Wanna read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
Check out my new project: One Piece: In Search of the Huge Huge Fruit!
› Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
──────────•~❉✿❉~•──────────
Chapter 262: Target East Blue"Jozu! What are you staring at?"
Vista held the newspaper, his entire body shaking. Even his meticulously groomed mustache was twitching.
"The... The guy in this picture..."
"Is that really the Golden Lion?!"
Jozu didn't bother picking up his rag. His diamond-hard face was a mask of utter stupefaction.
"Impossible..."
"That was Impel Down! He cut off his own legs to escape! He was a ruthless man!"
"How can severed legs just grow back?!"
"And..." Jozu swallowed hard, pointing at the top of Shiki's head in the photo. "Where's the steering wheel?!"
"That steering wheel stuck in his head for twenty years... it's gone too?!"
This wasn't just surprise. This was horror.
As pirates of the New World, they had seen plenty of Devil Fruits with bizarre abilities. But they had never heard of an ability that could restore a cripple of twenty years to absolute peak condition. To heal a fatal brain injury and regenerate limbs? Unheard of.
"Give me the paper."
Whitebeard spoke suddenly. His voice was low, but it carried undeniable authority.
Marco took a deep breath and placed the trembling newspaper into that massive hand.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes. His gaze landed on the arrogant photo.
Shiki, in the picture, smiled with reckless abandon. Those regenerated legs tread on the air, as if stomping on the face of the entire world. The vitality radiating from the image was palpable. Even through a thin sheet of paper, Whitebeard could feel it.
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard began to laugh. The sound vibrated the deck.
"Shiki, that old bastard..."
"He actually did it."
"Threw away those two broken swords and got his feet back, did he?"
"He looks even more spirited than he did twenty years ago!"
A complex light flashed in Whitebeard's eyes. It was admiration for an old rival's rebirth.
And also... a faint trace of envy.
Yes, envy.
Even he, the "Strongest Man in the World," could not defeat the erosion of time. He could not defeat the torture of illness. Currently, he relied on IVs and drugs just to stay alive. Every time he used the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he endured the agony of his heart tearing apart.
He was a remnant of the old era. This ship, this age... it seemed there was no longer a place for him.
But now.
Golden Lion Shiki, another remnant of that same era, was living a second life!
"Pops!"
Marco suddenly looked up. Those eyes, usually so dull, were now shining frighteningly bright. There were even tears welling up in them.
"Do you understand what this means?!"
Marco's voice choked, but his resolve was ironclad. The surrounding Commanders paused, stunned. Then, realization hit them. Everyone's breathing became ragged.
They looked at the figure covered in tubes with burning gazes.
"If that old bastard Shiki can heal a brain injury..."
"If he can regenerate severed legs..."
Marco took a sharp step forward, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"Then your body, Pops..."
"It can definitely be cured too!!!"
Boom!
The words struck the deck of the Moby Dick like a thunderbolt. Minds exploded.
Cure Pops?
Restore Pops... to his peak?
Once the thought took root, it grew wildly in everyone's heart like invasive weeds. It couldn't be suppressed!
If Pops regained his health...
If the Strongest Man who once shook the seas with a single hand returned...
Who in this ocean could stop the Whitebeard Pirates?!
Marine Headquarters? Kaido? Big Mom?
They would all have to step aside!
"Marco is right!"
Jozu was trembling so hard he crushed the railing into powder with his diamond arm.
"We just need to go to East Blue!"
"We just need to find that guy named Blake!"
"Pops can be saved!"
Vista drew his twin swords, waving them excitedly in the air. "Exactly!"
"Whatever the Golden Lion can afford, can't the Whitebeard Pirates afford it?!"
"Even if he wants the stars in the sky, we'll pluck them for Pops!"
Looking at his "sons," all on the verge of tears from excitement, Whitebeard froze. He looked at his own arm, covered in needle marks and liver spots. Then he looked at the hopeful faces of his children.
