"What?"
"What in the world is he talking about?"
"But now that you mention it, Blackbeard really did vanish at the beginning of the Marineford War. Where did he go?"
A low murmur spread across the battlefield, like ripples across a disturbed sea. Veteran Marines who had faced countless pirates exchanged uneasy glances, while younger soldiers felt a chill creep up their spines. Blackbeard's absence, once an afterthought amid the chaos of war, now felt deliberate—calculated.
The Marines were thrown into confusion, their gazes shifting between Marco and Kuzan.
Kuzan's expression remained outwardly calm, but his fingers twitched slightly beneath his coat, betraying his growing unease. As an Admiral, he was trained to detect lies and half-truths, yet Marco's words carried a weight that refused to be dismissed outright.
The Whitebeard Pirates were no less stunned. They all turned toward Marco with disbelief written across their faces.
For them, Blackbeard was not merely an enemy. He was a former crewmate, a man who had shared their meals, their battles, and their laughter. The thought that such a traitor had been plotting something this monstrous sent a bitter taste through their throats.
Marco took a slow breath and began,
"Let us start from the beginning. Blackbeard's body is extremely unusual. During the more than twenty years he stayed with the Whitebeard Pirates, he barely slept. Even when he did, it was always shallow sleep, never true rest. The reason is simple. Blackbeard has three hearts. Because of that, he can remain awake for twenty four hours without any real fatigue. This abnormal physique has existed ever since he joined our crew."
Marco's tone was steady, but beneath it lay years of suppressed suspicion. As the ship's doctor, he had noticed anomalies long ago—things that never quite fit, details he had filed away until now.
"Three hearts?"
"How can a man have three hearts?"
The words echoed incredulously through the Marine ranks.
The Marines were visibly shaken by this revelation.
Some instinctively placed hands on their weapons, as if the very idea of such a man existing was a threat in itself. The laws of nature, which even Devil Fruits rarely broke so completely, seemed to crumble under Marco's explanation.
Even the Whitebeard Pirates were stunned.
Murmurs of disbelief rippled among them. Memories resurfaced—Teach staying awake long into the night, his eyes gleaming in the dark, his laughter never fading. What they once dismissed as eccentricity now felt horrifyingly sinister.
"So that is the reason Teach never sleeps?"
"But Marco, why does that mean he wants to steal Pops's Devil Fruit?"
Marco looked at both sides and explained calmly,
"This conclusion was reached after a private discussion between Pops and myself. After thorough investigation, we discovered that the Dark Dark Fruit is the most dangerous Devil Fruit among the Logia types. It does not simply create darkness that swallows everything. It can also suppress the Devil Fruit abilities of other users. More importantly, it holds an even greater secret. It can steal the abilities of Devil Fruit users and transfer those abilities to another person."
As Marco spoke, the wind howled across Marineford, carrying his words like a grim prophecy. Even the crashing waves seemed to quiet, as though the sea itself were listening.
"Steal abilities?"
"And give them to someone else?"
The explanation stunned everyone. It sounded impossible, yet terrifyingly plausible when weighed against Blackbeard's abnormal nature.
The Marines, who prided themselves on understanding the balance of power in the world, felt that balance tipping dangerously. If such a power truly existed, the very foundations of the era would collapse.
Vista spoke with alarm,
"Marco, are you saying Blackbeard plans to steal Pops's Tremor Tremor Fruit?"
"Exactly," Marco replied. "And the reason he went to Impel Down is simple. He wanted to recruit powerful criminals and promise them Devil Fruit abilities of their own. I am certain that Blackbeard and his new crew are already on their way to Marineford. The moment Pops falls, he will appear to seize the Tremor Tremor Fruit for himself."
A heavy silence followed. The implications were too vast, too catastrophic to be brushed aside as speculation.
"That is impossible…"
"Stealing Devil Fruit powers is far too absurd!"
"You expect us to believe that?"
The Marines responded with outright disbelief.
Several officers shook their heads, clinging desperately to established doctrine. Accepting Marco's words meant admitting that their understanding of Devil Fruits—and of the world itself—was dangerously incomplete.
On the other side, the Whitebeard Pirates turned pale.
