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Blackbeard stared straight at Redfield, not flinching in the slightest, and sneered, "Zehahahahaha! You're just an old geezer from a bygone era. The New World has no place for relics like you."
Without wasting another second, he thrust his palm toward Redfield. As the Dark-Dark Fruit user, he held absolute control over other Devil Fruit users. He grinned and snarled, "Dark Water…"
Even with his foresight, Redfield's body was immediately yanked forward, dragged in by the pull of Dark Water—a perfect counter to his Devil Fruit.
But a crimson glint of observation haki flashed through Redfield's eyes. He swung his umbrella-sword, releasing a slash of red sword pressure.
Before Blackbeard could guard, Shiryu, standing at his side, stepped in. His blade flashed as he cut through the incoming sword energy, shattering it.
Because of Shiryu's interception, Blackbeard's Dark Water assault was broken. A moment later, the ground beneath Blackbeard darkened as shadows, wreathed in haki and black mist, lunged toward Redfield. He growled, "Shadow Spear…"
Redfield naturally wasn't going to fall for such a straightforward attack. However, Blackbeard's powers were nothing if not bizarre.
"Shadow Clone," Blackbeard snarled.
In an instant, he and his shadow switched places, closing the distance between them. Blackbeard reached out again, lips curling into a sneer. "Dark Water…"
"Damn it…" Redfield's pupils shrank. He could see Blackbeard's attack trajectory, but the combination of two Devil Fruit abilities made his movements unpredictable. Before he could fully react, his body was dragged toward Blackbeard once more.
A violent surge of Haoshoku erupted from Redfield's body, and his umbrella-sword was soon wrapped in that overwhelming Conqueror's Haki. Since Blackbeard refused to let up, Redfield abandoned evasive maneuvers altogether. He chose to meet him head-on and see who would back down first.
Feeling the terrifying Haki pouring off Redfield, Blackbeard instantly understood: even if he used the Dark-Dark Fruit to defend, he probably couldn't withstand that sword strike.
A roaring wave of sword pressure tore through the air. Blackbeard hurriedly used Shadow Clone again to swap positions and evade, but Redfield's Observation Haki was too sharp—his slash had already been aimed at the point where Blackbeard's shadow would transfer.
Watching the red sword pressure bearing down on him, Blackbeard's eyes widened. He crossed his arms in front of him, coating them with full Armament Haki in a desperate guard.
Boom!
The devastating sword pressure smashed into the underground city, wreaking havoc and causing the ceiling to start collapsing at once.
After unleashing that strike, Redfield didn't spare Blackbeard another glance. Having already foreseen what would happen next, he turned and sprinted toward the exit. This place was about to cave in, and he had no intention of letting dust ruin his clothes.
"Ugh, it hurts, it hurts so much!" Blackbeard howled. Blood poured from the gash across his abdomen. Even with both Armament Haki and the Dark-Dark Fruit reinforcing his defense, his opponent's Haki had utterly overwhelmed him. His combined defense simply couldn't withstand such a fierce, domineering slash.
That overwhelming sword energy made Blackbeard think of one man: Red-Haired Shanks.
Redfield's unleashed sword aura was no weaker than that of Shanks.
But Blackbeard's will was monstrously tenacious. Darkness poured out of his body, surging over his wounds and swallowing them up. The gash in his abdomen closed in an instant, flesh twisting back to normal. Yet after absorbing so much pain at once, Blackbeard collapsed onto his back, chest heaving as he sucked in ragged breaths.
Watching from the side, Shiryu was stunned. So the Dark-Dark Fruit could even heal injuries? That was seriously abnormal.
Because none of Blackbeard's previous opponents had been particularly strong, Shiryu had never seen him seriously hurt before. He hadn't known that Blackbeard's darkness could devour damage itself.
Shiryu looked down at Blackbeard, who was still panting on the ground, and shouted, "Teach, get up already! This whole place looks like it's about to cave in!"
"That bastard Red… don't think you can slip out of my hands." With that, Blackbeard forced himself to his feet and rushed off in pursuit of Redfield.
—
Meanwhile, in the New World—Zou.
Marco was the first to soar up onto Zou's back, landing lightly, while the others followed behind, climbing the giant ladder one after another.
Seeing Marco arrive, Inuarashi came forward to greet him. "It has been a long time."
Nekomamushi, putting aside his feud with Inuarashi for the moment, actually came out in broad daylight to welcome him. Laughing, he called out, "Meow meow meow! I heard you've become one of the new Four Emperors. Congratulations, Marco!"
