Blackbeard threw his head back and laughed, his sound booming across the ship.
"Zehahahaha! Straw Hat… you've really done it this time!"
The newspaper trembled slightly in his massive hand, not from fear but from excitement. Around him, his crew gathered, some curious, others already grinning, knowing that look on their captain face.
Jesus Burgess leaned closer. "What's got you laughing like that, Captain?"
Blackbeard wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and slammed the paper against his palm. "Take a look at this! That brat… he's gone and kidnapped Akainu!"
A ripple of shock passed through the crew, hearing the Admiral had been captured.
"Akainu?" Van Augur repeated calmly, adjusting his glasses. "The Admiral?"
"Not just that," Blackbeard continued, his grin stretching wider. "Read the next part."
Doc Q lazily took the paper, his sickly eyes scanning the lines. "It says here… Akainu power… the magma logia… is no longer his."
For a brief moment, even the chaotic atmosphere of the Blackbeard Pirates fell into silence.
"Zehahahaha!" Blackbeard roared again. "Now that's the interesting part!"
He snatched the paper back, tapping the section with a thick finger. "The power didn't just disappear. It was taken and now… It's in the hands of Sabo, which means if I ever meet him, it would be easier to steal the power from him."
"Revolutionary Army…" Doc Q muttered. "So, Straw Hat and Dragon forces are working together."
Blackbeard eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Of course they are, they are family. It makes perfect sense that the bloodline of chaos attracts chaos."
He lowered his voice slightly, though the excitement never left it. "But what kind of ability lets someone steal a Devil Fruit power and give it to another?"
No one answered but they could see Blackbeard face had changed, since the moment they decided to join him.
They have seen Blackbeard use his own power, stealing the ability from the devil fruit user and after that Blackbeard told them his real ambition and what he did in the past to get this fruit and why he betrayed Whitebeard.
Blackbeard also reveals his real name, Davy D Teach, the son of the strongest pirates in the past. They respected his power and cunningness and they believed he would one day become pirate king.
Although he was excited at the thought of a stronger enemy, it still made him worried about the real power of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Blackbeard slowly clenched his fist, the shadows around him seeming to deepen.
"Zeh… this is getting dangerous."
Burgess frowned. "Dangerous? Since when do you care about that?"
Blackbeard grinned, revealing his crooked teeth. "Because it means someone out there is playing the same game as me."
That single sentence made the crew stiffen. Blackbeard looked out toward the open sea.
"Straw Hat Luffy…" he said softly, almost thoughtfully. "First you shake the world… now you start breaking its rules by having the same power as me."
His grin returned, wider than ever.
"Good. That's perfect."
He crushed the newspaper in his hand.
"Because if you're aiming for the top… then sooner or later…"
His voice dropped, heavy with intent.
"You're going to run straight into me."
Although Teach talked big, deep down he felt worried because of the existence of the scientist in the Strawhat Crew.
He had abandoned all the paths that strawhat pirates might cross because he was not yet confident to fight them.
Akainu is an admiral and in the past, when Blackbeard was still on Whitebeard ship, he had faced him and Teach can confidently say that even with his Darkness Devil Fruit, it would become really hard to fight against that Akainu.
So in this critical moment, he changed his plan not to get close to the Straw Hat Pirates and he needed to get more intel about their crew ability.
Ace also had reportedly join strawhat pirates for a while, the risk of the Strawhat Pirates hunting him down is still there and Blackbeard is not someone who will fight if he isn't confident he would 100% win.
He had become cunning for more than half his life, so waiting for a little more time to make sure he would win is easy.
...
In the New World, Shanks who are still talking with Mihawk about last night, are suddenly being interrupted by a bird who are floated onto the sky, bringing a newspaper.
The number of bird on air means there is something new and explosive that happen on the world. Before he could make a move, Mihawk signalled to the bird to bring the news down and paid for it.
Shanks, who saw Mihawk suddenly change face when reading the news, also became curious and came closer to him.
"Your boy," said Mihawk before passing the newspaper to him.
Shanks took the paper and read it and his face also changed. Dracule Mihawk eyes flicked toward Shank and carefully observed his expression.
"That's a rare expression," Mihawk remarked. "I didn't think a newspaper could trouble you."
Shanks let out a quiet breath, lowering the paper slightly. "It's not just a newspaper and you already read it before me."
He tossed it onto the table between them.
Mihawk gaze dropped, scanning the bold headline.
Straw Hat Pirates Kidnap Fleet Admiral Akainu, Magma Power Reportedly Stolen
"…Didn't you expect this?" said Mihawk, his tone as composed as ever. "Since I met that Jack F Corrie in sea blue, I have a hunch that he would do something like this."
"You mean stealing the other devil fruit power?" asked Shanks.
"That Jack F Corrie is someone who didn't have haki but his eyes, those eyes look like someone who is confident to fight me after witnessing me beating one of their crew," replied Hawkeye. "Regarding your question, no? I didn't think he had the ability to steal other devil fruit."
"It looks like that kid get strong supporter." Shanks leaned back while commenting about Luffy new crew, he was also running a hand through his hair. "Luffy… you've gone and done something outrageous again."
"Akainu being taken is already enough to shake the Marines," Shanks continued. "But this… if powers can be stolen like that, the balance of the world won't just tilt…"
"It will collapse," Mihawk finished.
Shanks nodded slowly.
......
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