Just over ten minutes ago.
On a nameless deserted island where Blackbeard and his crew were gathered.
"Teach! We found Vasco. He's lost too much blood and passed out in the ship's cabin," said Shiryu, stepping out of the overturned pirate ship with a thick cigar in his mouth, dragging half a person in his hand.
Yes, literally half.
"Zehahaha, rough luck, Vasco," Blackbeard laughed eerily, then motioned to the deathly ill-looking doctor Doc Q, who was always slumped over a horse that coughed up blood.
"Patch him up. We've already lost one captain. Vasco might be a bit of a mess, but he'll do."
"Cough... Disasters always find the unlucky. Such is the cruel hand of fate. Take this apple in my hand—it could be a miracle cure or a deadly poison. Given the choice, what would you pick, Teach?"
Doc Q, who looked even more haggard than a terminally ill patient, pulled out two bright red apples as if by magic and tossed them casually.
Teach's expression changed instantly and he leaped aside, cursing.
"Hey! You damn quack, stop throwing bombs around! You know how dangerous that is?!"
The two bright red apples, which looked perfectly sweet, rolled across the ground but didn't explode as Teach had feared.
His face flushed with embarrassment, and he roared, "Quit messing around! Don't you know whether it's the cure or not?"
Pizarro chuckled darkly, giving Teach a mocking glance before picking up the apples and pressing them against Vasco's wounds.
Something miraculous happened—the apples softened into a jelly-like substance and seeped into Vasco's injuries.
Within moments, Vasco's unconscious body twitched, and from the waist down, flesh, tendons, and veins rapidly regrew in a swift yet eerie process.
A few minutes later, two thick, bare legs had fully regenerated, looking exactly like Vasco's original ones.
"Tsk tsk, your powers are something else, Doc Q. With you around, we don't have to worry about losing limbs," Pizarro said with a grin, grabbing a piece of burlap to cover Vasco's body.
Nearby, the sniper Van Augur adjusted his monocle with a finger, glancing at Vasco before remarking calmly.
"Isn't something missing?"
"Huh? What do you mean? What's missing?" Pizarro asked, confused.
Teach's eye twitched, veins bulging on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and snapped at the deathly doctor, "Hey, stop screwing around! You didn't grow back Vasco's dick! You really want him to come after you when he wakes up?"
Only then did Pizarro, Shiryu, and the others realize what Van Augur meant, their gazes shifting awkwardly to Vasco's lower half.
"Cough... Such is fate. What you gain, you must lose. He is reborn, yet he is dead. It cannot be helped. Just like the apples—half poison, half miracle. Today, he was lucky. Both were cures. But the third? It would surely be poison."
Doc Q rambled on, sounding less like a doctor and more like some deranged fortune-teller.
As he muttered, coughing up blood while slumped over his horse, the horse beneath him mirrored his state—head drooping, crimson blood dripping continuously from its mouth.
Lafitte, dressed in a sharp suit, elegantly twirled his sword and shook his head.
"Don't be too hard on Doc Q. The fact that Vasco survived at all is a miracle. His ability is what it is. Captain, you've known this all along, haven't you? That we've gathered here is fate's arrangement. Some disembarking early is also an inevitable destiny."
"Zehahaha! Fine, you're right. It's all fate! Let's go see if there's any 'gift from fate' this time! Pizarro, stop staring. You'd better pray it's not your own turn next time."
Teach shrugged and returned to the three-masted ship.
Pizarro shivered, casting a sympathetic glance at Vasco before roughly stuffing him into a sack and slinging him over his shoulder.
"Set sail! Shiryu, if you would." Teach stood at the bow, extending a trembling hand as if disturbed by unseen ripples in the air.
"The battle's already begun. Even dozens of miles away, its terrifying power reaches us. This 'gift' might not come easily."
Shiryu nodded impassively, placing a hand on the railing.
At his touch, the massive ship rapidly turned transparent until the hundred-meter vessel vanished entirely, leaving only faint ripples on the sea's surface.
They'd barely advanced a few miles when disaster struck.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The surrounding seawater froze at alarming speed, transforming into an endless ice field.
Surging waves solidified mid-motion, their ship groaning as expanding ice lifted and trapped it in place.
Thud!
A transparent figure lost balance, tumbling from the bow to land headfirst on the ice.
"Pfft—hahaha! Teach, what was that?" Pizarro clutched his stomach in laughter.
Shiryu coldly withdrew his hand, the ship reappearing as he peered down at Blackbeard extracting his face from the ice.
"Teach, what happened? Is this... Kuzan's power?"
Blackbeard's expression shifted unpredictably.
He waved his hands through the air, sensing its vibrations before gravely announcing, "Men, it seems we won't be collecting any... 'gifts from fate' this time."
Lafitte adjusted his black hat brim calmly.
"Decided that quickly?"
Blackbeard's face darkened with unprecedented seriousness.
"An explosion of terrifying energy—its instantaneous power could threaten even my current body. Zehahaha! I can guess who's attacking. Fate's final design remains hidden. No need to take such risks. We retreat—for now."
"That's a good point, Teach. Your Tremor-Tremor Fruit hasn't reached its full potential yet, and your weakness is obvious—your physical body. Your strength lies in your physique, but it's also your downfall. While the Dark-Dark Fruit is powerful enough to nullify abilities, it doesn't grant you elemental intangibility. Against monsters like Kaido or Caesar, who don't rely solely on their Devil Fruits, one misstep could spell your doom. You're right—there's no need to take risks now."
Shiryu took a drag from his cigar and rested a hand on the deadly weapon at his waist.
"I'll go take a look," Lafitte said.
Suddenly, two pristine angel wings sprouted from his back, lifting him effortlessly into the air.
In his hands was Van Augur's long-barreled flintlock rifle, equipped with an ultra-long-range telescopic sight.
Lafitte raised the rifle with its scope and peered towards the battlefield on Whole Cake Island, dozens of miles away.
A few minutes later, he descended silently, his wings vanishing without a sound.
He returned the rifle to Van Augur, removed his hat, ran a hand through his black hair, and said gravely.
"The battle's already over. Four against four—the Beast Pirates' combat strength is overwhelmingly powerful. Kuzan, Zephyr, Rayleigh, and Hancock have all fallen. It seems only Kaido, Caesar, and Charlotte Linlin made their move."
Pizarro's eyes bulged, his face a mask of shock as sweat beaded on his forehead from sheer tension.
"Zehahaha! Time to retreat, boys! The New World is about to change! Let's not tangle with these monsters just yet. Shiryu, we need to speed up our ability collection. Having such ferocious neighbors isn't exactly ideal!"
Blackbeard laughed heartily, then suddenly pressed his right hand against the ground.
A continuous wave of black shadows spread across the frozen sea ahead, enveloping the three-masted ship trapped in the ice.
"Black Vortex!"
As the dark energy thickened, the hundred-meter-long galleon abruptly vanished into the darkness conjured by Blackbeard, as if swallowed into some bizarre dimension.
"Back to base we go!"
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