"You've only come looking for me now? That's a surprise. I thought you'd come straight for revenge after Blackbeard escaped."
Werther took a deep breath. The wound in his chest still ached faintly, but it wouldn't stop him from fighting.
"Jin Hu, stay out of this. Phoenix has guts. Since he's come for revenge, I'll see this through with him."
Jin Hu shrugged, leaving Werther to do as he pleased.
Werther used Geppo to step through the air and descended to the ground.
"I heard you lost your fight with Blackbeard. Just as I thought. Without Whitebeard, the Whitebeard Pirates have fallen apart."
Marco gave a cold laugh.
"Don't be ridiculous. The Whitebeard Pirates will never disappear. Someday, someone will carry on Pops's will."
"Impossible. Someone might carry on Roger's will, but no one will ever carry on Whitebeard's."
Werther wasn't mocking Marco. Whitebeard had nearly killed him at the Summit War, but he still admired the old man, both for his strength and his character.
"My Pops was every bit Roger's equal. If he'd wanted to become the Pirate King, he would have done it long ago."
Marco clearly disagreed with Werther, and his expression darkened.
"You're right. Whitebeard could have become the Pirate King. But would you call anyone else Pops? I doubt it. All Whitebeard ever wanted was a family. That old man didn't care about treasure or anything else he couldn't take with him, and he had little interest in becoming the Pirate King. So the moment Whitebeard died, the Whitebeard Pirates ceased to exist."
Marco stared at him in surprise. He hadn't expected Werther to understand Pops so well. The man sounded almost like one of their own.
"Surprised? I know more about your crew than you think. Enough talk. Are you here for revenge