However, Blackbeard's fury didn't matter to Creed at all. His goal had already been achieved, and he was just about to return to the Ark Maxim and leave.
With Kong and several Admirals already beaten flat, no one on the Navy side dared to stop him. If Blackbeard hadn't suddenly erupted, Creed would've already been back on the Ark and set off for Totto Land.
"Oh? Then what do you want to do—fight me?" Creed said with a playful look. "Let me tell you something: I can use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit too."
With a "whoosh," Creed dropped from the sky and landed right in front of Blackbeard, staring at him with interest.
Blackbeard's earlier act of shaking the heavens had already become a direct provocation. So Creed changed his mind.
When Creed landed just a few meters away, Blackbeard himself was a bit stunned.
He'd thought Creed would leave, and then he could fire off one more big move, wreck the Navy Headquarters a bit, and retreat—saving face.
Who would've thought Creed was this petty? Not only did he come straight to him, he even said some weird nonsense… You can use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit? Then go overthrow your Celestial Dragons—why are you saying that to me?!
"Creed! You brought this on yourself!" Blackbeard's eyes turned vicious as he finally made his decision. "Today I'll show you who the strongest man in this world really is!"
After obtaining the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his confidence had inflated to the extreme!
Besides—after Creed rescued so many people and fought the Navy's top forces, he had to have burned a lot of stamina.
Most importantly, the world broadcast was still ongoing!
This was the perfect chance!
If he could defeat Creed right here, then the whole world would believe he was the strongest man alive! He'd inherit Whitebeard's terrifying reputation, and the throne of the New World's number one Emperor would be firmly his!
"Oh? So you really want to become the New World's number one Emperor?" Creed said, almost encouraging him. "Then use your real skills and knock me down, Teach!"
But the contempt in Creed's eyes made Blackbeard explode with rage.
"Whitebeard's fully awakened Tremor-Tremor Fruit can destroy the world!" Blackbeard roared, throwing a punch. "Even if you copied his power, you're still on a lower level!"
Boom!
Crack!!
That punch looked like it could shatter even the void itself. The space between Blackbeard and Creed broke apart entirely!
To everyone watching, it was as if the air between them—and the surrounding area—had become a photo instantly snipped into hundreds of fragments: chaotic, jagged, broken. From those fractures, a strange darkness seeped out, spreading in all directions. Inside, spatial turbulence howled, forming countless raging currents that wanted to rip everything apart.
The ultimate ability after the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's complete awakening—
Shattering space!
Blackbeard had reached that realm!
"So it really is possible to shatter space?" Creed said in genuine surprise—yet he wasn't the least bit panicked. "Then I should thank you, Teach!"
If he didn't possess an SSSS+ ability, this attack might've been troublesome.
But now he had SSSS+ level Hyōshoku Ken'i (Ice-Erosion Sword Intent)—
An extreme sword intent that could freeze even space itself!
So shattered space meant nothing to him!
"Teach, today I'll take Whitebeard's place and properly teach you how to behave!"
Creed drew Rinne, and a bone-chilling sword intent surged outward. It easily sealed up the shattered space around them.
Even more terrifying—
That sword intent was eroding those broken spatial fragments and the tremor force within them!
SSSS+ level Hyōshoku Ken'i (Ice-Erosion Sword Intent)!
Creed had originally upgraded this sword intent to deal with Imu.
But Teach extracting Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit forced it to appear early!
"Creed! You're not qualified to teach me anything!" Blackbeard roared. "The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is the strongest power in the world!"
"For it, I endured humiliation for decades!" he bellowed, driving the tremor power with everything he had. "Today, I'll use your head to make its name shake the world again!"
Crack! Crack!
The void that Creed had frozen shattered again—yet the tremor rapidly surged, climbing higher and higher, stacking layer upon layer!
"Whitebeard was right…" Creed said coldly, swinging Rinne again and wiping away those tremor forces. "Arrogance. Carelessness. Those are your weaknesses."
All the broken space froze once more.
In that instant, Blackbeard even felt his own body stiffen slightly.
"Not good! Kurōzu (Dark Vortex)!"
He unleashed the Yami Yami no Mi's (Dark-Dark Fruit's) strongest move. The ground around them turned into a miniature black hole, and a terrifying suction force erupted—trying to drag Creed in.
Whoosh!
It was already too late.
A sword slash like a white ribbon tore down from the sky!
"In front of the Dark-Dark Fruit, all attacks are useless!" Blackbeard snorted. The darkness behind him formed into a vicious dragon, baring its fangs as it lunged to swallow that sword light.
"Useless?" Creed's eyes narrowed. "You probably still don't know what kind of sword qi this is."
BOOM!!
(End of Chapter)
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