Bege's expression turned grim. Whitebeard's terrifying strength had made him acutely aware of his own shortcomings, and he realized he had likely underestimated the power of an Emperor-level figure in the New World.
"Gurararara! Brat, I'll be watching from the New World to see how you change this world!" Whitebeard grabbed his bisento, laughed heartily, and turned to leave.
"Whitebeard," Bege suddenly spoke, "I'm not one to enjoy owing favors. You helped me sharpen my sword today, so I'll tell you something in return."
Whitebeard paused, looking back at Bege with interest.
"Marshall D. Teach, a member of your Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division… that man is deliberately hiding his true nature under your command, seemingly plotting to obtain something. I have a feeling he will lead to the downfall of the Whitebeard Pirates in the future," Bege said gravely.
Whitebeard's gaze turned cold. A terrifying wave of Haki instantly crossed the distance and slammed into Bege, causing him to bend over, spit blood, and stumble to the ground.
"Brat, do you have any idea how disrespectful it is to slander one of his sons in front of a father?" His face slightly grim, Whitebeard looked at Bege, a murderous glint gradually appearing in his calm eyes.
Bege, his face cold, struggled back to his feet.
"This era may be called 'Whitebeard,' but this era will eventually pass. The current Great Pirate Era has not yet reached its climax. It still needs someone to personally push this runaway age to its absolute peak. Whitebeard, that person is you.
"You, the man with the highest renown among pirates, are the key that will cause the Great Pirate Era to completely spiral out of control. Roger's death opened the doors to this era, and your death will push it to its zenith.
"Once you die, will the Whitebeard Pirates still be the Whitebeard Pirates? They won't be able to protect what they have now; they will be swallowed up one after another.
"And the source of your death, the root of the Whitebeard Pirates' decline… I feel it's him, Marshall D. Teach. A man of the D. clan," Bege stated, each word delivered with extreme seriousness.
Whitebeard's expression grew somber, a rare look of seriousness appearing on his face.
"Gurararara! Teach has never committed any wrongdoing. He is my good son. Besides, the course of this era is not for you to decide.
"Even if I am destined to die, I believe my beloved sons will be able to stand strong on their own."
Whitebeard laughed loudly, turned, and left with unwavering steps.
"Stubborn old fool," Bege cursed under his breath, then spat out another mouthful of blood and collapsed. He hastily took out a ship, ordering his men to pilot it away from the island.
Not long after the ship took off, Bege could no longer hold on and fainted.
A month passed in a flash. It had been a month since his battle with Whitebeard, and after a month of recuperation, Bege's injuries had mostly healed.
The fight with Whitebeard had made him profoundly understand the old pirate's strength.
This era truly did belong to Whitebeard.
It also made him realize he was still some distance away from the level of an Emperor. Fortunately, he still had a considerable amount of time before his planned challenge against the Fear Pirates.
A common ship drifted on the vast ocean. Bege lay on a deck chair, wearing sunglasses, looking quite relaxed.
Surprisingly, four incredibly heavy dumbbells were floating up and down in the air beside Bege. The strange thing was, no one was touching them; it was as if an invisible hand was gripping them.
In reality, the dumbbells were within his projected field. Bege was using his mental strength to control them, utilizing their weight to train his mind and strengthen his Devil Fruit abilities.
During the battle with Whitebeard, he had broken through a bottleneck, and his strength had improved considerably, especially his mental power. The maximum range of his projected field had expanded to five meters.
The strength of his condensed invisible barrier had doubled. His gains were immense.
"Godfather, there's a pirate crew robbing a merchant ship up ahead. Should we go check out the commotion?" one of his men controlling the ship suddenly called out.
Bege tilted his head, picked up a pair of binoculars, and looked. Indeed, a pirate ship had forced a large merchant vessel to a halt.
"It's been too boring these past few days. Let's go stir things up," Bege said with a grin.
His men immediately grew excited, activated the ship's acceleration system, and the vessel shot forward like an arrow, cutting through the waves towards the pirate ship.
Meanwhile, on the merchant ship, a group of vicious-looking pirates had already dealt with the vessel's guards. The deck was littered with dismembered limbs and pools of blood. At the center of the deck, over a hundred men and women were huddled together, trembling in fear.
Their leader was a one-eyed, middle-aged man. His gaze swept over the huddled group, a greedy glint appearing in his eye when he spotted attractive women.
"Brothers, pick out all the women and bring them back with us!" the one-eyed pirate cackled.
"Yes, Captain!" The pirates, leering, rushed into the crowd, grabbing any woman who had even a hint of attractiveness. The women wailed in despair.
"Sir, sir, please spare my daughter! She's only thirteen!" a portly, wealthy-looking man pleaded, clutching at a pirate's arm.
"Get lost, you fat pig!" The pirate's face turned savage. He kicked the portly man to the ground, then grabbed a pretty, baby-faced girl. Ignoring her struggles and cries, he threw her over his shoulder, his large hand groping her buttocks repeatedly as he walked away with a sinister laugh.
"Captain, we found a top-tier beauty!" a pirate suddenly exclaimed. The other pirates immediately ran over. The one-eyed captain followed, and his eyes lit up upon seeing her.
"This woman is mine!" The one-eyed pirate immediately rushed forward, intending to grab her.
"Still couldn't avoid it, huh?" The stunningly beautiful woman's face was grim.
"Then we'll just have to kill them."
Beside the woman, an inconspicuous, middle-aged man who had been crouching with his head down suddenly stood up. He was incredibly tall and powerfully built, towering a head or two above the pirates.
"Get lost!" The little giant glared and threw a punch at the one-eyed pirate.
The one-eyed pirate's expression changed drastically. He crossed his arms in front of him to block. The little giant's fist slammed hard into his forearms.
However, spikes suddenly erupted from the little giant's own fist, piercing through his flesh. He let out a low, pained growl.
The one-eyed pirate, though his arms were now aching and numb from the blow, stumbled back more than ten steps. Only then did everyone notice that spikes had also grown out from the one-eyed pirate's arms.
The one-eyed pirate let out a sinister, cold laugh. "I'm a Spike-Spike Fruit user! I can grow spikes all over my body!"
The little giant gritted his teeth, grabbed a nearby pirate, snatched his weapon, and cut him down with a single slash before charging at the one-eyed captain.
"What are you standing around for?! Kill him!" The one-eyed pirate's face alternated between pale and livid as he roared at his men.
The pirates immediately charged the little giant. He was very strong and skilled, managing to cut down several of them.
"Use your guns! Quick, use your guns! Don't hurt my beauty!" The one-eyed pirate pulled out his pistol and fired at the little giant. A bullet struck the giant's arm, sending blood flying, but he seemed unfazed, his expression ferocious as he continued to run towards the captain. Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of gunshots rang out. The little giant was hit multiple times but still didn't fall. He stubbornly remained standing, grabbing another pirate to use as a shield as he wreaked havoc.
"He can't last much longer! Kill him!" the one-eyed captain yelled.
"Find a lifeboat and get out of here, quickly!" the little giant shouted to the beautiful woman beside him.
The beautiful woman's expression was extremely troubled.
"Well, well, I didn't expect to run into you here." A light, teasing voice suddenly sounded. Everyone looked over to see a figure standing on the ship's railing.
Bege, a cigarillo dangling from his lips, looked at the stunningly beautiful woman with a strange smile.
"Ms. Warren Taylor, we truly are fated to meet, aren't we?"