Chapter 88: The End of a Dream and a Tyrant's Return
The Dark-Dark Fruit had indeed absorbed the majority of the impact from Ian's Human Fist, preventing what should have been a fatal injury. But when Ian applied [Five Senses Enhancement], the pain—already multiplied by the fruit's inherent drawback—was amplified to its absolute limit.
It was an agony beyond description, a torment that transcended mere physical sensation.
Science dictates that severe pain can cause skyrocketing blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms. Pain that exceeds the body's ultimate tolerance can induce fatal cardiogenic shock.
Teach had absorbed the full force of an attack that had killed Jack the Drought. The pain he endured in that process was unimaginable. And now, with Ian's deliberate amplification...
The very fruit Teach had murdered for, the power he believed would make him king, had become the instrument of his torture.
Cough...! Gah...!
The intensified pain was more than Teach could bear. Blood erupted from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth simultaneously. Internally, his heart hemorrhaged, its tissues tearing under the strain.
It lasted only a few seconds.
The dark matter shrouding the battlefield rapidly receded and dissipated, signaling the fading of the Dark-Dark Fruit's power.
The man who would have become an Emperor of the Sea, who would have plunged the world into chaos, met his end on Sabaody Archipelago in the most bizarre of ways: he died from the excruciating side effect of his own stolen power, amplified beyond mortal endurance.
Sigh... Ian let out a breath of relief. If not for that "hundredfold pain" side effect, killing an opponent who could absorb all damage would have been exceedingly difficult. With Ian's combat style relying on direct physical strikes, Blackbeard's unique physiology was a perfect counter.
He waited for about a minute.
Then, his heart jolted.
No system notification.
Teach's breathing and heartbeat had ceased. Why was there no prompt?
The system had never failed to report before. Moreover, his [Current Accumulated Enhancement Points] still read [3765 points].
Could the Dark-Dark Fruit have some hidden ability I'm unaware of? Ian wondered, a sliver of doubt entering his mind. Did he fake his death signs, deceiving even my perception?
No, that was unlikely. His Super Vision and Hearing hadn't missed a single detail. Teach's heart had truly stopped.
Unless...
He has more than one heart.
Ian walked forward calmly, maintaining the demeanor of an officer conducting a post-battle inspection. The future emperor who would wield two Devil Fruits... who hunted other ability users to steal their powers... It seemed two fruits might not even be his limit.
The joy of near-victory had almost made him overlook Teach's greatest secret. Marco the Phoenix had once said Teach's "body was atypical." That was why he could host both the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit without his body disintegrating.
If he had missed this...
Thump... thump-thump...
Thump... thump-thump...
As Ian's foot made contact with Teach's body, he finally detected it—two faint, distinct heartbeats, lurking deep within. They were so weak, quieter than the background noise of a bustling city. Without the physical contact changing the medium of sound transmission, even his enhanced senses might have missed them.
This time, he had to thank the system's silent alert.
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
Guh...!
Two merciless punches slammed down. Teach, playing dead on the ground, could never have anticipated this. Ian was attacking a "corpse." What kind of person does that?
This time, the target wasn't the heart. It was the head.
No matter how many hearts you have, you only have one head.
Teach, in his feigned death, had never considered the plan failing. But this time, no dark matter surrounded his skull to absorb the blow. The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit seemed to have drained from him, likely because the heart that hosted its power had been ruptured by the earlier, pain-induced trauma. As that heart failed, the fruit's ability vanished.
Stripped of his ultimate defense and facing Ian's ruthless coup de grâce, Teach could only meet his true end.
He never could have known his opponent was a man from another world, one who knew him far too well.
This time, the system chime finally rang.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for the successful defeat of the "Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates," Marshall D. Teach!]
[Enhancement Points Obtained: 5500 points!]
[Current Accumulated Enhancement Points: 9265 points!]
[Friendly Reminder: You can perform one enhancement for every 1000 points...]
5500 points!
Far more than the reward for defeating Jack. The great schemer who would have shaken the seas, after decades of patience and just as his plan began, had been shot down by Ian in this most unexpected of places.
The fate of all the sea's powers had been irrevocably rewritten on this seemingly ordinary day.
To ensure the area was secure, Ian leaped to the top of a giant Chabaody Tree. He activated his Super Vision and Hearing to their limits, scanning the surrounding groves. The battle was over, but were there other members of Blackbeard's crew lurking? Had Portgas D. Ace, who was hunting Teach, arrived on the island? These were still unknowns. It was always better to be cautious.
He saw no sign of other pirates, but his enhanced senses did pick up on a commotion elsewhere.
The Celestial Dragons.
Saint Charlos.
There, in Grove 15, the World Noble he had sent away had returned. Saint Charlos was back, riding his slave, his face a mask of petulant fury.
"Where are they?!" the bloated noble shrieked, his voice carrying through the trees. "Where is that girl?! Find her! She is to be my wife!"