GA: Chapter 65 – Will Whitebeard Go Soft? Thatch's Complicated Expression
Could Garp and Shanks do things that he couldn't?
A man like Blackbeard was, in the end, nothing more than a warlord—never a true conqueror.
Ordinary Group Owner: "That's all well and true, but this kind of thing might fly in any other crew—just not Old Dad's. Everyone in Whitebeard's crew treats each other like family. If Blackbeard had just told Thatch he wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit, would Thatch really have refused?"
Ordinary Group Owner: "He probably would've laughed and handed it right over, joking that Blackbeard better find him a nice Devil Fruit someday in return."
Ordinary Group Owner: "Blackbeard didn't even ask—just went straight for the kill without hesitation. He never cared about the bonds in Whitebeard's crew at all. He never believed in Thatch or any of them."
Turn Daigu into Soup: "He could have asked, sure—he just didn't want to leave any margin for error."
Turn Daigu into Soup: "In his eyes, the Dark-Dark Fruit was worth infinitely more than any bond within Whitebeard's crew."
Worst Elf: "But you have to admit—people like that are the ones who go furthest."
The ends justify the means.
People like that were the most dangerous kind. Their achievements, the hardest to imagine.
But in stories, people like that rarely came to a good end.
Lighthouse Tycoon: "I'm more curious—if the Dark-Dark Fruit had never appeared, would Blackbeard have actually stayed in Whitebeard's crew for the rest of his life?"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "In that case, Ace never gets captured, the Summit War never happens, and Whitebeard's crew survives."
Be My Son: "But unfortunately, there are no ifs."
Be My Son: "I cannot allow a man who killed his crewmate for a Devil Fruit to call himself my son."
What he treasured most was the bond between father and son. And Blackbeard had shattered that with his own hands.
If there had been even a flicker of hesitation—perhaps he could have felt some small reluctance. But there hadn't been. The moment Blackbeard laid eyes on the Dark-Dark Fruit, he had probably already been calculating how to kill Thatch and take it.
Child of Nature: "And yet, Old Dad—you're still going to wait, aren't you?"
Child of Nature: "You're going to wait until Blackbeard has truly made up his mind to kill, until you're certain he's really going to do it to Thatch—only then will you move against him."
Child of Nature: "Part of it may be that since Blackbeard hasn't done anything yet, you have no grounds to act. But the larger part is that you want to give him one more chance, isn't it?"
Child of Nature: "You want to see—will he really do what the memory copy showed? Will he raise his hand against Thatch for a Devil Fruit?"
Seeing Bai Xuan's message, Whitebeard went quiet for a moment.
Even though he believed the contents of the memory copy—what if things had changed? What if history had shifted, and Blackbeard didn't move against Thatch?
He wanted to give Blackbeard one chance. And give himself one too.
Be My Son: "I've already spoken with Thatch and arranged everything. I told him about Blackbeard's intentions as well. Keeping it from him would have been unfair."
Be My Son: "Though he doesn't believe it."
Be My Son: "But if Blackbeard truly acts as the memory copy showed—I will not let him go!"
Ordinary Group Owner: "You'll beat him to death?"
Be My Son: "Of course!"
Child of Nature: "Absolutely won't go soft?"
Be My Son: "Someone who betrays this bond—how could this old man ever go soft?!"
Whitebeard's tone was resolute—but whether he'd truly follow through as he claimed, Bai Xuan had his doubts.
Child of Nature: "Image.jpg"
Bai Xuan sent a screenshot from the Summit War—Blackbeard begging Whitebeard for mercy, and Whitebeard going soft and getting sucker-punched for it.
Child of Nature: "That's what you told yourself back then too, wasn't it."
Ordinary Group Owner: "The legendary face-slap moment."
Lighthouse Tycoon: "The greatness of a father's love."
Turn Daigu into Soup: "A father's love runs deep—shame the son doesn't deserve it."
Uchiha Dance King: "Pitiful."
Just Like That Meow: "Truly a tragedy, meow."
Be My Son: "…"
Be My Son: "This time I will absolutely not make that mistake again!"
The One Piece world.
Night had fallen. The banquet was over, and the members of Whitebeard's crew had all retired to their rooms and drifted off to sleep.
And at that moment, a broad, powerfully built silhouette appeared outside Thatch's door.
Blackbeard.
He had no idea that his every movement was being watched by a pair of eyes.
Whitebeard's eyes held a trace of quiet disappointment.
"History, it seems, isn't so easily changed."
He let out a soft sigh, then opened the group livestream.
This was what they'd agreed beforehand—if Blackbeard moved to kill Thatch and take the Dark-Dark Fruit, Whitebeard would go live and let the others witness the new history being made.
The chat group's cold mechanical chime reached every member's ears at once.
"Ding—group member Be My Son has opened a livestream."
Ordinary Group Owner: "Called it. I knew Blackbeard couldn't turn over a new leaf. If he had, I'd start wondering if he was a transmigrator."
Worst Elf: "Our worlds exist because of those stories. Without actively defying fate, everything that happens is inevitable."
Uchiha Dance King: "Once I'm revived, that black rod of Zetsu's… heh."
Golden Flash: "Betrayal. It really is disgusting."
Turn Daigu into Soup: "Here's a question though—do you think Naruto from the memory copy would've been better off defecting from the village?"
Lighthouse Tycoon: "How is that even remotely comparable? One is Blackbeard betraying Whitebeard—the other is the village betraying the Fourth Hokage!"
Northern God's Glory: "Woof woof woof—excited.jpg"
Some of them were already well past their usual bedtime in their respective worlds—but none of them were sleeping. They'd all stayed up for this.
Aside from Whitebeard, not one of them thought there was even the smallest chance Blackbeard would spare Thatch and leave the Dark-Dark Fruit alone.
If he did, he wouldn't be Blackbeard anymore.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Captain Thatch! You still up?"
Blackbeard's voice came from outside Thatch's door. After a moment, Thatch opened it—flushed from the evening's drinks, looking at Blackbeard with mild puzzlement.
"What's up, Blackbeard?"
"Hahaha, I didn't get enough to drink back there—came to see if Captain Thatch wanted to have a couple more with me."
Blackbeard's face broke into a simple, good-natured grin. And laughing along, Thatch let him in.
What Blackbeard didn't notice in that moment was the complicated look that had crossed Thatch's face as he stepped through the door.
After Thatch had found a Devil Fruit, Old Dad had called him to his room and told him about the Dark-Dark Fruit—and about Blackbeard.
When he first heard that Blackbeard would kill him for it, he hadn't been able to believe it.
Because in his eyes, Blackbeard might not have been among the most powerful in Whitebeard's crew—but he was reliable, warm-hearted, one of the most dependable crewmates aboard.