Chapter 370: Sengoku’s Deliberation

Chapter 370: Chapter 370: Sengoku’s Deliberation

Chapter 370: Sengoku’s Deliberation

"Captain Ace."

Teach grinned as though he were greeting an old friend.

There was nothing threatening in the smile itself, yet behind it lurked something dark.

The peaceful town around them had already been reduced to ruins. It was only the latest among several places the Blackbeard Pirates had attacked.

Teach had done it deliberately.

He wanted attention.

From the Marines.

And from the Whitebeard Pirates.

The other members of his crew showed no fear toward the man standing before them.

Fire Fist Ace.

Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

A Logia user whose name was already well known even in the brutal waters of the New World.

Rather than fear him, Teach’s companions looked curious.

Teach noticed their reactions and laughed proudly.

"Zehahaha!"

"I didn’t expect you to be the one chasing me, Captain Ace."

He spread his arms.

"Well?"

"My crew isn’t bad, right?"

Teach’s grin widened.

"Why not join us?"

"Ace, I’d welcome you."

Ace lowered the brim of his hat.

His eyes disappeared beneath the shadow.

"Teach."

His voice was quiet.

"You already know why I came."

The atmosphere around him became heavy.

"You broke the one rule our crew can never forgive."

"No matter what happens, I’m not letting you escape."

Teach’s grin faded slightly.

"You mean Thatch?"

For a moment, his voice carried something almost resembling regret.

"He was my friend too."

"I didn’t originally want to kill him."

Ace’s expression hardened.

Teach continued.

"But he found something I had spent my entire life searching for."

His eyes brightened with obsession.

"The reason I joined the Whitebeard Pirates in the first place was because I believed that crew gave me the best chance of finding it."

"If it never appeared, I was prepared to spend the rest of my life there."

Then Teach’s smile returned.

"But just when I was beginning to give up..."

"It appeared."

Having studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Teach had recognized it immediately.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit."

His voice carried undisguised excitement.

"The Devil Fruit I wanted more than anything."

"The most sinister power among all Devil Fruits!"

Ace stared at him.

"So you killed Thatch for it?"

Teach laughed.

"Rather than saying I killed him..."

He raised one hand.

"Say that fate chose me."

"That fruit appeared in front of me because it belonged to me."

Originally, Teach had planned to demonstrate the Dark-Dark Fruit’s power.

He wanted Ace to understand why killing Thatch had been worth it.

Partly because he wanted to justify himself.

Mostly because he wanted to show off.

But then another thought crossed his mind.

One he found far more interesting.

"Ace."

Teach’s grin changed.

"Do you know something?"

Ace remained silent.

"Pops’ era is almost over."

Ace’s head snapped up.

"What did you say?"

Teach repeated himself.

"The era of Whitebeard is ending."

This time, he deliberately called him Whitebeard.

Not Pops.

A small declaration that whatever bond had once existed between him and that crew was gone.

"The Marines are already preparing to move against him."

Ace’s eyes narrowed.

Teach laughed.

"To tell you the truth, I knew you were chasing me."

"That’s why I stopped here."

"I was waiting for you."

He opened his arms.

"Come with me, Ace."

"Join this new era."

"And watch Whitebeard’s age end with your own eyes."

Flames stirred around Ace.

"Enough."

His voice hardened.

"When I beat you, I’ll take your head back to Pops."

He raised his gaze.

"This era has only one name."

"Whitebeard."

Bang!

A gunshot interrupted him.

Van Augur had fired.

The specially made armor-piercing bullet tore straight through Ace’s body.

A portion of his torso burst apart.

Then flames spread through the wound.

The missing flesh reformed from fire.

Teach immediately turned toward his sniper.

"Idiot!"

"Don’t attack without thinking!"

In Teach’s mind, there was still a chance to recruit Ace.

That possibility vanished an instant later.

Ace raised his hand.

Flames shot from his fingers.

They struck Teach directly.

"GAAAH!"

Teach screamed.

One of the drawbacks of the Dark-Dark Fruit immediately made itself known.

Pain.

Far more pain than an ordinary person would feel.

Teach staggered backward, desperately beating at the flames consuming his clothes.

After several humiliating seconds, he finally managed to extinguish them.

His face twisted.

"So that’s how it is."

Teach straightened.

"Then we’ll use the second plan."

The air shifted.

Fire and darkness were about to collide.

...

Marine Headquarters.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

A Marine officer hurried into the office.

"Kaido’s fleet has begun moving!"

Sengoku closed the document in his hands and casually passed it to the goat beside his desk.

The animal immediately began chewing.

"They finally moved."

Sengoku adjusted his glasses.

