"Father is dead," the First Prince, Sabure, said flatly.
The Second Prince, Belinda, kept silent, as did the youngest, Lemo.
None of them felt grief in the way a commoner might. They respected King Brady, perhaps even feared him, but affection was never part of their bond.
Still, a heavy sense of melancholy hung in the air.
"What do we do now?" Belinda asked at last, turning to Sabure.
Sabure had always been the sharpest of the three. If anyone could keep them steady now, it was him.
"Don't panic," Sabure said. "Kaido likely killed Father for his abilities. Without him, we just need time to recover and stabilize the kingdom. As for the beasts running wild… without Father's power, we'll need to abandon the outer towns. We don't have the strength to hold them."
"Then why not pledge allegiance to Kaido?" Lemo suddenly suggested. His voice trembled with eagerness rather than fear. "He's strong enough to crush anyone. With him, we could control the beasts and guarantee the kingdom's safety."
Sabure and Belinda both snapped their eyes toward him, their faces stone. Submit to a pirate? Impossible. They had lived as rulers all their lives.
To kneel now was worse than death.
Lemo felt their rejection without a word. He swallowed his idea and fell silent.
In the shadows behind them, a man leaned lazily against the wall, bloodied saber in hand. Teach's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Found them."
The blade in his grip dripped red.
He had already discarded one sword after cutting down too many men; the steel had dulled from overuse. This new saber was fresh, still sharp. His Observation Haki spread outward, tracking the chaos.
As planned, Brady had fallen, killed by Kaido. What Teach hadn't accounted for was Garp and Roger appearing on the island, tearing the battlefield apart in a three-way clash.
Even now, Garp was holding his ground, battered but unbroken, while the Roger Pirates pressed from every side.
None of that mattered right now. The three princes stood before him, the last living seeds of a rotten kingdom. If they survived, corruption would sprout anew. They had to die.
Lemo's head snapped around. He sniffed the air, his instincts flaring. "Blood…" His eyes narrowed. "Who's there?!"
But before he could react further, a figure materialized at his side.
Shhh!
Teach's saber pierced cleanly through Sabure's chest, then slid into Belinda's. Both princes froze, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Sabure died instantly, never more than an ordinary man. Belinda had trained, but compared to Teach, he was a child trying to block the sea. Both collapsed without a sound.
"Damn you!" Lemo's roar shook the air. His eyes flooded with tears as he watched his brothers fall. Despite the distance between them, they had lived side by side all their lives. Rivalry, jealousy, politics, none of that mattered now.
They were gone, stolen from him in a single breath.
Rage swallowed him whole. His body warped, bones cracking, flesh stretching as he transformed into a colossal Tarbosaurus. Muscles bulged, scales hardened, and his massive jaws snapped with terrifying force.
"You'll pay with your life!"
He lunged, maw gaping.
Teach leapt, twisting midair. His fist, black with Armament Haki, crashed down on the dinosaur's skull. The blow echoed like thunder.
Lemo's world spun. His massive body toppled, smashing into the ground. His consciousness slipped into darkness.
Two princes dead. The third, unconscious, perhaps dying. In seconds, the line of succession had been erased.
The guards finally reacted but too late.
Some trembled where they stood, weapons clattering from their hands. Others shouted, voices trembling, "He killed the princes! Don't let him escape!"
They charged.
Teach's face didn't change. His blade moved in silence, cutting them down as if mowing grass. Blood sprayed, bodies fell, screams filled the corridors and still, Teach's eyes remained cold.
Panic spread like fire. "Run! Call reinforcements!"
But there was no running. Teach didn't spare the loyalists, nor the cowards. All of them had served the royal family. All of them had known. And so, all of them died.
By the time his blade fell silent, the base was drowned in corpses.
Teach spared only one; the unconscious Lemo. Despite the full-force strike, the Ancient Zoan's vitality would likely keep him alive. Perhaps he would crawl away. Perhaps not. Either way, Teach didn't care.
Elsewhere, Mobius was carving through other hidden bases. His strength was enough for the task, and Teach trusted him.
They destroyed one base after another, wiping out every handler, every guard, every noble tied to the abomination of human-pet cultivation. Hundreds of children remained behind, none older than ten, left to live or die as fate allowed.
At the final base, Mobius was not alone. A boy followed at his side, slender, pale, his eyes unnaturally cold, a snake coiled lazily around his arm.
Teach raised an eyebrow.
"He insisted on following," Mobius said, sounding almost sheepish. "I found him in the Second Prince's base. Trained with snakes. Trained to kill. He's no pet, he's an assassin. But… he's just a child."
"Take him if you want," Teach replied, already turning his gaze toward the base.
Mobius nodded. "He didn't even have a name. So I gave him one. Voss."
The boy's expression didn't change, but Teach noticed the faintest glimmer in his eyes when Mobius spoke the name.
"Fine. Let's finish this."
They entered the base together. Teach's Observation Haki spread, mapping every life inside. Guards. Trainers. Nothing more. All would die.
But then, something unexpected.
In one corner, a young man in a white coat watched over a child among foxes. The boy darted and laughed, surrounded by white fur and bright eyes. Innocent. Oblivious.
When Teach and Mobius stepped inside, the guards were already dead. Blood pooled on the ground.
The doctor froze, his legs shaking.
Then, as Teach's eyes slid toward the child, his fear broke into desperation. He sprinted forward, wrapped his arms around the boy, and shielded him with his body.
"Please!" he cried, tears running down his face. "Spare him! He's just a child! If you must kill, kill me instead!"
Teach's footsteps echoed slowly as he approached, saber in hand. The doctor felt the cold tip press into his back. His whole body trembled.
But the killing strike never came. The blade pulled away.
Teach studied him quietly, sensing the raw, selfless love in his trembling embrace.
"Speak," Teach said at last. "Who are you? What's your connection to this boy?"
The doctor looked down at the child, stroking his hair gently. His voice cracked but held steady.
"My name is Clarence. I'm a doctor… and this child is my son. Cray."
Teach's brow rose.
Clarence's teeth clenched as memories spilled from him. "Nine years ago, he disappeared. Just two years old. I searched everywhere, begged the guards, but they told me he'd been eaten by beasts. That's always the story. Every year, children vanish, and the nobles say the same thing, eaten by beasts. People accept it. Forget it. But I knew…"
His voice broke, but his grip on the boy tightened. "I knew it was a lie. And I was right."