"Zehahaha... That's right, I'm Blackbeard!"
Blackbeard fixed his bulging eyes on Luffy and the others, sizing them up with a hostile look. After a moment, he sneered, making no effort to hide his contempt. "You're Luffy with the straw hat? The one with a bounty of 100 million Beli?"
Blackbeard clearly had his doubts. Luffy was young, not particularly tall, and looked thoroughly unremarkable. Blackbeard was disappointed.
"What, you don't believe me? I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!"
Luffy clenched his fists and glared at Blackbeard, his spirit undiminished. Yet for all his fearlessness, he was clearly out of his depth before Blackbeard.
After all, Luffy was still a newcomer who had yet to grasp just how dangerous the Grand Line could be. He relied more on sheer passion than anything else and was prone to acting on impulse.
Being looked down on infuriated him.
"Wahaha! Captain, who cares? Even if the bounty's wrong, that's the Marines' mistake. Once we beat him and hand him over, you'll be able to join the Shichibukai!"
Burgess was itching for a fight, already rolling his shoulders and flexing his fists. In his eyes, Luffy and the others were small fry he could put down in a few blows.
Burgess strode toward Luffy, his hulking body swaying as he deliberately let his intimidating presence bear down on the Straw Hat Pirates. He wanted to rattle them before the fight even began.
But apart from Usopp, the Straw Hat Pirates remained calm. Luffy in particular was already furious at the Blackbeard Pirates' hostile approach.
Luffy clenched his fists so tightly that his body trembled with anger, like a wild beast about to go berserk. Blackbeard gave Burgess a nod. Laughing, Burgess suddenly picked up speed and charged at Luffy like a