The blood in his veins, long cooled by age, began to simmer.
Return to the peak...
He didn't want to conquer the world. He didn't want to be the Pirate King.
He just wanted... to spend more time with these foolish sons. He wanted to stand in front of them one more time and shield them from the wind and rain!
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh. It was no longer heavy; it was filled with a long-lost dominance and freedom.
"Since you brats are making such a fuss..."
He stood up abruptly from his massive chair!
Snap! Snap!
The tubes connecting him to the medical machines were torn apart by his sheer force.
"Gurararara!"
"Then let's go!"
"To that place called Foosha Village!"
"I'm curious to see just what kind of 'miracle' allowed that old bastard Shiki to grow his legs back!"
Whitebeard's voice rolled across the deck like thunder. The pressure of the World's Strongest Man was released without reservation for the first time in years!
"OOOOOHHH!!!"
"POPS!!!"
The entire crew of the Moby Dick erupted into a frenzy of joy. They felt as if the legend who once ruled the seas was about to return.
Marco wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and grinned. He turned immediately to the helmsman and roared.
"Come about!"
"Full speed ahead!"
"Destination: East Blue! Foosha Village!"
"Aye aye, Commander Marco!"
The massive rudder turned. The great whale, carrying the legend of an era, carved a massive arc in the deep sea and changed course.
On the deck, everyone was cheering and hugging.
In a corner of the crowd, a tall, obese man with missing teeth was grinning broadly, his arm around a crewmate, laughing loudly.
"Zehahaha! That's great!"
"Pops is finally saved!"
"East Blue, huh? I've been wanting to see it for a long time!"
He laughed louder than anyone, appearing more excited than anyone.
This was Marshall D. Teach, member of the Second Division. Also known as Blackbeard.
While he laughed, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the towering figure surrounded by the crew. He looked at the Commanders who had lost their reason to excitement.
Finally, his gaze fell on the crumpled newspaper in his hand.
On the front page, Shiki's arrogant face seemed to sneer at him.
Regeneration. Rejuvenation.
The smile on Teach's face slowly faded. Hidden in the shadows, his eyes flickered with a greed and ambition that was utterly incongruous with the joyous atmosphere around him.
Cure Pops?
Return to the peak?
Zehahaha...
What a naive and laughable thought.
Teach had hidden on this ship for over twenty years. For what? To let this old man live a few more years?
No!
He was waiting for the legendary, most evil Devil Fruit—the Dark-Dark Fruit! He wanted that power to replace Whitebeard and become the new overlord of the seas! That was his dream! His ambition!
Originally, his plan was flawless. Wait for the Dark-Dark Fruit, kill for it, flee, and then find a way to steal Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. With the two strongest fruits, he would be the undisputed King of the World!
But now...
This shop called "Blake's," this so-called "Dungeon," had completely disrupted his plans.
Teach's breathing grew heavy. He stared fixedly at Shiki's perfectly restored legs.
This... this was power beyond Devil Fruits. This was the authority of a "God"! The power to create miracles!
Is the Dark-Dark Fruit really still the strongest?
The thought clawed its way out of the depths of his mind like a demon.
Can the Dark-Dark Fruit regenerate limbs? No.
Can the Dark-Dark Fruit restore youth? No.
Can the Dark-Dark Fruit pull a steering wheel out of a brain after twenty years and leave the man skipping like a child? Definitely not!
Teach's heart began to pound violently. He felt as if a new, grander, more insane world was opening its doors to him!
If a has-been like the Golden Lion could obtain such transformative power through a "Dungeon"...
Then what about him? Marshall D. Teach? The man destined to be King? The son of Rocks?
If he could enter that "Dungeon"... what kind of power could he obtain?
═════ To Be Continued ═════
Support this fanfic by leaving reviews, comments, and Power Stones!
For advance chapters, visit:
› Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations