The New World, Rambol Sea. After almost half a month, the three 'oddities'—Thatch, Teach, and Lucci—had finally met up.
A banquet was currently underway on the Delicious Chef, the flagship of Fourth Division Commander Thatch.
Teach was aggressively drinking with Thatch, seemingly intending to get him drunk. Lucci, meanwhile, chatted with them while eating grilled food, careful not to drink much.
He seemed to be planning something in the shadows.
"You've struck it rich this time, Thatch! Next time we go drinking, you'll be footing the bill for Pops' booze," Teach said with an extremely cheerful tone, his arm wrapped around Thatch's shoulder.
He had confirmed that Thatch had not eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit and was not yet a Devil Fruit user; the Dark-Dark Fruit was sitting safely in Thatch's ship cabin.
Once Thatch was dealt with, Teach's lifelong wish would finally be fulfilled!
A Dark-Dark Fruit user,… the thought made him a little excited!
"Hahaha, I owe it all to the intelligence from your Second Division! Without that info, how could I have snagged such a big fish? Don't worry, I'll cover Pops' liquor tab for the entire year!" Thatch exclaimed, exhilarated.
"I'll be a witness to that, Zehahaha! Oh, right, you mentioned getting a Devil Fruit? You wanted me to take a look?" Teach first laughed mockingly, then smoothly changed the subject.
Thatch had absolutely no guard up against Teach. When Teach fished for information, Thatch readily provided it: "That's right. I'm a bit ashamed to say, but in all my years as a pirate, this is only the second time I've captured a Devil Fruit. The last time was seven or eight years ago. I had really bad luck; I didn't eat that one and sold it off for drinking money. I regret it a bit now. I've decided: since the sea delivered this Devil Fruit to me this time, I'm going to eat it and become a power user, as long as it's not too useless."
Pausing slightly, Thatch added, "I need to get stronger as fast as possible. Our situation isn't as good as it used to be. We need to work hard. Besides, Pops' health is getting worse; I hear he's started needing IV drips. We can't keep letting the old man worry about us, can we?"
Teach felt a pang of emotion at the words.
Truth be told, although he had spoken aggressively to Lucci on the way, as if he intended to do something terrible to Thatch, Teach still harbored feelings for the Whitebeard Pirates and Newgate.
He had once greatly admired Whitebeard's strength and respected him as his "Pops" from the bottom of his heart. He had even thought that if he couldn't find the Dark-Dark Fruit, living out his lifetime on Whitebeard's ship wouldn't be so bad.
However, he probably hadn't noticed that his reverence for Newgate, the World's Strongest Man, had faded significantly after Newgate's defeat at Jam Island.
In his bones, Teach was someone who revered the strong and desired to become strong. He once admired Newgate because Newgate was the strongest. Now, however, he admired the Admiral Diarmuid even more.
The most direct evidence of this shift was that he had previously planned to secure the Dark-Dark Fruit and then acquire Pops' Tremor- Tremor Fruit. But now, due to the power Diarmuid had demonstrated, Teach had changed his mind. After obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit, he intended to first see if he could set up Admiral Diarmuid, ideally catching him off guard with the Dark-Dark Fruit.
After all, Teach had observed Diarmuid for a long time. The man's true strength lay in his gravity ability. If he could find a way to counter techniques like Abyssal Devourer and Planetary Devastation, then ambushing him with the Dark-Dark Fruit might just give him the upper hand to suppress Diarmuid.
Once he had darkness in his left hand and gravity in his right, wouldn't he be invincible?
Little did he know that Diarmuid also believed that having darkness in his left hand and gravity in his right would make him invincible. Their thinking on this point was truly identical.
In short, due to the events at Jam Island, Diarmuid and the Gravity Fruit had become Teach's top priority.
And to take down Diarmuid, it would be best to leverage the strength of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Therefore, Teach had thought things over for the past half-month and had decided against simply killing Thatch. He had accepted Lucci's suggestion that he should communicate with Thatch first.
This was the reason for his probing questions just now.
But Thatch's candid remarks, made while slightly drunk, completely eliminated any lingering hesitation in Teach's mind.
As Thatch's "friend," Teach knew him well. The man was stubborn and single-minded. Since he had made up his mind to eat the Dark-Dark Fruit, anything else Teach said would be pointless and, worse, might arouse Thatch's suspicion.
So, he decided not to waste time talking!
He would act immediately!
Teach was a ruthless man. In the face of his ambition, years of friendship meant nothing. He was a pure and simple schemer, brutal and cunning.
Since he was set on stealing Thatch's Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach planned to eliminate him completely. After all, once he stole it, they would inevitably become enemies. If the matter reached Pops, Teach wouldn't be in the right as Thatch had gotten the Dark-Dark Fruit first.
So, he weighed his options: if he simply stole it, Pops wouldn't take his side, and it would upset the other crewmates. He would likely be banished. Rather than that, he might as well proactively break ties with the Whitebeard Pirates. Then, he'd find a way to provoke a massive battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines or some other major power. Finally, he would profit from the chaos, fishing in troubled waters. He might just be able to take down Diarmuid or Pops. Whether he gained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit or the Gravity Fruit, he would still win, wouldn't he?
