Teach's voice carried through the Den Den Mushi and swept across the entire kingdom. Every citizen heard it clearly, and the shock that rippled through the capital was immediate. Those with sharp memories recalled what Teach had told Jones before the war began: he had come to the Kraken Kingdom for something specific.
Now they understood.
The Nightfall Pirates had stormed the capital for a single Devil Fruit.
But what kind of power could merit such an invasion? Many had heard of the fabled Dark-Dark Fruit, yet this was their first time seeing it in person.
Teach did not bother with theatrics. He gripped the fruit and chomped into it again and again, ignoring the foul taste. Devil Fruits were famous for being vile, and this one was no exception, but Teach forced it down without flinching. A few observant crew members noticed his throat trembling as he swallowed, which made them smile despite themselves.
Jones knew the Dark-Dark Fruit by reputation. It was powerful but carried severe drawbacks. He never expected the Nightfall Pirates to tear apart his ceremony and assault the capital simply for this fruit. There had been no prior grudge. The realization only fueled his anger.
Even so, he felt confident. Devil Fruits needed time to master, and this one came with dangerous weaknesses. As far as he was concerned, Teach had only made himself easier to defeat. The thought made him scoff internally.
He had no idea how wrong he was.
Teach felt the new power settling inside him. It was familiar, as though he had trained with it for years. He had already mapped out every direction he intended to develop the fruit, using the knowledge from his past life and his current strength as a foundation.
Darkness began to rise from his body like smoke. His hands turned pitch black, and swirling mist coiled around him, spreading across the ground in rolling waves.
"Devour everything. Destroy everything. Witness the darkness that crushes all," Teach roared. "The infinite gravity of a black hole that reduces everything to nothing."
He raised both hands. "Now watch closely."
The darkness extended. Everyone who watched felt a sickening pull, an unseen force tugging at their bodies and instincts alike.
Air whipped into violent currents. Those currents spiraled into hurricanes strong enough to hurl debris across the capital. Yet all of it rushed toward Teach, as if he were the eye of a colossal storm.
Stones, rubble, and shattered tiles lifted from the ground and hurtled toward him. A black barrier formed around his body, wrapped in swirling mist. Every object that struck it vanished without a trace.
Teach had created a dark space within himself, the core of his ability. Everything he absorbed was pulled inside, compressed, and crushed. Nothing could be stored. Nothing survived.
The black mist he released carried the same destructive compression. Houses touched by it collapsed instantly. Streets sank. The destruction spread outward in a widening circle.
"Whoa, that power is insane. Should we run?" Laffitte flapped upward on fresh wings, only for his face to twist as gravity yanked him downward again.
"No need. The mist is avoiding us," Wallace said calmly. "The captain is controlling it. And right after eating the fruit too."
He was right. The black mist avoided the crew and the citizens of the royal city. Teach's Observation Haki allowed perfect control over the spreading darkness.
A stronger gravitational force burst from Teach's body. The sky dimmed as if night had fallen.
"He is absorbing light?" Redyat stared in disbelief. A pale glow shimmered around Teach. It was not emitted by him but was light being pulled into his darkness and crushed.
Jones's massive octopus body was already caught. The black mist wrapped around his tentacles before he could react. The short distance and the speed of the dark mist left him no room to dodge.
He struggled desperately, but his limbs would not move. The gravity locked him in place.
Teach laughed with unrestrained delight. Inside the darkness, movement felt impossible. It was like sinking into a real black hole. Jones's body had begun to descend inch by inch.
Bond, the former king, had also fallen in. He had tried to escape the hurricane, but the downward pull sucked him into the darkness. Terrified, he watched his own descent, unable to flap his wings or fight the pressure.
Even someone strong might fail to escape this trap. Teach doubted that anyone on his level could break free after being swallowed.
The Dark-Dark Fruit granted the gravity of darkness. At its core, it represented two major development paths: black holes and gravity manipulation.
