The clash had been laughably brief—or rather, it could hardly be called a clash at all. It was a one-sided beatdown.
In mere minutes, the Donquixote Family's executives were crushed, their bodies strewn across the deck, battered and barely conscious.
Lao G stared at Blackbeard in disbelief, his voice trembling with fury and shock.
"Damn it… what kind of monster is this? He's even stronger than Doffy!"
Blackbeard threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"Zehahahahaha! Don't lump me together with a useless man like Doflamingo! The Shichibukai title was his ceiling—but for me?"
He spread his arms wide.
"It was nothing more than the starting line."
He looked down at them with naked contempt.
"Honestly, with your strength, you're not even qualified to be my companions. But my crew just happens to be short on manpower, so consider yourselves lucky."
His grin turned feral.
"You've caught the tide of the era. Soon enough, the entire world will be in my hands."
Trebol, clutching his wounds, forced himself to speak.
"Blackbeard… that power just now—wasn't that the Shadow-Shadow Fruit? Why do you have its ability?"
Teach's smile widened.
"Zehahahahaha! Good question."
He tapped his chest proudly.
"Because I am the only man in this world who wields two Devil Fruits."
"A dual Devil Fruit user…?" Baby-5 whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"That's impossible…"
Blackbeard snorted.
"That's what fools always say when reality goes beyond their tiny understanding. Even when the truth is right in front of you, you still refuse to believe it."
He sneered.
"Following trash like Doflamingo really narrowed your horizons."
Shiryu stepped forward coldly, voice dripping with disdain.
"Teach, you're really planning to take these useless people in? Why not just turn them into zombies?"
Blackbeard waved the idea away cheerfully.
"Zehahaha! A crew full of zombies would be boring, wouldn't it? I'm not a failure like Moriah."
He grinned.
"What's the most important thing for a pirate crew? Companions! Popularity! If I'm going to rule the world, I need people to enjoy it with."
Shiryu chuckled darkly.
"Hmph. Guess twenty years with the Whitebeard Pirates rubbed off on you. Even you can't stand being alone, huh?"
Ignoring the jab, Blackbeard turned his gaze toward Baby-5, his smile ugly and teasing.
"Well then, little girl? You're a bit weak to be my subordinate—but if you want to be my woman, I might consider it. After all, I'm the man destined to become king of the world."
Baby-5's face flushed instantly.
"…Am I… needed?"
Under normal circumstances, the Donquixote Family would have scoffed—but now, none of them had the luxury of pride.
Blackbeard raised his voice, tone suddenly cold and final.
"Enough chatter. Choose."
"Follow me… or I turn you into zombies."
"Or I steal your shadows and leave you crawling in darkness forever."
The answer came immediately.
"We're willing to join, Lord Blackbeard!"
"Yes—we'll follow you!"
Trebol and Diamante were the first to bow their heads.
Seeing their leaders surrender, the rest of the Donquixote Family followed suit.
"Zehahahahaha! Then from this moment on, we're comrades."
With those words, Blackbeard released the restraints of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
The suffocating pressure vanished instantly. Trebol and the others felt their shadows return and finally let out the breaths they had been holding.
Shiryu clicked his tongue, clearly displeased.
"So much for turning them into zombies. Looks like we're stuck getting along now."
Burgess, on the other hand, laughed excitedly.
"Wehahaha! At least our numbers have finally recovered a bit!"
Shot took a swig of wine and sneered.
"Even so, there's still a massive gap between us and the Phoenix Pirates."
Shiryu nodded grimly.
"That's right. Even with your Dual Devil Fruit ability, Teach, defeating Marco won't be easy. He's already taken down Big Mom. Zombies and a handful of recruits won't be enough to face sixteen division commanders and over forty affiliated crews."
Blackbeard's grin remained unwavering.
"Zehahahaha! Relax. If that plan succeeds, we'll be the new Yonko."
Shiryu frowned.
"That's assuming it succeeds."
"Don't worry, partner," Blackbeard replied smoothly.
Still, a trace of irritation flickered in his heart. Shiryu had contradicted him more than once, and as Captain, Blackbeard did not appreciate being challenged so openly. Yet his patience ran deep, and none of that displeasure showed on his face.
Turning to Trebol and the others, Blackbeard continued,
"As for you, rest easy. I'll avenge Doflamingo. After all, I have my own grudge with the Phoenix Pirates. It's just not time yet—we're not ready to face them head-on."
