Luffy was far from happy about it, but Nami held him fast and dragged him toward the door.
Blackbeard glanced at the two of them, then turned back to Rubick. He would not have spared those nobodies without bounties a second look if Luffy had not been Rubick's companion.
"I don't know why you want to play house with those kids, but how about joining my pirate crew?"
Blackbeard grinned and held out his hand. "I've got big plans for the future. Join me now, and you'll be one of my founding members. You could even command a fleet of your own."
Rubick wanted to give Luffy and the others time to get farther away, so he said, "Then you know what my Devil Fruit can do, right?"
"Zehahaha! You can copy other people's Devil Fruits, can't you? Mine is the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit. If you want it, go ahead and copy it."
Rubick had no intention of copying Blackbeard's Devil Fruit now. With his power to control wind, he had a much better chance of escaping.
His original plan had been to follow Luffy, copy the Dark-Dark Fruit from a distance when he spotted Blackbeard, and leave. He had not expected Blackbeard to set his sights on him.
One wrong move, and he would be saying goodbye to Luffy and the others today.
In the end, he simply was not strong enough.
Blackbeard burst out laughing. "You're trying to buy time. Fine by me. My men won't take long to finish off those little friends of yours. But don't worry. Agree to work for me, and I can spare them."
Rubick was not worried. He did not believe Luffy and the others would lose to Blackbeard's men. But he knew he could not run now. If Blackbeard went after