Return to the Whitebeard Pirates

"Gurararara! I never imagined you three brats would actually take down Kaido!"

On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard spoke with a wistful expression.

Speaking of which, Kaido was quite a bit younger than Whitebeard. He could be considered the youngest pirate of their generation.

Although people in the Pirate World grew stronger with age, with most powerful fighters only truly entering their prime after thirty, and their combat ability not declining even in their sixties or seventies, he had to admit that after sixty, one could at most maintain physical fitness. Further growth in strength was no longer possible.

Therefore, Whitebeard could say that Kaido, now fifty-six, was right at the peak of his power. Even though Whitebeard had held the upper hand in their last battle, if it had truly been a fight to the death, there was an eighty percent chance they would have both perished.

Yet these three young pirates, whose combined ages did not even equal his own, had directly beaten down Kaido, whom even he greatly feared. Whitebeard suddenly felt as though time was urging him onward, with new waves pushing the old ones aside.

"No, this actually had nothing to do with Yamato and me." Ace shook his head, his face slightly ashamed.

"I think Yota alone could wipe out the entire Beasts Pirates, right?"

Yamato nodded repeatedly from the side. "Yeah, Yota is ridiculously strong. He barely seems human! Once he got serious, that bastard old man was knocked down with almost no ability to fight back! Even his Devil Fruit has been pulled out now!"

Whitebeard took another two sips of wine in surprise, thinking of Yota, who wore a calm expression most of the time.

On these seas, Whitebeard could be considered extremely knowledgeable. From the very beginning, he had placed greater importance on Ace and Yamato. Though he had also cared deeply about Yota, he had never believed Yota could reach the very top.

That was because Yota was too rational. It was not that being rational was bad, but for a cultivation method like Armament Haki, which placed immense importance on personal spirit, the more rational one’s personality was, the slower one progressed.

Furthermore, Yota did not have the aptitude for Conqueror’s Haki. Although the Munch-Munch Fruit was an excellent fruit for creation, healing, and support, its combat effectiveness was mediocre.

What was more, at that time, Yota had not fully developed his physical potential, and even his body modifications had yet to fully take shape. In Whitebeard’s eyes, Yota was more suited to being an excellent Emperor Vice-Captain type, calm and level-headed.

But now, Whitebeard knew he had misjudged him. Yota’s performance had truly shocked him.

Especially after carefully asking about the course of the battle and learning that Yota had completely overwhelmed Kaido with crushing combat power, Whitebeard was so stunned that he even forgot to drink his wine, as though he were listening to some absurd fantasy.

It was not just Whitebeard who looked as though he had heard an impossible tale. Marco and the other Whitebeard Pirates crew members all looked as though they had seen a ghost.

Honestly, if anyone else had said these words, the Whitebeard Pirates would have taken them as a joke.

Did these people not know Yota’s strength? Sure, one should look at someone anew after being apart for three days, but after only a few months, he had gone from the strength of an ordinary Great Elite to someone capable of crushing Kaido. Who would dare believe that?

However, neither Ace nor Yamato were the type to make wild claims. Therefore, everyone could only remain half-convinced, not believing they were spouting nonsense.

Among the unconvinced Whitebeard Pirates, Blackbeard’s eyes darkened. Especially after hearing that Yota could extract Devil Fruits from other people’s bodies, his expression changed slightly.

Blackbeard did not think Yota had eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit. Though the Dark-Dark Fruit was powerful, it could only pull a Devil Fruit from someone who had just died. Yet according to Ace and Yamato, although Yota had extracted the Devil Fruits of the Beasts Pirates, he had not harmed their lives at all.

Thus, Blackbeard only believed that Yota had developed the Munch-Munch Fruit to the point where it could extract Devil Fruits from human bodies. Blackbeard had seen the Munch-Munch Fruit’s modification abilities before, so in theory, it was not impossible for it to develop such a power.

Damn it, why wasn’t this Devil Fruit ability mine?

Why did Blackbeard crave the Dark-Dark Fruit so much? Though the Dark-Dark Fruit was known as the most vicious fruit in the world, it had never been called the strongest. In fact, quite a few Devil Fruits surpassed the Dark-Dark Fruit in raw power.

There was only one reason he cared so deeply about the Dark-Dark Fruit: he had three hearts, allowing him to eat three Devil Fruits, and the Dark-Dark Fruit could help him seize the Devil Fruits he desired.

Otherwise, if Blackbeard’s chances of obtaining one powerful fruit were like winning a lottery jackpot, obtaining three powerful fruits in a row would be like winning the grand prize three times consecutively.

One had to know that even a Four Emperors pirate crew probably could not gather three top-tier Devil Fruits. For example, the Whitebeard Pirates of the past only had Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Marco’s Phoenix Fruit that could be considered top-tier. Beyond those, even the Glitter-Glitter Fruit fell just short.

Blackbeard had always harbored great ambitions, but he also knew the limits of his own strength. That was why he craved the Dark-Dark Fruit so desperately—because it was not merely a top-tier fruit, but a prerequisite for maximizing his own advantage.

Just as the Whitebeard Pirates remained half-convinced and Blackbeard was still immersed in his ambitions, they suddenly heard the ship’s lookout shout.

"Pops! Kaido is coming!"

"Hm!?" Everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates was briefly stunned. Then they saw a massive azure dragon flying in from the horizon.

"Kaido… is that Kaido? He doesn’t quite look like him… is he missing a pair of horns?"

"Uh… where’s all that black mane of his? Why is so much of it gone?"

"Come to think of it, what happened to those cross-shaped scars on his chest?"

Everyone began discussing it noisily. Marco and the other commanders looked more carefully. It was indeed an azure dragon, but it was probably no longer Kaido.

"Kaido’s Devil Fruit… really was extracted!"

While everyone was still thinking, they saw the azure dragon descend toward the Moby Dick. Feeling the dragon’s terrifying aura, the Squad Commanders immediately became somewhat tense. Marco and the others had already drawn their weapons, but Whitebeard merely raised a hand, signaling them to lower their guard.

The azure dragon landed on the ship and rapidly shrank. Soon, Yota appeared before the utterly stunned Whitebeard Pirates crew members.