The White Hunter's Pain

"Luffy's brother?"

Everyone turned to Luffy, hoping to get an answer. But to everyone's surprise, Luffy also wore a puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about? I don't remember having such an ugly brother! Bastard! Don't think you can fool me!" Luffy stared at Teach, his face practically spelling out, I'm very smart. Don't think you can fool me.

"Bastard, is that how you talk to your own big brother?"

Bang!

Luffy now had two pink "lumps" on his head. Shit and Fuckyou covered their mouths tightly, desperately holding back their laughter.

"Ah! That hurts!" Luffy clutched his forehead. He couldn't understand why he could still feel such intense pain when he was made of rubber.

"Hmph! Fire Fist Ace is your brother, right?" Teach snorted as he slowly questioned Luffy.

"How do you know that? You know Ace?" Luffy stared at Teach in shock.

"I'm the vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division! Your brother Ace is the captain of our Second Division! Since you're Ace's younger brother, that naturally makes you my younger brother too!" Teach looked at Luffy excitedly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"The Whitebeard Pirates?!" Everyone in the restaurant went pale. The next second, the enormous restaurant contained only the Straw Hat Crew and the three of them...

"The Whitebeard Pirates? Are they famous?" Usopp looked at his companions in confusion. The others, meanwhile, looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"The Whitebeard Pirates are one of the Four Emperors of the New World!" Zoro said solemnly. As a former bounty hunter, he naturally knew about quite a few powerful pirate crews. Among them, the Whitebeard Pirates were the most terrifying!

"The captain of the Whitebeard Pirates is Edward Newgate! The world calls him the strongest man alive!" Sanji said calmly. Though he appeared composed, the hand holding his cigarette was trembling slightly.

"You're Ace's companion? How is Ace doing now?" Luffy didn't care about any Four Emperor crew. The only thing he cared about was Ace!

"Ace is doing very well! He's having a great time on our ship! His strength is formidable too. His bounty is as high as 550 million Berries!" Teach said with a grin.

"What? 550 million Berries?" Luffy exclaimed. "I can't believe Ace only went out to sea two years before me, yet his bounty is already so high! No, I can't lose to him!"

"Gyahahaha, how long have you even been at sea? You got a bounty of 30 million Berries on your first bounty poster! That's already pretty impressive!" Teach comforted him.

"Then how much was Teach's first bounty?"

"700 million..."

"..."

The air fell silent. Then a mess of footsteps broke the stillness.

Teach slowly raised his head. The restaurant doors opened, and a man with short silver hair walked in. He wore a large coat with the word "Justice" written across the back, a jitte strapped to the coat, and goggles hanging around his neck. Several armed Marines followed behind him.

"Pirate 'Straw Hat' Luffy, bounty 30 million Berries! And you! Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach, bounty 700 million Berries! I'm Marine Captain Smoker! In the name of justice, you two are under arrest!" Smoker said sternly.

"Boss, he seems to have mistaken you for a nobody!" Fuckyou said angrily.

Shit: "If you don't say anything, no one will mistake you for a mute!"

Shit's face was filled with fury. His bounty was worth 36 million Berries, after all. What was this? Was he being ignored?

Back then, I, Shit, had raised my bounty from zero to 36 million. And now you look down on me! I finally worked hard for once, and you made me lose this thoroughly! Fuck!

"Captain Smoker, the two people beside Blackbeard are pirates too! They're Chosen One Shit, with a bounty of 36 million Berries, and the drunkard Fuckyou, with a bounty of 7 million Berries!" shouted a Marine standing beside Smoker.

"Chosen One Shit? I've never heard of him." Sanji stared at Shit beside Teach in surprise. He never would have expected these two completely unremarkable men to be pirates with bounties! One of their bounties was even higher than their captain's!

"Shit? A pirate from the North Blue?" Zoro asked doubtfully from the side.

"You actually know me?" Shit looked at Zoro excitedly. Zoro's expression, however, became strange.

"The Chosen One Pirates, reputed to be the weakest pirate crew in the North Blue, are actually pretty famous!"

Teach: ...

"So that's what you meant by 'pretty famous'!!" Teach glared at Shit through clenched teeth.

"Lord Teach, from certain perspectives, we really are somewhat famous..." Shit lowered his head, afraid to meet Teach's eyes. Teach snorted, then turned coldly toward Smoker.

"Hey! Marine! Are you trying to stop us?" Teach was in a terrible mood.

"Hmph, a mere pirate! White Blow!" Smoker bit down on two thick cigars. No matter how he spoke, the cigars in his mouth never fell to the ground.

"You're courting death! You're nothing but a small-time Marine captain! Dark Water!" Teach thrust out his left hand. After swallowing White Blow with its powerful suction, it continued toward Smoker without losing any force.

Smoker's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to use his Devil Fruit ability, Teach seized him.

"What's going on? Why has my Devil Fruit ability disappeared?" Smoker panicked. His proudly touted Logia ability had actually failed.

"If you want to capture me, you need to be at least a Marine HQ vice admiral!" Teach mocked him. "With you, a mere captain, I don't know where you got your courage!"

Teach clenched his right fist. Armament Haki, black as ink, covered his hand. He swung hard and punched Smoker directly in his sharply defined abdominal muscles!

At that moment, Smoker felt as if a cannonball had slammed into him. His eyes widened, and his body bent involuntarily. Under Teach's astonished gaze, the two cigars in Smoker's mouth finally fell to the ground!

"Gyahahaha! What a fool who doesn't know the height of the heavens!" Teach threw Smoker away as if he were tossing out a dead dog.

"Damn it! Is this the strength of a pirate with a 700-million-Berry bounty?" Smoker finally collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

"System, give me a sign-in!" Teach was in an excellent mood. Then he thought, This is the hometown of the Pirate King, after all. It should give me something good, right?

While drifting at sea, the daily sign-in rewards had mostly only increased his strength, defense, or speed by a little. Only on rare occasions had they improved his Haki.

"Loguetown detected! Congratulations, host, on signing in successfully! You have obtained the Zoan Devil Fruit: Dog-Dog Fruit—Mythical Zoan—Cerberus Form!"

Teach's pupils suddenly contracted, and then he let out his trademark laughter...