Such was the life of a spy.
If your time undercover was short, you wouldn't earn the trust of your new allies.
If it dragged on too long, your original faction would grow suspicious.
Especially for someone like him, bound by blood to the very target he was infiltrating.
It was only natural for Jake to maintain a cautious distance.
Far from feeling disheartened, Rosinante was genuinely pleased that Jake possessed such sharp judgment and keen awareness.
However, Jake wasn't withholding information out of distrust or wariness toward Rosinante.
The truth was simply too shocking—beyond what most could handle.
Only a select few were privy to it.
After all, his collaborator this time was none other than Whitebeard!
*****
At that very moment, near a small island in the New World, Whitebeard was drinking with a grin on his face.
Wiping his mouth, he stretched and laughed heartily as he turned to Marco.
"I know I've said this a thousand times, Marco, but damn—nothing beats drinking without those damn IV needles! Feels damn good! Guhahahaha!"
Marco could only scratch his head helplessly at Whitebeard's boisterous laughter.
"Pops, even though Jake said moderate drinking wouldn't cause you any problems, but honestly, the amount you're drinking now has already far exceeded 'moderate', hasn't it?"
Whitebeard responded to Marco's buzzkill comment by giving the pineapple-headed man a hearty punch, then laughed heartily.
"Gurarararara! You dumb son, we're about to start a fight with that brat Kaido soon! If I don't drink some liquor now, I won't even feel like fighting properly later!"
Rubbing his head, Marco looked toward the nearby island as faint blue flames began flickering around his body.
His usual lazy tone disappeared, replaced by sharp intensity.
Ever since Whitebeard' health began declining, the Whitebeard Pirates hadn't engaged in a battle of this level for a long time!
Kaido used to frequently challenge Whitebeard when he was in good health.
But a few years ago, when Kaido came again and saw Whitebeard covered in IV drips, that bastard just sighed and turned to leave without a word.
Though Whitebeard eventually dragged Kaido back and beat him up, the Beast Pirates' captain never came to challenge Whitebeard again after that day.
While this brought them peace, everyone understood the real reason Kaido stopped coming.
He believed Whitebeard had grown old—so weak that he wasn't even worth challenging anymore!
For crew members who took pride in and worshipped Whitebeard, this was nearly unforgivable.
Yet when they saw Whitebeard needing IV drips every day, they could only helplessly bite their tongues.
After all, Whitebeard' physical condition spoke for itself.
Forcing him to fight Kaido would only push him closer to death.
But among the silent crew, one man had seemed particularly dissatisfied at the time...
Blackbeard, Marshall D Teach.
After the Kaido incident, Teach uncharacteristically insisted on provoking the Beast Pirates—completely unlike his usual low-profile behavior.
Before Jake warned them, Marco had thought Teach simply loved Whitebeard too much to tolerate any disrespect.
He'd been moved, even spending a whole day persuading Teach and drinking with him.
Now thinking back, Marco felt chills running down his spine.
Teach's real motivation probably wasn't anger over Whitebeard being disrespected.
He likely wanted to escalate conflicts between Whitebeard and Kaido, accelerating Whitebeard' illness during their battles to advance his own schemes!
The realization made Marco want to vomit up all the alcohol he'd shared with Teach that day.
Seeing Marco's expression, Whitebeard—having lived decades longer—easily guessed his thoughts.
A faint smile appeared as he slowly asked.
"Thinking about Teach?"
"Mm, Pops, ever since Jake reminded me, many of Teach's past actions have seemed inexplicable to me. Some things even made me feel a deep sense of malice and chill!"
Hearing this, Whitebeard sighed slightly before saying to Marco.
"Though I want to tell you not to judge Teach's behavior with preconceptions, to be honest, after Jake's reminder, even I noticed some strange things about Teach. So I can't exactly tell you not to speculate about him."
Seeing the slightly dejected expression on Whitebeard's face, Marco knew the old man was genuinely hurt this time.
The reason was simple—Teach was different from most others on the ship!
That guy had genuinely been with Whitebeard for decades, a true veteran of the crew.
You could say Whitebeard had watched Teach grow up step by step.
Both Whitebeard and Marco himself had trusted Teach like family.
And now, this "family member" they had trusted completely had been plotting their deaths most of the time.
For an emotional man like Whitebeard, this was undoubtedly a heavy blow.
Marco opened his mouth, wanting to comfort Whitebeard, but at that moment, a roar echoed from the other side of the island.
Along with it came a furious breath attack that nearly split the sky apart.
"Wororororo! Whitebeard! You damn old fool finally lost your mind and came looking for death?! And you brought your sons along—want me to bury you all together?!"
Kaido, now transformed into a dragon thousands of meters long, circled above the island.
Flames from his breath lingered in the air as he sneered down at Whitebeard, surrounded by rolling thunderclouds.
Whitebeard laughed heartily before replying:
"Gurararara! Brat, seems like even after all this time, you're still as arrogant as ever. Too bad—this time, I'm sending you straight to the bottom of the sea!"
As Whitebeard spoke, he reached out and pulled slightly at the space before him.
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
The next moment, the entire world before him fractured into pieces.
-----------------------------
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