Chapter 962: The Mysterious Black-Robed Figure

Chapter 962: Chapter 962: The Mysterious Black-Robed Figure

"L-Let me go... Do you... do you really want to face another of the Yonko?"

Catarina Devon was completely buried within a makeshift "pyramid" of heavy rubble, with only her face exposed. Her voice was weak, halting and strained.

Faced with Devon’s blatant threat, the crew members standing around grew furious, instantly erupting into a barrage of curses.

"As if we’d ever let you go!"

"What kind of joke is Blackbeard supposed to be? That Yonko title of his is nothing more than something we didn’t care to take!"

"So what if he’s a Yonko? Your entire Blackbeard Pirates crew is nothing but a bunch of opportunistic, freeloading cowards!"

"..."

Ever since the death of Whitebeard, the one most qualified to claim the vacant throne of the Yonko was the Chris Pirates, led by Aeridar. It never should have fallen to the Blackbeard Pirates, led by Teach. If their own captain hadn’t set his sights on things far beyond the title of Yonko, effectively letting Blackbeard swoop in and snatch a cheap victory, how could there even be a "Yonko Blackbeard" today?

Therefore, when it came to facing the Yonko, the Blackbeard Pirates were the very last crew the Chris Pirates would ever fear.

"Blackbeard?"

A mocking sneer surfaced on Aeridar’s face. He scoffed disdainfully, "If I had thrown myself into the race for the Yonko title back then, your Blackbeard Pirates would have been wiped out of existence by my hands long ago!"

"And now, you actually dare to set your sights on me? Does that bastard Teach have a death wish?"

By the end of his words, Aeridar’s fury surged. He raised his voice, demanding in a booming roar, "Tell me! What exactly are the Blackbeard Pirates trying to pull?"

"W-We only wanted to test your strength..." Devon explained, her voice faint and raspy. "To determine the outcome of this great war, so that the Blackbeard Pirates could make our next moves..."

"Liar!!"

Unable to contain his rage, Aeridar cut Devon off fiercely. He barked, "Sending a core executive over just for a mere ’test’? Is your captain’s brain completely rotted out, or do you take me for a fool?!"

No matter who emerged victorious in this upcoming clash, the entire world was bound to experience an unprecedented upheaval.

If the Chris Pirates won, the Big Mom Pirates would fall from their Yonko throne, replaced by the Chris Pirates. It would only be natural for the Chris Pirates to absorb all of Big Mom’s former territories. At that point, the other Yonko might, at most, take advantage of the chaos to snatch away a few islands that hadn’t been fully secured, but they would absolutely never declare open war on the Chris Pirates.

An all-out war between two Yonko would inevitably plunge the world into chaos once more. No matter who fell next, another vacuum of power would open. When that time came, the surviving Yonko, the pirates of the New World, and even the Marines would be dragged into a massive, escalating war just to seize territory. The World Government would absolutely never permit such a scenario, and Red-Haired Shanks, a fellow Yonko, would also loathe to see the world fall into such catastrophic instability.

Thus, the war between the Chris Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates was barely tolerated within acceptable limits. Any subsequent conflict between the Yonko would bound to be ruthlessly suppressed.

Conversely, if the Big Mom Pirates won and the Chris Pirates were annihilated, the remaining Yonko would certainly not stand by and let Big Mom monopolize all of the Chris Pirates’ advanced technology. When the time came, the Beasts Pirates, the Red Hair Pirates, the Blackbeard Pirates, and even the Marines and the World Government would all want a piece of the pie. Yet, the World Government would avoid entering a total war against the Yonko, meaning the issue would ultimately be resolved through negotiation.

In other words, no matter who won or lost, the Blackbeard Pirates only needed to sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight. Once the war concluded, they could simply play the fisherman, reap the spoils, and execute their next phase.

Therefore, Devon’s claim about a "next move" was utter garbage. Aeridar didn’t believe a single word of it!

To have a core executive take such a massive risk was completely unnecessary. If she were discovered, did Blackbeard honestly believe Devon could use the illusion powers of the Nine-Tailed Fox to escape the Chris Pirates’ headquarters? That was looking down far too much on the Chris Pirates led by Aeridar!

