Chapter 10: The Quest Roster
The contents of the Group Quest genuinely caught Ryū off guard. Even after reading it twice, the look of surprise hadn't left his face.
He took an ultra-clear screenshot of the quest details and posted it to the group.
RawrSoFierce:
"[Image] Found a new feature. I'll update the group announcement in a bit."
RawrSoFierce:
"Looks like we've got some work ahead of us. Especially the heavy hitters."
The Little Wandering Planet:
"A new feature? Hmm… a Group Quest?! What is this??"
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"Dimensional Transfer is free during a Group Quest? And this quest objective… that's quite the surprise."
Kaguya-sama:
"A reincarnated Blackbeard Teach? Is that even possible?"
Edward Newgate:
"…"
[Group Quest #1: Travel to the One Piece world and eliminate the illegally reincarnated Marshall D. Teach!
Time Limit: 10 days
Party Size: 2 members
Reward: Prizes worth 3,000 Points total — members may submit custom reward requests.]
The quest's contents were genuinely shocking. A reincarnated Blackbeard — the very concept was absurd.
But it was a Group Quest issued by the Dimensional Chat Group itself. There was no room for doubt.
What left Ryū speechless was that even after getting a second chance at life, Blackbeard was apparently following the same damn playbook. Kill Thatch, steal the fruit, trigger a war.
Then again, his "previous life" strategy had worked out pretty well for him. Why fix what wasn't broken?
Or maybe Teach had only just recently regained his memories? That would explain why a reincarnated person had spent decades hiding aboard the Moby Dick — he simply hadn't remembered his past life until now.
It was a possibility. Not an unreasonable one.
Kaguya-sama:
"A reincarnated Blackbeard means he also knows how the future is supposed to play out, right? Doesn't that make him an incredibly dangerous opponent?"
RawrSoFierce:
"Hmm, not exactly. The One Piece world has a clear power ceiling, and Whitebeard sits at the very top."
RawrSoFierce:
"Even if Teach is reincarnated, killing him isn't that hard. In a straight one-on-one fight, Whitebeard alone is more than enough. And our chat group happens to have someone even stronger than Whitebeard."
RawrSoFierce:
"After all, a certain yōkai's abilities are a bit… broken."
Kaguya-sama:
"A certain yōkai? You mean Yukari-nee-sama?!"
Kaguya Shinomiya — the group's sole ordinary human — shivered.
She was starting to realize that everyone in this chat group was ridiculously overpowered.
There was the mysterious Admin of the Dimensional Chat Group. She didn't know his real name or what he looked like, but anyone who could serve as Admin of a cross-dimensional network had to be terrifyingly powerful.
There was Whitebeard — the man literally called the Strongest Man in the World — captain of the Whitebeard Pirates.
There was a sentient planet. If it ever crashed into another celestial body, the impact would obliterate it. A walking — well, orbiting — extinction-level event.
Too bad the Little Wandering Planet couldn't actually move on its own through space. Otherwise, it would have been genuinely terrifying.
And then there was Yukari Yakumo, the Gap Yōkai. Alive for who-knows-how-many millennia. And according to the Admin, even stronger than Whitebeard.
Five "people" in the Dimensional Chat Group.
And out of those five, Kaguya Shinomiya was the only one who was just… a normal person.
She really was the group's token weakling, wasn't she?
The Little Wandering Planet:
"Based on what the Admin's saying, even though Teach is a reincarnator, taking him out shouldn't be that difficult."
RawrSoFierce:
"Pretty much. The only tricky part is actually finding Blackbeard in that world."
RawrSoFierce:
"Anyway — let me pick the quest party. Whitebeard is already in the One Piece world, so he doesn't count toward the two-member party limit. But he'll still receive quest rewards for participating."
RawrSoFierce:
"So from the remaining members, I need to pick two. Any volunteers?"
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"Well then… this one shall volunteer~"
Kaguya-sama:
"I'll sit this one out. I'd only slow everyone down."
The Little Wandering Planet:
"If I transferred over at my current size, I'd probably destroy the entire One Piece world on arrival. So I think I'll pass too."
The Little Wandering Planet had a point. Its sheer mass was the problem. If it actually transferred into the One Piece world and dropped onto the surface — one planetary "belly flop" would be an extinction-level cataclysm.
Whitebeard might not even get the chance to die at Marineford.
He'd be crushed by his own ally first.
RawrSoFierce:
"@Edward Newgate — what do you think?"
Edward Newgate:
"I have no objections. But that traitor Teach… let me be the one to deal with him personally. He killed one of my sons."
RawrSoFierce:
"No problem. He's your kill."
Ryū rubbed his still-beardless chin. Something felt off. They were one person short.
Only Yukari had volunteered. Kaguya and the Little Wandering Planet had both bowed out — understandably. One was too weak for combat, and the other would literally team-kill everyone on arrival.
That left one open slot.
It wasn't going to be him... was it?
Ryū knew exactly how much he was worth in a fight. He'd eaten the Decompose-Decompose Fruit, sure — he could handle a few ordinary thugs. But the One Piece world operated on an entirely different power scale. He probably couldn't even beat a pirate with a 5-million-Berry bounty.
Let alone Blackbeard. A reincarnated Blackbeard, at that.
Then again, if his role was limited to strategizing from the back lines, that was doable. The one who actually wanted to kill Teach was Whitebeard. Ryū and Yukari would probably just be spectating from the sidelines — two bystanders munching popcorn while the old man handled business.
Yukari's main job would be preventing Blackbeard from escaping.
The actual fighting? That would be Whitebeard alone.
And that was exactly how Whitebeard wanted it.
RawrSoFierce:
"Since Kaguya and the Little Planet are both sitting this out, the quest party will be Yukari Yakumo… and me."
The Eternally Seventeen-Year-Old Maiden:
"Oh? The Admin is coming along too?"
RawrSoFierce:
"Someone has to fill the last slot."
Edward Newgate:
"If the Admin and Yukari-… hmm, Yukari-senpai are both coming, then I'll start making preparations on my end."
Whitebeard had almost said "Miss Yakumo." But then he remembered what the Admin had mentioned — Yukari was a yōkai who'd been alive for at least several thousand years.
Meaning she was a few thousand years his senior.
Calling her "granny" didn't feel appropriate either.
So Whitebeard smoothly pivoted to "senpai." Calling someone older than you a senior — that was just common sense.
On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard surveyed his sons who had gathered around him. He looked at Ace, still weighed down with guilt. Then he drew a deep breath and broke the eerie silence that had blanketed the ship.
"What Teach has done goes against everything the Whitebeard Pirates stand for. He has betrayed this family."
"As of today, Marshall D. Teach is on our kill list. He is no longer a son of mine."
"None of you are to pursue Teach on your own. Ace — you are not to blame yourself any further."
"No one can truly see into the hearts of others."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across his crew.
"Two old friends of mine will be arriving on this ship soon. Together, we will find Teach. And then…"
"I will kill him myself."
If there had been even a shred of mercy left in Whitebeard's heart — some lingering instinct to capture Teach alive, to drag him back and demand an explanation for his betrayal —
That mercy was gone now.
Every last trace of it had been annihilated the moment Ryū told him what the future held.
All that remained was a cold, absolute killing intent.
Marshall D. Teach's sins were beyond forgiveness.