The Dark-Dark Fruit is the nemesis of ordinary Devil Fruit Users. Even powerhouses like Sengoku and Whitebeard are unable to use their abilities under its influence.
He couldn’t interfere directly in Whitebeard’s main battlefield, but watching Kaido and Sengoku fight here, Blackbeard had two ideas in mind.
Help Sengoku ambush Kaido, or help Kaido ambush Sengoku.
Both the Buddha Fruit and the Azure Dragon Fruit are extremely powerful—these two Mythical Zoan abilities made him envious.
The reason he chose to ambush Sengoku was the result of careful thought on his part.
When choosing companions at Impel Down, he had already fought these people. None of the prisoners on Level 6 were easy to deal with, and from them, Blackbeard confirmed one thing: his Dark-Dark Fruit was effective.
So the problem wasn’t with himself—it was with the Beasts Pirates’ people.
Delia and King had practically traumatized him. He didn’t know what kind of monsters the Beasts Pirates’ people were. If his ability didn’t work on Kaido, he’d become nothing but a joke.
Besides, he was the ringleader of the Impel Down breakout, which meant he had already fallen out with the Marines. Watching Kaido fight two enemies at once, he ultimately decided to ambush Sengoku.
He got into a huge conflict with King, but in Blackbeard’s eyes, that was nothing worth mentioning.
He was always the unlucky one. Even though Delia’s eye got harmed, he himself lost an eye too—so by his logic, things were even.
In Blackbeard’s heart, benefits were the most important thing. In Blackbeard’s heart, trust had never existed. Not even to his own subordinates did he give much trust.
The only reason he dared to use these people was because they shared the same goal. As long as their interests aligned, they could form an alliance—that’s what being pirates was all about.
So Kaido wasn’t necessarily someone he couldn’t ally with.
Sengoku was Kaido’s enemy. If he made a move against Sengoku, surely Kaido wouldn’t turn around and hit him, right?
And it wasn’t like Kaido would team up with Whitebeard. Once he took away Sengoku’s ability, the fight on Whitebeard’s side would probably be almost over, and he could decide what to do next based on the situation.
Arrogant, conceited, and self-opinionated—those were Blackbeard’s defining traits.
The core interests of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates were fundamentally opposed. In Blackbeard’s view, there was no way these two monsters would ever ally. Kaido’s presence here had to mean he had another motive, which is why Blackbeard made this decision.
He admitted that there was an element of gambling in his actions, but he had always been a crazy gambler—ever since he boarded Whitebeard’s pirate ship decades ago, he had walked the path of a gambler.
The battles between top-tier fighters may look ordinary, but every blow is actually a fight to the death. In the original timeline, Oden was defeated by Kaido the moment he got distracted.
For Sengoku, being a Devil Fruit User, that kind of moment would be even more deadly.
Blackbeard considered it a risk-free gamble. From the moment he stormed into Impel Down, he had created an irreconcilable conflict with the Marines, so attacking Sengoku wouldn’t affect anything.
However, he lacked understanding of Kaido, and had no idea how much Kaido cared about the process of battle.
“You two b*stards… how dare you interfere in my fight?!”
Looking at Blackbeard in front of him and Pizarro who had merged into the ground, Kaido was unusually furious—angrier than when Yamato shouted she didn’t want to fight and just lay down on the spot.
Earthen-colored energy merged with his foot, and then Kaido stomped it hard onto the ground.
Boom!
The ground began to tremble, and the neatly paved road flipped upward, breaking apart in the blink of an eye. Pizarro, who had merged with the island, felt his blood churn violently and was forcibly expelled by Kaido’s stomp.
“Quake-Quake power?!”
The only remaining eye of Blackbeard widened in shock—the ability that he had coveted for a long time was actually being used by Kaido.
“It’s just an earthquake. I don’t like using this ability much, but I’m pissed off right now.”
“Zehahaha! Kaido, team up with me! If we join forces, we can definitely rule the world! With your power and mine combined, we could turn the world upside down!”
Faced with Kaido’s rage, Blackbeard not only didn’t feel fear or back down—instead, he boldly proposed an alliance.
“You’d have as many opponents as you want then—enough for you to fight to your heart’s content!”
“Worororo… You’ve got guts, huh? Ruling the world? You really dare to say that.”
Looking at the smug look on Blackbeard’s face, Kaido couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you even have that much tolerance? Ambition breeds dreams, and a man’s dreams never die! As long as you live, you should strive for your dreams!”
“A man’s dreams… never end!”
“Well said—a man’s dreams never end. But your life… ends here.”
Kaido agreed with Blackbeard’s words, but his killing intent did not lessen in the slightest. Interfering with his battle was something unforgivable—even if the one doing it were Yamato, they’d still have to fight for days before he’d let it go.
It was at this moment that King, having sensed Kaido’s Conqueror’s Haki, returned and saw Blackbeard’s detestable face.
“Boss Kaido…”
“King, I’ll give you another chance. Take care of this guy. Don’t disappoint me.”
Kaido knew very well that King’s main goal for coming to the Summit War was Blackbeard. The reason he hadn’t made a move until now was because he had been waiting for King.
Kaido had his own way of caring for the subordinates he valued. King, being practically his right-hand man, was worth enduring for a little while.
But if King had taken any longer, Kaido wouldn’t have been able to hold himself back.
“Please rest assured, Boss Kaido. I won’t let him escape again. I’ll stake the honor of my race and bring back his head.”
“He’s yours; he completely ruined my mood.”
Kaido withdrew his weapon and looked at the blown-away Sengoku and Zephyr beside him. He’d lost all interest in continuing the fight—he simply stared at Blackbeard.
Even if Blackbeard had some backup plan, Kaido was not going to give him another chance.
“You lunatic… does the conflict between us have to reach the point of fighting to the death?! I lost an eye too! As for everything else—I can apologize, alright?!”
Shing!
An energy blade of blue flame slashed past Blackbeard—King had entered his Blue Flame mode.
“You talk too much. This time, I’ll cut off your head, and see if a freak like you can still survive that.”
“Damn it… This guy’s not easy to deal with! You guys, come—!”
Blackbeard shouted to his companions, trying to get their help and find a chance to escape, but before he could finish speaking, a wave of screams reached his ears.
Scarlet flames had formed a terrifying prison, completely enveloping his subordinates within—and the one who released the flames wasn’t King, but Shayna.
“Go ahead. I’ll handle these nuisances for you.”
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