-Real World-
Moby Dick, Present Day
Seeing the voice and smile of his adopted son Thatch again—even through the Sky Screen's filtered broadcast—Whitebeard could no longer contain his grief. Tears streamed down the Yonko's weathered face, massive drops falling like rain. His adopted sons gathered around their father, feeling his profound sadness radiating outward in waves, yet none knew how to offer comfort for this particular wound.
The sons closest to Edward Newgate emotionally had all been dispatched on various missions across their territory. As for the leopard-print nurses standing nearby, they possessed enough social awareness to recognize when their presence would be unwelcome. They withdrew respectfully, understanding that only Whitebeard himself could untie the knots binding his heart.
"Thatch... just go with peace of mind. I will make Teach pay the price for what he's done."
Whitebeard's eyes blazed with murderous intent, terrifying aura accumulating around him until the air itself felt heavy. Ever since Thatch's murder at Teach's hands, the old man hadn't experienced emotions this intense—this raw. Perhaps seeing his dead adopted son moving and speaking in the Sky Screen's historical footage made Edward Newgate think of better days, miss that large loving family before betrayal tore it apart.
He'd established an iron rule before allowing anyone to join his crew: absolutely no one could attack their companions aboard his ships. Everyone was family to each other, bound by bonds that should transcend mere piracy. Every adopted son had abided by this sacred rule for over thirty years without exception.
Until Teach.
Marshall D. Teach had actually dared to murder a family member he'd lived alongside for decades—killed Thatch in cold blood over a Devil Fruit. The violation felt incomprehensible, a fundamental betrayal that shook Whitebeard's worldview.
He'd underestimated Marshall D. Teach's ambition catastrophically. When had Blackbeard's personality changed so drastically? When had the simple, friendly fat man become this unfamiliar monster? Had he boarded the Moby Dick with murder planned from the very beginning, joining the crew solely to obtain the Yami Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit)?
The thought that Thatch's discovery of a Devil Fruit would bring fatal disaster—that simply finding something valuable would mark him for death—filled Whitebeard with impotent rage. If Teach truly wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit so desperately, why hadn't he discussed it with his father? Why resort to the most extreme action, killing for treasure like a common thief rather than approaching it as family?
Edward Newgate had been blaming himself constantly these past days for raising this scourge, for allowing poison into his family. He shouldn't have accepted Blackbeard aboard at that time. Sometimes his adopted sons' cautious opinions proved wiser than his own generous heart.
Now the Sky Screen showed his former second Division Commander again—Kozuki Oden, alive and vital in historical footage. Edward Newgate couldn't help but sigh at how quickly time passed. He hadn't expected that Oden had been gone so long already. Seeing the scenes of Kozuki Momonosuke's impending birth felt simultaneously distant and immediate, as if this moment had just occurred yesterday rather than over two decades past.
Whitebeard suddenly felt old—genuinely, profoundly old. He didn't know how much longer he could support this massive family he'd built.
The Sky Screen's prophecy haunted him constantly: five years from now, the Whitebeard Pirates would be destroyed. Many of his adopted sons would be killed or grievously injured. That horrible future had been tormenting him since the broadcast began.
Edward Newgate desperately hoped his body would endure forever, helping the family he'd created overcome whatever crisis awaited them. He could not accept the reality of old men burying young ones—the thought violated everything he held sacred. The man would rather sacrifice himself a thousand times than watch his adopted sons lose their lives.
Squard—the Great Vortex Spider, filial son and captain of a pirate ship under the Whitebeard Pirates' banner—had returned early from patrol, worried about his father's deteriorating health. Seeing Whitebeard's sadness now, the adopted son felt unspeakable pain squeezing his heart. Except for Teach, that unfilial traitor, every son serving under the Whitebeard Pirates remained utterly loyal to Edward Newgate.
"Pops, you must take care of yourself," Squard said earnestly, voice thick with emotion. "I believe the brothers will catch that damned bastard Teach. He can't hide from us forever."
Squard's declaration expressed what all the other adopted sons felt. They'd lived under their father's protective halo for too long, sometimes developing arrogance that made them underestimate the wider world. Many still believed Teach was merely a fat man skilled at sneak attacks rather than recognizing him as the genuine threat the Sky Screen suggested.
However, discussions about Blackbeard aboard the Moby Dick were abruptly terminated by new content appearing on the Sky Screen. No one had anticipated what would be revealed next: during Lady Toki's childbirth many years ago, an uninvited guest had infiltrated their ship entirely undetected.
The implications sent chills through everyone watching.
-Broadcast-
[Lady Toki's wailing had grown progressively weaker as the sun set completely beyond the horizon. Only a few Division Commanders remained stationed outside the delivery room at this late hour. Kozuki Oden, as the expectant father and husband, naturally counted among them. The samurai's unusual way of thinking had led him down a dark path—he was actually considering whether to prioritize saving the adult or the child if complications forced an impossible choice.
