The same royal palace, the same banquet hall.
The banquet hall opened toward the door of the courtyard, where Saint Juan Wolf, with a head resembling a chestnut, sat with his enormous 180-meter-tall body. To him, the huge fountain was just a small stool. He was holding a massive wooden bowl, drinking chestnut stew with flowers.
"Delicious..." Saint Juan Wolf grinned foolishly, saying absentmindedly, "But I want to eat salt-grilled Sea King."
Inside the banquet hall sat a group of rugged individuals.
Avalo Pizarro lifted a bowl of shark fin soup and drank it dry, burst into laughter and said, "Delicious, hey, bring another one, meow!"
The pirate serving them hurriedly ran to the kitchen, pushed a serving cart over, but before he had a chance to serve, Pizarro had already snatched a bowl, not minding the soup splattering on his fingers, and after finishing, he even licked his fingers.
"Mulu hoohoo, tender chicken breast, quite tasty indeed."
Sitting beside him, Catarina Devon also unceremoniously grabbed the perfectly roasted chicken breast with her hand and stuffed it into her mouth, revealing an intoxicated expression, "Young, tender things are always delicious... just like you."
She turned her head, looking towards Lily sitting at the head position, licked her lips with her tongue, "Young and beautiful, ah... tender buds, they must be delicious to pick."
Lily said expressionlessly, "I wouldn't mind granting you a death, Devon."
"Hahaha, Captain, it's great here, let's kill Sage and take over this place!"
Jesus Burgess raised his arms, flexing his biceps, and laughed heartily.
"Oh..."
Just as he finished speaking, a low voice echoed at the door, causing all members of the carefree Blackbeard Pirates to involuntarily shrink their necks and fall silent.
"Living too boring these days, Burgess? If you want to die, I can make that happen."
Sage walked in from the door, glanced at these guys, sighed slightly, and sat at the head position, saying, "What is this, a succubus here? One after another, restless. Teach, what are you doing here, and... how long has it been, what exactly are you doing, have a fondness for wood, or just used to being poor?"
"Zehahahaha, Sage!"
Sitting on the other side of the long table was Teach, tearing into a piece of meat with bone, grabbing a visibly valuable, intricately engraved silver wine goblet with oily hands, took a big swig, then bared his gradually growing teeth.
"No choice, Marco keeps troubling me, I have to deal with him before I can seize territories without worry. Preparations aren't enough yet, so here I am to find you, AiBo!"
"I don't summon Black Mages."
Sage rolled his eyes, "So what do you want now? I haven't heard from you for so long, not even with a Radio Snail, don't tell me you still don't have a territory?"
"Zehahahaha, I'm planning to take over Hive Island, you know, that's the place I want, I've already got a plan."
Sweat dripped from Teach's brow, but he quickly adjusted, laughing heartily.
"So you're planning to have me help you take Hive Island this time?" Sage was momentarily stunned.
"Of course not, Sage..."
Teach pointed at him, laughing, "You captured the Gares Kingdom, and I can take out Ochoku to get Hive Island; if we don't even have that ability, how could we cooperate. I will go for Hive Island myself, I came this time mainly for our genuine cooperation, zehahahaha."
In response, Sage nudged his gemstone wine glass, had Bella fill it with wine, took a big gulp, then pulled out a cigar, lit it, exhaled a smoke ring, and said in a deep voice, "Whitebeard, huh..."
Neither Sage nor Teach had formally invaded Whitebeard's territory yet.
Gares, which Sage had conquered, didn't belong to anyone, and hadn't been that long since its conquest, the city wasn't even fully rebuilt yet. The nearby territories captured hadn't been long either, it's a busy time now, integrating territories takes time.
As for what Teach was up to, Sage didn't know. The two hadn't contacted each other since their last parting.
But with Sage's understanding of Teach, visiting now definitely meant he was ready to take a gamble.
"Hmm... Lily." Sage looked over.
"Our total forces are five thousand, but only three thousand usable," Lily said.
Over the long time, Sage had recruited quite a few subordinates, ranging from pirates worth twenty or thirty million Belly, to fifty or sixty million Belly, including opportunists within the territory wanting to become pirates.
As long as willing and in decent physique, Sage took them all in.
Because manpower was indeed lacking.
Let alone Whitebeard's territory—even the few islands nearby needed considerable manpower to garrison.
The New World's seas never lacked headstrong fools.
Even Gares had people daring to come to rob, not to mention the subsidiary territories, especially the transport ships on the sea.
In Sage's hands now, aside from the Gares Kingdom, all nearby or distant islands were included, roughly a dozen.
According to regional specialties, they provided different raw materials, from iron, grain, wood, and stone production to some areas suitable for farming, producing not only meat but also a considerable amount of butter.
