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Dark clouds churned across the heavens. Bolts of lightning split the sky, illuminating the world in flickering flashes of brilliance and shadow. The firmament itself looked like a shattered mirror, splintered into countless fragments. The sea rolled and heaved, roaring and crashing like a living beast.
On the distant ships, Marco and the others watched the falling figure, tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces, their bodies trembling with grief.
The Strongest Man in the World had at last closed his eyes. Falling from the sky, he was about to be claimed by the sea.
His life had been a dazzling, glorious one. A man whose very presence silenced the oceans, who had protected the weak beneath his mighty shadow. He was the strongest man of his age and the most worthy of admiration.
Bending over in anguish, Marco and the men of the Whitebeard Pirates sobbed so hard they could no longer form words.
To them, this man was a father, one who had given them so much, filled their lives with countless memories. To lose him now... was unbearable.
They stretched out their hands, desperate to grasp and hold him back, but they were powerless to do so.
"An era… has changed!!"
Among the weeping men, the burly figure of Teach muttered hoarsely, his eyes wide with a strange mix of ambition and calculating dread.
Yes, just as he said. The fall of Whitebeard marked the end of an era, and the beginning of another. The Yonkō Era had come to a close. From this moment onward, the world would awaken to a new dynasty, one destined to shake the seas.
"He's not dead. What are you crying for?"
Suddenly, a thunderous voice rolled through the skies. The mourners froze and looked up in astonishment.
They turned their eyes toward the spot where Whitebeard had fallen, and saw, suspended in the air, the young King, one hand firmly gripping Whitebeard's massive body, holding him aloft.
"Old man, he's not dead?!"
They stared for a heartbeat, then erupted in joy. Ecstatic shouts broke out as they watched the figure of Qin Yi flying toward them through the storm.
Even Teach stood frozen, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"He… didn't kill Whitebeard!"
"Why?"
He couldn't comprehend the King's decision.
As the undisputed victor, Qin Yi could have gained far more by ending Whitebeard's life. Whitebeard's death would have marked the complete collapse of the Yonkō and the total end of the pirate era, paving the way for the absolute rule of Qin's Nation.
But instead,
The young King descended, dragging Whitebeard with one arm, and unceremoniously flung him onto the deck. It looked rough, almost disrespectful, but at that moment, no one aboard the Moby Dick cared.
"Your old man doesn't need your wailing."
"He's only been overwhelmed, exhausted his strength and burned through his life force. He's fainted, nothing more."
Qin Yi's voice was calm, almost casual.
The crew's doctor rushed forward immediately, kneeling beside their captain. After a quick examination, he turned to the crew and raised his hand, making an OK gesture.
In that instant, the hearts of every man on the ship finally relaxed.
"Thank you!"
Even Marco, eyes still red, bowed deeply toward Qin Yi.
They had all seen the cataclysm this battle had unleashed. They knew better than anyone how impossible it was, in a fight of such destructive scale, to restrain one's power and spare the life of an opponent, especially one as fearsome as Whitebeard.
Yet this young King had done it. And that magnanimity, that control and grandeur of spirit, commanded their deepest respect and gratitude.
"No need for thanks." Qin Yi waved a hand dismissively. "Your old man made me a promise. When he wakes up, tell him to come find me."
And with that, his figure rose gently into the sky, drifting upward like a sovereign departing the mortal realm.
"Farewell, Your Majesty, King Qin!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates called out in unison.
The young King's overwhelming power, his magnanimous heart, and his mercy toward their "old man" had completely won over the entire crew. In this single battle, Qin Yi had earned their full, sincere respect.
Qin Yi nodded slightly and was just about to leave, when his gaze swept across the deck and stopped.
"Blackbeard… Teach."
In an instant, his eyes sharpened like blades. His ascent halted.
"King Qin, what's wrong?"
The pirates blinked in confusion.
And then, in the very next moment,
The young King took a single, small step forward. Lightning crackled around his body; arcs of pale blue energy danced through the air. A Bleach-world technique mixed with raw electricity. Before anyone could even blink, Qin Yi had vanished, and reappeared right in front of one of their crewmates.
"Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach."
His voice was calm, but the air around the large man trembled.
Teach froze.
He had only just decided on the name "Blackbeard." How could this man possibly know it already?!
"I, I'm Teach! Your Majesty, is there, "
He didn't even finish his sentence before his expression twisted in sheer terror.
Blinding light swallowed his vision. A cold, merciless voice echoed in his ears:
"Discharge, Two Hundred Million Volts!"
"Zzzzzzzzt, !"
A surge of dazzling blue lightning burst from Qin Yi's right palm. In a single instant, before the shocked eyes of the Whitebeard crew, it consumed Teach whole.
The thunderclap was deafening. A bolt of lightning, more than a meter thick, struck down upon the deck like divine judgment, shaking the entire Moby Dick and leaving every man's ears ringing.
"Wha, what's going on?!"
The pirates were dumbfounded. Why would the King, who had just shown mercy to their captain, suddenly attack a seemingly insignificant crewman?
"Y-Your Majesty… what's wrong?!"
Teach gasped, teeth gritted, his body horribly charred and smoking. Even under two hundred million volts of electricity, he was somehow still alive.
That made Qin Yi raise an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Interesting. I must admit… you hid yourself well."
His quiet words made Teach's face go ash pale.
Qin Yi's right hand clenched into a fist, and a strange, fragmenting power began to coil around it, a technique born of his multi-world insight.
"Your Majesty!"
Marco shouted in alarm, finally moving to intervene,
But he was too late.
Qin Yi's fist shot out, slamming into Teach's face with earth-shattering force. Before their horrified eyes, his cheek caved in, then cracked, then exploded.
"Bang!"
In that brutal, shocking moment, Marshall D. Teach's head burst apart before the eyes of the entire Whitebeard Pirates. Flesh, blood, and sparks of lingering lightning scattered into the air.
"That man would have become a disaster in the future," Qin Yi said calmly, lowering his fist.
"Consider this… a favor to Whitebeard. No need to thank me."
He turned away, his tone utterly indifferent.
Marco and the others opened their mouths, but no words came out.
Before they could react, Qin Yi took a single step forward, and his body dissolved into a flash of lightning, vanishing into the stormy sky.
Silence fell.
"T-Teach… his head was… blown apart?"
"He's… dead?"
The crew stood frozen, stunned beyond words.
This was supposed to be a battle between Whitebeard and Qin Yi, yet somehow, poor Teach had ended up as a sudden, brutal footnote.
"What a miserable way to die…" someone muttered.
"All because he happened to look at that young man one time too many!"
They sighed helplessly.
"Ah… Teach really did die suffocatingly unjust."
(End of Chapter)