Teach closed the receiver of the Transponder Snail and stared out the cabin window, a faint smirk curling across his face.
"Modern Island… Kraken Kingdom," he muttered, his gaze distant as his thoughts turned.
After a long pause, he rose from his chair and strode outside.
"Set course for the nearest island. We'll buy a full map of the West Blue then head for Modern Island, the great trading hub of this sea," he announced, grin widening.
"Woo-hoo! A new journey begins!"
The crew roared in unison, scattering to their posts. The Nightfall Pirates' ships turned their bows west, slicing through the calm waters toward the nearest island.
Compared to the East Blue, Marine presence in the West was much weaker and often compromised. In this sea, it wasn't unusual for officers to secretly work with underworld forces.
For Teach, this wasn't unfamiliar territory. During his early years under Whitebeard, he had followed the old man across every corner of the world, he had seen both the West and North Blue before returning to the New World, where the seas had since grown far more chaotic.
Their destination was Croatia Island, a bustling trade port near Reverse Mountain. Once an ordinary settlement, it had exploded into prosperity since the dawn of the Great Pirate Era. Merchants, bounty hunters, and pirates mingled in the same streets, each chasing their own version of fortune.
The Nightfall Pirates needed supplies and rest. After weeks at sea, even the sturdiest hulls and stomachs were running on fumes.
Three massive ships sailed into view, their flags, three skulls wreathed in flame and night, snapping in the wind.
"The Nightfall Pirates! They've actually come to the West Blue!"
The rumor spread through the island like wildfire. By the time the ships dropped anchor, the port was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with onlookers.
The Lucky Goddess held the center berth, flanked by its sister ships. Teach stood at the rail, scanning the crowd with an amused grin.
"Let's go ashore. Gar, Wallace, guard the ships," he said.
The murmuring crowd rippled with excitement.
"Look! The Nightfall Pirates are disembarking!"
"They're huge! Every one of them looks dangerous."
"What'd you expect? Their captain used to serve under Whitebeard himself, the legendary pirate!"
But envy breeds noise faster than admiration.
"Tch. 'Former Whitebeard crew'? Probably got kicked out for being weak."
"East Blue trash. That's the weakest sea, what kind of monster could come from there?"
"They're probably too scared to enter the Grand Line, so they ran here!"
Their words reeked of jealousy and arrogance.
A few bounty hunters melted into the alleys, eyes gleaming with greed. Teach's bounty alone was enough to set them for life—and others saw opportunity in targeting smaller prey.
"Heh, I'll take the girl. Seventy-two million Berries, easy," whispered one hunter, steadying his rifle on a rooftop.
He never got a second shot.
Bang!
The first bullet screamed across the port toward Pito, who was cheerfully munching on fried fish. She didn't flinch. Instead, she raised a small hand, catching the bullet midair. Smoke curled from between her fingers as she opened her palm.
At the same instant, Van Augur had already reacted. His Observation Haki spread like a ripple through the air, locking onto the sniper's location.
One fluid motion, shoulder, aim, fire.
Bang!
Two shots. One kill.
A figure toppled from a rooftop, landing in a heap on the cobblestones below. A neat hole ran clean through his forehead. Silence rippled across the port.
Pito let the captured bullet fall to the ground with a metallic ting.
The crowd instinctively stepped back. The Nightfall Pirates' calm retaliation had chilled their blood.
Now everyone understood why these pirates had survived the East Blue's siege and made it this far.
From that moment, no one else dared make a move.
Elsewhere, in a dimly lit tavern, another pirate crew had already claimed the space. Their captain sat at the head table, a towering man with purple, onion-shaped hair, sharp teeth, and small horns that glinted under the lamplight.
This was "Gecko" Gecko Moria, captain of the Gecko Pirates—known across the West Blue as its strongest crew. His bounty: 115 million Berries.
The door suddenly burst open.
"Captain! Captain Moria!"
A panting subordinate stumbled in, ignoring the angry curses of the men whose drinks he'd spilled. "The Nightfall Pirates have arrived on the island!"
"Oh?" Moria's grin spread wide, his small eyes gleaming. "Teach came to the West Blue, huh?"
"Captain, you know him?" one of his men asked.
"We crossed paths once in Loguetown," Moria replied, pushing back his chair and standing to his full height. "Let's go greet him. There's something I want to ask."