"Then don't blame me for being ruthless, Thatch..." A fierce glint flashed in Teach's eyes as he muttered to himself.
Yet, he spoke cheerfully, "Don't worry, the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia is on my ship. When this banquet is over, I'll go get the book and personally check the Fruit for you. I hope it's a powerful ability, a Logia, maybe? Or a Mythical Zoan? Zehahahaha!"
Seeing this, Thatch put away his sentimental thoughts, clapped Teach on the shoulder, and said, "Exactly! The stronger the ability, the better! Then I can look out for you, Teach. If you ever run into trouble, just come find me, ahahahaha..."
…
At the same time, in a certain sea area not far from where the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division was located, Donquixote Doflamingo's figure descended from the sky and landed on a merchant ship.
Facing the bewildered crew on the deck, Doflamingo wasted no words. Parasite threads immediately erupted from his body, instantly controlling everyone on the ship. He then quickly replenished his energy with food and water.
He had spent the last half-month of his pursuit doing exactly this, seizing any passing ship to recharge his body.
Once he finished eating and drinking, Doflamingo controlled the small merchant ship's captain with his Parasite threads and smiled wickedly. "I ask, you answer. Understand?"
The captain was trembling and had already recognized Doflamingo, who was infamous in the New World.
"Y-Yes... I understand..." the captain replied, terrified.
"Excellent. Have you seen the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division?" Doflamingo asked directly.
The captain was startled, then quickly said, "Yes, I saw them a few days ago. They sailed south from here. I was terrified at the time and thought I was dead, but they completely ignored me..."
"Fufufufu. That's because they were already 'full.' Headed south? Very good..." Doflamingo smiled evilly.
The captain looked at Doflamingo in terror, but Doflamingo ultimately didn't kill him. After asking a few more details and confirming the captain wasn't lying, his Heavenly Yaksha-like figure quickly latched onto the clouds and rushed south.
…
While Doflamingo was traveling, the banquet on Thatch's ship had already ended.
Although a bit tipsy, Thatch hadn't actually been knocked out. After some laughing and chatting with Teach, he returned to his cabin. Teach had promised to come back soon with the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
Returning to his own ship, Teach quickly called Lucci into the engine room of the small vessel.
He looked at Lucci with a very serious expression and said, "I just probed him. That guy, Thatch, is dead set on eating the Dark-Dark Fruit. So, I have to act now, Lucci..."
After a brief pause, Teach added, "You know the kind of person I am..."
However, before he could finish, Lucci interrupted, "The moment you move against Thatch, there's no turning back, Teach-senpai. Pops will hunt you to the ends of the earth... The only iron rule on our ship is that you can't harm a crewmate!"
Teach fell silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on Lucci with a hint of pressure. After a long while, he suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Zehahaha! You're right, Lucci. Pops will never forgive me. But so what? The Whitebeard Pirates aren't the all-conquering, invincible pirate crew they once were! There's always some corner of the world he can't reach! Besides... well, regardless, I'm doing this. And you're already on board. From the moment you gave Thatch the intelligence about that merchant fleet, from the moment you left Pops' ship with me, you boarded my ship, Lucci. I'm asking you again right now: Will you join me in turning this era upside down!?"
"Turning this era upside down?" Lucci murmured softly, a flash of light in his eyes.
Honestly, if he hadn't met Admiral Diarmuid first, if he were truly just a pirate, a trusted subordinate groomed by Teach since childhood, then Teach's highly manipulative words would definitely have swayed him. For a moment, Lucci was even slightly anticipating the chaos Teach spoke of.
However, he ultimately stuck to his true purpose.
Of course, he still wore a faint smile as he said, "Of course, Teach-senpai... No, perhaps I should call you Captain now?"
"Zehahaha! Captain? A good title, but I prefer the name 'Admiral.' Just wait and see. I'll form a pirate crew no less formidable than the Whitebeard Pirates, one as incredible as Shiki the Golden Lion's Flying Pirate Fleet once was! When that happens, you'll be my First Mate! Zehahahaha!" Teach roared with laughter.
Pausing slightly, Teach continued, "The less time we waste, the better. I'll go get the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia now, use it as an excuse, and go find Thatch to help him look at the Fruit. Zehahaha! You wait here and get the ship ready to sail. We'll make our getaway under the cover of night..."
"No problem," Lucci replied, nodding.
Teach didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
He trusted Lucci deeply. On one hand, Lucci was still a child when he joined the Whitebeard Pirates and was essentially raised by Teach. On the other hand, Lucci was already a Devil Fruit user, so Teach didn't believe he would try to steal the Dark-Dark Fruit from him. This was the foundation of his trust.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought Lucci on this operation.
However, after Teach left, Lucci's lips curved into a smile. His figure moved with the grace and agility of a great cat, slipping out silently and returning to Thatch's ship before Teach could get there.