" Teach! You bastard..."
Seeing Blackbeard, Whitebeard was also furious. This whole mess had escalated to the point of causing the deaths of so many family members, all because of Teach. If he had the chance, he would definitely kill this guy.
Vic had already boarded the warship with Ace and Luffy, ready to leave at any moment. Seeing this familiar scene, Vic couldn't help but jump off the warship again and quickly came to the abyss where Whitebeard had shattered. On the other side of the abyss stood the tall figure of Whitebeard, who stood there, an impregnable fortress!
Vic can't just stand by and watch Blackbeard try to steal Whitebeard's power. This pure ambitionist will inevitably become one of his greatest enemies in the future, and Vic can't allow him to grow stronger!
" The Colossal Battleship Sanjuan Wolf, the Heavy Drinker Vasco Shot, the Crescent Moon Hunter Catarina Demi, and Shiryu of the Rain, the Chief Warden of Impel Down —are these the new members Blackbeard recruited in Impel Down?"
This seems a bit different from the original story. What happened to Pizarro, the Corrupt King I personally arrested? Did he not join the crew? Or was he sent on another mission by Teach? Did he succumb to depravity, or did he reform and not join the Blackbeard Pirates?
Vic looked at Blackbeard and his group on the Execution Platform and muttered to himself. He was somewhat surprised not to see the Corrupt King, but not particularly surprised.
Vic was the one who personally brought the Corrupt King into Impel Down. He had also heard the Corrupt King's story, and like Jorah Kuma's title of Tyrant Kuma, a sad and tragic story was hidden beneath the name!
Vic offered some words of comfort at the time, and it seems to have worked. Pizarro doesn't appear to have joined the Blackbeard Pirates; he seems to be thinking of going to overthrow the world with Blackbeard. Vic's Observation Haki didn't detect his presence at Marine Headquarters.
"Hahaha! Long time no see! It's so great to be able to see you off on your deathbed, Pops!"
" Teach!..."
Blackbeard immediately set his sights on Whitebeard upon arrival, his burning desire impossible to conceal, and Whitebeard also realized that Blackbeard's purpose in coming here was for him!
He just wasn't quite sure what Blackbeard wanted from him. Was he afraid that Blackbeard would leave alive and then seek revenge? Or did Blackbeard want to seize his territory after his death? And then come to Marine Headquarters to kick him while he was down? Was he afraid that Blackbeard wouldn't die?
Whitebeard could never have imagined that Teach's target was his Devil Fruit ability; he'd never even heard of it before!
" Shiryu! You bastard! What happened to Magellan? What happened to Impel Down? How did you all get here?"
Sengoku was furious, questioning Shiryu. Shiryu's betrayal was the real one, completely different from Vic's. He was now very worried about Magellan and Impel Down, the prison where criminals were held. If chaos broke out there, how many vicious people would be released?
"Doesn't our presence here answer your question, Fleet Admiral Sengoku? If you want to know more, go and confirm it for yourself later! In short, I'm joining forces with these guys, so please guide me from now on!"
Shiryu, a cigar dangling from his mouth, showed little change in expression. He was never suited to be the Marine or the manager of Impel Down; his heart had been corrupted by the cursed sword, making him exceptionally bloodthirsty. Only lawless pirates were truly his match.
Just as Sengoku and Shiryu talking, a marine came to Sengoku and reported a message. Because he hadn't had a chance to report before, he hadn't been able to tell Sengoku that the Gate of Justice had been reopened and a warship had passed through. Now that he saw that Sengoku had some free time, he came to report it.
"Are those them? But there should only be marines in the engine room, and we haven't received any notification of an emergency. How did they get here?"
Sengoku was very concerned about this matter. If the Gate of Justice could be opened at will, where would the Marine Headquarters find any security in the future?
"We're not entirely sure either. We intended to hypnotize the marines in the power room to get them to open the Gate of Justice for us, but before I could even begin the hypnosis, the Gate of Justice opened by themselves. As for how they opened, you'll have to find out for yourselves."
Lafitte kindly explained to Sengoku that in the original story, it was indeed Lafitte who used hypnosis to get the marines in the power room to open the Gate of Justice.
However, the Five Elders opened the Gate of Justice using a different remote control method, but this method was never disclosed to the three major agencies under the World Government located next to the Gate of Justice. As for their purpose, it's easy to figure it out with a little thought.
"So your goal from the beginning was to Impel Down? Then why are you here at Marine Headquarters now, Blackbeard!"
"That's right, there's only been one purpose from the beginning, and you'll soon understand everything that led you here! Hahahaha!"
Faced with Sengoku's renewed questioning, Blackbeard, having achieved his goal, didn't mind admitting it. However, he said that it wasn't appropriate to talk about stealing Devil Fruit abilities yet, as it wasn't originally part of his plan. It was more like killing two birds with one stone; he figured he might as well do it all at once, and it was also a good way to improve his personal strength.
