On a deserted island
The surviving members of the Blackbeard Pirates gathered together.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Blackbeard scanned his subordinates.
After a moment of thought—
He suddenly spread his arms and burst into loud laughter.
"Zehahahahaha!! Boys! Look at us!"
"We went through such a brutal battle—and we're still alive!"
"What does that mean?!"
He stared at their strange expressions—
Then shamelessly continued:
"It means my decision earlier was absolutely correct!"
"We weeded out the useless trash!"
"The ones who survived are the true elites!"
"I did all this for your own good—for the future of the Blackbeard Pirates!"
Hearing such utterly shameless nonsense—
Everyone present, including Burgess, couldn't help their lips twitching.
No wonder he was the captain…
And they were just subordinates.
Just based on sheer thickness of skin—
They couldn't compare.
The ability to lie through your teeth—
And still sound completely justified—
Was a talent in itself.
Not everyone had Blackbeard's level of shamelessness.
This guy really might accomplish something big.
And strangely enough—
After his twisted logic—
Their anger and vigilance actually eased.
Thinking about it carefully…
It kind of made sense.
Out on the sea—
Who you followed didn't really matter.
Blackbeard might be unreliable—
But he was capable.
And more importantly—
He could get powerful Devil Fruits.
Even better—
His method was simple: hunt ability users directly.
And if things ever went south?
They could always run.
No gratitude.
Just survival.
With that pragmatic mindset—
The tense atmosphere within the crew gradually softened.
At least on the surface—
They returned to a façade of brotherly harmony.
As for what lay beneath?
Everyone knew better.
This incident also made Blackbeard realize one thing clearly:
Strength.
That was the root of everything.
His current power wasn't enough to support his ambitions.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was his obsession.
He would never give it up.
But for now—
He had to avoid Leno.
"The priority now… is to find a powerful Zoan Devil Fruit."
Blackbeard thought to himself.
"Not only to strengthen myself—but also to suppress these increasingly restless fools."
This incident had severely damaged his authority as captain.
Having made his decision—
He began searching his mental database for targets.
After all—
Even before obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit—
He had memorized information on countless Devil Fruit users across the seas.
Now?
Even more so.
Soon—
A target surfaced in his mind.
"Wano Country… there seems to be a good one there…"
A trace of caution flashed in his eyes.
Then—
Was swallowed by greed.
"Well… it's not like I'm going to confront Kaido head-on…"
Marine Headquarters, New Marineford
Tsuru hung up the Den Den Mushi after speaking with Sengoku.
Worry filled her face.
Her earlier words had only been meant to comfort him.
It didn't mean she wasn't worried about Kujaku.
Walking to the bedside—
She looked at Garp.
His condition had improved slightly.
But his complexion still looked like someone on the verge of death.
And in truth—
If his body wasn't reconstructed soon, he really would die.
The fragmentation energy Leno left inside him was constantly tormenting him.
"Garp… you heard everything, didn't you?"
Tsuru sighed.
"That 'good disciple' of yours… Leno… has truly become something else."
"Even Sengoku and Sakazuki suffered heavy losses against him."
"And both Hibari and Kujaku are in his hands."
Garp kept his eyes closed, brows tightly furrowed.
He had heard every word from the earlier call.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Snorting coldly, he said:
"Hmph! So what?!"
"Koby!"
"My other disciple—Koby!"
"His potential and character will definitely surpass that brat Leno in the future!"
Compared to Garp, who was on the brink of death—
Koby, who had also been injured at Marineford—
Had long since recovered.
And was now training like a madman—
At nearly 200 times the usual intensity.
His strength was improving rapidly.
That at least gave Garp some comfort.
Tsuru shook her head helplessly.
"You said it yourself—that's the future."
"What about now?"
"Right now, Leno has already risen to power. He's a newly crowned Yonko—even we find him troublesome!"
Garp was momentarily speechless.
But then—
He seemed to remember something.
Looking at Tsuru, his tone became confident again.
"Isn't there still me, Little Tsuru?"
"Don't forget—Borsalino has already taken my lineage factor to Vegapunk!"
"As long as my clone is successfully created and the transplant succeeds…"
"I'll recover my strength!"
"And then—I'll personally capture that brat Leno!"
Hearing this—
Tsuru instinctively felt a flicker of hope.
But in the next moment—
She remembered something.
She had revealed Vegapunk's laboratory location to Leno.
To save Kujaku.
A powerful sense of dread gripped her heart.
What if…
What if Leno actually went there?
And disrupted everything?
Or worse—stole something?
The thought made her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.
Her face turned slightly pale.
But she absolutely could not say anything.
If she did—
The consequences would be unimaginable.
Garp might be fine.
But Kujaku?
She would definitely die.
Tsuru had no doubt—
Leno would not hesitate.
Suppressing her panic—
Tsuru forced a stiff smile.
"Y-yes… of course…"
"With Vegapunk's technology… there won't be any problems…"
Garp might be straightforward—
But he wasn't stupid.
He noticed something off in her tone and expression.
Still—
He assumed it was because she was worried about Kujaku.
Seeing her forced smile—
Garp felt a softness in his heart.
A long-forgotten, complicated emotion surfaced.
Without thinking—
He reached out and gently held her slightly cold hand resting by the bed.
His voice softened unconsciously.
"Little Tsuru…"
Tsuru was startled.
She quickly pulled her hand back, a hint of fluster flashing across her face.
"I—I still have documents to handle!"
"You should rest properly!"
She hurriedly left the room.
Sengoku: ???
If Leno saw this scene—
He'd find it completely normal.
That era—
Was one of repression.
Wasn't Shakky considered the ultimate prize back then?
A messy love triangle like this wasn't strange at all.
After all—
The relationships between Rayleigh, Roger, and Shakky were already… complicated.
And some authors just loved these kinds of symmetrical setups.
Perfectly "reasonable," wasn't it?
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