That face! Is it really him?!!
Blackbeard's expression changed dramatically, and he took a step back.
"Impossible!"
It was clearly Gol D. Roger, who had been dead for more than twenty years!
Teach had been one of the Whitebeard Pirates and had once fought against the Roger Pirates. He knew exactly what Roger looked like.
But how could this man still be alive?!
It was absurd!
Teach slapped himself twice, and it actually hurt more than he expected.
"That's Roger?! Am I dreaming?"
"Your subordinates are attacking the prison?" Roger assessed the situation. "That's not good. Why would Whitebeard attack Alabasta? And what's with this covert assault? Why not simply attack head-on?"
He thought Blackbeard was still part of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Uh…" With cold sweat running down his forehead, Teach slowly backed away, not daring to admit he had left the crew. The muscles in his face were so tense he couldn't control them.
"I'll go ask him!" Then he turned around and, without hesitation, ran off, leaving Roger and ignoring the shouts behind him.
Roger scratched the back of his head, then muttered to himself in confusion:
"That guy… what's his deal?" Roger kept eating the chicken, since he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for decades until ending up in Desert Black.
Blackbeard made his way back to his crew and finally—with trembling hands—pulled out his flask and managed just a few gulps.
Burgess and the others looked puzzled, wondering what was wrong with their captain and what exactly had happened inside the prison.
"This is madness, absolute madness," Blackbeard muttered to himself. "How can this be?! It's impossible!"
Teach had always felt both admiration and fear toward Whitebeard. But Newgate was now very old, and he no longer frightened Teach. In contrast, Roger still gave off that overpowering aura, just like he had more than twenty years ago.
"He was exactly the same as when I first saw him!"
A man capable of defeating the Four Emperors—including Whitebeard—was actually alive!
It was simply terrifying!
The ultimate demon, master of all types of Haki, the possessor of the One Piece treasure—Roger—had come back to life!
"What's going on in this Alabasta?!"
At that moment, he remembered a mysterious figure—the King of Alabasta, whom he'd never seen before. Just thinking about it made Blackbeard shudder.
"World Government, just what kind of enemy have you provoked?! This is no longer on the level of the Four Emperors. This power could overturn the whole world!"
"Captain, look at this news!" Burgess, who was standing to the side, suddenly broke into a surprised grin and handed Teach the Justice Mobile Phone.
Blackbeard relaxed slightly—so what if that guy was still alive? What did it have to do with him? Roger shouldn't have any grudges against him. If Roger had a score to settle, it would be with the World Government first and foremost.
Teach grabbed the mobile phone and saw the news:
"Former Whitebeard Pirate crew member Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, has captured Roger's son, Portgas D. Ace, and the World Government has granted him the status of Shichibukai."
"Portgas D. Ace—the bloodline of Gold Roger, son of the Pirate King—will be executed publicly at the Marine Patrol headquarters in Marineford in two months!"
"What?!!" Blackbeard froze. "Ace is Roger's son?"
A chill swept uncontrollably through his heart. Ace was Roger's son—and the most terrifying part now was that the Pirate King wasn't dead!
Blackbeard's face began to twitch, and his hands started to shake.
"How could this have happened? So many people are being hunted by the World Government, but I was the one who caught Ace!"
He grabbed the Justice Mobile Phone and dialed the World Government's number. A voice answered on the other end:
"Marshall D. Teach, the World Government will officially grant you the title of Shichibukai in two months…"
"Roger is alive. He's in Alabasta. I saw him with my own eyes!" Blackbeard interrupted.
For a moment, there was silence on the line, and then some unclear commotion. Blackbeard vaguely heard someone in the background say something like, "neuropathy, brain inflammation."
Teach stubbornly held the receiver, while his crew stared at him as if he were possessed—every one of their eyes said the same thing: the captain's lost his mind!
Soon, a different voice came on the line, one that seemed to belong to another person:
"Ahem, we'll verify your information as quickly as possible. And…" Congratulations on your title as Shichibukai.
When the call ended, Teach's heart felt utterly empty.
He began to understand. Even if he managed to uncover more important information about Alabasta, it would be pointless. Because the World Government didn't believe a word he said!
"To these idiots, even the most crucial information is absolutely useless!"
Why was he so desperate to prove Roger was alive to them?
Even he was starting to think he had imagined it all!
Teach slowly turned his head, gazing out over the endless desert and the shadow of Desert Black visible in the distance.
Now Blackbeard was starting to wonder if the whole thing was just some sort of trick.
Suddenly, a faint hope sparked within him.
"Maybe it was all just an illusion created by a Devil Fruit? After all, Roger's been dead for over twenty years—that's the absolute truth!"
At that moment, a terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki suddenly burst from the prison.
Boom!
All the sand within a ten-mile radius shook as if time itself had stopped and everything froze.
Teach was stunned by this overwhelming Haki. Even the sky itself seemed to crack. Circles of inky-black waves crashed, shaking the world, and the desert churned endlessly like a raging sea.
Burgess, who was a bit weaker, lost consciousness. The rest stood in shock. How could they possibly dare enter a place where such monsters existed?! They kept thinking about what their captain had just said.
"Roger is alive?!"
"How could that be?!"
Blackbeard's eyes widened just as a deafening roar of fury swept across the sky:
"I'll kill you, Teach!!!"
Now, Blackbeard was sure that this guy… must have seen the news.
Doc Q was silent for a moment, then slowly parted his lips, his teeth chattering:
"Captain… did he address you directly?"
"Are you thinking of leaving the Blackbeard Pirates?" thought Teach.
Blackbeard wasn't laughing now. He was guilty of a future execution of Roger's son, and the Pirate King was not dead. What terrifying consequences this had for Teach!
"What's happening in this Alabasta??? Am I really destined to die here?!"