"Have they made contact with Whitebeard?"

"Monitor both sides closely."

"If they meet without fighting and decide to cooperate instead, that would be very bad for us."

The Marine shook his head quickly.

"No, sir!"

Sengoku looked up.

"Kaido’s fleet is attacking the Marine defensive lines!"

"They’re pushing our forces back continuously."

"At this rate, our fleets will be driven completely out of that sea!"

The officer swallowed.

"It looks like Kaido intends to drive the Marines out of the second half of the Grand Line!"

Sengoku slammed both hands against the desk.

"What?!"

The officer jumped.

Sengoku was normally composed even under enormous pressure.

Seeing him lose his temper so suddenly was unsettling.

"Call Vice Admiral Tsuru back immediately!"

Sengoku stood.

"Also summon every officer of Vice Admiral rank and above."

The officer hesitated.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru isn’t currently at Headquarters."

"Then bring her back!"

"Yes, sir!"

Sengoku took a breath.

He had already realized he was letting his emotions control him.

He rubbed his forehead.

"And..."

The officer waited.

"Call Garp back too."

Sengoku paused.

Then sighed.

"Just tell him Headquarters requires his presence."

"Yes!"

The Marine saluted and hurried away.

Sengoku slowly sat back down.

For once, he had no interest in the pile of documents waiting beside him.

He leaned his head against the chair and closed his eyes.

His reaction just now had been unlike him.

But considering what had happened several days earlier, the reason was obvious.

...

A few days ago.

Marineford.

Sengoku had been sitting in the same office reviewing reports when an unexpected visitor appeared in the upper levels of the fortress.

A man with deathly pale skin.

His clothes resembled those of a stage performer.

A cane rested in one hand.

Laffitte.

He descended gracefully, the wings on his back folding away as his feet touched the floor.

Then he bowed politely.

Sengoku had already prepared to attack.

But the unexpected courtesy gave him enough pause to hand the classified document in his grasp to the goat beside him.

The goat ate it immediately.

Sengoku’s eyes remained fixed on the intruder.

"Who are you?"

Laffitte smiled.

"My name is Laffitte."

"I am a member of the Blackbeard Pirates."

"I’ve come with a message from my captain."

He wasted no time.

Sengoku’s expression hardened.

"Since when did Marineford, the symbol of Marine justice, become a place where pirates can freely enter and deliver messages?"

The threat was obvious.

Laffitte seemed completely unconcerned.

He lightly spun his cane.

"My captain wishes to make a deal with the Marines."

"A deal?"

Sengoku’s tone made his opinion clear.

Laffitte ignored it.

"My captain intends to hand over Fire Fist Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

He paused.

"In exchange, he wants a position among the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

"Impossible."

Sengoku rejected the proposal immediately.

Laffitte smiled.

"There’s no need to decide so quickly."

He tilted his head.

"You can think about it."

"For example..."

"Sabaody Archipelago would make an excellent place to execute a criminal."

Sengoku’s eyes narrowed.

"What exactly are you implying?"

"Who knows?"

Laffitte tipped his hat.

"Well then, I’ll be leaving."

The pressure in the room changed.

"This isn’t somewhere you can simply come and go as you please."

Sengoku’s presence filled the chamber.

If Laffitte made the wrong move, Sengoku would attack without hesitation.

Laffitte spun his cane.

A faint hypnotic influence spread.

Sengoku’s expression did not change.

"Cheap tricks won’t work on me."

His voice became colder.

"You’re going to explain everything you know."

Laffitte sighed.

"This is troublesome."

"Facing someone of your caliber, I don’t have much confidence in winning."

His smile never disappeared.

"But if keeping me here somehow causes the entire Marine organization to collapse..."

"What would you choose?"

Sengoku’s aura eased slightly.

His eyes remained sharp.

"The Blackbeard Pirates."

"A crew that only recently entered our intelligence network."

"The total strength of the crew remains unknown."

"Your captain, Marshall D. Teach, formerly served under Whitebeard."

"He murdered another member of that crew and fled."

"Fire Fist Ace has been pursuing him ever since."

Sengoku continued.

"Your group has attacked several towns with extreme brutality."

"Previously, you remained hidden."

"For unknown reasons, you suddenly began acting openly."

"And now Teach is fighting Fire Fist Ace on Banaro Island."

Laffitte’s smile widened.

"Impressive."

"The Marines assembled all of that information in only a few days?"

He lightly tapped his cane against the floor.

"Well, now that we’ve exposed ourselves, you can continue watching us."

"Monitor every movement."

"If, in a few days, you decide our offer isn’t worth considering, send someone to arrest us."

