After Blackbeard finished speaking, the entire ship fell silent once again.
Everyone's eyes kept moving back and forth between Teach and Marco.
Now that Whitebeard was dead, the only two people who truly had the qualifications and ability to become the new captain were the two of them.
One was Marco the Phoenix, who had followed Whitebeard the longest and was the most trusted by him.
The other was Marshall D. Teach, who was ambitious, yet possessed both strength and strategic ability.
The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.
Just then, Marco suddenly raised his head. On his pale and exhausted face appeared a bitter yet relieved smile.
"I support Teach becoming captain."
His voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear.
Everyone froze and looked at him in unison.
In terms of how long he had followed Whitebeard, Marco had actually been with him longer.
And compared with Teach's seemingly rough but careful nature, Marco, who had served the Whitebeard Pirates in every detail, was obviously more agreeable to everyone.
No one understood why Marco had chosen to give it up.
"Let's leave it at that."
Marco slowly stood up and walked step by step to Teach. Then, under everyone's shocked gaze, he lowered his head.
"From now on, whatever you say, Teach, I'll do it," Marco's voice was hoarse but firm, "I know I'm not cut out for it. I'm only suited to charging into battle behind Pops. I'm not suited to leading everyone forward."
He raised his head and looked at Teach, his eyes full of sincerity.
"Besides...", Marco took a deep breath, "Letting Teach become the new captain was Pops' dying wish in the first place. Before he died, he spoke to me privately. He said that if he died, he wanted Teach to replace him and lead everyone forward."
"Pops believed in you," Marco's voice was low, "I believe in you too."
Teach silently looked at Marco. After a long while, he slowly reached out and patted Marco on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Marco," Teach's voice rarely carried a trace of genuine emotion, "I won't let Pops down, and I won't betray your trust."
He turned around and faced everyone again, his voice loud:
"Anyone else have an objection?"
Silence...
No one answered.
On this ship, after Whitebeard's death, only Teach and Marco were qualified to lead everyone.
If it were anyone else, they would be the first to refuse.
Then, one after another, everyone lowered their heads.
"We're willing to follow Captain Teach!"
"Captain Teach!"
"Captain!"
One shout after another rang throughout the entire ship.
"Good! Since that's the case, from today onward, I am the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. Our name won't change, and our ideals won't change. We'll carry Pops' share with us and keep moving forward together."
He paused, then added.
"And...", His tone slowed slightly, "If anyone thinks the World Government is simply too powerful, doesn't want to be a pirate anymore, and wants to wash their hands of it all, you can come to me privately and tell me."
"I'll arrange everything for you, give you enough money and a way out. I won't make things difficult for anyone, and I won't let anyone know."
"We're brothers, not prisoners. You have the right to choose your own life."
Finally, Teach took a deep breath, then suddenly raised his right fist toward the sky and let out a roar that shook the heavens:
"Set sail!"
"""""Yes!""""
Everyone shouted in unison, their voices reaching into the sky.
The Moby Dick set sail once again.
The sails were raised, the bow split through the waves, and the ship sailed toward the distance.
And upon that flag fluttering in the wind, Whitebeard's symbol could still be clearly seen.
———
The Moby Dick sailed across the sea. Here, the focus shifted to the inside of the cabin.
The peripheral members of the Whitebeard Pirates had left. At this moment, only the core members remained inside the cabin.
"Everyone, although Pops has passed away, we still have to keep going."
Teach looked around at everyone, then his gaze finally landed on Marco, "I propose that Marco become our vice captain. If I do anything wrong in the future, he can supervise me. We're all brothers."
As soon as he said this, quite a few people present nodded in agreement.
"I'll pass. I couldn't save Juste, and I couldn't save Pops either."
But Marco stepped forward and waved his hand, looking utterly dejected. Clearly, he had already lost his spirit.
Smack!
Under everyone's shocked gaze, Teach raised his hand and slapped Marco across the face.
"Pops is already dead, and Juste is already dead. What the hell do you mean by us who are still alive not thinking about living properly and acting like we're looking for death? Are you still a pirate? Are you still our brother?"
Teach planted one foot on a chair, grabbed Marco by the collar, and gave him a furious tirade.
"Teach, that's enough, that's enough!"
Jozu hurried over from the side and grabbed Teach, while the other division commanders also came to their senses and rushed forward to pull them apart.
As everyone dragged him away, Teach released Marco along with the motion, but he was still cursing under his breath.
"Bah! If you're going to keep looking like this, go retire on your own, or find some quiet place and go keep Pops and Juste company in death."
What the hell.
He was the one who had the most right to be cursing, all right?
Originally, he had infiltrated the Whitebeard Pirates only to obtain information about the Yami Yami no Mi.
Now he had gotten the Yami Yami no Mi, but the era had suddenly changed as well.
In the era ruled by Rosse, there was simply no opportunity for him to run wild.
That was also why he had given up all his ambitions and stayed with the Whitebeard Pirates.
There was no longer any soil for causing trouble elsewhere, so he might as well inherit the Whitebeard Pirates' legacy and ultimately fight against the World Government to the very end.
To be honest, he didn't mind cooperating with the World Government, but deep down, he was still a pirate.
If he had to bow his head to the World Government just to survive, and there were no more pirates in this world, then what the hell was he still living for?
If it really came to that, he would kill himself faster than anyone else.
If you had no dreams, what difference was there between that and being dead?
Right now, he still wanted to become the Pirate King!
For that, he was willing to give up everything, even if it meant becoming an enemy of the World Government.
Perhaps because of that slap just now, Marco was much better than before. At least there was much more life in his eyes.
"I understand..."
Marco took a deep breath, "I'll be this vice captain until the day I die."
"Exactly. As long as you're alive, contribute to our pirate crew. While you're vice captain, you'll continue serving as the first division commander as well. As for Juste's former second division, I'll continue to be responsible for it."
Teach took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and looked at the others.
"Now, we should talk about what we think of the other pirates."
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, the others expressed their confusion.
"Back when Pops was around, we basically never had conflicts with the other pirate crews. Our relations with Shanks, the NEO Marines, and even the Revolutionary Army weren't bad. The money we gave them every year wasn't a small amount either."
As the former vice captain of the pirate crew, Teach naturally knew all about this.
Hearing him say this, the others subconsciously nodded.
"But..."
Teach changed his tone.
"When Pops went to save Juste this time, what did the others do?"
"The NEO Marines weren't bad!", Marco said hoarsely.
"Right, the NEO Marines weren't bad. They were decent enough. Every S-Class powerhouse went. What about the others?"
Teach asked in return, looking at everyone.
"The Revolutionary Army, we contacted them so many times every year, and in the end, we didn't even see their shadow. And then there's Shanks and that Straw Hat kid. Heh. If it weren't for them, regardless of what happened to Pops in the end, at least Juste definitely could have lived."
"Teach, the World Government's promise can't be trusted!", one of the division commanders objected.
"No, Teach is right. The World Government is our enemy, but at least they respected Pops. As for Shanks and Luffy, if they hadn't come, the ending might have been different," Marco clenched his fists.
He had been there at the time.
The World Government had originally promised that after Whitebeard died in battle, they would release Juste.
But because of Luffy's intrusion, all of that was ruined.
In fact, Juste had died entirely on the way to save Luffy.
Luffy and Juste might have had a deep brotherly bond, but in the eyes of brothers like them, who only had a relationship with Juste, Luffy had simply been acting recklessly.
If it weren't for Luffy, Juste might have survived.
"Damn, there really is a bastard like that!"
"Heh, if we'd known, we wouldn't have cooperated with them. Pops was just too kind back then."
"..."
After hearing Marco's words, everyone thought it over and felt that it was indeed true. They began cursing Luffy and Shanks.
"It's just that..."
Marco hesitated for a moment, then looked at everyone.
