Karl let out a loud whistle.
A moment later, a familiar cry echoed through the air.
"Caw! Caw! (Coming, coming! Stop rushing me already!)"
Karl raised his hand and caught Raven before introducing it to Chopper.
"Its name is Raven."
"It's also a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user."
"Though unlike you, it was originally a sword."
A sword?
Objects could eat Devil Fruits too?
Then did they know how awful Devil Fruits tasted?
Chopper was completely dumbfounded.
"Hello, Mr. Raven. I'm Tony Tony Chopper."
"Caw caw caw? (We're both animals. Why can you talk?)"
"Well… at first I couldn't speak human language either."
"But in order to fit in with humans, I learned how to speak like them."
"Only…"
"Caw! Cawww! (Forget it! Tell Karl to give me extra food tonight! I want roasted pork!)"
Chopper nodded seriously.
"Oh! Mr. Karl, Raven says it wants roasted pork today."
"You'll get your share."
"Enough nonsense."
"Hurry up and turn into a sword."
"Caw caw… (Even though you already have two other swords… sigh~ But what can I do? I'm clearly your favorite.)"
Chopper glanced strangely at Raven and wisely chose not to translate that part.
Then—
under Chopper's shocked gaze—
Raven gradually transformed into a handsome black blade.
A sinister aura radiated from the sword, enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Karl grabbed Raven and lightly swung it toward the giant door ahead.
At least—
from Chopper's perspective—
it looked like only a light swing.
"Chopper. Ain."
"Step back a little."
Ain immediately retreated several steps.
Seeing Chopper still frozen in place—
she decisively grabbed his arm and dragged him farther away.
Creeeak…
A sharp grating sound echoed out.
The massive armory doors slowly tilted outward.
BOOM!
With a thunderous crash—
the doors slammed into the snow, kicking up a cloud of white mist.
Chopper jumped in fright and instantly hid behind Ain's leg.
He swallowed nervously.
"Mr. Karl…"
"You're amazing…"
Ain smiled proudly.
"Of course."
"He's a Marine Hero."
"One of the strongest Marines in the world."
"The… strongest?!"
"That's incredible!"
"Then doesn't that mean Mr. Karl can defeat every pirate?"
Ain paused briefly before answering confidently:
"That's right."
"As long as Karl wants to…"
"there's nobody in this world who can defeat him."
"And there's no pirate he can't beat."
"So cool…"
The gentle and refined Mr. Karl was actually this powerful.
As expected of a Marine Hero.
"Whew…"
"Ain, Chopper, come over."
"It should be fine now."
Karl stepped into the armory first and looked around.
Cannons.
Firearms.
Swords.
Nothing but ordinary weapons.
And they had clearly gone unused for a very long time.
A thick layer of dust covered everything.
"Well?"
"Did you find anything?"
Karl shook his head.
"What they were searching for probably wasn't this stuff."
"Let's check the treasure vault instead."
"Chopper, where's the treasure vault?"
"Uh… probably over there."
"I'll take you."
…
"It's completely emptied out."
"Looks like all the gold and treasure Nelson found on Wapol's ship were taken from here."
"But none of that money seemed particularly special."
Ain frowned thoughtfully.
"If the Blackbeard Pirates weren't after weapons or treasure…"
"then why invade Drum Island in the first place?"
"And according to Dr. Kureha…"
"they didn't loot any supplies either."
"They just came here once…"
"…then left disappointed."
Karl rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
"What if…"
"they came here looking for someone?"
"Who?"
"Wapol."
Now Ain looked even more confused.
"Wapol?"
"Why would they look for him?"
"Other than being Drum Island's king, does he have anything special about him?"
"Oh right…"
"He's also a Devil Fruit user."
"According to Intelligence Division reports…"
"Marshall D. Teach's hometown might actually be Drum Island."
"Could he have come here for revenge against Wapol?"
"After all, that guy definitely looks like the type who bullied others as a child."
Although Karl said that aloud—
deep down, he already had a rough theory forming.
Because otherwise—
there was no reason for Teach to invade Drum Island.
To advertise his pirate crew?
To gain fame?
Impossible.
Pirates certainly committed outrageous acts to increase their reputation and bounty, attracting more pirates to join them.
Blackbeard attacking Drum Island would indeed raise his fame somewhat.
But was that really what he needed right now?
Don't forget—
he was still on the run.
The Whitebeard Pirates were searching the seas for him.
Wouldn't causing a major incident just expose himself?
Maybe he came because Drum Island was famous for medicine and he wanted a ship doctor?
Even more impossible.
Doc Q alone was already enough.
Why recruit more doctors?
Maybe he deliberately baited Ace here?
Also unlikely.
Blackbeard may indeed have planned to defeat powerful pirates to gain fame and status.
But at that point—
he didn't even know who was chasing him.
How could he possibly set up a trap?
Besides—
his original target wasn't Ace.
It was Luffy.
So why risk provoking Ace unnecessarily?
Based on Karl's understanding of Teach—
he was a complete profit-driven opportunist.
Since he was willing to risk exposing himself to invade Drum Kingdom—
then there absolutely had to be something here important enough that he had to come.
Just like how—
even when he wasn't sure Karl would truly hand over the Dark-Dark Fruit—
he still followed Karl's demands and killed his own crewmate.
Therefore—
there was only one possibility.
Teach had specifically come for either Wapol—
or the Munch-Munch Fruit.
The reason Blackbeard could consume multiple Devil Fruits…
was likely because he wasn't actually a single person.
But rather—
a fusion of multiple people.
Karl vaguely remembered that Blackbeard once had two younger sisters.
He just didn't know why only Teach remained now.
And Wapol's Munch-Munch Factory ability happened to possess fusion-related properties.
Once Karl thought this far—
everything suddenly connected together.
Blackbeard's sisters probably never died.
Instead—
they continued existing inside his body in another form.
One person could only eat one Devil Fruit.
But if there were actually three people—
then naturally they could consume three Devil Fruits.
Teach likely knew this—
or at least suspected it—
which was why he wanted to find Wapol.
He probably wanted to confirm whether monsters like himself could be mass-produced.
Unfortunately for him—
Wapol was a coward terrified of death.
The moment he heard pirates were invading—
he immediately fled.
Leaving Teach completely empty-handed.
"Karl."
"Your expression looks strange."
"Did you discover something?"
Karl shook his head.
"No."
"Just a theory without evidence."
"It's not something worth presenting seriously yet."
Ain let out a soft sigh.
"If there are no leads…"
"then I guess we can only leave this place."
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