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Inuarashi and Nekomamushi both lowered their heads at Marco's words. Inuarashi spoke first.
"…I'm sorry, Marco. What we did back then was wrong. We apologize to you here and now."
He straightened slightly, his tone becoming firm.
"But we have always been Oden-sama's retainers. Naturally, we must follow Oden-sama. As for why he never returned to the Whitebeard Pirates, he had his reasons. And he chose not to tell you or Whitebeard about Wano because he didn't want you to worry."
Marco listened in silence. Annoyance still flickered in his chest, but it slowly ebbed away. There was no point in being angry that these two were still loyal to Momonosuke. That little brat indeed had guts, but whether the kid survived or not would come down to luck.
Thinking this, Marco's lips curved into a faint, gentle smile.
"Forget it. That's all in the past," he said. "I already told you why I came here. I hope you two can join us."
He continued, his voice calm and resolute.
"I've explained the situation. The New World has changed. I can promise you this: if Momonosuke shows up in the future and you still decide to follow him, you're free to go."
"Thank you," Nekomamushi and Inuarashi replied happily, lifting their heads. "Then please guide us from now on, Captain Marco."
Marco had already thought it through. With Wano destroyed, Momonosuke was the only Kozuki left.
In the original story, Momonosuke had traveled twenty years into the future—to Wano.
But now, Wano had been erased by Uranus. If Momonosuke traveled to the "future" as before, he would just appear over open sea and fall. Whether he survived would be another matter entirely.
'…Forget it. I'll deal with it if it happens,' Marco decided, cutting off his own thoughts.
He had been in the world of One Piece for barely half a year, and already his strength was almost unmatched. Even Kaido definitely couldn't beat him now.
Something this small wasn't worth stressing over. The only reason he'd flared up when they mentioned following Momonosuke was because he loathed betrayal the most.
But here, in this world of pirates, strength was everything. As long as you were strong enough, you were truly free.
Marco looked seriously at Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.
"In that case," he declared, "from now on, you two will serve as the Commanders of the Phoenix Pirates' Seventeenth and Eighteenth Divisions. As for your crews, pick some Minks you trust to join your squads. No problem with that, right?"
Nekomamushi laughed when he heard that. "Meow meow meow, of course."
—
…Meanwhile, in Ghost Town.
Redfield stepped out from the underground city beneath Ghost Town. The Vampires that had once floated ominously over the town were now scattered across the ground, limp and motionless, as if all their strength had been drained away.
He glanced over the fallen vampires and muttered, "So destroying the mechanism stopped these vampires from moving?"
He tried to exert his will over them, but nothing responded. Whether it was because the mechanism had been destroyed or for some other reason, he wasn't sure. But it didn't matter. He had no more use for them.
He had already obtained the power of the Vampire Fruit. Now, he wanted only to reclaim his youth and strength as quickly as possible—and to get used to this new power.
As he walked through the deserted town, a ray of sunlight suddenly broke through the dark clouds overhead and shone down. Redfield lifted his gaze. Bathed in the light, he murmured in mild surprise, "The dark clouds have scattered… and that strange formation around the town is gone too. So it really was all tied to the destruction of the underground mechanism."
He didn't waste time puzzling over Ghost Town's oddities and simply headed for the outskirts.
Just as he was about to leave, a wave of killing intent surged from behind. Redfield turned. From the collapsed ruins, countless streams of black mist rose up, swirling together. The mist split down the center, forming a dark staircase, and Blackbeard and the Blackbeard Pirates climbed out from that shadowy path.
Once he emerged, Blackbeard bared his teeth in a wide grin. "Zehahahahaha! Where do you think you're running off to, Redfield?"
Seeing that Blackbeard had survived as well, Redfield's lips curled with open disdain. "So you still had some strength left in you… brat from Whitebeard's ship."
"Zehahahahaha, what arrogance! That's the Red the Aloof for you!" Blackbeard didn't mind the insult at all. The man in front of him was a monster from a previous era—someone who fought alone, yet could stand against the likes of Whitebeard, Roger, and Golden Lion.
Redfield's gaze swept over Blackbeard, then to Shiryu of the Rain standing behind him. Among the Blackbeard Pirates, only those two were worth any attention. The rest weren't even a consideration. His voice turned icy. "I already spared you once. So you're abandoning the gold and rushing over here just to die?"
"Zehahahahaha…" Blackbeard threw his head back, his gap-toothed grin turning vicious. "The gold's buried underground. It's not gonna grow legs and run off on its own. But you're different—you stole my Vampire Fruit. If I let you get away, that'd be a huge loss for me!"
"Hmph. So there's no talking this out after all."
Seeing the unshakable resolve in the enemy's eyes, Redfield drew his umbrella-sword and readied himself for battle. His voice turned icy. "I originally planned to just find a few random pirates, drain their blood, and slowly restore my strength. But since you insist on throwing your lives away, don't blame me. This is as good a chance as any to test the new power I've obtained."
"Zehahahahaha! Then let's give it a try!"
Blackbeard slammed his palm onto the ground and bellowed, "Dark Vortex...!"
As pitch-black mist spread across the ground like a tide, Redfield instantly sprang up to the rooftop. His body began to twist and change, and in the next moment, he had fully transformed into his human-beast form.
At first, everything seemed fine. But right after his transformation, a shaft of sunlight cut across the rooftop and struck his body. Redfield immediately felt a searing sting. He turned his head; the sunlight seemed blindingly bright, forcing him to raise an arm to shield his eyes on instinct.
"Dark Water..."
In that instant of distraction, Blackbeard's darkness surged up and yanked Redfield toward him.
Even as he was dragged in, Redfield stayed composed. His sword swept out, unleashing a fierce wave of sword pressure.
Through his mind-reading Observation Haki, Redfield already understood the nature of Blackbeard's power: once he was caught, his own abilities would be nullified.
Confronted with that razor-sharp sword aura, Blackbeard didn't dare to be careless. But the Blackbeard Pirates were not just one man—taking advantage of the opening, Shiryu, Shot, and the others all launched their attacks at Redfield.
With a sharp clang, his sword clashed against Redfield's sword. Shiryu sneered, "You ambushed me just now. I'll make sure we settle that properly."
"Drunken Fire...!"
For a moment, attacks from every member of the Blackbeard Pirates rained down on Redfield. Yet even when outnumbered, he remained unfazed. His Observation Haki was overwhelmingly strong; he continually slipped through gaps in their offense, dodging and weaving past their blows.
However, whenever a ray of sunlight happened to fall across him, a wave of discomfort would jolt through his body.
"Damn it, why is this sunlight so blinding?"
Redfield retreated, but leapt back into another patch of sun, and once again the light stabbed at his senses. Just standing in it made him feel unbearably ill at ease.
The Blackbeard Pirates exchanged surprised looks as they watched. It was obvious now that Redfield seemed to fear the sunlight.
"Ze ha ha ha! So you really are a vampire! Looks like you're not too used to the sun! I just wonder if a cross would work on you too," Blackbeard jeered with a sinister grin.
Redfield only snorted in contempt and said nothing. Shiryu's expression hardened. "Vampires are creatures of the night. That means nighttime is when a vampire's at their strongest. Teach, we need to finish this quickly."
Prompted by Shiryu's words, Blackbeard immediately caught on. If Redfield was already weakened by sunlight during the day, then once night fell, the true power of the Vampire Fruit would be unleashed.
'We can't let this drag on...'
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