The Man Who Would Become the News King

At the center of the battlefield

The air fell still. A breeze stirred the sand and raised a faint haze of dust. On both sides, the World Government's forces and the pirates watched the two men at the center of the battlefield, too tense to make a sound.

"Zehahaha! A figure of even greater legend—the World Government's Commander-in-Chief! All that fame really gets my blood pumping!" Teach grinned. Only by defeating every renowned powerhouse could he say his trip to this pirate world had been worthwhile.

"Hahaha! Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach—the newest Sea Emperor! I never expected a man like you to be Whitebeard's son. Three Devil Fruit powers... Now that's an ability worth envying!"

Steel Bone Kong meant it. As a master of hand-to-hand combat, he could have obtained a powerful Devil Fruit without much difficulty, given his position. But every Devil Fruit had its drawbacks, and an ordinary person could eat only one. For Kong, the benefits of a single fruit fell far short of its costs, so he had abandoned the idea.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and the Cerberus Fruit. Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan. You have a remarkably versatile set of powers!" Praise filled Kong's voice. He clearly held this gifted younger man in high regard.

"But that's precisely why I must keep you here! A pirate with talent like yours will become a terrifying threat to the World Government." As Commander-in-Chief, Kong knew that all too well. With justice on his shoulders, he could not let this bastard live.

"Zehahaha! Let's see if you've got what it takes!" Teach was unruffled. Kong was just an old man. However formidable he had once been, how much strength could he have left after all those years?

One was a top fighter of the old era; the