The room was dim and quiet.
"Whoosh…"
A deep snore echoed within the chamber.
Whitebeard slept soundly, his chest rising and falling like slow waves.
Suddenly, his weathered eyes snapped open. For a brief mont, confusion clouded his gaze.
"Huh…? Been a long ti since I've slept that deeply."
Sitting up, he noticed that the silver needles once embedded in his back were gone, and his body felt lighter—almost rejuvenated.
"Did that brat use so kind of strange Devil Fruit ability?" Whitebeard muttered, a faint grin curling under his mustache.
Despite the years, his mind and instincts were still razor-sharp. Even asleep, no one could approach him unnoticed—unless they used a Devil Fruit power.
"Marco! How long have I been out?" he called, stretching his massive arms as his bones cracked audibly.
"Pops, it's already nightti," ca Marco's calm voice from outside the door.
Whitebeard chuckled. "That long, huh? My body feels lighter than it has in years. Maybe that brat really knows his craft."
He pushed open the door, finding Marco sitting on the deck beneath the moonlight.
"Gurarararara! Where's that kid?" Whitebeard asked, his laughter rolling across the ship.
"Shirogai's already gone," Marco replied with a faint smile, hiding his right arm behind him. "We entertained him in your stead, Pops."
"Oh, what a sha! That brat's one of the most promising newcors I've seen in decades. I'd have liked to share a drink with him!"
Whitebeard laughed again, then squinted at Marco's concealed arm. "Hm? You're hurt? Is that why you're calling him that brat Shirogai?"
"Pops, don't tease ." Marco chuckled awkwardly, lowering his gaze. "Shirogai's strength… it's already at the level of an Emperor. I sparred with him—and I couldn't win."
Whitebeard patted Marco's shoulder. "Losing isn't what matters. I've been defeated before too. What's important is to lose the battle, not your will."
"Yes, Pops," Marco said seriously. Then his tone shifted. "Pops… maybe I should go bring Ace back."
Whitebeard raised a brow. "Oh? Did that brat tell you sothing?"
Marco hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Shirogai said Ace's defeat could ignite a war between the Whitebeard Pirates—and the Marines."
"Gurararararara!" Whitebeard's laughter bood again. "That brat worries too much!"
But Marco didn't laugh. "Pops… I've been thinking the sa thing. Teach—he's been hiding too well."
Whitebeard's expression darkened slightly.
Marco continued, voice low.
"He concealed his ambitions for decades aboard our ship. We never saw it coming—not until that night when he murdered Thatch and ran." Marco clenched his fists. "For twenty-eight years, he hid his true self, waiting for the perfect mont. Ace… that straightforward idiot… won't stand a chance against soone like that. Teach knows all of Ace's fighting habits. Every weakness."
Whitebeard exhaled slowly. "It's too late. Ace contacted
through a Marine Den Den Mushi a while back. Said he'd found Teach's trail—and that he was going to finish it himself."
Marco's eyes widened. "Then there's still ti! They haven't t yet."
He pulled off the bandage covering his arm. "Pops, look."
Whitebeard's brows furrowed. "You're wounded? That brat did this? And your Phoenix Fruit can't heal it?"
Marco shook his head. "I'm keeping it as a reminder. To rember the pain of losing focus."
He looked up, serious now. "Pops… Shirogai used Teach's Devil Fruit ability against . That's how I know Ace is in danger."
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. "Teach's Devil Fruit… you an the one he stole from Thatch?"
Marco nodded. "The Dark-Dark Fruit. A Logia-type, but… different. When I fought Shirogai, he showed
what it could do."
He rembered vividly—Shirogai's calm grin, the swirl of dark mist twisting in his hand.
"This is Teach's power. Feel it, Marco," Shirogai had said.
Black smoke poured from his palm, forming a vortex that pulled with terrifying force.
Marco's body was dragged forward; panic flared as Shirogai's hand closed around his arm. Instantly, the blue flas of his Phoenix form vanished. His regeneration stopped cold—his powers sealed.
For that instant, Marco had felt powerless.
"If you lose focus against Teach," Shirogai had warned, his eyes calm as steel, "you'll die."
Then pain flashed—Shirogai's Dragon Claw technique slashed across Marco's arm, snapping him out of his daze. Marco barely managed to release his Armant Haki and kick him away.
Now, rembering it, Marco clenched his fist. "Pops, if we ever fight Teach, stay clear of that black smoke he releases. It pulls in Devil Fruit users—and if he touches us, we lose our powers completely."
Whitebeard frowned. "So the fruit absorbs the Devil Fruit essence within its victims… troubleso."
Marco nodded gravely. "There's more. According to Shirogai, the Dark-Dark Fruit can do sothing even more horrifying."
He t Pops' eyes. "It can strip a Devil Fruit ability from a recently dead user… and transfer it to another fruit. It creates new Devil Fruits."
Whitebeard's expression hardened, shadows crossing his face.
No wonder Teach had killed Thatch despite the risk. No wonder he'd run.
"That bastard Teach… his ambitions may reach far beyond what we imagined."
Whitebeard rose to his full height, his presence filling the room like a storm.
"Marco. Send word to every division. I want Ace found—imdiately. If he resists, tell him this: give
Teach's location. I'll deal with that traitor myself."
Marco nodded firmly. "Yes, Pops!"
_____
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