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Lobster leaped out of Den Den Mushi City Fort and froze at the sight of the imposing scene on the deck. He was particularly startled by the shout from a pirate with a receding hairline, "Giorno Giovanna!"
A bandana-clad crew member punched the balding pirate. "Idiot! Anyone can see he's a Fish-Man! How could he possibly be Giorno?!"
'Do you even have the right to call him an idiot?!' The surrounding crewmates shot sidelong glances.
"So... this is... the Whitebeard Pirates..."
Soon, Herman and Rege emerged from the Den Den Mushi as well. They stiffened under the collective gaze of the dense crowd on deck, just like Lobster the Fish-Man.
Not far away, seated on the steps, loomed that massive figure... the Legendary Great Pirate, Edward Newgate, also known as "Whitebeard," who once rivaled the Pirate King Roger himself!
"Hmm?" Whitebeard, taking a swig of sake, glanced at the trio.
His gaze, brimming with immeasurable spiritual force, swept over them, forcing them to instinctively recoil.
'Their strength is quite ordinary…'
'Did Old Man intimidate them...?'
The Whitebeard Pirates crew members on deck thought in unison.
Marco introduced them to the crew: "They're our newest companions..."
He recounted Lobster, Fire Gun, and Giorno's history, emphasizing their past enslavement by the Celestial Dragons.
Hearing that these three had actually beaten up three Celestial Dragons, the pirates were astonished and erupted in cheers.
"Seems we misunderstood you guys," Thirteenth Division Commander Atmos said, stroking his long beard and laughing heartily. "You've got real guts after all!"
"Since you're just lost little ones with nowhere else to go..." Whitebeard set down his massive sake bottle, extended his enormous, calloused hand, and smiled warmly. "Why not become my sons? What do you say?"
Lobster, Herman, and Rege were deeply moved. The Fish-Man and the human smiled, their eyes slightly red, and exclaimed, "It's our honor!"
Rege muttered, "I could never be a son..."
"Gū lā lā lā..." Whitebeard threw back his head and roared with laughter, "Spirited fellows! Even women who carry themselves with such mettle are worthy of being my sons!"
The Longleg Race Rege flashed a grin.
The crew warmly welcomed the three new family members without reservation.
Among the commanders, most showed delight, but their gazes remained fixed on the Den Den Mushi floating on the deck, their expressions serious. Some of the stronger commanders, such as Izo of the Sixth Division, Jozu of the Third Division, and Vista of the Fifth Division, could even discern the shadowy figure in Black Battle Armor standing motionless, cradling the green Den Den Mushi.
Teach paid no attention to the three new recruits. From the very beginning, his gaze had been fixed on the black shadow, never wavering.
B.I.B.'s eyes were nothing more than two narrow, glowing white slits, no pupils, no irises. Even with Teach's advanced Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), he couldn't possibly detect anything... Unbeknownst to the others, B.I.B. had been subtly glancing toward Teach's position at the edge of the crowd, where he was trying to blend in as a background character.
Whitebeard took a swig of sake and snorted, "Jolyne Cujoh, Giorno Giovanna... if you two don't show yourselves soon, I'm gonna lose my temper!"
The Whitebeard Pirates' three new crew members, Fish-Man Lobster, human Herman, and Longleg Race Rege, all turned to look at the floating green Den Den Mushi as if on cue.
They knew that the reason they had emerged first wasn't because Jolyne Cujoh and Giorno Giovanna were putting on airs, but because they had suddenly gotten into a discussion just as they were about to emerge.
Marco frowned slightly and glanced back at the Den Den Mushi held by the Black Battle Armor.
Under the gaze of countless eyes across the deck of the White Whale, two figures finally popped out of the floating green Den Den Mushi with a biu biu sound.
The moment they saw them, especially the taller, stronger, and more imposing young man, even if they had completely forgotten every photograph they'd ever seen of him in newspapers or on wanted posters, the commanders on deck wouldn't have mistaken him for anyone else. That was undoubtedly Giorno Giovanna!