Time flew by, and before anyone realized it, the fifteen days Marco had agreed upon with Kaido had arrived.
During this period, Marco ate like a man possessed.
After mastering the Rokushiki, he had finally unlocked one of their rarest techniques—Life Return.
In the original legends, Life Return allowed the user to rapidly digest food, restoring stamina and vitality at astonishing speed. Beyond that, it could control hair for offense or defense, regulate internal organs, alter body shape, and even grant localized reinforcement.
Marco wasn't interested in most of those functions.
Instead, he focused obsessively on one idea: Energy storage.
As someone who didn't originally belong to this world, Marco had plenty of unconventional thoughts. In his previous life, he'd read a manga called Toriko, where a technique known as "Food Honor" allowed warriors to eat endlessly, storing energy within their bodies to be unleashed in battle.
Marco wondered if Life Return could achieve something similar.
In the end, he couldn't fully replicate that concept—the rules of the two worlds were simply too different. Still, the intense training paid off. His mastery of Life Return improved dramatically, allowing him to digest food far faster and recover stamina at an alarming rate.
That alone was enough.
With this ability, Marco felt a surge of confidence as his duel with Kaido drew near. As long as there was even the briefest opening in battle, he could devour food relentlessly and replenish his strength—again and again.
And against a monster like Kaido, endurance might very well decide everything.
—
On Nanku Island, over sixteen hundred members of the Phoenix Pirates' main crew stood in formation, their expressions grim and focused. They were about to face a Yonko Pirate Crew—and Kaido of the Beasts himself, the so-called strongest creature on land, sea, and air. No one dared to treat this lightly.
Suddenly, Marco felt an overwhelming pressure descend from above.
He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. High in the clouds, a colossal, dragon-shaped silhouette coiled and shifted.
"So… he flew here directly," Marco muttered, his expression turning solemn.
One by one, the others followed his gaze.
The clouds parted.
A massive azure dragon emerged, blotting out the sky as its enormous head lowered toward Nanku Island. A thunderous laugh rolled across the battlefield.
"Worororo… You're early, Marco."
"Kaido…"
Just seeing him made several pirates instinctively swallow. Even though they had witnessed Zack's pink dragon form before, standing beneath Kaido's true Azure Dragon was a completely different experience. The oppressive aura alone was enough to make their blood run cold.
Marco immediately activated his scan.
Kaido—Zoan Type, Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon Form.
Estimated Strength: Strong Yonko Level.
"So it really is Strong Yonko Level…" Marco exhaled quietly.
As long as Kaido hadn't crossed into King Level, the gap was still manageable. Both of them were top-tier Mythical Zoan users—this fight would inevitably become a brutal war of endurance. Marco already knew it: this battle would likely drag on even longer than his ten-day clash with Big Mom.
Still, Marco remained calm.
He had deliberately saved 8,000 attribute points for this very moment. If the battle reached its breaking point, he could reinforce himself mid-fight, forcibly restore stamina, and catch Kaido off guard.
That was his trump card.
With a flash of blue flames, Marco transformed and shot into the sky, stopping directly across from Kaido.
"I didn't expect you to come alone," Marco said coolly. "You haven't forgotten our agreement, have you? Or are you so confident you don't think you can lose?"
Kaido's colossal body spiraled through the air, radiating crushing pressure.
"Worororo! I don't believe I'll lose—but relax, I remember our deal. Jack and the others are right behind me. Sailing was just too slow, so I came ahead."
His massive eyes locked onto Marco, sharp with interest.
"But I can feel it… I didn't expect you to reach this level. Looks like this fight might actually be fun. I hope you last long enough to entertain me."
Marco snorted.
"Confident, aren't you? Big Mom sounded the same back then—and I still beat her. After all, she used to be your crewmate, right?"
Kaido's mood shifted instantly.
"That's ancient history!" he roared. "That old hag spent decades holed up in Totto Land popping out children—her prime was long gone! On top of that, her eating disorder made her sloppy. Beating her doesn't mean you can beat me. Don't lump me together with that washed-up woman."
Marco didn't argue.
He knew the truth.
Kaido was in a completely different league from Big Mom. Where prolonged battles were her weakness, endurance was Kaido's greatest strength. Defeating him would be far more difficult than anything Marco had faced before.
But difficult or not—
Marco clenched his fists, blue flames roaring around him.
He would fight with everything he had.
------------------
AN: Check out my P@treon For +50 extra chapters.
Thank You For your Support!!
[email protected]/noviceauthor777