbeard and his men.

Blackbeard halted, then quickly resumed his smiling approach toward Magellan. He believed he held the advantage against a Venom-Venom Fruit user.

"Wahaha! Warden Magellan of Impel Down, I've heard so much about you. You're here to pursue Augustus D. Sal and the others, right? They've already escaped to Level 3. As a Shichibukai, it is my duty to help you."

Magellan did not answer. He was furious and needed an outlet. Besides, Blackbeard, as one of the Shichibukai, should have been at Marineford with the Marineford War approaching. Instead, he had entered Impel Down. Clearly, like Sal and the others, he was up to no good.

"Poison Dragon."

Magellan used his Devil Fruit with all his might. The enormous Poison Dragon brought overwhelming pressure. At such close range, its massive body swallowed the three men before they could react, washing over them like a torrent.

When the Poison Dragon vanished, Blackbeard and the other two were covered in venom. They had clearly been poisoned, their bodies gradually weakening until all three collapsed to the ground and writhed in agony.

Magellan remained silent, merely walking coldly between them. Once swallowed by the Poison Dragon, without an antidote, the three of them were as good as dead.