"Grr... Father..."
So of the pirates and Impel Down prisoners were moved by Whitebeard and couldn't stop crying.
Then, Teach, who had taken Whitebeard's blow, was seen crawling out of the ground, bleeding.
"Grr, damn it... That hurts!! Huh? Gasp!!!"
As soon as Teach crawled out of the ground, he saw Whitebeard standing right in front of him and flinched for a mont. Then, seeing that Whitebeard wasn't moving, he said in surprise.
"To die standing... Ah, right! This is no ti to be standing around."
Teach opened his mouth impossibly wide, shoved Whitebeard's body straight into his mouth, and began chewing and eating. The reason he could eat soone as large as Whitebeard whole was thanks to the ability of the [Munch-Munch Fruit].
Munch munch!
"Gasp!! What is he doing..."
"Impossible!!!"
"That madman!!!"
The pirates and Marines who witnessed that shocking scene either couldn't speak or rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they had just seen.
"Father!!!"
The Whitebeard Pirate commanders, of course, couldn't just stand by after seeing that, and they rushed to where Teach was. The Marines, seeing that, quickly reorganized their lines and ran to where Teach was as well. I didn't particularly stop them. If it were , and my father's body was treated like that, I wouldn't have been able to hold back either.
"Zehehehehe!!! I didn't know I was this popular!!!"
And so, one side was the pirate crew, the other side the Marines and Pacifistas, and in the center, the Blackbeard Pirates — a standoff situation.
"Teach! What kind of madness is this, you bastard! Eating Father!"
Ace confronted Teach with a furious face. Then Teach laughed and spoke to Ace.
"Commander, I thought if I stayed on the strongest Whitebeard Pirates, I'd get the Devil Fruit I wanted. But that wasn't the case. So I decided to go fruit hunting myself."
"You madman! Even so, cannibalism..."
Teach smirked.
"It's not the first ti, so what?"
"Wh-what???"
Not just Ace, who had asked, but the people around were also greatly surprised. Teach lifted the top covering his chest and showed us. Embedded in one side of his chest was the shape of a human face. As if that wasn't shocking enough, that shape was even alive and speaking.
"Teach, you bastard! Let out right now!!!"
"Zehehehehe, I can't do that! I went all the way to Impel Down to get this ability. You will watch from there as I beco the ruler of the sea. Consider it an honor."
Just then, soone from the Navy side recognized the face embedded in Teach's chest.
"Hey, that man is 'Douglas Bullet'!!! How is this possible!!!"
Even I was shocked at that. Teach was truly using the [Munch-Munch Fruit]'s ability beyond imagination.
"Commander, how about it? One side of your chest is empty, isn't it? Watching my performance from here. I'd like to get a Logia ability myself at so point, you know."
Teach pointed to his empty opposite chest and spoke to Ace with a sly smile. Then Ace, with a furious glare, shouted at Teach.
"You madman!!!"
I saw that and thought. Teach's body is abnormal, so he can eat three Devil Fruits, and right now he has eaten the [Munch-Munch Fruit] and the [Tremor-Tremor Fruit], so Teach himself has already eaten two fruits. He wasn't satisfied with that and fused with 'Douglas Bullet'. Moreover, from the looks of it, Bullet seed to have no control at all. I don't know how long he can maintain control, but I thought he might be able to obtain more fruits by fusing in that way.
Ace, unable to contain his anger any longer, attacked Teach.
"Fire Fist!!!"
Then Teach coated his fist with the [Tremor-Tremor Fruit]'s ability and struck the ground.
KABOOM!!!
CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!
Then, the ground rose up in front of Teach, easily blocking Ace's attack, and moreover, due to those cracks, Navy Headquarters and even the buildings next to it began to collapse.
CRAAAAAAACK~!!!
"Waaah, get back~!!!"
"No way!! He's obtained Father's ability!!"
"It's supposed to be impossible to obtain two Devil Fruit abilities, but..."
"What is that face on his chest..."
As people murmured in surprise, Marco spoke, sweating cold.
"For an ordinary human, it would absolutely be impossible. But as you all know, Teach is a bit different! His body structure is abnormal! So maybe that's why it's possible."
