Translator: PapaSmurf0700
"Captain Vander Decken, we've reached Fishman Street."
The voice belonged to the giant Wadatsumi, who was towing the Flying Dutchman along the seafloor. From the deck of the infamous ghost ship, another crewman dared to speak up.
"Captain, are you really going through with this?"
"He's right, Captain," another added, his voice trembling. "If you do this, all of Fishman Island will be destroyed!"
"And the treasure your family has sought for generations... it'll be lost forever!"
"All of you, SHUT UP!" Vander Decken IX roared from the bow, his voice cracking with madness. "Shirahoshi has betrayed our engagement! She chose that Straw Hat brat over me!"
He spread his arms wide, a deranged glee in his eyes. "This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate! If I can't have her, then I'll destroy her, and this entire island with her!"
A stunned silence fell over the crew.
"...What do you mean 'betrayal'?" a quiet voice suddenly asked. "You're the one who's been harassing her this whole time."
Every eye on the ship widened in shock. Which idiot just said that out loud? The Captain is going to lose it!
As expected, the wretched-looking Vander Decken began stomping and cursing at the bow. "WHO SAID THAT?!"
Swish. Every head turned in unison, Vander Decken's gaze following theirs. There, sitting leisurely in the middle of the deck, was a man with long, white hair.
"Who are you?" a crewman asked.
"Me?" The man pointed a thumb at his chest, his expression calm. "I'm the new guy."
"Oh, a new recruit?" Vander Decken nodded, then his eyes bulged. "Bull! We haven't taken on any new members in years!"
"I never said I was new to your crew," the man replied, his tone neither humble nor arrogant, a faint smile playing in his eyes. "I just said I'm new here."
"Boss! I remember him now!" one of the crew shouted. "He's the Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates—"
BOOM.
Just as the warning was given, a terrifying pressure slammed down on the entire ship. It wasn't the soul-crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki; this was something different, something more fundamental. The very water around them seemed to freeze solid. No one could move. No one could even speak. It was Bai Ye's spiritual sense.
He sat on a throne of ice that had materialized beneath him and crooked a single finger at Vander Decken. The pirate captain was lifted into the air as if by an invisible hand and pulled directly before him.
"I was going to have some fun with you," Bai Ye said, his voice laced with disappointment. "It's not every day one meets a specimen of your particular brand of pathetic." He waved his fingers again, and Vander Decken was slammed face-first onto the deck, pinned by an unseen weight.
Bai Ye didn't give him a chance to speak. "From your little tirade, I gather you've already met Luffy and the others. I'm surprised you managed to escape. But unfortunately for you," he continued, his tone turning cold, "this is where your journey ends."
As the words fell, Bai Ye extended his right hand and slowly pressed it onto Vander Decken's head.
"Let's try a little experiment."
A faint blue light pulsed from Bai Ye's palm. This was the primordial power of his inner world, a force that held the very law of consumption. Under his precise control, this power began to seek out the Devil Fruit essence within Vander Decken's body.
Bai Ye had acquired Devil Fruits before—Wapol's Munch-Munch Fruit and Blueno's Door-Door Fruit—by pulling his victims into his inner world at the moment of their death, forcing the fruit to reincarnate within his domain. But that was a passive method. Now, with his deepened understanding of his own power, he wanted to try something more direct. He wanted to actively strip a Devil Fruit from a living user.
As the power seeped into Vander Decken, the terror in the pirate's eyes intensified. He could feel it—the Mark-Mark Fruit power that had long since merged with his very soul was being hunted, cornered by an invading force.
"So it really does have a will of its own," Bai Ye muttered, a frown creasing his brow. He could feel the fruit's power resisting, fighting to defend its territory. "But," he added, a thin smile returning to his face, "it doesn't seem very strong."
With no more hesitation, he unleashed the full force of his devouring power, completely enveloping the Mark-Mark Fruit and beginning to tear it free.
Five minutes later, a strangely shaped, unappetizing-looking fruit materialized in his left hand.
He nodded, satisfied. This gave the Straw Hats another potential asset, another tool in their arsenal. Still, a sense of caution remained. Devil Fruits were called the treasures of the sea, but the curse they carried—the sea's rejection—was not something to be taken lightly. He had always harbored doubts about their true nature. The greatest crews, like the Roger Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates, seemed to thrive without relying on them.
This successful experiment was a precaution. If, in the final war, Devil Fruits proved to be a liability, he would not be caught unprepared. His ambition didn't stop here. Today, he could strip a fruit from its user. Perhaps one day, he could strip the curse from the fruit itself.
"I've been out long enough. Time to head back."
Bai Ye pocketed the Mark-Mark Fruit and turned toward Fishman Island. Behind him, the Flying Dutchman and its entire crew were now encased in a tomb of solid ice.
Meanwhile, on Fishman Island, Hody Jones's face grew uglier by the second. He had flooded the island, expecting his army to sweep through and drag the terrified fish-men to Gyoncorde Plaza to witness the execution of their king and his human ally. But time had passed, and his elite officers had gone completely silent. Something was terribly wrong.
"You worthless human!" Hody roared, kicking the captured soldier, Abraham, to the ground. He stomped his massive foot on the man's wounded leg. "Tell me! What other secrets is your Spark Alliance hiding?!"
Veins bulged on Abraham's forehead, but he made no sound of pain. Instead, a bloody sneer spread across his face. "Oh? You seem to be panicking."
He looked Hody dead in the eye. "The score between you and the Spark Alliance is one I'll settle personally. But for now, you only need to worry about one thing."
Abraham's voice was low and steady. "You have angered people you can never, ever afford to offend."