"Hahaha! You finally fell for it, Marco! If you had run away, I wouldn't have dared to kill them. But your weakness is obvious: you treated your Pops like a god! Too bad! He's just a lifeless dead man with no ambition!"
Seeing Marco struggling in his grasp, Blackbeard finally let out a hearty laugh. He had subdued Marco, and Vista and the remaining captains were also captured in the encirclement. The Whitebeard Pirates had been defeated by them, and the remaining minions were no longer a concern.
The only one who worried him was Ace, but compared to Marco, Ace was much less of a threat. As for Thunder God Vic, he didn't think he would stand up for the Whitebeard Pirates; he always believed that the guy only acted because of Garp's grandson.
"Captain! What should we do with them? Kill them or sell them to slave traders?"
Jesus Burgess dragged Jozu's unconscious body closer and asked. He was already covered in wounds. If Blackbeard hadn't intervened, he would have been the one who passed out. He and Jozu were in similar positions, but he didn't have the advantage of a Devil Fruit ability, so he was always the one who got beaten up. After Jozu was controlled by Blackbeard, he vented his anger on him!
"No rush, let's lock them all up first. Their Devil Fruit abilities are quite good, Jesus Burgess! Haven't you always wanted to get a powerful ability? Jozu's Diamond Jutsu would suit you well."
Blackbeard is quite shrewd. Now that he's captured Marco and the others, he can't just kill them outright. He's unwilling to waste their Devil Fruit abilities, especially Marco's and Jozu's, which are both quite powerful.
Blackbeard intends to follow the path of having all Devil Fruit User, or at least all his officers, as he sees this as the fastest way for his Blackbeard crew to become powerful.
"Teach... Teach! What... what do you want to do to us?"
Marco didn't quite understand, but he vaguely sensed that it wasn't a good thing. He struggled to question him, but Blackbeard completely ignored him. The prisoner had already been captured, and he wasn't going to waste time talking to him. He had important things to do.
"Give the order: from now on, this place is our territory. Tell those commoners to prepare plenty of good wine and meat; we'll have a banquet later!"
Once the food and drink are prepared, have them dig a large pit on the island. All adult men must participate in digging the pit, which must be large enough to bury everyone on the island!
Besides, who wants the Phoenix's power? You've all agreed to stay here and wait!
"Teach! You... you're a demon!"
Marco already knew what Blackbeard wanted to do. He wasn't too concerned about stealing their abilities; perhaps the other party really did have such abilities. It was just a matter of the winner taking all in the pirate world.
However, the fact that they massacred everyone on the island was utterly depraved. Even Marco, who had experienced many great battles, was filled with shock and fear. He knew that Blackbeard didn't want to reveal that he was the one who wiped out the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, but did he really have to go to such an inhumane level?
"Hahaha! Do you know why the Whitebeard Pirates were wiped out of the seas? It's because you weren't ruthless enough!"
Blackbeard gave Marco a rare reply, then ignored him completely. After Shiryu handcuffed Marco's wrists with Seastone Handcuffs, he tossed them aside.
Phoenix's abilities haven't been finalized yet, let's just grant Jesus Burgess Diamond Jozu's abilities first. This is something he's already decided on. With Jesus Burgess's intelligence, this ability is perfect for him, and he can use it directly without much special development.
" Teach! Oh no! Your nemesis is here! Let's run!"
Just as Jesus Burgess took out a black cloth to cover himself and Jozu, a loud male voice rang out. Blackbeard, who was about to crawl into the black cloth, stopped and looked in the direction of the voice.
It was an ordinary man dressed as a villager. When Blackbeard looked over, the man's body swelled up, and in a flash, he transformed back into the original appearance of the Catarina the Nine-Tailed Fox.
This is a hidden mob that Blackbeard has concealed, with many uses. It can deliver a fatal blow to Marco and his crew unexpectedly when they suffer a defeat against the remnants of Whitebeard's crew. Catarina has already been hidden among the villagers, so she won't arouse any suspicion from Marco and his crew.