"Shanks said before that Luffy ate the Nika Fruit, and that he's also the Reincarnation of this generation, as well as our last hope."
"Do you think Luffy is reliable?", Teach asked in return.
Marco visibly hesitated at this.
"Not reliable."
He really couldn't bring himself to say something against his conscience. Judging from Luffy's performance on the battlefield, it was simply painful to watch.
Especially the way he transformed and suddenly started laughing after Juste died. Even Marco found it unsettling.
How could he possibly think someone like that was reliable?
"Then do you think that, when it comes to Nika, is the fruit more important, or the person?", Teach asked again.
He had already thought about many things before in order to turn the tables.
In the end, he really had come up with a way.
"What if we obtained the Nika Fruit, and I ate it?", Teach grinned.
That's right. This was the method he had thought of.
Extract the Nika Fruit from Luffy's body, then have him eat it.
The Gura Gura no Mi was nothing compared to these divine-level fruits.
If he had a choice, he actually wanted Rosse's Sea God Fruit even more.
Unfortunately, that one was untouchable.
"What? You have a way?"
Marco suddenly stood up, while the others also looked at Teach in surprise.
Everyone knew that one person couldn't eat two Devil Fruits. That was a law of the sea.
And there was another law.
After a person died, their fruit would randomly appear somewhere in the world.
Even if they could kill Luffy, there was no guarantee they would obtain the Nika Fruit.
"I have a way to obtain someone's fruit after killing them. And I can eat a second Devil Fruit!"
Teach looked around at everyone and revealed his trump card.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!", said Rakuyo, the seventh division commander, excitedly.
"Exactly. A fruit this important shouldn't be in the hands of a useless kid!"
The other commanders also voiced their agreement.
If there were no choice, they could only accept it.
But now there was a choice, and obtaining the fruit could strengthen one of their own, while they also disliked Luffy. There was no need to think about it much before making the choice.
Marco pondered for a moment before also giving an affirmative answer, "If you're confident, we can give it a try. But what about Shanks?"
Something that could allow them to turn the tables would be best kept in their own hands.
He had also heard some things about Luffy's adventures on the NEO Marines' side recently.
That could no longer be described as simply being reckless.
If the World Government hadn't been giving way to them, this group would probably have died long ago.
"Shanks?"
Teach snorted coldly, "There's no need to think too much about him. Did he really choose Luffy because he values Luffy? He had no other choice. We only need to do our own thing. He'll make the right choice."
He had already seen through Shanks.
If Luffy died, the Nika Fruit would disappear without a trace.
Then Luffy would be Shanks' last hope, and he would protect Luffy to the death.
But if Shanks could confirm that the Nika Fruit could be extracted, then he would be the boldest one of all.
Who knew, if this method were in Shanks' hands, perhaps he would take the initiative to extract the Nika Fruit and eat it himself.
After experiencing so many things alongside an innocent reckless brat, Teach didn't believe Shanks couldn't feel tired.
"Good!"
Marco nodded heavily.
He had no reason to refuse the plan Teach had proposed.
"Should we go find their location right now and kill Luffy?"
"No rush. They'll have to come to the New World eventually. We'll wait until they reach our territory. There's still a long way to go before the final Laugh Tale," Teach grinned.
"Fine. It'll probably take me about half a month to recover from my injuries. If you need me then, I can charge at the very front," Marco stated his position.
"Haha, of course we won't be missing you then. Take good care of your injuries. With your Devil Fruit ability, you should be back on your feet very soon," Teach laughed loudly.
Everything had gone very smoothly.
Becoming the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates was simply an inevitable process. Teach had never cared about it.
After Whitebeard's death, the Whitebeard Pirates no longer had much value.
To put it bluntly, all the people on this ship combined might even be weaker than him.
But in the end, the Whitebeard Pirates were still a major power, and they could make many things easier for him.
He also needed this identity as his ticket into the great events of the future.
The future would be even more exciting.
Just wait. The era belonging to pirates was far from over.
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