"Captain Thatch… the one in your hands—it looks like… like a Logia-type Devil Fruit!"
Those words hit the crowd like a bomb.
Everyone's expressions changed instantly. With a rush, they all crowded forward.
Heads leaned together as they stared at the illustration in the encyclopedia. Sure enough, the fruit labeled "Logia-type · Dark-Dark Fruit" looked exactly the same as the one Thatch was holding.
In an instant, the looks directed at Thatch grew even more envious.
"Holy shit! He actually pulled a Logia jackpot!"
"Looks like the Whitebeard Pirates are about to gain another top-tier powerhouse…"
"Logia Dark-Dark Fruit… just hearing the name screams dark powers! Thatch, hurry up and eat it—let us see!"
"So? Are you gonna eat it, Thatch?"
Ace was fired up too, squeezing over with curiosity. He just wanted to see how strong his good friend would become after eating a god-tier Devil Fruit.
"This, uh… I want to think it over a bit."
To everyone's surprise, Thatch actually looked conflicted.
Unlike others who craved power, he was a pretty pure pirate-chef at heart. Whether he could still swim mattered more to him than almost anything else.
"No way, Captain Thatch! You already know it's a top-tier fruit and you still need to think about it?"
That borderline Versailles-level flex left a lot of people completely baffled.
If it were an unknown fruit, hesitating would be understandable—but this was a confirmed Logia, sitting at the very top of the Devil Fruit hierarchy!
And Thatch was still hesitating?
With a clack, Thatch shut the box, put the fruit back inside, and said casually, "What's there to worry about? The fruit's right here—it's not gonna sprout legs and run away."
Seeing that Thatch had made up his mind, the other captains didn't press him further.
And then, Whitebeard—who had been quietly drinking and watching from the side—suddenly spoke in a deep voice:
"Our Whitebeard Pirates have ironclad rules. Whoever finds a Devil Fruit has absolute authority over it."
"So, Thatch, think it through carefully. We're family here—no matter what you decide, no one will give you a hard time."
"Don't worry, Pops. There aren't any idiots on this ship who'd forget loyalty for profit," Marco added.
He understood exactly why Pops had emphasized that rule.
The temptation of a Logia fruit was simply too terrifying—terrifying enough to make people lose themselves and give rise to thoughts that should never exist.
Whitebeard and Marco's one-two reminder snapped quite a few wavering hearts back to their senses, recalling the absolute bottom lines of this ship.
And so, after the spoils were tallied, the people gathered on deck gradually dispersed, each returning to their quarters to rest.
However—
In a shadowy corner where no one was paying attention…
A greedy, sinister gaze was fixed tightly on the direction of Thatch's room.
That person was Teach.
In fact, from the very moment Thatch took out that fruit, Teach's expression had completely twisted.
He didn't need any encyclopedia.
Even if it were reduced to ashes, he would still recognize it at a glance—it was the Dark-Dark Fruit!
Because this fruit was his one and only obsession in life.
The sole reason he had schemed his way into the Whitebeard Pirates, lying low like a dog for all these years.
To be honest, he was already close to despair.
He'd even planned that if there was still no news after another year or two, he'd leave the Whitebeard Pirates and find some other way to realize his ambitions.
With the strength he'd been hiding, there was nowhere on the seas he couldn't go.
It would just be countless times harder than his original plan.
But he never, ever imagined—
That at the very last moment, Lady Fate would hand him such an enormous gift!
It could even be called a miracle!
Thirty years of patience and waiting—at this instant, it was all worth it!
And what drove him into near ecstasy was that Thatch, that fool, hadn't eaten the fruit on the spot!
This was fate's hint to him!
This was heaven giving him his chance!
Everything—everything—felt like a script carefully written just to fulfill Blackbeard Teach!
"Zehahaha…"
In the dark corridors of the ship, Teach lowered his head, a suppressed chuckle spilling from his throat.
"This is on you, Thatch… you brought this on yourself…"
And so—
When the night grew deep and the sound of waves drowned out all sin,
Teach clutched a blade and crept like a ghost to the door of Thatch's room.
On the Moby Dick, this great family, no one ever locked their doors when they slept.
Nor would anyone waste effort using Observation Haki to sense their own family members.
This—
Was the deadliest flaw of all.
No one noticed that, in the seemingly peaceful depths of the night aboard the Moby Dick, a shroud of death had already descended over the Fourth Division commander's cabin.
A fatal clash—without a single sound—had just come to an end.
Thatch lay sprawled on the cold floor, a horrifying bloody hole in his chest, warm liquid gushing out.
Thick, dark-red blood spilled like overturned wine, winding through the floorboards. The pungent stench instantly filled the room.
Deathly silence reigned.
"Huff… huff…"
Only Teach's bellows-like breathing echoed in the oppressive air.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his eyes gloomy.
"So it really came to this—there's no turning back now."
He stared hard at the corpse on the floor, cursing inwardly.
Why wouldn't this Thatch just listen?
If he'd simply handed over the fruit, Teach could've taken it and quietly left the Whitebeard Pirates—everyone parting ways peacefully.
But no—he had to force Teach's hand, turning it into an irreconcilable situation.
Killing a crewmate—this was the absolute, untouchable taboo on Pops' ship.
Once exposed, there would be no escape from that annihilating manhunt.
Just imagining the fury of the world's strongest man made Teach's scalp tingle, his temples throb.
According to his original, meticulous plan, even if he got the Dark-Dark Fruit, turning against that monstrous "father" now was far too early.
"But… since it's already done, there's no point regretting it."
Teach snapped his head around, eyes locking onto the eerie purple fruit on the table.
In that instant, the fear in his eyes was completely devoured by greed and fanaticism.
As long as he could obtain this power, it would all be worth it—
Even if he had to face Pops' world-destroying wrath!
The era of Blackbeard Teach—
Would officially begin tonight!
...
The next morning.
The Moby Dick, usually filled with laughter and warmth, now felt as if dark clouds pressed down overhead, the air so heavy it was hard to breathe.
The deck was in chaos.
"Ace! Stop right there!"
"Don't be reckless!"
"Pops already said it—this is a special case! You're not allowed to go after Teach!"
"Get the hell out of my way!"
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