Shortly after the Troupe entered the Drum Kingdom, a group of uninvited guests also landed on the other side of Drum Island's coast.
The leader of the group was missing two front teeth, had a rough appearance, dense body hair, a thick black beard, and a savage grin on his face. His eyes shone with unconcealed greed and ambition.
He was one of the future Four Emperors, Luffy's fated enemy, the son of Rocks (the overlord of the previous "Era of Strong Fathers")—Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach.
Following Teach were five people, one more than the Blackbeard Pirates had at this point in the original story.
A burly berserker wearing a wrestler's mask—user of the Paramecia-type: Strong-Strong Fruit, Jesus Burgess.
A pale-faced, sickly-looking "Demon Sheriff" with white wings on his back, skilled in negotiation and hypnosis, Laffitte.
A sniper wearing a strange hat, an eyepatch over his right eye, and a black cape—user of the Paramecia-type: Warp-Warp Fruit, Van Augur.
A boat doctor with a sickly appearance, often riding a sick horse—user of the Paramecia-type: Sick-Sick Fruit, Doc Q.
And the last one... a tall, red-haired man with a tear mole under his eye, dressed in a clown-like poker outfit, looking around with a relaxed expression.
If Chrollo were here, he would definitely be surprised, because this last extra person...
Was the Magician—Hisoka.
However, if Chrollo knew that Blackbeard had recruited Hisoka—the Troupe's former traitor and the "engine of team destruction"—into his crew, he would definitely clap his hands in applause.
Teach is done for in this life...
The thing Chrollo forgot about the Drum Kingdom was precisely...
In the original story, after the Blackbeard Pirates set sail, they attacked this place, causing King Wapol to flee and leaving the Drum Kingdom in a state of near-collapse and emptiness.
"Zehahaha!" Looking at the snowy land ahead, a savage grin appeared on Teach's lips.
"Finally here—"
"Captain, what's our purpose here? Are we going to kill everyone?"
Burgess revealed an excited smile; he could hardly wait to tear everything in front of him to shreds.
"Purpose, huh..." Teach licked his lips, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"The king of this island is a Munch-Munch Fruit user."
"This ability... if developed properly, is quite formidable. We are here to receive this gift."
"Munch-Munch Fruit?" Burgess looked a bit puzzled. "Is there anything special about this fruit?"
Teach's eyes flickered with light as he nodded. "If the records in the illustrated handbook are correct, this fruit has a very high ceiling. We must get it!"
He paused, his tone becoming cruel and casual: "But after that... do whatever you want."
"That's great~ My favorite thing to do is torture and kill the weak—"
Burgess cracked his knuckles, his face full of killing intent.
Without needing Teach's order, Laffitte had already flapped his white wings and flown towards the town to gather intelligence.
Van Augur's sharp gaze swept over the quiet, snow-covered town, his tone flat and waveless:
"Weak auras. There don't seem to be any strong individuals worth fighting."
Doc Q lay sickly on his horse's back. Both he and his horse had their tongues hanging out, looking weak and feeble.
"Cough... cough cough."
"BOSS, it's too cold here... not suitable for my survival. Can I go back to the ship first?"
Teach ignored Doc Q's daily "terminal illness."
Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Teach turned his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the red-haired man at the very back of the group.
"Hisoka, what's your take on this island?"
This man was a member he had newly recruited.
Hisoka liked hunting strong people, and Teach happened to be aiming for domination, which inevitably meant fighting strong people.
Therefore, the two hit it off immediately.
Most importantly, this guy was perverted enough... and strong enough, perfectly fitting his criteria for recruitment.
Hisoka stared entranced at the snowy land ahead, then produced a deck of cards from nowhere and randomly drew one.
Flipping the card over, Hisoka showed a surprised expression:
"What bad luck~ It's the Joker."
He looked towards the town ahead. "It seems different from what the intelligence said. There might be strong individuals appearing in this country~"
"Where are the strong individuals? You're worrying about nothing!" Burgess said dissatisfiedly.
"That card game of yours is just a trick to fool kids!"
"Cough... cough cough... I actually think Hisoka is right." Doc Q nodded in agreement.
Seeing that the two groups were about to argue...
"Heh." Teach interrupted them. "I actually think encountering some strong individuals wouldn't be bad either~"
Teach looked at Hisoka.
"Your purpose in setting sail was to fight more strong people, right~"
"Well~ That is indeed true~ I'm looking forward to it~" Hisoka spread his hands.
"Zehahahaha, then what are we waiting for? Let's go—"
Teach let out a rough, boisterous laugh and led everyone into the snow.
Following at the very back, Hisoka looked at Teach's back. The corners of his mouth lifted in a pleasurable arc, a smile that wasn't quite a smile playing on his lips.
"My purpose in setting sail is, of course, to fight more unripe fruits~"
"But the strong person I want to fight the most... is you~"
"Teach—♡"
---
"Why am I grouped with you again?"
Bonney had changed into a mink coat, her impressive figure faintly visible underneath. She was clutching her growling stomach and following weakly behind Chrollo.
"Who else would you follow?" Chrollo rolled his eyes.
"Do you like fighting? Or are you good at gathering intelligence? Or can you accurately purchase supplies and control our ship's expenses?"
Bonney looked aggrieved after hearing Chrollo's accusations.
I'm not that useless, okay!
"At least I can taste the quality of food! I'm a connoisseur! Do you understand connoisseur!"
Then Bonney unleashed her coquettish technique and began shaking Chrollo's arm.
"Chrollo, I'm hungry~ Hurry and take me to taste the delicacies of this country. I'll evaluate for everyone whether they're good or not!"
"Eating is all you know—" Chrollo, having no way to deal with her pestering, fished out a pitiful one thousand berries from his pocket and took Bonney into a local tavern.
"Pick something cheap later, hear me? We only have 1000 berries. If you eat it all, I'll sell you here to work and pay off the debt!"
Chrollo instructed.
However, Bonney had already opened the menu with shining eyes.
"Ah, Roast Reindeer Meat! Air-dried Rabbit Legs! Hiking Bear Paw!"
"......"
Bonk—
Chrollo's heavy fist came down. He couldn't help but roar at her:
"I told you to order something cheap—"
Bonney covered the big bump on her head pitifully and flipped to the next page of the menu.
"Then let's have a vegetable dish—this one, White Truffle with Matsutake Mushrooms."
"....Is that cheap?!!!"
Not far from where the two were bickering,
A strange man with a hairstyle shaped like the number 3 and a little girl wearing a red hat first looked up at the two, then looked down to compare them with the wanted posters in their hands.
"Confirmed. It is indeed the captain of the Phantom Pirates, Chrollo Lucilfer, with a bounty of 720 million berries,
And member Jewelry Bonney, bounty 230 million berries-garchu."
The man looked at the poster in his hand with intent.