"Wehahahaha! Captain, you should have done this a long time ago!"
Burgess grinned viciously, pulling a pistol from behind his back. Without hesitation, he fired several rounds at Shirogai, who was pinned beneath Blackbeard Teach's crushing grip.
Bang! Bang!
Blood splattered across the tavern floor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Doc Q and Van Auger joined in, unloading a storm of bullets into the seemingly helpless Shirogai. His body jerked with every impact.
Bang!
Burgess stepped closer, smirking as he aimed at Shirogai's head. "Wehahahaha! Kid, the sea isn't for someone like you. Just because you ate a powerful Devil Fruit doesn't mean you can run rampant!" He pulled the trigger again, his laughter echoing.
Even though Shirogai's body appeared shredded and lifeless, Teach didn't loosen his hold. His eyes narrowed, wary.
He didn't know how many Devil Fruits Shirogai had copied. Perhaps among them was one that could bring a man back from death itself.
"Shirogai, let's see your real power!" Teach growled, squeezing Shirogai's neck tighter before motioning to Doc Q. "Doc Q, give me the thing!"
"Cough, cough… I've already prepared it, Captain," the sickly man rasped, producing a fruit that glowed with unnatural vibrance. Its shape resembled a peach, but strange energy seemed to ripple across its skin.
Teach slammed Shirogai's bloody body onto a table, one hand clutching him while the other raised the fruit. His grin widened, feral and cruel.
"Gehehehe… Shirogai, just to make sure you're really gone, you won't mind this, right?"
Schlik!
Van Auger calmly drew a dagger, severing Shirogai's head in one motion. He held it up by the hair, his voice cold and detached. "Fate cannot be defied. The Plunderer perishes here today."
Darkness oozed from Teach's palm, wrapping around the corpse. The tavern shook as a sinister aura swelled.
"Gehehehe! Witness history, my men!" Teach roared, pouring the darkness into the fruit. The rosy skin of the peach-like fruit bulged and warped, lines forming into eerie, ancient-like symbols. The surface pulsed as if alive.
Burgess's eyes glimmered with greed. "Wehahahaha! Captain, what a beautiful Devil Fruit! Should I be the one to eat it?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Van Auger muttered coldly. "If Captain eats it, our crew will ascend to the top of the seas."
Teach laughed wickedly, eyes never leaving the transforming fruit. "Patience, Burgess! There'll be a fruit for you one day. But this one… this top-tier Talent Fruit belongs to me!"
At last, the transformation completed. The fruit looked grotesque, its peach shape marred by bulging eye-like patterns that seemed to stare back.
Teach released Shirogai's lifeless corpse, letting it crash to the ground with a dull thud.
"Talent Fruit… Zehahahahaha!" He raised it high, his face split in a maniacal grin. "This power surpasses even Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit! With this, I'll overturn the world!"
Without hesitation, he bit into the fruit. Crunch, crunch. The foul taste twisted his face, but he kept chewing, forcing it down.
"Wehahahaha! Captain is still alive!" Burgess shouted with relief.
Doc Q wheezed a grin. "Cough… as expected. Captain is no ordinary man."
Van Auger's voice was grave. "This… changes everything."
Teach clenched his fists as power roared through him. His muscles twitched, his aura surged like a raging sea. "Zehahahaha! I can feel it… this power is enough to destroy the entire world!"
But then…
Prrrft!
The sound froze the tavern.
Teach's grin faltered as an awkward silence stretched between the four pirates.
"Uh…" Burgess muttered. "Captain, is that… the power you meant?"
Doc Q coughed twice, his sickly face twitching. "Pfft… cough, cough… Captain, are you serious?"
Even Van Auger raised an eyebrow. "Fate can be cruelly ironic."
Before Teach could snap at them, the tavern filled with an eerie voice.
"Hehehehe…"
The severed head on the table floated into the air. Bloodshot eyes snapped open, glaring at the crew.
"I truly thank you… your malice makes me value the kindness of my companions even more."
"What?!"
The Blackbeard Pirates recoiled. Burgess and the others fired their pistols desperately.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets passed harmlessly through the floating head as though it were an illusion.
The head smirked, fading slowly into light. "Teach… how does that Talent Fruit taste? I molded it out of mud."
Teach's face contorted in disbelief. "Impossible! Shirogai!"
The light clone sneered. "Do you really think you can kill me so easily? Who do you think I am?"
With that, both the corpse and the blood vanished into shimmering motes.
The crew paled.
"Illusion?!"
"That was… Admiral Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit power!"
Before they could recover, the tavern walls began to tremble violently.
Shirogai's true body stood outside, his expression calm and mocking. He raised a hand, darkness pooling into his palm.
"How does it feel, Teach… to have your dreams shattered?" His grip tightened. "Dark Space."
The tavern was swallowed in an instant, consumed by crushing black mist. Screams echoed, then silence. The building itself folded into a small black cube, which Shirogai caught lightly.
He tossed it in his hand with a faint smile. "Want to know what it's like to fall from Sky Island like Kaido? You'll find out soon enough."
Glancing at the unconscious bar owner nearby, he casually dropped a pouch of Berries at the man's side.
"Compensation."
Stretching lazily, Shirogai turned toward the docks. A rare warmth softened his expression.
"It's time to go back. My companions are probably worried sick by now."
_____
Thanks for the Power stones.