"Have they already discovered us?" Teach chuckled softly, sensing a powerful aura quietly gathering ahead. It carried deep malevolence, raw rage, and seething hatred.
He had not expected Vice Admiral Brom to hate him to this extent.
Observation Haki could perceive emotions. While Teach had not reached the level of judging good and evil directly, his Observation Haki was already top tier. Whether it was wide-range perception, near-future awareness, predictive intuition, or the combined ability to "see" distant objects, his overall mastery was anything but weak.
If Brom had concealed his emotions even slightly, Teach would not have sensed them. But this hatred was completely undisguised, overflowing without restraint. For a brief moment, Teach genuinely wondered if he had done something truly unforgivable.
Had he killed Brom's son? A grandson? Or destroyed something deeply personal?
The thought crossed his mind and vanished just as quickly.
There was no point dwelling on the feelings of someone who was already dead in his eyes.
The fleets of the Nightfall Pirates and the Marines steadily closed the distance between them, Teach and Brom locking gazes across the sea.
They had crossed paths more than once before. Brom had pursued them relentlessly in the past, only to be recalled before the great war in the New World. Months had passed since their last encounter.
Now, however, Brom was clearly different.
A thick killing intent clung to him, the residue of battles from the New World that had never fully faded. His presence was heavier, sharper. His base strength had increased.
That alone surprised Teach.
This was not simply borrowed power. Teach studied him carefully. Either Brom had gained a powerful Devil Fruit, or he had broken through his own limits.
If it was the latter, that would be genuinely impressive.
Human potential was infinite in theory, yet bound by brutal limits in practice. Breaking those limits was extraordinarily difficult. Marine training itself was built around repeatedly shattering physical boundaries. Each limit broken revealed a higher one, and each became harder to overcome.
Why did Kaido repeatedly attempt suicide? Because extreme situations forced growth. They were attempts to shatter limits.
Teach understood this well. His own training followed the same philosophy. These were not limits of potential, but limits of the body.
Devil Fruits, however, raised a person's ceiling outright.
Some people with mediocre talent could experience explosive growth after consuming a Devil Fruit. It was nothing unusual.
Now, Brom radiated danger. Teach narrowed his eyes slightly. This aura could only belong to the Crush-Crush Fruit.
"Teach, today is your doomsday!" Brom roared, his glare burning with fury. "How dare you sail straight toward us."
The sight of five pirate ships advancing directly toward the Marine fleet ignited his rage completely.
The Marines were the rulers of the seas. Pirates were supposed to flee. If not for the vast scale of Marine operations, even two Emperors joining forces would struggle against them.
The Nightfall Pirates were simply too arrogant.
"So what?" Teach grinned. "The blades of the Nightfall Pirates haven't tasted blood in a while."
"Arrogant fool," Brom sneered. "I won't even give you the chance to see Impel Down. You and your entire crew will be buried in this sea."
"Hahaha!" Teach laughed loudly, stretching his arms. Facing five Marine Headquarters warships, he bent his knees slightly.
In the next instant, he vanished.
Only a handful of people could track his movement. His speed was overwhelming.
Teach reappeared in mid-air between the two fleets, suspended as if standing upon nothing. He reached behind his back and drew his great sword, Dragon Abyss.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he raised it high.
"Consider this a greeting," Teach said with a grin. "Try to catch it."
"Dragon Abyss: Dragon's Roar!"
The blade came down in a single, overwhelming swing.
A massive silver slash tore through the sky, transforming into a roaring white dragon. Shockwaves rippled outward as if the heavens themselves were trembling.
This was a true swordsman's strike, reinforced by Teach's monstrous strength. It rivaled the slash of a Great Swordsman.
The white dragon descended toward the Marine fleet. Some Marines stared in horror as the looming attack swallowed their vision. Others shut their eyes, overwhelmed by fear and the blinding brilliance of the blade.
At the critical moment, Brom moved.
Using Geppo, he launched himself skyward, charging directly into the oncoming dragon.