"It doesn't matter what, Teach!"
Whitebeard couldn't take it anymore. His life was nearing its end, and he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to kill Blackbeard, the culprit!
After Whitebeard finished speaking, he mustered his strength and punched the void. A huge crack appeared beneath his feet, quickly sweeping towards the platform where Blackbeard was. The platform instantly collapsed, and Blackbeard and his crew fell along with the rubble. They didn't even have time to react and were all buried under the debris.
The rubble and debris couldn't harm Blackbeard's crew at all. Just like in the original story, after getting up, Blackbeard confidently faced the dying Whitebeard. The two fought each other, and now Whitebeard couldn't even use Haki except for his Devil Fruit ability!
Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit indeed very effective against other abilities. Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability was completely useless, as it was neutralized by the Tremor-Tremor -Dark-Dark Fruit's power every time he used it!
"Hahahaha!..."
Seeing his once-admired and powerful Pops suffer a setback at his hands, Blackbeard was very smug. However, Whitebeard's decades of fighting experience were no joke. Before Blackbeard could be smug for long, Whitebeard created an opportunity and slashed him across the chest. This blow caused Blackbeard to bleed from his chest and writhe on the ground in pain.
"Ouch! Damn it!"
"Arrogance! Recklessness! These are your weaknesses!"
While Blackbeard was rolling around on the ground, Whitebeard wasn't idle. He took a step forward and stomped on Blackbeard's hand. Whitebeard also used the hilt of his naginata to slam Blackbeard's other hand into the ground, rendering Blackbeard's upper body immobile!
As if by instinct, Whitebeard swiftly used his free hand to grab Blackbeard's neck and unleash a Tremor-Tremor ability. Even though Blackbeard was terrified and begged for mercy, appealing to his family ties, it was no use. Whitebeard resolutely activated his ability!
This direct attack is the second one Blackbeard has faced since the start of the war; the first was Akainu, and the others were all dealt with indirectly. However, Blackbeard didn't die from Whitebeard's attack. Is a dying man losing control of his abilities? Whitebeard felt a pang of sadness. He couldn't kill Teach!
Despite his bloodied face, Blackbeard stubbornly stood up. Although he was afraid of pain, Blackbeard was also incredibly resilient. Besides, Whitebeard was really dying and didn't have much strength left to use!
Even though Devil Fruit abilities are related to physical condition, Whitebeard had not reached the point where he could manipulate the Laws of nature and borrow the power of heaven and earth, so a decrease in his attack power was inevitable.
Seeing Blackbeard struggling to his feet, Whitebeard really wanted to deliver the final blow, but his body was completely worn out, and he couldn't even execute a series of attacks!
Blackbeard was severely injured and didn't recover for a long time. Although Whitebeard couldn't fight back, he took the opportunity to catch his breath before slowly walking towards Blackbeard.
Blackbeard had just stood up, was so frightened by Whitebeard's approach that he fell to the ground. He braced himself and instinctively moved backward, his body filled with fear, while he kept complaining.
"You monster... you're about to kick the bucket, can't you just die peacefully?!"
Blackbeard had jumped out because he thought Whitebeard was on his last legs, but he didn't expect Whitebeard to be so tenacious even when he was on his last legs. Even when he was about to die, Whitebeard was still able to cause him great damage!
Seeing Whitebeard approaching him step by step, Blackbeard thought his life was about to end today. However, Whitebeard's fist, which was about to strike his head with his power, suddenly stopped three inches away.
Seeing that the fist didn't land on his face, Blackbeard knew that Pops was suffering from the backlash of his body. He quickly drew his gun and fired at Whitebeard. One person shooting wasn't enough; the deep fear that Whitebeard instilled in him made him unconsciously call for his crew to attack Whitebeard together!
"Kill him, brothers!"
Whitebeard was on his last breath. Although he was still standing there, he couldn't do anything, and his consciousness was lost in memories. So he couldn't feel the attacks from the Blackbeard Pirates!
However, Whitebeard's power instilled extreme fear in the entire Blackbeard Pirates. Even though Whitebeard stood there motionless, they continued to attack his Whitebeard body. When Blackbeard saw that Whitebeard was standing there motionless, he even let out a perverted laugh.
" Pops!..."
" Whitebeard uncle!..."
" Pops!..."
Seeing Whitebeard standing there enduring countless attacks, Ace, Luffy, Marco, and the others cried out in shock. Even though they knew Whitebeard was prepared to die to cover their retreat, they still found it unbearable and hard to accept, and tears streamed down their faces!
Their hatred for the Blackbeard Pirates had reached its peak. If it weren't for Whitebeard's earlier orders, they would have definitely gone back to fight Blackbeard to the death!