"Thatch? Thatch?! Captain Thatch?!"
A member of the Fourth Division knocked again and again, but there was no answer. His brow furrowed. A faint metallic tang drifted through the air.
Blood.
No—!
BANG!
The door slammed open.
What met his eyes froze his soul. The bed was soaked in blood. Thatch lay pale and motionless, blood still dripping from his hand, pooling on the floor and nearly reaching the doorway.
"CAPTAIN THATCH!!!"
A heart-rending scream shattered the morning silence.
On Deck
Members of the Whitebeard Pirates gathered silently on deck. Only the creaking of wood, the gulls overhead, and the soft roll of the waves could be heard.
Hundreds stood around the bodies of Thatch, Rakuyo, and Whitey Bay. The silence was suffocating.
None dared speak, because Edward Newgate—their father—was staring at the bodies.
The air thickened with tension.
Then, slowly, Whitebeard stood.
"…How did they die?"
His voice was calm. But beneath that calm lay an ocean of fury.
The Fourth Division member who found Thatch trembled as he stepped forward.
"P-Pop… this morning I went to wake Captain Thatch. When I opened the door—he… he was already—!"
Whitebeard inhaled sharply. The world tilted for a moment; he stumbled back a step, steadied only by sheer will.
"And Rakuyo… Whitey Bay…?"
The Betrayal
After some investigation, every clue pointed to one person:
Marshall D. Teach.
The man who always smiled. The man everyone trusted.
BOOM!
"Where is Teach?! Drag him before me!!!"
"Pops… Teach is gone. He fled last night on a small boat…"
There it was. Confirmation.
Whitebeard's jaw tightened, his body swayed—and then everything went dark.
"POPS!!!"
Marco rushed forward, checking his condition. After a moment, he looked up grimly.
"He passed out… rage triggered his old illness…"
Beside him, Portgas D. Ace clenched his fists.
"That bastard Teach!!! I'm going after him right now!"
Marco stopped him immediately. "Ace. Wait until Pops wakes up."
"But he—!"
Ace's voice broke. Then, with fierce determination:
"He was my crewman. He killed our brothers. I swear—I'll bring him back, no matter where he hides!"
Ace turned to leave.
"Jozu! Stop him!" Marco shouted.
Jozu immediately wrapped his massive arms around Ace.
Marco turned to the rest.
"Everyone… disperse. Pops will wake soon. When he does, I'll let you know."
He paused.
"And please… take our brothers and give them a proper burial."
Marine Headquarters — Marshal's Office
"What?! That really happened?!"
Inside Marineford, Sengoku lowered his receiver, eyes sharp.
Internal conflict within Whitebeard's crew. Teach has fled. Whitebeard collapsed from shock…
An opportunity was forming.
Meanwhile, high above in the sky realm, Karl received a call.
"What? That really happened? …I see. Got it."
A soft arm draped over his chest. Boa Hancock murmured sleepily, "Mm… what happened?"
Karl smirked.
"Trouble. A man named Teach killed three commanders and ran. Whitebeard fainted from rage. Their crew must be in chaos right now."
Hancock's eyes snapped open. "He killed his own crewmates? That man's insane…"
Karl's smile grew faint.
"Or ambitious."
The Moby Dick — The Next Day
"Marco… where are their bodies?"
"They've been buried."
Whitebeard paused, then nodded.
"…Good."
A short while later, the entire crew gathered once more.
Whitebeard emerged, covered in IV tubes and breathing apparatus, slowly walking toward his chair. The moment he stepped onto the deck, silence fell.
"Thirty-eight years ago," he began, voice heavy, "I founded this crew and gathered those with nowhere else to go. Many of you… I raised like my own sons."
He looked across their faces.
"Gol D. Roger once offered to tell me where Laugh Tale was. I refused. I don't give a damn about treasure. All I ever wanted… was a family."
His voice grew low.
"As family… I have one rule. One. Never kill a crewmate."
He closed his eyes, breathing slow.
"But Thatch… Rakuyo… Whitey Bay… are dead. Slain by their own brother."
Ace could no longer hold back. He stepped forward.
"Pops! Teach was my subordinate! I swear—I'll bring him back to face you!"
Whitebeard stared at him for a long time.
"…Ace… don't go."
Ace froze.
"This time… I feel something is wrong. Teach isn't the simple fool we thought he was."
For the first time, Whitebeard realized that in nearly thirty years, he had never truly known Teach.
But Ace shook his head.
"He killed our brothers and fled! If I do nothing… what does that say about us?! What does that say about you?!"
His fists clenched.
"I can't ignore this!"
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