Whitebeard could feel Marine warships racing closer by the second and nearly lost his mind.
Every last member of the Whitebeard Pirates was here. Ten thousand men. If Headquarters encircled them, the casualties would be catastrophic. If it were just him against the Marines, he would not bat an eye.
But there was Flowing Cloud. And a Nine Tails.
Those two together were enough to give even Whitebeard a headache.
If the Marines arrived and they were pinched from both sides, his position would become perilous.
"Sixty Devil Fruits!"
Whitebeard ground out the number through his teeth.
"Sixty?" Rakuya's gaze stayed steady. "Fine. Sixty it is."
If someone was delivering Devil Fruits to his door, he was not about to say no.
"Return to normal."
He murmured the command. Before every eye on deck, the sky-piercing giant shrank in a rush until he was back to his ordinary size.
"Hand over the Fruits."
Rakuya stood calm and unreadable. No one on the ship dared laugh at him now.
"These are forty Fruits. It is everything I can scrape together." Whitebeard dragged out two large chests and set them at Rakuya's feet.
"What is this? Not sixty? Then why are we even talking?"
"How am I supposed to conjure up sixty on the spot?" Whitebeard's eyes were murderous. "Take the forty. I will repay the other twenty later. The Whitebeard Pirates do not default."
"Oh?"
Rakuya nodded as if convinced, then to the pirates' confusion pulled out a sheet of paper, scribbled a few lines, and held it out.
"Here you go, Whitebeard. IOU. Sign at the bottom and press a handprint."
"Brat, you do not trust me?" Whitebeard's glare sharpened.
"It is not about trust. This saves everyone trouble. These days the borrower is king and the lender is the fool. Borrow and repay and we can do brisk business again. Come on, sign and stamp."
Rakuya's eyelids drooped in a lazy smile.
"Hmph."
Fuming, Whitebeard scrawled Edward Newgate, slit his fingertip with the naginata, and pressed a bloody print.
"Take it."
He flicked the slip back, temper barely leashed. It felt like signing a humiliating treaty. He knew what it meant and still had to sign.
Rakuya checked the name and print, then beamed. "The Fruits."
Jaw tight, Whitebeard shoved the two chests forward.
Ding. Mysterious energy detected. Absorb?
Absorb.
Ding. Absorbing…
Ding. Thirty-five Zoan-class Devil Fruits converted: 28,000 points.
Ding. Three Paramecia-class Devil Fruits converted: 2,700 points.
Total: 30,700 points.
On Rakuya's inner panel, the total ticked up to 30,900.
He blinked once, almost imperceptibly, then lifted a hand. The chest lids sprang open with twin clacks.
Empty.
"Whitebeard, I came to you in good faith. This is how you play me?"
"What do you mean?" His face went blank and ugly.
"What do I mean? Two empty boxes? You think you can fob me off?"
Rakuya's stare turned frosty.
"Empty?" Whitebeard gaped, then whipped his head toward the chests. They were bare to the bottom. Not a single Fruit.
"Damn it. Where are the Fruits?" His shock detonated into fury.
"Enough theater. You handed me empty boxes. Did you think Flowing Cloud easy to bully?"
"Brat, you pulled something. Those chests were full a moment ago!" Whitebeard roared.
"Throwing mud without proof? We have both been standing here. Did I move a finger?" Rakuya's voice chilled.
"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!" Whitebeard was about to explode.
Forty Fruits gone under his nose without a ripple. It was enough to make a man choke on his rage.
"Since you cannot produce forty Fruits, we keep fighting."
Rakuya rolled his shoulders, ready to swell again and start punting pirates.
"Wait." Whitebeard slashed a hand through the air, livid. "I will write you an IOU. Sixty Devil Fruits. The Whitebeard Pirates will repay it."
"Really?"
"Do I lie?"
"Now that is refreshing."
Rakuya produced a fresh slip. Whitebeard signed and stamped. Rakuya tore the first IOU in half.
"Release Marco."
Whitebeard's fury simmered under his skin, but there was nothing he could vent on.
Rakuya considered, then flung Marco the Phoenix back across the gap.
"Marco, you have a good father. Cherish it. Next time do not pick a fight with me. Or your 'family' will be bled dry."
Hmph.
Whitebeard caught Marco, then bellowed, "Whitebeard Pirates, withdraw!"
"Yes!"
"Aye!"
The whole fleet wheeled and fled.
It was the first time in ages Whitebeard had slunk off with soot on his face. The whole day felt like farce.
Rakuya hovered over the waves, grinning ear to ear.
Beside him, the Nine Tails cocked its head. "Master, where did the Fruits in those chests go? Did you take them?"
"Not me," Rakuya said, laughing. "Really not me."
Let the system take the blame this time. It just vacuumed up someone else's Devil Fruits without asking. Honestly. Did it not know you are not supposed to grab other people's property?
Out on the horizon, the Marine fleet had also sighted the Whitebeard Pirates bolting at full speed.
"Fleet Admiral, that is Whitebeard's armada!"
"Do we give chase? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. We cannot let him go!"
"Never thought we would bump into them here. Looks like they were in a brawl!"
"Strike while they are weak. We can crush the Whitebeard Pirates. Headquarters is out in force. We can win this!"
Vice Admirals and Admirals alike were all but rubbing their hands. Chances like this did not come twice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget to add this story to your Library, drop a review, and leave a Power Stone if you enjoyed it!
"Want to stay ahead of the game? Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"