Something abnormal appeared at the top of the page.
The spot that had originally belonged to the Fleet Admiral now held a different group of people.
The killing across Marineford didn't stop because of it, but anyone near the center of the plaza noticed the shift.
At the front stood a bloated man.
Missing a few teeth, black hair all over his belly, three guns tucked at his waist, a liquor bottle in his hand.
Marshall D. Teach.
The figures behind him were even stranger.
A massive body that nearly occupied half the execution platform—Sanjuan Wolf.
Lafitte with a cane.
Shiryu smoking a cigar.
They wore black-and-white striped prison uniforms.
Death row inmates from Level 6 of Impel Down.
Teach tipped the rum into his mouth, liquor spilling through his beard down to his chest.
"Zehahahaha!"
The laugh rolled down from the execution platform.
Whitebeard stilled his movements.
The blade of Murakumogiri still carried the lingering warmth of Haki.
Newgate turned his head and saw the man who had once spent decades aboard his ship.
Teach spread his arms, looking down at the battlefield from above.
"Long time no see. Being able to meet you one last time before you die… that's really great, Pops!"
Newgate didn't speak.
The arm holding Murakumogiri swelled with muscle, veins bulging.
This was the murderer of Thatch.
The culprit who had handed Ace over to the Navy.
Teach stared at the wounds on White Beard's body still bleeding, and the magma burn across his chest, already blackened.
"Zehahahaha! Look at you now, Pops! You're old! Since you couldn't save Ace, and you couldn't save your sons… then why not hand your power to me!"
Teach jumped down from the platform. The Blackbeard Pirates followed.
When they landed, the ground shook, and marines and pirates alike backed away.
No one dared approach these monsters crawling up from hell.
Teach stared at Newgate, greed filling his eyes.
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit… in your hands, it's a waste. I'll use it properly for you—in this new era!"
Newgate raised Murakumogiri, the blade pointing at Teach.
"Teach. You're the only one who was never worthy of being my son."
Teach's grin froze.
He yanked a pistol from his waist and pulled the trigger at Newgate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets struck Newgate's body.
Blood burst out.
Newgate didn't dodge. This kind of attack meant nothing to him.
Teach threw the empty gun aside.
"Still so arrogant, Pops."
He lifted his right hand.
Black smoke spilled from his palm.
It didn't drift away—instead it flowed along his arm like liquid and dripped onto the ground.
The stone beneath began to blacken.
Hard slabs were coated by that black liquid… and then collapsed.
"Kurouzu."
Darkness spread outward.
Rubble, corpses, weapons—anything that touched the black smoke sank instantly into it.
A brutal gravitational pull erupted from Teach's body, and Newgate's frame swayed.
Teach laughed.
"Feel it? This is the most vicious power among Logia—Dark-Dark Fruit! Before darkness, all abilities are meaningless!"
On a distant tower, Shinju watched.
A blue system screen unfolded before his eyes, data streams refreshing like madness.
Target locked: Marshall D. Teach
Ability analysis: Logia — Dark-Dark Fruit
Trait breakdown: gravitational singularity, ability nullification on touch
Weakness scan: double pain received, no special physical defense boost, ability requires contact/physical medium
"Analysis complete. Syncing data."
The command was sent out through the system.
On the other side of the battlefield, Hashirama was forming seals when new information suddenly appeared in his mind—
Darkness. Gravity. And the weaknesses of that fat man.
Hashirama looked toward the tower, then nodded once.
Useful intel.
If you knew the enemy's foundation, handling it became simple.
Teach kept releasing darkness.
The black Whirlpool grew larger and larger, nearly swallowing half the plaza.
"Come on, Pops! Let me see how long you can last once you lose the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"
Teach stretched out a hand toward Newgate.
"Kurozu!"
A massive suction force latched onto Newgate.
His feet carved two deep trenches across the stone.
His body was dragged forward, flying toward Teach against his will.
Teach raised his fist.
If he touched White Beard, he could seal the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power—then smash this relic of the old era with one punch.
White Beard prepared to swing Murakumogiri.
Even without his fruit, his combat skill was still the strongest in the world.
At the instant the two were about to collide—
The ground split.
Several thick tree roots erupted upward, wrapped in chakra, hard as steel.