"Yeah, long time no see, Nekomamushi, Inuarashi." Marco looked the two rulers over and joked, "I heard you two didn't get along, but it looks like you're pretty close now."
Nekomamushi snapped back immediately, "Who's 'close' with this dead mutt?!"
"Same goes for me! And besides, it's daytime right now. During the day, I am the king of Zou!" Inuarashi retorted angrily.
"Tch, spare me!" Nekomamushi grumbled. "If Marco hadn't come, you think I'd bother showing my face in the daytime?!"
"Please, Duke Inuarashi, Marco-sama is watching," Wanda cut in, trying to calm them down.
Pekoms added, "Boss, we've got important guests here right now!"
Nekomamushi clicked his tongue, then muttered, "Meow meow meow… yeah, that's true. Fine, just for today, I'll get along with you! Old mutt."
"Hmph. Very well," Inuarashi agreed stiffly.
After the rest of the Phoenix Pirates finished making their way up onto Zou, a few words of greeting were exchanged. Before long, Marco was ready to move on to more serious matters.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi led him to the King's Chamber, while the other members of the Phoenix Pirates were warmly received elsewhere by the Minks, whose hospitality knew no bounds.
Once the three of them were seated, Nekomamushi asked with a grin, "So then, Marco, after all these years, what brings you looking for us all of a sudden?"
Inuarashi followed up, "Yes, Marco. I heard that after Whitebeard passed away, you took over the Whitebeard Pirates. How are things now? Is there anything we can do to help?"
Marco listened to Inuarashi's courteous greeting and smiled. "Everything's going well. I'm one of the Four Emperors now. Zou might be isolated, but you still get newspapers, right?"
Inuarashi nodded. "We do. But we can't learn everything from them—only the biggest events make it into the papers."
Marco gave a small nod, then decided not to waste time. "I'll be blunt. Nekomamushi, Inuarashi—I came here because I want you and the entire Mink Tribe to join the Phoenix Pirates."
The two rulers of Zou fell silent. They clearly hadn't expected that to be Marco's goal. They exchanged a look; even as lifelong rivals, they shared an unspoken understanding.
Inuarashi's expression hardened. "We may have stayed on Zou all this time, but we still know a bit about the outside world. Like I said, we hear the major news. Answer me this, Marco—why did you ally with Kaido?"
Nekomamushi's tail bristled as he added irritably, "Yeah, Marco, why team up with Kaido? That bastard's the one who killed Oden-sama."
Marco let out a helpless breath. "Why are there so many 'whys'? I'm a pirate too. Oden was the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, sure—but that was over twenty years ago. He'd already left our crew long before then. People have to look ahead. The world doesn't revolve around Oden. We can't spend the rest of our lives chasing death just because he died, can we?"
The room sank into a heavy silence. Inuarashi finally spoke again. "Kaido is our enemy. He murdered Oden-sama. As Oden-sama's retainers and as former apprentice crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates, we have every reason to turn down your invitation outright. However… if you want us to join the Phoenix Pirates, you must first dissolve your alliance with Kaido."
Marco's brows drew together at that condition. Inuarashi continued, his tone solemn. "There are less than two years left before Lady Toki's prophecy comes to pass."
He went on, "You probably don't know this. Eighteen years ago, Lady Toki made a prophecy: 'Twenty years from now, the one who will defeat Kaido will appear.' We believe that person is Young Master Momonosuke."
"Momonosuke? Him?" Marco scoffed.
Inuarashi didn't waver in the slightest. "We have faith in Lady Toki. Eighteen years ago, she used the power of the Toki Toki no Mi to send Young Master Momonosuke twenty years into the future. Now there's less than two years left before those twenty years are up. When Young Master Momonosuke returns, he will lead us to defeat Kaido and open Wano Country's borders."
Marco's reaction was immediate and dismissive. Momonosuke, that brat. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi had no idea what kind of person he really was and still placed unrealistic hopes on him, Momonosuke was just a eight-year-old kid.
He spoke coldly, "Stop clinging to such naive fantasies, Inu, Neko. Oden is dead. You should be looking ahead, not chasing the past."
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi both frowned. Marco went on, "The one who killed Kozuki Oden was Orochi—and Orochi is already dead. On top of that, not long ago, Wano Country was destroyed by an Ancient Weapon controlled by the World Government. The Nation-Protecting Wall was mostly wiped out. Wano Country no longer exists."
"What?" The two of them were stunned.
"Wano Country was destroyed?"
Marco nodded.
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