Then Teach spread his arms and shouted loudly so that everyone could hear.
"Zehehehehehe!!! Did you see that, you guys???!!! Spread the word loud and clear to the world!! You good‑for‑nothing peace‑loving commoners!! Marines!! World Governnt!! And pirates!! The future of this world has been decided!! Kehehehehehe!!! Yes... From now on, it's my era!!!"
At this, the pirate commanders frowned and prepared for battle again. The Marines, seeing that, also tensed up and prepared to fight again.
"Oh~! Taejin, you're here too! Long ti no see. I'd love to have your fruit, but as a rchant, your ability is excellent and you're very strong, so what do you say? Won't you join ?"
With the pirates and Marines in a standoff with the Blackbeard Pirates in between, that bastard Teach spotted and invited to join his crew.
"I'm already an Emperor. It's you who should be joining . And I want nothing to do with a monster like you."
Then the 'Demon Sheriff' 'Laffitte', who was beside Teach, laughed and spoke.
"Haha, my mistake, Captain."
"Zehehehe! Is that so. But it's a sha. If Taejin were on my side, it would be no different from having half the world, you know."
Then suddenly, people from the side discovered sothing and murmured.
"That ship!!"
"Surely not..."
"Red‑Haired Shanks!!!"
"Why is Shanks here???"
At that sound, I looked to the side. The 'Red Force', the ship of the Red‑Haired Pirates, was seen entering Navy Headquarters.
As everyone's attention focused on the 'Red Force', several people jumped off that ship and walked toward us — none other than Shanks and his crew.
"Shanks!!!"
Luffy, seeing that, called out to Shanks loudly, but Shanks ignored Luffy and looked around, then spoke.
"I ca to end this war!!"
After shouting that, Shanks picked up Whitebeard's weapon, the 'Great Naginata', which was lying on the ground, and tossed it to Marco, speaking.
"Marco, don't fight back anymore. Surrender. If you fight any further, it will only increase pointless casualties."
"Red‑Hair..."
"If there's anyone who hasn't had their fill of rampaging, co at us!!! We'll take you on!!!"
Whether it was Shanks' overwhelming presence or not, both the Whitebeard Pirates and even the Marines flinched at Shanks' shout.
"What do you say, Teach? Or should I say, 'Blackbeard'."
When Shanks asked Teach, Teach laughed and spoke.
"Zehehehehe, I'll pass. I've already got what I wanted, and it's too early to fight you guys. Boys, let's go!!!"
When Teach said that and tried to leave, Ace frowned and tried to chase after him. But I grabbed Ace's shoulder and stopped him.
"We need to regroup the crew right now. With Shanks involved, if you fight any further, you'll lose other family mbers as well. There will be another chance for revenge. Rember the captain's (Whitebeard's) final order."
"Damn it!!!"
CRASH!!!
At my words, Ace struck the ground and suppressed his anger. The other Whitebeard Pirates crew mbers also looked grim. But they knew — if they kept fighting here, the damage would spiral out of control.
"So you're the rchant King, Taejin. Nice to et you. I've heard a lot about you. Thanks for listening to . I'll buy you a drink soti."
Shanks greeted .
"I'm glad to et you too, but I don't understand why you're stopping the war."
"You know, don't you? That we have other things to worry about."
I had a feeling that the 'other things' Shanks ntioned probably referred to the Five Elders, the God's Knights, or Im.
"Oh~ long ti no see, Buggy! I didn't know you were here too."
"What are you saying, you bastard!? Can't I be here!!??"
Shanks also spotted Buggy and greeted him with a genuinely happy expression. Buggy snapped back. Then the Impel Down prisoners and the Marines went wild.
"No way! To speak to an Emperor like that!"
"Captain Buggy, who exactly is he..."
"I've decided to follow Captain Buggy for life."
I didn't know why they were acting like that, but I just let it be.
"Retreat!!! Take the wounded and the dead!!!"
When Marco shouted that, not only the wounded, but also the bodies of their comrades, and even those who were crying over Whitebeard's death, were all loaded onto the pirate ships. The Marines were also busy taking care of their own comrades, and didn't try to force the war to continue.
