Laffitte understood. He went out and brought Teach in.
"Zehahahaha! Raitei-sama, long time no see."
Before the man even arrived, his voice came first. Blackbeard was very much the overly familiar type.
"Hm? So Chameleone is here too. An acquaintance!"
Blackbeard greeted them as he walked in, already arriving in the main hall.
Then, without the slightest courtesy, he plopped himself down.
"As one of Whitebeard's favored sons, and with the post of Second Division Commander left vacant specifically for you, he clearly had high hopes for you. Yet you abandoned him and chose me instead. I really am curious. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Ever since the Great Pirate Era began, the Whitebeard Pirates had never had a Second Division Commander, and the reason was Teach.
Anyone who wanted to become Second Division Commander had to possess enough strength to suppress him.
But Teach's physical skills were far from weak. The fact that he could leave three scars over Red-Hair's eye was enough to prove how powerful he was.
Precisely because Teach was there, and because he had always refused to become a commander for the sake of his ambition, the Whitebeard Pirates had never had a Second Division Commander.
"Because I believe my dream can only be realized in the Thunder God Pirates."
Blackbeard was very frank about it.
"A dream?"
Roy rubbed his chin, then waved at Laffitte and Chameleone.
The two understood. After casting a subtle glance at Teach, they both withdrew.
Once only Roy and Teach were left in the palace, Roy spoke again.
"I can see the hunger for power in your eyes. And since Chameleone said you swam here from the sea, that means you still aren't a Devil Fruit user. You want to find some Devil Fruit through the Thunder God Pirates, don't you?"
"Zehahahaha! As expected of Raitei-sama! That's right. There is indeed one Devil Fruit I want very badly."
"The Yami Yami no Mi you want most?"
Hm?!
Teach's laughter stopped abruptly. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with an extremely dangerous light as he stared at Roy.
"Are you looking to die?"
Gin, standing nearby, instantly drew his pair of iron-ball tonfa and stared at Teach with the same hostile gaze.
"As the most special one aboard the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, I know quite a lot about you. Far more than you imagine."
Roy was not shaken in the slightest by Teach's dangerous stare. He looked straight at him and spoke calmly.
At the same time, he waved at Gin. Only then did Gin reluctantly put away his weapon and withdraw.
Even as he left, Gin's gaze remained fixed fiercely on Teach.
"Zehahahaha. To be known by the famous Raitei-sama… I truly don't know whether I should be happy or saddened by that. Captain Roy, could you tell me what you know about me? I really want to know just how much you understand."
Teach restored his smile while remaining cautious, and with a trace of disbelief, asked again.
"Like me, you are an abnormal type who can contain multiple Devil Fruit powers, aren't you, Teach?"
"Hm?"
This time, Teach truly could not sit still. He stood up in surprise.
"And because of your special physique, you have always wanted to find the Yami Yami no Mi, haven't you?"
"That's right. I have always wanted to obtain the Logia fruit said to be the most vicious Devil Fruit of all."
Since Roy had already said that much, and with such certainty on his face, Teach felt there was no need to deny it anymore.
However, since he knows I'm an abnormal type too, yet has still talked with me for so long, that means he has no intention of killing me at all.
Countless thoughts flashed through Teach's mind in an instant. Once he confirmed that he was safe, he puffed out his chest even more.
"I have no interest whatsoever in what fruit you want to obtain. But since you have chosen to join the Thunder God Pirates, if you want the Yami Yami no Mi, you must follow the rules. Otherwise…"
As Roy spoke, he narrowed his eyes.
"Zehahahaha. Don't worry, Captain Raitei. I will definitely follow the rules!"
Logia-type, Yami Yami no Mi.
The world's most vicious Devil Fruit.
Long ago, Roy had already used the Devil Fruit Radar to easily obtain this fruit.
However, for certain reasons, Roy had tossed it into a corner of his ring. Only today did he take it out again.
"Now still isn't the time to hand it over. Let that guy Teach work for the Thunder God Pirates for another two years first."
…
Inside the arena, as time passed, the contestants gradually separated into tiers due to stamina issues.
In terms of stamina, Chinjao was already an expert of the older generation. Even though he had not declined too severely yet, after Garp smashed away his drill-shaped head and his spirit sank, wearing himself down for this long inevitably left him somewhat short of strength.
And so, after Crocodile and Devon joined hands to knock Chinjao out of the arena, the final victory would be decided between the two of them.
As for who would win the championship this time, Roy had absolutely no interest.
In any case, Raijin Island's current popularity had already proven the feasibility of such tournaments. They could continue holding them in the future, so Roy no longer paid attention to the matches that followed.
He once again continued meditating in seclusion, advancing toward Super Saiyan 2.
Previously, because he had built up a deep foundation and then erupted all at once, after advancing to Super Saiyan, it only took Roy a short time to reach the same realm as Son Goku and Son Gohan.
He believed that he was no longer far from transforming into Super Saiyan 2.
…
Time passed swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, three years had gone by, bringing the year to 1509.
During these three years, under the strategies of Tamago, Laffitte, Jierro, and the others, the Thunder God Pirates' territory expanded all the way outward. Very soon, they occupied a vast domain composed of many islands, which the world collectively referred to as the "Raijin Sea."
Moreover, through the suggestive influence of the Shadow Imprints they had planted beforehand, even more forces were drawn back into the Raijin Sea.
There were four red Road Poneglyphs.
One was with Charlotte Linlin. One was with Kaido. One was on Zou.
As for the last one, Oda never gave an explanation. Presumably, it should later be in Blackbeard's hands.
(End of Chapter)
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