The Gecko Pirates poured out of the tavern. Word spread fast.
"The Gecko Pirates are heading to the port!"
"Are they going to clash with the Nightfall Pirates?"
"Let's go watch!"
The mob followed eagerly, sensing a spectacle.
When Teach heard the murmurs around him, he raised an eyebrow.
"Moria's on this island too?" he said, amused. He had assumed the man would already have entered the Grand Line by now.
His Observation Haki swept forward, tracing the distinct presences moving closer. Beside him, Pito, Nelson, and Van Augur all turned their heads, alert but when Teach's expression stayed relaxed, they stood down.
In the middle of the crowded street, the two pirate captains finally met.
"Moria!"
"Teach!"
They stopped five meters apart, the air between them thick with unspoken rivalry. Behind each stood their respective crews—the Nightfall Pirates and the Gecko Pirates—staring each other down, grinning like wolves.
The tension was palpable.
Onlookers held their breath. If a fight broke out, the entire port could be leveled.
Moria's crew was larger by far—over four thousand men—but Teach's crew radiated a far heavier presence.
Yet instead of a clash, the two captains ended up sharing drinks in a nearby tavern, their men dispersing around the town.
"Go on, Moria," Teach said, leaning back with a mug in hand. "What did you want to ask?"
"Teach, you're from the New World, aren't you? You sailed under Whitebeard himself, hehehehehe!" Moria's laugh rattled the bottles on the shelves.
Teach glanced at him, smirking. "And?"
"I want your opinion." Moria leaned forward, grin widening. "How strong do you think my crew would be in the New World?"
Teach nearly spit out his drink. "Your personal strength, or your entire crew's?"
The question hung heavy in the air. Moria's smile stiffened. Even standing nearly seven meters tall, he felt a weight pressing down on him.
Teach's gaze sharpened. The tavern seemed to shrink around him.
"Both," Moria said finally. "Tell me."
Teach nodded. "Individually, you're about Vice Admiral level. If the Marines ever put a price on your head after the New World… five, maybe six hundred million Berries, tops. You're still growing, but compared to Admirals or the real monsters of that sea, you're nowhere close."
He raised his glass again. "Even with your strange ability, a head-on fight against them would end in an instant, you'd die before you knew what hit you."
As he spoke, a crushing pressure rolled off him—dark, suffocating, heavy as the deep sea. The tavern floor creaked and warped beneath his boots. For a heartbeat, the room was swallowed by an abyssal blackness, as if gravity itself bowed to Teach's will.
Then, as suddenly as it came, the darkness vanished. Moria gasped for breath, his heart pounding.
"What… what was that?" he managed, still trembling.
Teach shook his head. "You'll understand when you reach the New World. Maybe you'll awaken something like it yourself, someday."
He poured another drink. "I just wanted to remind you of the difference between us, and the difference between me and those waiting beyond. I'm not ready to challenge them yet. In the New World, monsters walk among men. Many of them can destroy islands without trying."
He smiled grimly. "At best, I'd rank upper-middle tier there."
Moria was silent for a long moment, then burst out laughing.
"Hehehehehe! Fair enough. I'm still far from my peak. I'll just have to keep climbing!" His optimism returned as quickly as it had faltered. "Then tell me, what about my crew?"
Teach chuckled. "You already know the answer. Try sensing it yourself."
Moria blinked, then closed his eyes. His Observation Haki spread outward and his expression darkened almost instantly. The ordinary Nightfall crewmen pulsed with strength far above his own subordinates. Numbers alone meant nothing against that kind of power.
Now he understood how Teach's crew had survived impossible odds—winning battles where they were outnumbered ten to one.
Pure, overwhelming strength.
Teach leaned forward slightly. "You know the Whitebeard Pirates' strength, right? When I left, the crew numbered around a thousand. Excluding Whitebeard himself, every division commander had a bounty over a hundred million. Even the average sailor, though not wanted, could fight at a fifty-million level."
He set his cup down with a clink. "And that's just the core crew not counting their allied captains, each with bounties in the hundreds of millions. If Whitebeard's men are the standard, you can imagine the rest of the New World."
Moria's grin returned, though this time it was tempered by awe.
"Hehehehehe… so that's the level of monsters we'll be facing."
Teach smirked. "Welcome to the real sea."