Luffy tried to approach Shanks to talk, but just gave up. He seed to know as well. That not only was the timing not right to et Shanks yet, but he wasn't even worthy.
Luffy, looking bitter, finally pushed down his straw hat, ca to , and spoke.
"Candy bro, make strong. This isn't good enough."
I was surprised. I didn't expect Luffy to say this to . Because in the original, he trains under the Dark King 'Silvers Rayleigh'. I thought it was probably because he was impressed watching fight the three Admirals.
"Alright. Are you prepared?"
Luffy answered with a determined face.
"Yes!"
Just then, Ace also ca over and asked .
"Hey, you know, I have a request too."
"You too?"
"Yeah. I feel like I still have a lot to learn. Even to catch Blackbeard, I need to get used to my fruit ability quickly. And... what was it? The thing I saw at Impel Down... Ryu... what was it..."
"Ryuo, you an."
"Yeah, that thing. I need to learn that for sure."
"Alright."
With my permission, Ace also steeled himself, but I was worried. First of all, the problem was that I had too much work. The expansion construction of Sky Island, and because I had taken on Whitebeard's territories, I had to manage them, and also had to prevent intrusions from other forces. On top of that, training Elody, Luffy, and Ace, and the problem with Hancock, and Mihawk would also co to visit — within the two years, the things I needed to solve were not just one or two.
'Work keeps piling up — it's giving a headache...'
We first split up and boarded the ships. We seized two empty Navy warships from Navy Headquarters. One carried the people from Newkama Land, and the other carried the pirates from Impel Down. Since their destinations were different, we decided to do it that way.
"Hey, Galdino, Bentham. You co with . Crocodile, do you mind?"
I asked Galdino and Bentham to co with , then asked Crocodile if he minded. Crocodile glanced at Bentham and Galdino, frowned, and spoke.
"Tch! Do whatever you want."
He seed to have sensed that they had already turned away from him.
With Crocodile's permission, Galdino and Bentham imdiately boarded the pirate ship I was on. They didn't even say goodbye to Crocodile. They must have suffered a lot under Crocodile.
When the two boarded the pirate ship I was on like that, Bentham made a request to .
"I want to stay with Luffy."
"I see. If Luffy agrees, then do that."
Luffy had been listening and gladly agreed right away.
"If it's Bon-chan, you're always welco!"
"Thank you, Lu-chan!!"
These guys, hugging each other and spinning around, were so happy they looked like they were about to die. Unlike the original, Bentham had also beco a mber of the Straw Hat Pirates.
I took 100 million berries out of my inventory and handed them to Buggy.
"Buggy, the promised money. It won't be insufficient for a fresh start."
Buggy, extrely happy, eagerly took the money I gave him.
"Thank you, rchant King."
Anyway, after sorting things out like that, we all went out to sea. Then Shanks followed us as well — he probably intended to attend Whitebeard's funeral. And only after coming out to sea did I realize that the 'Heart Pirates' were also on our ship, helping treat the wounded.
"Boys! The warriors' mission ends here!! Hee‑ha~!!! We'll leave the rest to you, boys!!! We're heading to 'Newhalfman Kingdom', the headquarters of Newkama!!! See you all again, boy!!!"
When we were a safe distance from Navy Headquarters, Ivankov, Inazuma, and the Newkamas left first, waving goodbye. Then the pirates and the Whitebeard crew, having fought alongside them, also waved goodbye. Their contribution to the Paramount War was truly great. Even if they did inflict psychological damage, though. And the funny thing was that, influenced by the Newkamas, even so of the pirates followed them.
'This was what I was afraid of... In a way, I think it's fortunate that Bentham beca Luffy's crewmate instead.'
After saying goodbye to them, I called Marco and talked with him. There were many things to do, so I wanted to solve them one by one, step by step.
"Marco, I know it's bad timing to say this with the funeral ahead, but... the news of Whitebeard's death will have spread across the world. The problem is that the pirates in the New World won't stay quiet. They'll swarm from all directions to try to carve up Whitebeard's territories. We need to stop that first."
"Damn it, the war just ended not long ago..."
Marco, having been a pirate for a long ti, understood what I was saying right away.
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