Even if Marshall D. Teach himself came alone, Aeridar was confident he could kill him right here, even if it meant reducing the entirety of Nakor City to rubble, let alone a mere Catarina Devon!

As for Devon’s ability, Aeridar, who had thoroughly read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, knew exactly what it was the moment he laid eyes on her nine tails.

Nine tails, highly skilled in illusions... it was clearly the Zoan, Mythical Zoan-type Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine-Tailed Fox!

With a flash of anger, Aeridar barked out an order, "Bring Pudding here! I want every single scrap of intelligence inside her head ripped out!"

Before long, Pudding arrived directly at the Central Tower from Alvis Island, traveling via a steam-powered floating airship.

Pudding’s Memory-Memory Fruit ability was arguably the ultimate tool for gathering intelligence. There was virtually no method cleaner or more absolute than Pudding’s ability to physically yank memories straight out of a person’s brain.

Soon after her arrival, Pudding placed her hand onto Devon’s head. She then drew out Devon’s memories, pulling them out like long, winding strips of film.

With her memories forcibly extracted from her brain, the already heavily injured Catarina Devon blacked out on the spot.

"Blackbeard wants the captain’s secret technique for utilizing multiple Devil Fruits, and he also wants several of our doctors..."

Pudding flipped through Devon’s memories, reviewing them one by one from the most recent events to the past.

Hearing Pudding’s words, realization dawned upon Aeridar and his crew.

The most potent technology possessed by the Chris Pirates was the Paramecia Devil Fruit extraction and granting technology that Aeridar had personally obtained from the underground palace of the ancient Gamas Kingdom. It was entirely predictable that if the Chris Pirates truly fell to the Big Mom Pirates, everyone would crave this technology, and absolutely no one would want it falling into the hands of their rivals. Whether Blackbeard wanted it for himself or simply wished to deny it to others, striking first was his premier choice.

As she continued to read, Pudding’s willow-like brows suddenly furrowed slightly. She muttered in confusion:

"...Wait. Ten days ago, a mysterious black-robed man appeared at the Blackbeard Pirates’ headquarters on Hachinosu, the Pirate Island, and met with Blackbeard..."

Right at that exact moment, a mysterious black-robed figure literally rose out from the floorboards. His face was entirely obscured by his dark hood, rendering his features invisible. He resembled a phantom, emerging from the solid ground completely silently and entirely without warning.

"Who goes there?!"

Enel was the first to notice the intruder. Letting out a thunderous roar, he raised his hand and unleashed a brilliant, blinding streak of lightning.

BOOM!

In that split second, the bolt of lightning bizarrely passed right through the figure’s body, tearing past him to strike the back wall of the room. It violently blasted a massive hole several meters wide into the structure.

"How is that possible..."

"Is he a Logia user?"

"Is this guy a human or a ghost?!"

Everyone was stunned, staring at the sight in utter disbelief.

Taking advantage of the confusion, the black-robed figure took a swift stride forward, reaching the back of the rubble "pyramid." He thrust his hand straight into the stone structure and, under the shocked gazes of Aeridar and the others, pulled Catarina Devon clean out of the debris.

Just as he had done when emerging from the ground, Devon’s body was pulled out like an intangible phantom. Right after, the two of them began to sink straight down into the floor.

"Bastard! Don’t you dare think of escaping!"

Snapping out of his shock, Aeridar lunged forward in a fit of rage. In an instant, he closed the distance, appearing directly above the black-robed figure and Devon, and slammed a ferocious fist downward.

BOOM!

An explosive, terrifying force erupted, whipping up a violent gale. The thick, solid floor instantly shattered under Aeridar’s fist, blowing a crater over five meters wide straight through the ground.

Yet, Aeridar’s fist felt as though it had struck nothing but thin air. It failed to harm the intruder in the slightest. He could only watch helplessly as the black-robed figure carried Devon down to the 21st floor, continuing their descent.

"How can this be... I clearly infused my fist with Armament Haki... What kind of ability is this?" Aeridar stared at his own fist in utter bewilderment, forced to watch as the black-robed figure and Catarina Devon vanished completely from their sight.