In a certain area of the New World, a dilapidated warship moved aimlessly on the blue sea. The deck was densely packed with members of the Whitebeard Pirates, including Diamond Jozu and three more remaining division commanders. There were at least two hundred people.
Although they had managed to escape and luckily survived, there was no joy on their faces. Instead, despair and deep self-blame filled each man.
Dad is dead. Marco is dead. Ace and the others also failed to be saved.
Of the mighty 8000 who had set out, fewer than 200 remained. This expedition had been a crushing defeat for the Whitebeard Pirates. However, what was most unacceptable to them was that the person who stood up to save them in their time of crisis was the traitor, Blackbeard, whom they had publicly hunted down!
Frustration and shame were deeply imprinted in the hearts of each of them. A mournful silence fell over the deck.
At that moment, Burgess's wanton laughter suddenly echoed from the mast above their heads.
"Weihahaha, I have to tell the captain the good news as soon as possible."
Burgess propped up a newspaper, his sturdy figure leaping down from the crow's nest. Bang! A sudden crash sounded on the deck. Although Burgess had an arm broken by Garp, with his powerful physique, it only took him a day to recover.
Knock knock knock!
Burgess's rough knocking startled Blackbeard, who was in the cabin thinking about how to turn all the remaining Whitebeard Pirates into his own.
"Captain, our bounty seems to have skyrocketed a lot."
"Huh?"
Blackbeard accepted the newspaper with a look of joy, but when he saw the bounty was only 1.222 billion, he suddenly became a little unhappy.
"What's this? It's such a small bounty. Not as much as that fat guy, Queen. I'm a dual-fruit ability user, and I personally killed Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Not to mention three or four billion, it shouldn't be less than two billion! Are the people in the World Government and the Marines blind? You guys really look down on me!"
Besides, why is that bastard Adrian worth 1.8 billion more than me? Is it because he's handsome??
When he thought of Adrian, Blackbeard gritted his teeth with hatred. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit, a 3 billion bounty, the position of a Yonko ...everything that originally belonged to him had become that kid's gift. This hatred was simply irreconcilable.
But what Blackbeard didn't know was that the World Government was trying to weaken the impact of him killing Sengoku, which was why they had deliberately lowered his bounty to such a low level. Otherwise, simply for killing Fleet Admiral Sengoku, his bounty would have been enough to rival a Yonko, or even more. The Five Elders had thought it through and decided not to draw too much attention to him. After all, Sengoku's death was a great shame for both the Marines and the World Government.
"Damn it, it looks like we have to do something big next." Blackbeard secretly made up his mind that he was bound to win the position of a Four Emperor. Otherwise, wouldn't those decades of suffering would end up vain?
"But Captain, there are only two of us left in the pirate group, and I've lost one of my hands. I'm afraid..." Burgess pointed to his severed right arm with a flattering expression. He believed that Captain Blackbeard would be able to solve this problem.
As expected.
"Don't worry, I've already figured out a solution...Let's go, let's get rid of the trash outside first!"
Blackbeard immediately walked out of the cabin, his cunning eyes sweeping over everyone one by one. Everyone, including the few commanders, looked listless and downcast. They had long lost their former arrogance and domineering presence.
Seeing this, Blackbeard felt a burst of relief. Without Dad's protection, you bastards are not even one-ten-thousandth of me, Blackbeard.
"Blackbeard, you bastard..."
"Teach, it's all because of you that Dad and Ace died..."
"That's right, if you hadn't handed Ace over to the World Government, today's scene wouldn't have happened..."
"We will avenge Papa and Ace!"
Seeing Blackbeard come out, the commanders, led by Jozu, immediately stood up, filled with righteous indignation. There was the commander of the 3rd division, Diamond Jozu; the commander of the 11th division, Kingdew; the commander of the 13th division, Buffalo Atmos; and the commander of the 15th division, Fossa. They were all fools with little to no intelligence, and Blackbeard felt most comfortable with them.
He immediately pressed his right hand heavily to the deck without saying a word. Endless darkness surged out from his palm.
"How despicable, you're going to steal Dad's body!"
Just when Jozu and the others were about to make a move, a tall figure slowly rose from the darkness. It was Whitebeard. In an instant, everyone knelt down with tears in their eyes. A series of mournful cries sounded.
"Shut up, all you trash!"
Blackbeard's angry growl suddenly sounded. Then, he pointed to Whitebeard's body with a sad face and said, "This is a critical moment for the survival of the Whitebeard Pirates. You're not thinking about how to avenge your father and the others; you just know how to start an internal conflict here. Are you... are you sorry about what happened?!"
Blackbeard's deafening accusation immediately stunned everyone.
Is it even appropriate for you to say this?
However, Blackbeard didn't give anyone a chance to refute and continued with tears in his eyes, "I admit that I was obsessed before and committed an unforgivable crime, but didn't you also abandon your companions in the end?"
"Are you any different then I, Blackbeard?!"
"If Dad were still alive, would he spare you guys who abandoned your brothers?"
"What's the difference between what you did and what I did to kill Thatch?"
Blackbeard's words immediately made everyone feel ashamed. They all covered their faces and burst into tears. What Whitebeard had paid most attention to during his lifetime was the devotion for his family. Any abandonment of companions would be regarded as betrayal by him. If the consequences were mild, they would be expelled from the Whitebeard Pirates. If serious, they would be beheaded face-to-face.
That's why Whitebeard pirates had such strong cohesion. Even some of the most established pirates in the New World were willing to be his subordinates and call him Dad. And the people on board today had all betrayed the iron law laid down by Whitebeard. So even if the speaker was the most unqualified Blackbeard, they were still powerless to refute.
Damn! Captain, you are so awesome!
Burgess was almost stunned by Blackbeard's "flee" operation. Obviously, it was you, Captain, who didn't care about the lives of those trash and ordered the ship to sail. Now you can push the responsibility so cleanly... !!
A smug look flashed across Blackbeard's eyes, and he continued with a look of grief and indignation, "Instead of sympathizing with others here, you might as well follow me and regroup. Let's go back first and take back the old man's territory, and then wait for the opportunity to seek revenge on that bastard Adrian!!"
Here it comes, the dagger in the picture!
Blackbeard finally revealed his true purpose.
"Teach, you want to take Papa's place as the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates?!"
Although Jozu had a simple and honest personality, he was not a fool. He immediately stood up angrily.
"Why, am I not qualified to be the captain of this crew?" Blackbeard squinted back.
"Anyone can be the captain of this crew, but you can't, Teach!" Jozu said firmly.
"Hmph, Jozu, you really have the guts to speak up, you bastard!"
"Then let me ask you, who among you can beat Adrian? Who can avenge Dad and Marco?"
In the face of Blackbeard's repeated questions, everyone fell silent. Although they hated Adrian for killing Whitebeard, they had to admit that his strength was far beyond theirs. Even Jozu was probably no match for Adrian's Shiryu of the Rain or Death Song, let alone Bullet, who was close to the level of a Marine Admiral.
"Then I'm asking you, who risked their lives to snatch back the corpse of the old man, among thousands of troops?!"
"Compared to you cowardly scumbags, I, Blackbeard, am the one who cares about Dad the most, so..."
"What about me being the captain of this crew?!"
"I just want to ask now, who is in favor and who is against!!"