Grand Line
The sea roared like an untamed beast. Waves crashed violently against the jagged rocks surrounding a small, forgotten island — a grim refuge where only the most reckless dared to dock.
At the heart of that island stood a massive tavern that trembled under the weight of the ongoing feast. Bottles shattered, tables flew, and the floor was littered with animal bones and rum stains.
The air reeked of blood, sweat, and smoke.
"Zehahahahahaha!!..."
The laughter echoed through the hall — loud, powerful, and defiant.
Sitting upon a makeshift throne of broken barrels, Marshall D. Teach, the dreaded Blackbeard, tore into a slab of meat the size of an anchor while clutching a crumpled newspaper in his other hand. His yellowed teeth gleamed under the flickering torchlight.
"Five billion for Straw Hat Luffy's head? Zehahahaha!! What a wonderful joke this world has become!"
The entire bar erupted in grotesque laughter.
Behind him, Shiryu of the Rain watched in silence, arms crossed, a lit cigar hanging from his lips. The smoke coiled around his face like a sinister mist.
"Teach," he said in a low, gravelly voice, "the news says he's been named the new Yonko. And apparently..." — his eyes narrowed — "...he's the one who took Whitebeard's Devil Fruit."
Blackbeard's grin faded for a moment.
"Huh? How the hell did he pull that off?" he growled, frowning.
The Blackbeard Pirates had scattered after that war — humiliated for failing to seize Whitebeard's corpse.
But soon after, Teach confirmed that the problem hadn't been incompetence — someone else had beaten them to it. Someone had claimed Whitebeard's fruit first.
In the aftermath, Teach gathered a new crew of monsters — former prisoners, murderers, and beasts — and showed them a real demonstration of power.
Thus, the Blackbeard Pirates were reborn.
He sank his teeth into the meat again, gnawing with the fury of a man trying to chew through his own frustration.
"Zehahahaha..." he laughed again, wiping blood from his mouth with the newspaper. "Interesting... very interesting. The brat managed to achieve what most men wouldn't even dare to dream."
He leaned back, eyes glinting with a dangerous mix of envy and admiration.
"'Gum-Gum Fruit'? Nonsense." he muttered with disdain. "I've read the ancient records of the Akuma no Mi. There's no such fruit. That one... shouldn't even exist."
The words hung heavy in the smoky air.
Shiryu exhaled a cloud of smoke. "So that's why the World Government fears him so much..."
Teach let out a coarse chuckle and tilted his head.
"They know something we don't," he said, his voice thick with ambition. "That fruit... that kid... they carry a secret the World Government's been trying to bury for centuries."
He rested his elbow on the table and laughed once more, louder, darker.
"Zehahahaha!! Even more outrageous than my Yami Yami no Mi... that brat seems to have no limits!"
The ability to steal another's Devil Fruit... and a power that knew no end.
Suddenly, Teach slammed his mug down and stood, rum spilling onto the floor.
"Men!!" he bellowed, his voice shaking the walls. "It's time to set sail for the New World!!"
The pirates roared as one, banging mugs and weapons, their bloodlust ignited.
Even with envy burning in his chest over Straw Hat's power, Teach knew this wasn't the time to face him.
Not yet.
"It's time to move!!"
The tavern quaked as the crew rose — Shiryu, Pizarro, Burgess, Lafitte, Catarina Devon, and the other monsters of the underworld.
But before they could take a single step outside... the air shifted.
A chilling wind swept through the doorway.
Laughter died. The warmth of drunkenness vanished.
Silence fell — thick and suffocating.
Then came the sound of footsteps — slow, deliberate, heavy.
And a calm, cold voice broke the silence:
"The place you're heading... is Impel Down."
The door creaked open, and a wave of icy mist rolled in.
Standing there was Aokiji, former Admiral of the Marines — hands in his pockets, eyes cold and expressionless.
His breath formed small clouds of frost in the air.
The entire bar froze — literally and figuratively. For a brief, breathless moment... not a single soul dared to move.
(End of Chapter)
A/N: Sorry, this chapter turned out much shorter than I expected.