While that fateful meeting was taking place on Angel Island, other events were unfolding on the sea tens of thousands of meters below.
The New World, in the waters where the Whitebeard pirate crew was located.
Early in the morning, while most of the Whitebeard pirate crew were still lost in their drunken sleep after last night's banquet, a piercing scream jolted the entire crew awake.
In the captain's quarters, the seventy-two-year-old Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, also opened his eyes with a start, seized by a sudden sense of unease.
"What happened?"
He covered his face. Waking so abruptly left a dull ache running through his body.
Even a monster as powerful as him could not withstand the ravages of time and illness forever. His body was growing weaker with each passing day.
Just then, Marco pushed the door open and rushed inside, looking at Whitebeard with a face full of fear and panic.
"Oyaji... something happened..."
…
On the deck of the Moby Dick.
At that moment, the atmosphere was terrifyingly still.
Whitebeard stared at the body covered by a white sheet at the center of the crowd. His fists clenched tightly, and a frightening aura radiated from him as he spoke in a low, pained voice.
"What the hell happened? Who found him first?!!!"
A low-ranking crew member hurried out.
"Oyaji, it was me... I... I woke up this morning feeling a little hungry, so I wanted to go to the kitchen and grab something to eat. When I passed Captain Thatch's room, I smelled blood. I went in to check, and I saw Captain Thatch lying in a pool of blood. He wasn't breathing anymore."
"Boom..."
At that moment, driven by sheer rage, Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki spilled out beyond his control, making even the surrounding air feel heavy and thick.
"Marco, have you found the killer?"
"Well..."
Marco's expression was dark, his face filled with pain and anger as he said,
"No. But someone saw Teach enter Thatch's room last night. And since early this morning, Teach has disappeared. The Devil Fruit we obtained yesterday is missing too."
Hearing Marco's words, Whitebeard's eyes filled with disbelief.
In that instant, his memories seemed to return to more than thirty years ago, to the first time he met Teach, when the boy had begged to come aboard the Whitebeard pirate crew.
So the son he had raised for thirty years had killed his own family and betrayed the Whitebeard pirate crew, all for a Devil Fruit?
For Whitebeard, who had always treated his crew as family, the feeling of being betrayed by one of his own filled him with anger and heartache unlike anything he had ever known.
His body throbbed faintly, but in the end, he forced it down and said,
"Give Thatch a proper burial. Then mobilize every member of the Whitebeard pirate crew and find Teach's whereabouts!"
"Yes, Oyaji!"
And so, every member of the Whitebeard pirate crew began moving with anger in their hearts. One support ship after another left the Moby Dick, heading toward different seas.
As he watched his sons depart, Whitebeard remained furious, but he also sank into thought.
No matter how he looked at it, he could not believe that Teach, who had always seemed so honest and loyal, would do something to hurt a comrade.
If there were some other reason behind this, that would be one thing. But if Teach truly had betrayed them...
Then there was only one possible reason.
That Devil Fruit.
What kind of Devil Fruit could make Teach, who had lived peacefully on this ship for thirty years, suddenly choose betrayal?
For some reason, unease stirred in Whitebeard's heart.
And his current body...
Thinking of that, he clenched his fist, then looked at Marco, who was standing to the side with his head lowered in thought.
"You still have that kid Fire Dragon Yemu's contact information, don't you?"
Marco froze for a moment, then seemed to realize what he meant and nodded.
"I still have it, Oyaji. Just a moment."
Before long, Marco walked over holding something called a Den Den Mushi.
Seeing Whitebeard nod, Marco connected the Den Den Mushi.
As the call went through, a woman's voice came from the other side.
"Hello, is this Mr. Marco?"
"It's me. Is Captain Yemu there? Oyaji has something he wants to discuss with him!"
There seemed to be a slightly surprised sound from the other end, followed by her reply.
"Please hold..."
A few seconds later, the voice on the other end changed into one that sounded somewhat familiar.
"Well, this is rare, Mr. Whitebeard. After all these years, you actually contacted me first."
Whitebeard did not waste words.
"There's something I'd like your help with. Whatever you ask for in return, I'll agree to it..."
Yemu's hearty laughter came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"Hahaha, no need for compensation. Consider it my thanks for your willingness to join the Yonkō Alliance twenty years ago. Go ahead. What is it?"
Whitebeard was silent for a while before finally speaking in a low voice.
"I want you to help me find someone. He's one of my crew members, named Marshall D. Teach!"
"Teach!!!"
The voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi drew out the name for some reason.
"Well, that's quite a stroke of luck, isn't it?"
Whitebeard's brows furrowed tightly.
"Don't misunderstand. I don't mean anything by it. I just happen to know where he is. If you want to find him, you'd better hurry."
"What do you mean?"
"Right now, he's leading a group of people and hiding among the Donquixote family's merchant ships. If everything goes smoothly, they'll pass through Fish-Man Island tonight and return to the first half of the Grand Line."
"So it really is true."
In that instant, Whitebeard could already be certain. Teach had truly betrayed him, betrayed the Whitebeard pirate crew, and killed Thatch.
"What really is true?"
"Nothing. Thanks."
"Hahaha, it's not easy to hear Whitebeard say thank you. Well then, if there's nothing else, I'll go handle my own business. Oh, one final piece of advice. If you really plan to go after him, be careful. The people around him are all troublesome fellows. Goodbye, Whitebeard."
As the Den Den Mushi hung up, on the other end of the call, inside a simple yet elegant house that looked like an ordinary family home, Yemu, now thirty-seven years old but still looking like a young man, lay on a sofa and gazed out at the colorful world beyond the window.
Curled up beside him was Flare, who had married him and stayed with him, yet still looked like a young girl.
Twenty years had left no trace on either of their faces because of the Pure Gold rings on their ring fingers.
However, judging by their presence, both of them had matured a great deal.
After twenty years together, the tacit understanding between them allowed Flare to clearly sense the change in Yemu's mood.
"Has that moment finally come?"
"Yeah."
Yemu stroked Flare's hair and kissed her forehead as he said,
"Send out two orders.
"First, all highest-level administrators, including Enel and the others, will have two weeks to settle everything, then secretly return to Wenmigudan Island.
"Second, three months from now, the Rainbow Kingdom will hold the sixth Rainbow Alliance Conference on Jinwu Island in the North Blue, one year ahead of schedule!"
"I understand."
"Mm. One more thing. Over these next two weeks, I'll be leaving here to find someone and complete the final piece of the puzzle for the future of our Rainbow Kingdom..."
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