'No wonder he had demolished the Slave Auction House on Sabaody Archipelago. No wonder he had the audacity to defy the Celestial Dragons!'
'No wonder he could stand toe-to-toe with Admiral Zephyr!'
'No wonder he's qualified to joke and laugh with the "Dark King" Rayleigh!'
"What's wrong?" Liam asked, feigning surprise as he glanced around at the imposing scene of being "surrounded by wolves" and "glared at by tigers." He smiled faintly. "Have I become the center of attention?"
'This guy... his composure is utterly unflappable!' Jozu, Thatch, Vista, Izo, and the others were immediately struck by Giorno's striking presence.
Even Marco was taken aback. It had been years since Old Man Whitebeard had reached the pinnacle of the Sea, and few could maintain such composure upon getting this close to him for the first time.
After all, this ship was arguably one of the most dangerous vessels in the world!
With such courage and audacity alone, Giorno truly deserved his Bounty of 400 million Belly...
In contrast, Jolyne Cujoh, his nominal Captain standing beside him, seemed rather inconspicuous.
Though Robin was tall and slender, she appeared petite and delicate next to Liam. After emerging, she remained silent, quietly surveying the Whitebeard Pirates surrounding them, her gaze lingering on the towering figure seated at the back of the crowd, a Great Pirate who, despite his evident age, still radiated an awe-inspiring aura: Whitebeard!
Before emerging, Robin had tugged at Liam's arm, hesitating whether to create flower clones of both of them to face the Whitebeard Pirates instead...
Liam refused. His Hana Jizai clone, while capable of "empathic resonance," was entirely controlled by Robin, the Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) ability user.
Though Flower Clone could speak, how he spoke and what he said were entirely controlled by Robin.
Liam didn't mind Robin manipulating him, but this delayed method, where Liam spoke first, then Robin made Flower Clone repeat his words, would undoubtedly be seen through by the entire pirate crew, especially Whitebeard.
Whitebeard suddenly rose to his feet!
He had been sitting on the deck steps all along. When he rose, it was as if a mountain had sprung up from the spot, casting a massive shadow across the deck.
The crew scattered to make way, and Liam and Robin tilted their heads back to look up.
Whitebeard locked eyes with Giorno and said calmly, "Listen well. Whatever my foolish son promised to convince you two to come here, and whether your plan succeeds or fails, consider it a favor owed to you by Whitebeard himself! It has nothing to do with that idiot son of mine."
"Old Man, calling him both 'foolish' and 'idiot', you're being a bit harsh," Marco said calmly.
"Yeah, that's going too far," Liam said, tilting his head to gaze at the legendary pirate, now in his sixties, his body crisscrossed with scars and his arms bearing needle marks. With equal composure, he added, "You old geezer really underestimate me, thinking I might fail."
"Hey, you brat, show some respect to your Old Man!" Ninth Division Commander Blenheim couldn't help but interject.
"Gū lā lā lā! Such bold talk!" Whitebeard roared with hearty laughter. "Alright, kid, let's see how you plan to pull this off!"
"Then I'll get started?"
"Should everyone else retreat into the cabins?" Marco asked.
"Does't really matter." Liam calmly extended his arms. Behind him, B.I.B.'s arms reached forward, and the crimson and azure flame-patterned arm guards slid onto his limbs.
At the edge of the crowd, Teach stared intently, wishing he could rip his eyeballs out and stick them to Giorno to get a better look.
'He's coming!'
'Is this it?'
'Is he going to take Marco's Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit?'
'What exactly is he planning?!'
'How did he even manage this? Does it have something to do with the Dark-Dark Fruit he's been dreaming of?!'
From Teach's increasingly frantic perspective, he saw the black figure behind Giorno extend its hands toward him. Giorno then calmly Earth Walked to Marco's side, and before anyone could react, he thrust half of his left arm directly into Marco's chest...
The entire Whitebeard Pirates crew erupted in chaos!
In an instant, countless Guns whizzed around, their dark muzzles swiveling to aim, while countless swords and blades flashed from their sheaths with icy glints, all trained on Giorno Giovanna and Jolyne Cujoh.
(End Of This Chapter)