"Hmph. Shatter."
Brom swung his arm in a wide arc. His fist, coated in Haki, carried terrifying crushing power. Ripples of distortion formed around it as destruction condensed into a single point.
Boom!
The collision shook the sky.
Light exploded outward, accompanied by the roar of the dragon and the sound of space fracturing. The white dragon shattered, breaking apart into countless fragments of fading light.
Shockwaves rippled across the sea. Calm waters erupted into chaos as towering waves rolled outward. Pirate ships and warships alike pitched violently. Marines and pirates who failed to brace themselves were thrown across decks, some tumbling into the ocean.
The aftershocks swept across the battlefield. Some Marines collapsed instantly, clutching their heads in agony. The Nightfall Pirates fared far better. Only two slipped into the sea, already scrambling back aboard.
The difference was clear.
Marine elites varied widely in strength. Some were only marginally stronger than ordinary soldiers, while others could defeat pirates worth over a hundred million Berries.
Garp's subordinates were another matter entirely. Trained directly by the Hero of the Marines, many of them could reach Lieutenant Commander upon leaving his ship, with the strongest advancing even further. Hidden monsters existed within the ranks.
Even so, sheer numbers meant nothing against the Nightfall Pirates.
They had endured brutal training under double gravity, combined with relentless drills that hardened both body and will.
"I never knew the Captain was a swordsman," Laffitte remarked softly, watching Teach. "I assumed those swords were just decorations."
"A powerful strike," Pouf mused as he hovered in the air. "But compared to the Captain's physical combat, it still falls short. That's probably why he rarely uses swordsmanship."
"You're missing something," Redyat said calmly. "His claw techniques carry sword intent. He hasn't abandoned swordsmanship. He's refined it."
"So that's it," Pouf murmured. "Monstrous."
In the sky, Brom's punch finally shattered the last remnants of the dragon. The backlash sent him flying backward several hundred meters before he slammed onto the deck of a warship.
"The battle has begun," Brom barked immediately. "Teach is mine. Deal with the rest of the Nightfall Pirates."
"Yes, Vice Admiral!" A Rear Admiral responded, drawing his blade. "All units, prepare to fire. Sink them!"
Brom focused solely on Teach. "You're dying today."
He launched himself forward again.
Teach sheathed Dragon Abyss. An invisible force pulled his body forward, dragging him through the air to meet Brom head-on.
Brom punched.
The crushing power detonated through the sky, fracturing the air into countless cracks. Anything caught within it would be reduced to dust.
The Crush-Crush Fruit worked on a microscopic level, unlike the Chop-Chop Fruit's macroscopic separation. Its destructive potential was far more absolute.
Teach reacted instantly.
Black mist surged from his body, forming a massive curtain in front of him.
The crushing force tore through it.
Teach's expression sharpened. Armament Haki coated his body as black mist wrapped around him like armor. The curtain shattered, and the remaining force slammed into him, hurling him backward.
He skidded through the air for hundreds of meters, but he was uninjured.
The black mist had absorbed part of the attack. The rest had been stopped by Haki.
"So it can be absorbed," Teach thought. "Just not completely."
For physical objects, his darkness could devour everything. Abilities were different.
The reason was clear.
The pull was not strong enough.
A true black hole devoured all things. His gravity still had room to grow.
Brom charged again, exhilarated. "Die!"
Another punch followed, crushing the air itself.
This time, Teach did not retreat.
He extended his hand.
Black mist surged outward and reshaped itself, forming a massive, crude gate. At its center, a dark vortex spun violently, radiating terrifying gravitational force.
A Gate of Darkness.
"Black Hole."
The crushing power rushed forward, only to be dragged inward. The attack visibly shrank, compressed and devoured by the vortex at the gate's center.
Brom's eyes widened in disbelief.
His proud power vanished into nothingness, swallowed whole.
The Gate of Darkness remained unchanged, spinning silently as if waiting for more.
For the first time, doubt flickered across Brom's face.