Sudden Bullet

"Zehahahaha! Fleet Admiral Sengoku, he's just a condemned prisoner. Trading a condemned prisoner for a Marine HQ vice admiral is a very worthwhile deal!"

Teach sat on the ground—or, more accurately, atop Vice Admiral Kesha, who had been beaten black and blue, and Vice Admiral Lanshou, who had tried to stop a cart with his arms! Teach's bulky body was like a small mountain, crushing the breath out of the two men beneath him.

"Blackbeard, as one of the Shichibukai, what exactly are you trying to do?!" On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku's tone turned grave. As the wise general, he keenly sensed that something was amiss.

"Zehahahaha! Shichibukai? It's nothing more than a title you forced onto me!" Teach said disdainfully, then shifted his tone. "But the conveniences that come with that title really are plentiful! I'll reluctantly accept it! If that damned old man of mine weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have gone out to sea! One day, I'll replace him as one of the new Four Emperors—no! I'll become the Pirate King!"

Teach's words were filled with deep resentment, and Sengoku, seated in his office, could not help feeling conflicted.

Newgate, even a man like you has a stain aboard his ship!

As Whitebeard's longtime rival, Sengoku understood Whitebeard very well. Though he was a pirate, he had never cared about the legendary One Piece. All he cared about were his tens of thousands of sons. And though they were pirates in name, the Whitebeard Pirates almost never targeted civilians. They only robbed merchant ships and pirate ships. It could be said that Whitebeard was the least pirate-like pirate of them all.

Yet his power could destroy the world! The title of the world's strongest man was no empty boast. Decades of battle had brought his three types of Haki and Devil Fruit abilities to a terrifying level! He was a terrifying existence with a bounty as high as five billion Beli! The World Government would never allow him to remain alive!

Thinking of this, Sengoku turned to look at a document on the other side of his desk. Its contents left him deeply conflicted.

"You win, Blackbeard!" Sengoku sighed and said calmly. "We can agree to your demands, but you must ensure the safety of every Marine! Otherwise, even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth, I will capture you and throw you into Impel Down!"

Feeling the anger in Sengoku's voice, the two men beneath Blackbeard's backside were startled as well. Fleet Admiral Sengoku was usually kind and approachable, but those who knew him would never want to provoke him. If they truly angered him, they would have to bear the fury of a wrathful guardian deity!

"Zehahahaha! Then may our cooperation be pleasant?" Teach did not care in the slightest, though a trace of cunning appeared in his eyes.

"Hmph! The man you want will be delivered in two days! And take this Den Den Mushi. As one of the Shichibukai, we still need a way to contact you!"

With that, Sengoku hung up the call and shouted to the soldiers outside the door, "Bring Admiral Borsalino here!"

"Yes!"

Sengoku then picked up the document at his right. After skimming through it, he let out another heavy sigh. "As Marines who uphold justice, we actually have to use such despicable methods against others! How sad. How ridiculous!"

Sengoku could not help recalling the past. Back then, he, Garp, and Tsuru had joined the Marines together. In his youth, he had possessed the purest form of justice. Yet as his position gradually rose, the justice in his heart had become increasingly ambiguous. By now, he had nearly forgotten what he had believed in at the beginning...

Sengoku pulled open the drawer to his left, and his expression suddenly changed dramatically!

The next second, an enraged roar erupted!

"Damn you, Garp! That was my last bag of senbei!!!"

After Sengoku hung up, Teach slowly rose to his feet and casually tossed the Den Den Mushi to Laffitte. Looking at the Marines constantly transporting supplies and treasure before him, a trace of hatred arose in his eyes.

A day earlier, he had signed in as usual. This time, the item he received was neither something that enhanced his strength nor a treasure such as a Devil Fruit. It was an utterly ordinary card called a Spoiler Card!

From the Spoiler Card, he learned that his arrival had not prevented the Paramount War! The blurry corpses and miserable screams all revealed the brutality of that future war!

Teach did not dare gamble. He did not dare gamble that this war had nothing to do with the Whitebeard Pirates!

As a transmigrator, he had deeply loved the Whitebeard Pirates in his previous life. Though they had been fictional characters, they had felt so real to him. Like countless One Piece fans, he had mourned Whitebeard's death and grieved Ace's departure!

But since heaven had given him this chance to transmigrate here, he could not possibly allow those things to happen!

That kindly face, that hearty laughter!

Those joyous banquets, those deep bonds!

Those bloody battles, those dependable companions!

This time, he was no longer merely an observer. He had the power to change everything!

To protect his own... family!

Bang!

A gunshot shattered the silence of the entire branch. A bullet ruthlessly tore through the thigh of Rear Admiral Lanshou, who had originally been beneath Teach's backside!

"Who was it?!" Rear Admiral Lanshou clutched his leg and gritted his teeth through the pain. As a rear admiral, the word Justice on his back kept him from crying out!

"This is fate, Rear Admiral!" A tall figure slowly emerged from a building. "Back then, you listened to the slander of a group of ignorant fools and imprisoned me here! Yet today, I still escaped!"

Teach narrowed his eyes. The newcomer wore a strange hat and a monocle. His face was exceptionally long, he wore a black cloak, and he held a long rifle in his hand.

"Supersonic" Van Augur!

"Damn it, how did you escape?!" Rear Admiral Lanshou gritted his teeth and stood up. Blood continued to flow from the bullet hole in his thigh.

"As a civilian, you actually carry a gun with you! Of course other civilians would be afraid of someone like you!" a Marine soldier said, gathering his courage.

"Zehahahaha! Your name is Van Augur? You look like a sniper! How about it? Want to join my ship?" Teach spread his arms and, ignoring everyone else's astonishment, directly invited Van Augur.

"This is fate!" Van Augur adjusted his glasses and said calmly, "I never expected misfortune to turn into fortune and earn me the recognition of one of the Shichibukai! I cannot refuse the power of fate! Captain, please allow me aboard!"

Van Augur removed his hat and saluted Teach. Amid the stunned gazes of the Marines and the puzzled expressions of Laffitte and the others, the Blackbeard Pirates gained another member!