The New World.At sea, on the edge of the Calm Belt.Night fell like ink, thick and absolute.
The Saber of Xebec, a vessel refitted from a massive wooden raft, rose and dipped gently with the waves. Its timber frame let out the occasional low groan, the creaking unnaturally clear in this deathly still stretch of ocean—where even Sea Kings lay dormant.
There was none of the usual clamor or chaos one would expect from a pirate ship.
Six figures were scattered across the deck—by the railings, within the shadows of the mast, beside stacks of cargo crates—each occupying their own corner.
A fragile balance had formed.
Mutual wariness… yet forced coexistence.
Beneath the main mast, perched atop a heavy barrel dragged there as a makeshift seat, sat Blackbeard—Marshall D. Teach. His massive frame nearly swallowed the barrel whole.
In his hand, he held a freshly printed bounty poster.
His rough fingers traced its edges as his gaze locked onto the figure at its center—
A boy with snow-white hair and eyebrows, his body steaming with cheerful white vapor, his grin radiant to the point of eeriness.
[Monkey D. Luffy — 3,000,000,000 Berries. Dead or Alive.]
"Zehahaha…"
Blackbeard's lips curled wide, revealing his signature gap-toothed grin. His laughter echoed across the silent deck, thick with greed.
He raised the poster and waved it toward a short distance away, where the "Champion" Jesus Burgess was lifting an enormous stone dumbbell.
"Oi, Burgess! What do you think about the Straw Hat brat's Devil Fruit… hmm?" Blackbeard's eyes gleamed faintly in the dim light."Looks like quite the extraordinary Mythical Zoan, doesn't it?"
He licked his lips.
"On this ship, aside from Devon's Nine-Tailed Fox… we don't have a second Mythical Zoan user, do we?"
Hearing his captain, Burgess dropped the dumbbell with a heavy thud and wiped the sweat from his brow, laughing boisterously.
"Ahahaha! Captain!""That's a Yonko's fruit! No doubt—it's top-tier stuff!"
At the same time, the others aboard—
Van Augur, leaning against the railing with his sniper rifle;Shiryu of the Rain, silently wiping down his blade Raiu in the shadows;Kuzan, resting with eyes closed against a stack of crates;And the "Plague Doctor," Samuel Cronus, crouched nearby, idly toying with fungal threads in his palm—
All frowned, almost in unison, at Blackbeard's undisguised ambition.
Since departing Hachinosu in secrecy, none of them—aside from Blackbeard himself—had been given a clear explanation of their ultimate objective.
They only knew they were headed toward a specific coordinate in the New World, likely tied to some transaction with the World Government.
But the details?
Blackbeard had remained deliberately vague.
And now, for him to suddenly steer the conversation toward Straw Hat Luffy and his Devil Fruit…
It naturally stirred unease among these powerful, calculating individuals.
"Teach."
A cool, calm voice broke the brief silence.
Kuzan opened his eyes, exhaling a breath of frost as his steady gaze settled on Blackbeard.
"You gathered all of us here…" his tone was even, yet it struck straight at the heart of the matter,"…to hunt the Straw Hat?"
The word hunt caused the air on deck to tighten ever so slightly.
After all, the Blackbeard Pirates had a well-established "tradition" of hunting powerful ability users and stealing their Devil Fruits.
Their recent operation against the Heart Pirates—against Trafalgar Law—was proof enough.
"The Straw Hat, huh…" Shiryu let out a low chuckle, removing the cigar from his mouth as his fingers slid along the blade of Raiu. His tone was laced with amusement.
"Didn't we just capture his grandfather not long ago? Nearly left that so-called 'Hero of the Marines' buried for good…"
"And now you're turning around to target the grandson? Heh. Interesting."
Though it sounded like casual mockery, his sharp eyes swept over Blackbeard, clearly weighing the madness—and intent—behind such a move.
"Captain Teach," Samuel Cronus lifted his head as well. Behind his mask, eerie green eyes flickered.
His voice carried its usual anxious tone, but beneath it lingered a faint hint of excitement.
"Straw Hat Luffy is, after all, a Yonko now… a three-billion bounty, fresh off defeating Kaido and Big Mom—his momentum is unstoppable."
"Our lineup is certainly formidable… but to hunt a reigning Emperor head-on… isn't that perhaps… a bit too risky?"
At first glance, his words sounded like caution.
But in truth, they were more about assessing the value of the target—and their own odds.
After all, the six gathered here—
Blackbeard, wielder of two Devil Fruits;Van Augur, with teleportation;Shiryu, a master swordsman and killer;Former Marine Admiral Kuzan;The monstrously strong Burgess;And himself, the unpredictable "Plague Doctor"—
If they truly joined forces in a full-scale hunt…
Even a Marine Admiral caught alone would likely struggle to escape unscathed.
From a purely theoretical standpoint, hunting a newly crowned Yonko was not impossible.
Blackbeard, however, did not immediately answer any of their questions—or their probing.
Instead, his gaze swept slowly across them all…
Before finally settling on Kuzan.
"Kuzan."
His voice dropped, carrying a tone unlike before—almost… inquisitive.
"You'll help me… won't you?"
He hadn't asked them.
He had singled out Kuzan alone.
The sudden focus caused the others' eyes to shift toward him as well.
Kuzan's position aboard this ship had always been the most delicate—the most ambiguous.
Would he truly assist Blackbeard's ambitions?
Would he stand against another Yonko… especially Straw Hat Luffy, who shared deep ties with Garp?
It was a question that lingered in everyone's mind.
Faced with Blackbeard's direct stare—and the silent attention of the others—Kuzan's expression remained unchanged.
He exhaled another long breath of cold air, white mist slowly dispersing into the night.
"A Yonko…"
He spoke calmly.
"…that's all."
Neither agreement nor refusal. Just a statement—detached, almost indifferent.
But then, his eyes locked onto Blackbeard's as he added, his tone leaving no room for evasion:
"I need to know our final destination."
His question dropped the deck back into silence.
Van Augur's lifeless eyes seemed to shift slightly.Shiryu's hand paused mid-motion over his blade.Even Samuel stilled.
Blackbeard met Kuzan's gaze for a moment.
Then, suddenly—
He grinned.
A grin filled with calculation… and a trace of carefree acceptance at being seen through.
"Egghead."
"Egghead…" Kuzan murmured the name under his breath, a flicker of understanding passing through his eyes.
As a former high-ranking Marine, he knew exactly what that place represented—
The laboratory of Dr. Vegapunk, the World Government's foremost scientist.The heart of Marine technological advancement.A breeding ground for top-secret research.
For the Blackbeard Pirates to mobilize such an elite force and head there…
There was no chance it was for sightseeing.
Linking it with Blackbeard's "Hachinosu membership" deal with the World Government… and the Government's recent unusual silence and covert movements—
The corner of Kuzan's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
"Heh…"
A faint, ambiguous chuckle escaped him as he closed his eyes again, leaning back against the crates.
"That place…"
"…is about to get very lively."
With that, he fell silent once more, as though the conversation had never happened.
Blackbeard watched him, a flicker of dissatisfaction crossing his eyes.
Kuzan had figured it out. His attitude remained cold.
But he hadn't refused.
If anything, he had subtly indicated a willingness to participate.
That was enough.
Suppressing his irritation, Blackbeard lowered his gaze back to Luffy's bounty poster. In the dim light, the Nika form looked especially glaring.
"Zehahaha…"
"The more lively it gets…"
"…the more opportunities there'll be, right?!"
..
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