These things would be transported to Gares, and necessary consumer goods would be brought back, but the problems of sailing the seas remained significant.
Regarding territories, Sage dispatched a number of people over, and also had Leidi make quite a few cannons, which stopped those headstrong fools. Now, while direct attacks on territories ceased, the raiding of ships along the way not only existed but happened quite frequently!
The high-ranking officers held the fort at Gares, the junior officers largely dispatched, escorting transports, battling New World pirates, sub-territory numbers expanded from a hundred to two hundred pirates, as escorts were indeed needed too.
With the current number of people, directly attacking the remnants of Whitebeard might not be enough.
Whitebeard is dead, but his influence remains, and he still has quite a number of followers. Throwing three to five thousand troops into the fray, Sage could easily end up standing alone. This is why he reached an agreement with Teach before entering the New World.
Moreover, if we're cooperating, of course, the pressure should be shared.
"Recruit more manpower... at least gather a usable force of five thousand," Sage said.
"Zehahaha, once I take over Hive Island, we can begin our actions, Sage. This is exactly what I came to discuss with you this time."
Teach grinned, showing his teeth: "I want to force them all out for a decisive battle. If we win, the old man's territory will belong to the two of us. As per our previous agreement, you get the first half, and I get the second half!"
"Then I'll be waiting for you to take Hive Island. But before that... Teach, there's something I've been wanting to discuss with you for a long time."
Sage said, snapping his fingers, "Come in."
Three people walked in from the main entrance, Gin, Pearl, and Mute. They were each escorting three individuals restrained by chains made of Seastone, the three of whom lay limp like wet noodles, without the strength to even lift their heads, showing no reaction when thrown to the ground.
"I've been feeding these three for half a year, wasting so much of my food."
Sage said, "These three have the abilities of the Smelt-Smelt Fruit, Turtle-Turtle Fruit, and the Scream-Scream Fruit, respectively. Since you're here, take their abilities."
"Master Sage..."
Pearl said weakly, "It's an Ancient Crocodile Turtle, not just a Turtle-Turtle."
"An Ancient Crocodile Turtle is still a Turtle-Turtle, don't bother with the details," Sage waved dismissively.
"Oh? Ability users, zehahaha..."
Teach stood up, glanced at the three on the ground, and asked, "Who are they for?"
Gin pointed at the Smelt-Smelt Fruit user and said, "I'll take this guy."
Gin, who is proficient in body techniques, thought that he might encounter a good Ancient species if he waited a bit longer. But the Paramecia-Type also has its strengths. The ability to smelt steel can increase his body technique significantly.
After all, regarding Haki, through the battles within the kingdom and at sea over the past six months... Haki was understood, but not in large quantities.
Thus, the fruit would be a good amplification. Being steel, it can also heat up and even melt, making it a decent fruit on the sea.
"I'll take the Ancient Crocodile Turtle."
Pearl chose the Ancient species.
This time, he wasn't wearing his Iron Shield.
Half a month ago, he escorted a batch of supplies to the southeast of the Gares Kingdom, Tiltren Island, known for its stone production. On the way, he encountered a group of pirates trying to rob them. He won, but it was a victory based on numbers. His Iron Shield was smashed to pieces.
If he hadn't mastered Tekkai, he would've been knocked down.
This wasn't good news for Pearl, who had always prided himself on his defense, and it solidified his decision to take this fruit, so Sage gave it to him.
"Mmph."
Mute tersely pointed at the Scream-Scream Fruit user, indicating that he wanted it.
Teach was momentarily surprised, then laughed, "Zehahaha, you're mute, aren't you..."
"Roar..."
Mute growled at Teach, then opened his mouth wide and pointed at his throat.
His tongue was cut off, not his vocal cords...
"Alright, zehahahaha, Sage, let me show you my fruit powers, Shiryu."
Shiryu, biting a cigar, stood up and walked over to the three ability users. With his thumb, he flicked open a blade that glowed with a red light, and with a swoosh, he first severed the head of the Smelt-Smelt Fruit user.
At the moment of decapitation, Teach grabbed the tablecloth from the dining table, covered the head with it, reached inside with one hand, and the covered cloth visibly pulled inward for a moment, then unleashed a dark force that hit Gin hard.
Boom!
Gin was knocked backward by the impact, crashing into the wall outside.
"You bastard!"
He quickly fell from the wall, about to shout out when he noticed something was wrong, staring blankly at his hands.
"Zehahaha, that's how you use the ability,"
Teach splayed his fingers, letting the darkness formed by the Dark-Dark Fruit swirl around his hand, "The Dark-Dark Fruit can pull out the demons; all ability users can be drawn to me. When a person dies, the demon residing within them can be pulled out and given to someone else."
In the end, the ability is the "demon's" vessel.
The vessel in fruit is a Devil Fruit.
The vessel in humans is an ability user.