Teach had become a walking singularity. Infinite gravity surged from his body, ready to devour everything in reach.
If he were not absurdly strong, why would he have chosen this fruit? Its weaknesses meant nothing to a monster who could endure the pain. The inability to become intangible was irrelevant. The doubled damage was something he simply had to tolerate.
Besides, the Dark-Dark Fruit offered an absolute form of defense. He could absorb all damage as long as he endured the pain that came with it.
as the darkness extended even more, swallowing the entire royal palace and reaching outward. He could have extended it farther. In truth, Teach now had the power to obliterate the entire royal city with one move. But he held back. This kingdom was about to become his territory under the Tirisfal banner. One palace was enough to demonstrate his strength. The old one would need to go anyway.
The sky dimmed further. Light itself was drawn into Teach's body until he shone with a faint halo that gradually vanished.
He even guided the darkness away from valuable areas such as the treasury. It contained treasures, and the Nightfall Pirates needed money. No point crushing their future profits.
And this was only the beginning. Everything until now was just the introduction.
The unconscious guards scattered around the palace had already been dragged in and crushed.
The storm raged. The darkness thickened.
Teach spread his arms. "Now, sink into the black hole. Darkness Vortex!"
This was the technique known in the original story as Black Hole, now enhanced. Anything touched by this darkness was dragged down, compressed, and pulverized with absolute force. Teach had layered an infinite gravitational pull on top of it to strengthen the effect.
The moment his voice fell, reality seemed to crack. The gravitational field shifted into a violent downward pull. Buildings buckled. People fell to their knees. Everything sank and vanished into the abyss beneath him.
The domain of darkness spun into a colossal vortex. The sight alone made the onlookers stumble backward in horror.
Jones screamed as the parts of his tentacles caught in the darkness were crushed and ripped away forever.
The vortex devoured everything. Buildings that had stood for generations vanished. Every structure inside the black field was consumed.
Then the darkness began to contract. The mist drew inward like a tide retreating from shore, folding back into Teach's body.
When the black haze lifted, the gasps rose immediately.
"The royal palace. It is gone!"
The grand palace that had dominated the capital was erased. Only a few scattered buildings survived, and even the towering city walls had vanished. A barren wasteland stretched where the palace once stood.
The sight filled the crowd with dread.
"That power is unbelievable," Redyat whispered.
The other crew members were equally stunned. They could only wonder what had become of the palace that had vanished.
Teach answered their unspoken question.
He no longer cared about Jones. The severed tentacles alone would take ages to heal. Jones could not escape either. The darkness would pull at the body of any Devil Fruit user, no matter how far they fled.
Teach had already locked onto him. Once caught, Jones's abilities would be nullified. Without them, he stood no chance against Teach's physical strength.
"Where is my palace?!" Jones screamed. The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony of seeing a century-old symbol of his kingdom erased.
Teach burst into laughter. "You want to see your palace? Then take a good look."
He lifted both arms. "Release!"
A massive vortex of darkness appeared behind him. From it, a storm of shattered stone and compressed debris erupted into the sky. Fragments rained down like a shower of mangled rubble. Everything Teach had swallowed was expelled back into the world.
The vortex faded, leaving the ruins of the palace scattered in a grotesque heap.
It was not a ruin so much as a junkyard.
Jones stared in disbelief. Tears streamed down his face. Even his son's death had not broken him like this.
Amid the debris lay corpses of royal guards, crushed and dismembered. Some heads, some limbs, some mangled torsos. A few still wore expressions frozen in terror.
Several onlookers recoiled or vomited at the sight.
Teach's darkness possessed infinite crushing power, far more refined than in the original work. With precise control, he had amplified it until almost nothing remained intact.
Only one person had survived.
Bond, the Great Eagle Zoan user, lay broken amid the wreckage. His Ancient Zoan body had kept him alive, but barely. Several bones were shattered, and his breathing was shallow. Even so, he had endured the dark space and lived.