One Piece: King of the World Chapter 268: The Spark That Ignites a War Between Emperors!

Marco had intended to take his ti heading upstairs. After all, how much trouble could a single Devil Fruit possibly cause?

The middleman from the underworld had ntioned that the fruit had already been reserved by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea— Enel—who had even put down a deposit. That was slightly inconvenient since taking it would an stealing sothing Enel had already claid.

But Marco wasn't particularly concerned. The Warlords were strong, sure, but he had his own pride. We're the Whitebeard Pirates!

And what did that an?

They were the strongest, the largest, the most fearso crew on the seas!

Marco found it laughable to think that Enel, as one of the Warlords, would actually dare to pick a fight with them over a single Devil Fruit. That would be ridiculous.

"If he wants an explanation, just give him so money," Marco thought casually.

It had to be said, the Whitebeard Pirates were arrogant. But they had the power to back it up. For decades, they had been the ones doing the bullying. Who had ever dared to bully them? Even the Navy had to give them so face.

The truth was, Whitebeard had spoiled his "sons" too much. But nothing lasts forever.

When he was gone, soone would teach them a hard lesson.

As Marco pondered these things, a sudden surge of powerful energy erupted nearby. One presence was unmistakably Teach, but the other, Marco's expression darkened as realization hit him.

"Red-Haired!"

Teach wasn't well-known, but Marco knew full well how strong he was, strong enough that they had once considered making him the Second Division Commander.

But Shanks?

Shanks was a monster. He had gone toe-to-toe with their old man and held his own.

Alard, Marco didn't hesitate any longer. Whatever the reason for the fight, Teach wasn't strong enough to handle Shanks alone. If he didn't step in, Teach might die.

With a burst of phoenix flas, Marco shot forward at incredible speed, racing toward the battlefield.

In pirate battles, there was no such thing as honor duels.

No one cared about one-on-one fights.

If you had numbers, you used them. No one was going to politely wait for their turn.

And right now, Teach was getting mobbed by the Red Hair Pirates.

Teach was suffering.

This wasn't what he had planned at all.

"I just wanted to get the Dark-Dark Fruit!"

He had thought it would be simple. Get the fruit, keep Marco as backup, and everything would be fine.

Instead, he had run into the worst possible situation, Shanks and his crew had the fruit now.

And there was no way they'd hand it over without a fight.

"Damn it! I should've brought backup!" Teach cursed internally.

The Whitebeard Pirates were used to outnumbering their enemies. But now he was the one getting jumped, and it was a humiliating experience.

To his credit, Teach was incredibly strong, even without the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was only slightly weaker than Shanks. He could still hold his own, even as more and more injuries accumulated on his body.

But Shanks had no intention of letting him go.

This wasn't just about the Devil Fruit.

The Whitebeard Pirates had barged into his territory looking for trouble. That wasn't sothing Shanks could just ignore.

And as for whether killing Teach would start a war?

Shanks didn't care. He might not seek out conflict, but he wasn't afraid of it either.

With both arms still intact, Shanks was stronger than ever. His blade shimred with Haki as he swung it at Teach, taking advantage of the mont when Teach was forced to defend against Beckman's assault.

But just as the sword was about to land, the wall exploded.

A streak of blue flas flashed across the room as Marco tanked the attack head-on.

Shanks' blade struck Marco's chest.

There was no blood—Marco had taken the hit, absorbing the impact with his body.

Pain shot through him, but he barely reacted. He had long grown used to it. After all, as the Phoenix, unless soone killed him outright, injuries ant nothing.

The wound on his chest ignited with blue flas, rapidly closing until there was no trace of damage left.

Shanks and his crew halted their attack.

"Phoenix Marco," Shanks muttered, frowning slightly.

"Shanks, do you even realize what you're doing?" Marco asked coldly, his eyes flickering to the bloodied Teach.

Shanks let out a boisterous laugh. "Hahahaha! We were just drinking and having a good ti, he's the one who crashed our party! And now you're blaming ?"

