As they approached the inn, Turner suddenly stiffened. His instincts screamed danger.
"Get back! It's dangerous!" he barked.
But his warning came too late.
A sharp whoosh split the night, followed by a thunderous boom.
The ground in front of them erupted, spraying dirt and stone as something slammed into the street with crushing force.
Even under the glow of the streetlamps, the crater was clear, a small boulder had been hurled from afar, its impact violent enough to cripple or kill if it had struck a man directly.
Turner stepped forward, scanning the smoking pit. He picked up the still-warm rock and immediately noticed the scrap of paper bound around it. The note was wrapped in a thin sheath of Haki, protecting it from shattering on impact. Whoever had done this had not only monstrous strength but also precise Haki control.
Turner already knew the answer.
Unfolding the paper, he read a few words, then tucked it away and turned back toward the palace.
"Let's go."
"General, what about the mission?" one of the guards asked, confused.
"It's complete," Turner replied flatly, walking away.
The guards looked at each other, baffled, but followed his orders without protest.
Inside his pocket, Turner felt the note burn like a brand in his palm. Only two words were written on it:
'Tomorrow morning.'
Exactly as Norman predicted, Teach had been listening to them the entire time.
The truth hit Turner hard.
Before, it had been speculation. Now there was no doubt. Not only had Teach heard their conversation, but he had also chosen to respond in his own way, dismissing Turner without a fight.
It was a greeting, an assertion of control.
Back in the inn, Mobius couldn't help but ask: "Boss Teach, what was that about?"
Teach smirked. "Tomorrow morning, I've got a duel with General Eric of the Chaos Kingdom, though he's not a general anymore. Now he's a pirate captain. This'll be a real top-tier clash. Watch closely."
His tone carried anticipation. Teach relished these moments.
The others could barely contain their excitement, but Teach didn't slack. While Pito curled up and fell asleep almost instantly, and Mobius and Voss drifted off after their own training, Teach remained awake.
The room's lamp flickered as sweat dripped steadily from his chin onto the floor, proof of his relentless late-night drills.
At dawn, Mobius stirred awake. Teach was already dressed, freshly washed, his black hair falling over his shoulders. He wore a long dark coat over a blue-purple plaid shirt with the top buttons undone, and a black tricorn hat rimmed with gold.
For the first time, his wrists were bare.
The three-ton steel wrist-guards he had trained with daily were gone.
He had chosen to face this battle in his truest form.
When Pito and the others rose, they ate heartily at a tavern, then followed Teach toward the palace.
Turner was waiting at the gate. He'd been standing there for hours.
"Come with me," Turner said with a small smile.
Teach nodded, striding in with his crew behind him. The guards on duty whispered among themselves, stunned that this stranger was being escorted by the kingdom's general himself.
They entered the same palace training ground where Eric and Norman had fought the day before. Inside, only eleven others waited: King Norman and the ten generals. At the center stood Eric.
The moment Teach arrived, every eye locked onto him.
"You three, stay to the side and watch," Teach told Mobius, Voss, and Pito.
Then he stepped forward.
At first, he seemed almost ordinary. But then, his aura began to swell. Each breath he took thickened the air, his killing intent pressing down like a storm cloud.
This was not the aura of a rookie. It was the aura of a predator who had survived Pet Island, a demon cloaked in blood.
"What's happening? The fight hasn't even started and it already feels suffocating," one young general whispered, trembling.
"I feel like… I don't even want to fight," muttered Root, the weakest among them.
Eric, however, refused to be cowed. Silver-white light flared around him as his own presence erupted to meet Teach's. The training ground split in two, one half dark red, the other shining white.
The sky itself seemed to shift colors above the palace.
Then the lightning came.
Teach's Conqueror's Haki burst outward, crimson-black sparks splitting the air. The mental weight struck everyone present like a hammer, shaking their wills. The weaker generals staggered, nearly collapsing to their knees.
"Conqueror's Haki," Norman murmured, face grim. "The qualification of a king."
He hadn't expected Teach to wield it at such a terrifying level, blending aura, spirit, and killing intent into one oppressive tide.
Eric fought against it, his teeth grinding. He could feel ninety percent of his power locked down under the crushing force. Rage boiled inside him. He would not kneel. He would not lose before even raising his weapon.
His fury ignited something within him.
A hole ripped through the net of Teach's spirit, and suddenly, Eric's own Conqueror's Haki exploded outward.
Shock rippled through the generals.
Eric had awakened it.
For three full minutes, the two forces clashed, sending shockwaves across the training ground. The ground cracked. The air itself screamed.
Finally, Teach eased off, and Eric followed suit.
"Marshall D. Teach," Teach introduced himself with a grin. "Currently with the Whitebeard Pirates."
The generals froze. Whitebeard, the strongest pirate in the world.
Eric steadied himself, then spoke in return. "Kafuslin Eric, captain of the Eric Pirates."
"Then let's begin," Teach said. His body flickered, vanishing.
In an instant, he reappeared above Eric, Dragon Abyss raised high, crashing down with a force that split the air.
Eric conjured a sulfuric acid shield infused with Haki, catching the blade. The impact cratered the ground beneath his feet, spiderweb cracks spreading wide.
"Too fast!" someone gasped.
Teach didn't relent.
Moonwalk carried him to Eric's side, blade flashing again and again. His Observation Haki picked out every weak spot, and his sword fell hundreds of times in moments, each strike a blur of lightning, fire, and steel.
Eric struggled under the relentless assault, defending furiously with his acid constructs.
"It looks even," Khufu said nervously.
"No," Norman corrected. "Eric's burning stamina too quickly. In the long run, Teach has the advantage."
Eric knew it too. He expanded his power, transforming into a sulfuric giant, the ground melting into his domain. Acid gas filled the air, choking and poisonous. His six-armed acid form swung with monstrous force, barbed armor covering his body.
Teach grinned, claws wreathed in black flame and lightning. "Demon Claws!"
The two titans clashed again and again, shockwaves rattling the palace.
They fought all day and into the night. Teach's claws slashed. Eric's fists crashed. Neither yielded.
Mobius and Voss forced themselves to stay awake, memorizing every exchange, while Pito eventually curled up, ears twitching as she blocked out the noise to nap.
By morning, both fighters were battered and exhausted. Teach bore scorch marks and tears in his clothing; Eric's right arm was gouged by a deep claw strike.
Neither could continue.
"Zehahaha! That was fun!" Teach laughed, turning away. "Next time, we'll finish it!"
He strode off with his crew, leaving the stunned generals behind.
One of them, Root, clenched his jaw. "He's weakened! Should we strike now?"
Before anyone could answer, two sharp bangs rang out. Root screamed as bullets shattered both his wrists.
Everyone froze.
Even retreating, Teach had heard and punished him.
"Do you understand now?" Norman said gravely. "Even exhausted, he could kill us all in an instant. Eric's strength is slightly above his, but in a real death match, Eric's chances of victory wouldn't even be thirty percent. Against all of us together… we still couldn't stop him."
Teach left to eat with his crew, laughing, scars already healing under his control of Life Return.
Eric, meanwhile, lay bandaged in the palace, his body aching, his spirit burning.
He had lost but he was smiling.
For the first time in years, he had been truly tested.
And he was hungry for more.