Laffitte bowed.

"But if you decide otherwise..."

"Please announce my captain’s appointment as a Warlord."

The wings behind him unfolded again.

Laffitte rose into the air.

Sengoku watched silently.

He never attacked.

...

Back in the present, Sengoku opened his eyes.

Laffitte’s strange remark finally made sense.

Sabaody Archipelago would make an excellent place to execute a criminal.

Execution.

The Marines were the ones who officially executed criminals.

What Laffitte had been offering was obvious now.

Blackbeard would capture Ace.

Then hand him over to the Marines.

The Marines could publicly execute him and take the credit.

Sengoku had dealt with Whitebeard enough to know exactly how the old pirate would react.

Edward Newgate was already deep into old age.

But his crew was his family.

His commanders were his sons.

Kill one of them publicly, and the old man would cast aside age, illness, and restraint.

Whitebeard would come.

And he would come for blood.

Kaido’s current movements made the situation even more dangerous.

If some unseen hand was also pushing Kaido into conflict with the Marines, then two of the Four Emperors could end up attacking Marine forces at the same time.

The Marines might survive such a war.

But the price would be enormous.

From that perspective, using one vacant Warlord position to secure Ace and regain control over the situation suddenly seemed far more reasonable.

Still, Sengoku hesitated.

There was one question he could not ignore.

Why did Teach want the position?

If war truly erupted and the existing balance collapsed, then the Seven Warlords would inevitably be dragged into the center of it.

They had originally been created as one side of the balance between the Marines, the Warlords, and the Four Emperors.

Once that balance disappeared, the Warlords would be exposed.

Pirates hated them.

Many Marines despised them.

There would be nowhere comfortable to stand.

So why would Teach willingly seek such a position now?

What opportunity did he see in becoming a Warlord?

That question kept Sengoku from making an immediate decision.

...

Banaro Island.

Axel and the others arrived to find devastation.

Large sections of the ground had been burned black.

Other areas looked as though pieces of the earth itself had been ripped away.

Two distinct patterns of destruction spread across the island.

Fire.

And something far darker.

Two powerful Devil Fruit users had clearly fought here.

Axel stopped.

His expression darkened immediately.

They were too late.

Considering Ace had been hunting Marshall D. Teach over the murder of a crewmate, the identity of the fighters was obvious.

Ace had found Teach.

And they had fought.

Axel did not want to admit what that probably meant.

But if Teach had still obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit, then Ace’s chances had never been good.

Robin watched him.

"What do you think happened?"

"Nothing good."

Axel crouched briefly and examined the damage.

"Ace probably fought Teach here."

He stood.

"And if I’m right about how the battle ended..."

His voice dropped.

"Ace lost."

The others became quiet.

The problem was larger than Ace’s defeat.

History was changing too quickly.

This confrontation should not have happened for several more months.

But now it had already taken place.

And the Marines’ situation was completely different from the future Axel remembered.

Whitebeard was already being pushed toward conflict with Kaido.

Under those circumstances, the Marines would have little reason to immediately use Ace as bait and deliberately draw Whitebeard’s full strength toward themselves.

That meant Axel could no longer rely on the future he knew.

The value of that knowledge was collapsing.

Before, events had been like solving a problem with the answer already written at the end.

Even if some parts were missing, knowing the final result allowed him to work backward.

Now the answer itself had disappeared.

Every variable could lead somewhere new.

Sanji looked over the ruined landscape.

"Marshall D. Teach."

He frowned.

"Who is he?"

"How could he defeat a Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?"

Axel’s expression remained grim.

"A very dangerous man."

"He has the Dark-Dark Fruit."

Sanji glanced toward him.

"What does it do?"

"It can nullify the powers of other Devil Fruit users."

Sanji’s eyes widened.

"Then wouldn’t that mean your ability is also...?"

Axel did not answer.

His own power was not a Devil Fruit ability.

But there was no point explaining that right now.

"I need to contact Tesoro."

Axel took out the golden Den Den Mushi.

Before dialing, he deliberately let irritation show on his face.

The call connected.

"Hm?"

Tesoro’s voice came through.

Axel spoke immediately.

"You know why I’m calling."

Tesoro chuckled.

"Of course."

"It’s about Fire Fist Ace."

Axel’s expression remained cold.

Tesoro sounded delighted.

"It seems someone else completed the task before you."

His laughter grew louder.

"So this time, I don’t need your help after all."

There was obvious satisfaction in his voice.

For once, he had managed to get ahead of Axel.

"Perhaps I’ll save your favor for next time."

Click.

The line went dead.

Tesoro had hung up before Axel could ask anything else.

.....

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