A Division Commander with distinctive pineapple-styled hair understood his older brother's internal struggle immediately. The man couldn't help laughing despite the tension, voice carrying reassuring confidence.
"Don't worry so much, Oden. As the ship's doctor, I will never allow anything to happen to Lady Toki. You don't trust the nurses' capabilities? Fine—but can't you trust me?"]
[Character information appeared in elegant script:]
Captain of the First Division, Whitebeard Pirates Ship's Doctor Marco User of the Zoan-type Tori Tori no Mi (Bird-Bird Fruit), Model: Phoenix
[Marco could utilize his Mythical Zoan abilities to heal the wounded, flames of regeneration mending injuries that would prove fatal for normal humans. Even if Lady Toki required emergency caesarean section, he could enter the delivery room immediately to prevent catastrophic blood loss during the operation, protecting both adult and child throughout the entire process. At such critical moments, concerns about propriety became irrelevant—survival took absolute priority over social conventions.
"Marco, I'll be relying on you soon. You must protect my wife—please." Tears gathered in Kozuki Oden's eyes, voice breaking slightly. "Meeting this good woman represents the greatest blessing of my life. I don't want to lose her so soon, not when we've barely begun building our future together."
The emotional samurai pulled Marco into a tight embrace, desperately needing comfort from his brother. Fear of losing his wife consumed him, reducing the fearsome warrior to trembling vulnerability.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," Marco promised, patting Kozuki Oden's shoulder with genuine affection. "That's what family does."]
[Just as Marco offered reassurance to his distressed brother, a familiar leopard-print nurse passed by them, moving with practiced efficiency toward the delivery room entrance. Seeing one of his father's women entering to assist with the birth, the cautious ship's doctor exhibited no particular suspicion initially.
Something felt slightly strange when the leopard-print nurse emerged from the delivery room moments later only to re-enter almost immediately. But since she belonged to Whitebeard's personal staff, Marco didn't investigate too deeply. For now, he needed to remain alert to sounds from inside, ready to rush in for emergency treatment at any moment.
The man didn't realize he'd just allowed an uninvited guest to infiltrate the delivery room.
Inside that sealed space, Lady Toki continued moaning softly, her strength nearly depleted. Due to persistent fetal malposition, the woman's labor proved extraordinarily difficult. The leopard-print nurses were seriously considering performing caesarean section immediately—they could not allow the tragedy of "two lives lost, one corpse" to occur here. If Lady Toki and the baby in her belly couldn't be saved, there was no guarantee that Whitebeard would honor old friendship over grief. He might very well kill these women to vent Kozuki Oden's rage and sorrow.
When the head nurse noticed the familiar woman returning, she spoke with sharp irritation born of stress and exhaustion.
"When did you leave? It's chaotic in here and you're slacking off at a time like this? Get over here and help me immediately!"
As a woman with considerable authority among Whitebeard's medical staff, her scolding carried weight. Yet the leopard-print nurse who'd just entered remained utterly indifferent, eyes vacant and dull, expression wooden and lifeless. Her complete lack of response to direct orders seemed bizarre.
Marco hadn't noticed anything wrong because he'd observed only briefly through the doorway. But the head nurse, who'd worked alongside these women for years, realized something was profoundly incorrect instantly. Her "good sister" seemed fundamentally strange today—wrong in ways that transcended mere fatigue.
Then the newcomer spoke, and reality shattered.]
["Amatsuki Toki, we haven't seen each other for quite some time. I wonder if you still remember me after all these years."]
[A distinctly male voice emerged from the leopard-print nurse's mouth.
The sudden transformation caused the atmosphere in the delivery room to plunge into frozen silence. Was this some bizarre prank by one of the Division Commanders? Some tasteless joke at the worst possible moment?
Lady Toki, face drenched in sweat and contorted with pain, raised her head with tremendous difficulty. Her vision swam, but she could see clearly enough: all the other women in the room stood motionless with vacant, dull eyes. They'd been trapped in some form of mental control, unable to perceive any information from the external world. They were present physically but absent mentally—living puppets.
The figure standing at the door wore a leopard-print nurse's uniform, but everything else screamed wrongness. Thick black hair fell past masculine shoulders. Beneath the disguise, the intruder wore red armor characteristic of Wano Country's traditional design. A signature round fan hung on his back—the kind carried by warriors of certain clans.
But most distinctive, most impossible to mistake or forget, were the eyes.
Dart-like shapes floated in crimson pupils—a pattern Lady Toki would never forget in this lifetime or any other.
Recognition crashed over her like a tidal wave. Her heart, which had been fighting desperately to endure childbirth's agony, finally died within her chest.
She knew those eyes. She knew what they meant.
And she understood, with absolute certainty, that everything had just become infinitely worse.]
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