Teach, still catching his breath, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Hand over the Devil Fruit, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Shanks' expression darkened. "Are you threatening ?"

"Are you trying to start a war between the two strongest pirate crews?" Marco shot back, unwilling to back down.

He hadn't considered the possibility that Teach might be manipulating him into this fight. To him, it was simple, Teach had run into Shanks by accident, and the Red Hair Pirates had stolen sothing that belonged to the Whitebeard crew. It was reasonable to demand it back.

If Shanks handed it over, there would be no need for conflict.

If not…

Shanks sneered. "You're not worth my ti. If Newgate wants to talk, then we can talk."

Marco's expression darkened. It was clear that Shanks had no intention of handing over the fruit.

And while he had ntioned Whitebeard's na, Marco knew the last thing he wanted was to drag their father into this ss.

Fighting over a Devil Fruit? If the world found out they were going to war over that, they'd be a laughingstock.

Teach, watching Marco's hesitation, grew increasingly irritated.

Shanks exuded overwhelming confidence. Why can't Marco act like that?!

Teach didn't care about starting a war.

His goal was the Dark-Dark Fruit, and he'd take it no matter what.

He saw Marco wavering and imdiately decided to escalate things.

Without hesitation, Teach lunged—

And Shanks countered instantly.

The battle reignited, forcing Marco to get involved as well. He might not have made up his mind, but he couldn't just stand by while his ally got beaten down.

The Red Hair Pirates were strong, but Marco and Teach were no pushovers, especially Marco.

Marco was annoyingly difficult to deal with. His ability wasn't about overwhelming offense, but sheer endurance. No matter how many tis they knocked him down, he'd just get back up.

It was the kind of frustrating, drawn-out fighting style that could wear even the strongest opponents down.

The clash between two Emperor crews quickly spread across all of Pleasure Street.

Fortunately, the local underworld authorities had imdiately initiated an ergency evacuation plan, so civilian casualties were minimal.

But the property damage?

That was another story entirely.

---

At the sa ti, on the port of Versailles, Enel had just disembarked from his ship.

His Observation Haki was exceptional.

Even before he stepped onto the island, he sensed the chaos unfolding on Pleasure Street.

His brows furrowed. "A high-level battle? What's going on?"

Then, as realization dawned, his expression twisted.

"They're stealing my Devil Fruit?!"

His heart clenched for a mont.

And then—

Before his other foot could even touch the ground—

CRACK!

Lightning flashed.

Enel vanished.

In an instant, he appeared above the battle, looking down.

He saw Marco.

He saw a man he didn't recognize, who was also incredibly strong fighting against the Red Hair Pirates.

And then he saw it.

The Dark-Dark Fruit, clutched in the hands of a fat man.

"So they did steal from !"

Enel didn't care who they were.

Whitebeard's crew? Red Hair Pirates?

His backer was the Celestial Dragons.

Did these so-called Emperors think they could outrank the World Governnt?

Without hesitation, Enel unleashed a devastating lightning strike aid directly at Lucky.

Lucky hadn't expected anyone else to interfere. Caught off guard, he barely had ti to react. Instinctively, he hardened his body with Armant Haki, managing to block Enel's lightning strike head-on.

But in the next instant, the lightning transford—into Enel himself.

"Thunderbird," Enel murmured.

With a sudden burst of speed, he delivered a devastating kick to Lucky Roux's chest. The strike was infused with intense electrical energy, taking the shape of a screeching thunderbird as it made impact.

Lucky coughed up blood as he was sent flying backward.

The Dark-Dark Fruit, which had been firmly in his grasp, was knocked loose, spinning through the air.

Teach had been watching the fruit closely the entire ti.

The mont he saw Enel arrive, he knew things had gotten even more complicated.

But there was no ti to hesitate.

Without a word, Teach lunged forward, reaching out to seize the Dark-Dark Fruit!