Another function is to monitor the civilians and prevent them from doing anything beyond our control, such as sending messages to the outside world, asking for help, or escaping.
Another function is early warning; it can send a message in advance if an unexpected situation occurs. Now, this is the third situation that has occurred: Catarina has come to deliver the message.
" Catarina! Who is this nemesis you're talking about?"
Blackbeard wasn't quite sure if there was a nemesis for him on this high seas. If there really was, it could only be Straw Hat Luffy. That man certainly seemed to have a way of restraining him, like a natural enemy. But that man had disappeared for quite some time now—had he come to the New World?
Luffy, with his Straw Hat Luffy skills, is no match for them. Coming here would be like offering himself up as food, wouldn't it? Who would be that stupid?
Or did he stumble upon this place by mistake? That would be even better; eliminating this potential threat ahead of time would be ideal. Today truly is a double blessing! Blackbeard's mind raced.
"It's that killer, Thunder God Vic, who beat us all up at the top! Teach! We'd better run! That guy doesn't show any mercy. This time, the whole pirate crew came. Let's escape from the other side before they know what happened on the island. If we're too late, none of us will get away!"
Catarina was a little frightened. The Paramount War hadn't been over for long, and the shadow cast by Vic still weighed heavily on their minds. He was a formidable man who single-handedly fought an entire pirate crew and defeated them!
This shadow may haunt them forever. Now that person has brought his companions. Who wouldn't be afraid? Even if she transformed into Boa Hancock, she would still get beaten up. She couldn't think of anything she could transform into to avoid disaster.
"What? Why is Thunder God Vic here? Did someone tip you off? How come you didn't notice? What were you doing?"
Blackbeard's heart sank when he heard Vic's name, and he trembled. He had spoken very nicely to Marco, saying he was not afraid of Vic at all and even wanted to kill Vic, but that was just talk, pure empty boasting.
If Vic hadn't rushed to rescue people last time, and if he hadn't been so sensible as to get up and run, he would have been stuck on the top.
Blackbeard wouldn't dare provoke Vic now. Even if he had the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he would still give him a wide berth. He suspected that Catarina hadn't followed his instructions to carry out the important task she had arranged and had someone tip her off.
Blackbeard was already intent on killing them. What use was such a subordinate? Wasn't he just ruining things for him? It seemed like the remnants of Whitebeard's crew were about to be wiped out, and his pirate crew would have gained a significant boost in strength. Now it was all over. With Vic's speed, if they were discovered here, they really wouldn't be able to escape!
He had truly witnessed Vic's speed; it was terrifying. But he couldn't understand how Vic had gotten involved with the Whitebeard Pirates. Could it be because of the man Vic brought aboard the Moby Dick? That was highly likely. While Mantis wasn't the most famous member of the Thunder God Pirates, that was relative; every member of the Thunder God Pirates was famous in the New World!
Of course! It's also possible that Vic wanted to expand his power, swallow up the Whitebeard Pirates ' territory, and become a true Four Emperors, and had the same idea as him. This possibility cannot be ruled out. In an instant, many thoughts came to Blackbeard's mind.
"I didn't slack off. I put away the few Den Den Mushi I had left. It couldn't have been them who made the contact. You should think about what to do now!"
Catarina wouldn't admit to being incompetent, and of course, that was indeed the case. She had already found all the Den Den Mushi, so the problem definitely wasn't on her end. Now, she wanted to leave even more than anything else; she didn't want to encounter that terrifying man again.
"That's right! Now is not the time to dwell on this. I haven't obtained the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit yet, so let's avoid the conflict for now. Let's go! Let's leave this place on the other side of the island!"
Catarina's suggestion was exactly what Blackbeard wanted at the moment. This wasn't the first or second time this had happened. When Garp and Zephyr came to chase them before, he ran away without saying a word. When faced with matters of principle, Blackbeard is quite good at making choices, which means he knows how to be pragmatic!