Their fists clenched, veins bulging as fury and fear intertwined. To them, this was no abstract threat. This was an insult to their captain, their father, and the legacy he embodied.
"Then Pops…"
"We have to protect him!"
"We cannot let that traitor take Pops's power!"
Marco's expression hardened as he shouted,
"Do not act recklessly. Pops never intended to leave this war alive."
His words struck them like thunder.
Shock rippled through the crew, followed by a crushing sense of inevitability. They had all sensed it, deep down, yet hearing it spoken aloud made it unbearable.
The Whitebeard Pirates immediately recalled Whitebeard's earlier declaration.
The image of their captain standing tall, declaring the dawn of a new era even as his body failed him, burned painfully in their memories.
Marco continued in a subdued voice,
"As the strongest man in the world, Pops has his pride. He would never allow himself to die quietly from illness and old age. If he is to fall, it will be at the peak of his strength, on the battlefield. His final order was for us to return to the New World. If you rush back now, you would be going against his will and dishonoring the strongest man in the world."
The weight of those words pressed down on them like the ocean itself.
Silence fell over the Whitebeard Pirates. One by one, they lowered their heads, grief heavy in their eyes.
Tears mixed with blood and seawater as they struggled to accept a future without the man who had given their lives meaning.
Only after they calmed did Marco turn back to Kuzan. The Admiral's gaze had grown noticeably more solemn.
The playful laziness Kuzan often displayed was gone, replaced by the sharp focus of a man staring at a potential global catastrophe.
Marco's true goal was clear. He wanted the Marines to shift their focus toward Blackbeard. Even though the Blackbeard Pirates had not yet revealed themselves, Marco knew they would come. If he did not seize this moment to disrupt Blackbeard's plans, then all of this would be meaningless.
This was not merely a plea—it was a calculated gamble, one made with the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates' future at stake.
If the Marines could clash with Blackbeard, that alone would buy the Whitebeard Pirates precious time to retreat. If Blackbeard could be eliminated in the process, all the better.
Marco understood the cruelty of the battlefield. Sometimes, survival depended not on strength, but on forcing stronger monsters to collide.
Right now, Marco knew his own limits. He could barely contend with an Admiral. Once they truly became serious, he stood no chance of resisting them head on.
His flames could heal, but they could not rewrite fate.
Marco continued firmly,
"As I said, Blackbeard has three hearts. That means he is capable of consuming three Devil Fruits. His next target is Pops's Tremor Tremor Fruit. After that, he will surely try to exploit the chaos and kill either Fleet Admiral Sengoku or one of the Admirals to steal yet another overwhelming ability. If he succeeds, then Blackbeard will become an existence that surpasses even Roger and Rocks."
The impact of those words was immediate.
Fear spread openly now, no longer hidden behind discipline or rank.
"He can eat three Devil Fruits?"
"That is impossible!"
"Everyone knows a person can only consume one Devil Fruit!"
Even Kuzan found it difficult to accept. However, one undeniable fact remained. Blackbeard had not appeared at Marineford at all. Before the war, the Marines had received intelligence that Blackbeard's crew had indeed infiltrated Impel Down and severely injured the guards. At the time, the execution took priority, and they had no manpower to spare.
Now, that decision felt dangerously shortsighted.
If even part of Marco's theory was true, then Blackbeard posed a greater threat to the world than Ace ever could.
A threat not bound by ideals or bloodlines, but by pure, bottomless ambition.
Even so, the idea of one man wielding three Devil Fruits defied everything known about the Grand Line. Kuzan remained deeply skeptical, suspecting Marco might simply be fabricating an elaborate lie in order to secure their escape.
Yet doubt alone was no longer enough to dismiss the possibility.
Yet Kuzan's nature prevented him from acting rashly. There was still a chance, however small, that Marco was telling the truth. The situation at Impel Down remained completely unknown.
And unknown variables were the most dangerous of all.
Kuzan's gaze sharpened as he spoke,
"True or false, it makes no difference. Even if what you claim is real, I cannot allow Fire Fist Ace to escape. The other pirates may retreat if they wish, but Ace must die today."