Teach's darkness devoured forward.
The bark on the roots began to wither, swallowed by the black.
But the roots were too thick—
And they were still growing like mad.
Teach's Kurozu could only absorb what it touched. It couldn't instantly swallow up something that kept growing endlessly like this.
A figure landed atop the roots.
Hashirama pressed his hands together.
"Mokuton: Hōbi no Jutsu."
More wood surged out, forming a gigantic demon-face shield that slammed into Teach and sent him flying.
Teach rolled across the ground, spat out dirt, and screamed.
"It hurts! It hurts like hell!"
The Dark-Dark Fruit's side effect made him feel double pain.
He clutched his chest and glared at Hashirama.
"Who the hell are you? Why are you getting in my way?!"
Hashirama stood atop the head of a wooden dragon.
He didn't answer.
Shinju's intel was accurate.
This black fat man's ability was bizarre, but his close-combat skill and defense weren't top-tier—and he was extremely afraid of pain.
As long as you didn't let him grab you, broad physical attacks could suppress him.
Wood Style was perfect against a power that needed touch to activate.
Hashirama glanced back at Newgate.
"Whitebeard. Leave this guy to me."
Newgate recognized him—the same man who had been fighting him earlier.
"Nosy."
He said it, but he lowered Murakumogiri.
His condition really was awful. That pull just now had aggravated internal injuries.
Hashirama turned back to Teach.
"Your ability is dangerous. I can't let you run wild…"
Teach straightened, and the Blackbeard Pirates closed in behind him.
Shiryu drew his blade.
"Captain. Want us to go together?"
Teach wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
He looked at the massive wooden dragon under Hashirama's feet, then at Whitebeard watching nearby.
The plan had been to ambush Whitebeard while he was weak.
Now there was a monster who could grow forests.
And that monster clearly knew the Dark-Dark Fruit's weakness—he wasn't letting Teach get close even once.
Teach began calculating the odds.
Marineford was too chaotic: the Navy, the Whitebeard Pirates, and now this group of sudden otherworldly powerhouses.
On the tower's edge, Shinju felt the farce below had gone on long enough.
Blackbeard's appearance was just a small interruption.
This world's collapse was already sufficient.
The system had gathered enough causality points.
Shinju raised his hand.
A mass of chakra formed in his palm.
It was black.
A Truth-Seeking Ball—purer and more dangerous than Teach's darkness.
"Since all the actors are here…"
With the system amplifying his voice, Shinju's words spread across all of Marineford.
Everyone froze.
"Then I'll resolve it all at once."
The Truth-Seeking Ball shot forward.
The black sphere expanded, blotting out the sky.
Marineford fell beneath true shadow.
Teach stared at the black sphere overhead, his body going rigid.
As a Dark-Dark Fruit user, he was the most sensitive to this kind of power.
It was a force countless dimensions above his Kurouzu.
"W… what kind of joke is this…"
He took a step back, sweat pouring from his forehead.
Hashirama canceled his Wood Style and felt Shinju's chakra.
That scale had already surpassed the human category.
"So this is Shinju's power…"
Hashirama muttered.
Newgate looked up and laughed once.
"Gurararara… what a crazy era."
The black sphere descended slowly.
The execution platform began to collapse.
Solid stone turned to powder the instant it touched that black field.
Marines threw down their weapons and fled.
Pirates screamed and charged for the harbor.
Order completely disintegrated.
Shinju watched it all, with no intention of stopping.
This world needed a reset.
Only after absolute destruction could a new order be built—
His order.
Teach clenched his teeth.
He wasn't willing.
After waiting so long, after finally obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit—how could it end here?
"I don't believe it! Dark Pit!"
Teach slammed both hands to the ground, unleashing all his darkness.
A black pillar roared up, trying to block the descending Truth-Seeking Ball.
Black against black.
Teach's darkness, before the Truth-Seeking Ball, was like a stream meeting the sea—
It dissolved instantly.
The sphere continued to fall.
Teach stared up in despair.
Even a fruit that could nullify all abilities meant nothing before absolute mass.
Shinju withdrew his gaze.
The ending was decided.
This Paramount War would end in a way no one could have imagined.
Not a Navy victory.
Not a pirate victory.
But the descent of a god.
(End of Chapter)
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