Being targeted by Carl, Teach felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Lafitte and the others were even worse off, cowering behind Teach in fear. Burgess, who had been unconscious, woke up at that moment. But the instant he saw Carl, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted again.
Seeing their reactions, Carl's lips curled into a wicked smile.
He didn't rush to act. Instead, he withdrew his gaze, called Shanks over, and returned to the banquet table to continue their meal.
This nearly made Buggy cry. Carl had taken the seat Shanks had been sitting in earlier, which meant he was sitting right next to him!
Shanks, seated on Carl's other side, chuckled and said, "Buggy, why don't you greet my brother?"
Even though Buggy had cursed Shanks a million times in his heart, he dared not openly confront him now and remained obedient.
Forcing himself to turn his head, Buggy met Carl's gaze.
Carl had a faint smile on his face, but Buggy still felt an unprecedented sense of pressure.
His facial muscles twitched slightly before he squeezed out an awkward smile and said,
"Greetings, Celestial Dragon Fleet Admiral! I'm Buggy, we've met before..."
Shanks tilted his head and smirked. "Buggy, your smile looks awful!"
Buggy's eyes had already squinted into crescent moons. Even with Shanks taunting him up close, he didn't get angry. Instead, he grinned and replied, "Oh? Is that so? My apologies, I hope I didn't offend the Celestial Dragon Fleet Admiral!"
"Ugh! Buggy, you've changed!"
"What nonsense are you talking about, Shanks? I've always respected the Celestial Dragon!"
Carl watched Buggy's performance with amusement and chuckled. "You catch on quick, Buggy."
Hearing this, Buggy immediately grabbed a large barrel of alcohol and refilled Carl's wooden mug.
"Of course! If it weren't for the Celestial Dragon, I'd still be locked up in Impel Down!"
Carl smirked, took a sip from his mug, and casually glanced at Shanks.
Shanks had a strange expression, almost as if he was feeling a little jealous.
Finding this amusing, Carl casually remarked, "The person you should thank the most is Shanks. You do realize that, right?"
Buggy nodded repeatedly, while Shanks looked a bit embarrassed, averting his eyes and sipping his drink.
After a while, Carl set down his mug and stood up. "Alright, time to get to work."
With that, he headed toward the cabin where Whitebeard was. Shanks quickly followed.
Inside the infirmary, Whitebeard lay on his sickbed, barely clinging to life. Carl stepped forward and placed his hand on Whitebeard's chest.
The area around Whitebeard's heart twisted, leaving a gaping hole where his heart had once been.
A sky-blue, pear-shaped fruit materialized in Carl's hand—the Gura Gura no Mi, the legendary Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Shanks sighed beside him. "I've seen it before, but your ability is terrifying."
Carl smiled slightly and casually tossed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to Shanks.
Shanks was startled, quickly catching the fruit before exhaling in relief.
"You don't want the Tremor-Tremor Fruit? Even if you don't, you shouldn't throw it so carelessly..."
Carl didn't respond. He placed his finger on Whitebeard's neck and could still detect a faint pulse.
Whitebeard's vitality was truly monstrous. Even without a heart, he was still alive for the moment.
Then again, in the manga, he had half his face blown off by Akainu and still kept fighting. His endurance was absurd.
But that was the end of the road.
With an indifferent gaze, Carl lightly traced a circle on Whitebeard's neck with his fingertip, two thin lines of blood forming beneath his touch.
A moment later, with a soft plop, Whitebeard's head tilted, completely severed from his body.
One of the Four Emperors, the legendary Whitebeard, had died silently on his sickbed.
The expected scene of blood spraying everywhere never occurred—every drop had been absorbed through Carl's fingertips.
Turning to Shanks, Carl said, "I took care of the body for you. Make sure you take it with you."
Shanks instinctively nodded before pausing, confused. "Take it? Where?"
"Mary Geoise. It's your first time going home, and you shouldn't go empty-handed."
"Nani?! When? Now?! I'm not ready!"
Seeing Shanks in a panic, Carl rolled his eyes. "Act your age. No, not now. I'm just giving you a heads-up."
Shanks wiped the sweat from his forehead and mumbled, "Oh… I see. You scared me…"
"What? Do you see home as some kind of hell? Look at you, acting all terrified. Be grateful—Uncle Garling always wears a coffin-like face, but at least he never tried to kill you. He actually cares about you."
Shanks lowered his head, deep in thought. Carl didn't continue the topic and turned to Hongo.
"Preserve Whitebeard's head."
Hongo quickly nodded, put on gloves, and carefully lifted Whitebeard's severed head. Carl called for Shanks and then left the infirmary.
With Whitebeard dealt with, only Blackbeard remained.
At the ship's railing, Teach watched Carl's slow approach with a deathly pale face, as if he were seeing the Grim Reaper himself.
At that moment, Teach desperately wanted to throw himself into the ocean behind him. But heavily injured and restrained by Seastone, he couldn't even move.
He could only watch helplessly as Carl drew closer… until he stood right in front of him.
Carl looked down at Teach and his crew, his eyes like those of a butcher gazing at livestock ready for slaughter.
Shanks walked over and said, "Brother, a few of them are Devil Fruit users, but other than Teach, none of them seem too powerful. Do you want to take their abilities?"
Carl pondered for a moment before replying, "Since we're here anyway, we might as well take them all."
A wicked grin spread across Carl's face as he whispered, "Now… who should I start with?"
To Teach and his crew, Carl's voice was like the whisper of a demon. Lafitte was the first to break, screaming, "No! Please—"
Splurt!
A deep purple light flashed, and Lafitte was instantly reduced to a pile of flesh.
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+230 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg