"I'm sorry!!!"
The current top man of the Whitebeard Pirates, Roy, was lying flat on the ground, head full of bruises and lumps.
"How embarrassing. I'm starting to regret leaving the crew in your hands."
Whitebeard, having heard there was drama to witness, had practically sprinted over. Arms crossed, he delivered his merciless commentary, hard to believe the man was over seventy.
He even had a strip of dried squid dangling from his mouth, chewing lazily as he enjoyed the show.
Roy lay beaten while Whitey Bay stood fuming. After their son had gone to the Beasts Pirates, she had finally gotten pregnant from all their effort, and now this guy dared to ask whose child it was?
Sure, Whitey Bay was already in her forties, but her body was in perfect health, not like that monster Big Mom. Definitely better than the average person. So getting pregnant wasn't surprising. What was infuriating was Roy's attitude.
"Tell me! Have you been seeing other women?!" Whitey Bay yelled, pulling on Roy's ear.
"I remember him cozying up to a mermaid back on Fish-Man Island," Whitebeard chimed in helpfully. "Didn't he stop there again this time while passing through Paradise?"
"You went to Fish-Man Island? Did you see that mermaid again?!" Whitey Bay growled, glaring at Namur
Namur had been trying to sneak away, but Whitebeard blocked his path.
"Namur!!"
"B-B-Big Sis!" Namur broke out in a cold sweat.
"Well?! Did they meet?!"
Namur glanced at Roy, then at himself. Roy's face was already a mess, and he was signaling desperately with his eyes. Swallowing hard, Namur stammered, "Y-Yeah, they met… Big Bro even went to the mermaid café for a while!"
'I'm dead!!!'
Roy screamed internally, and before he could react, Whitey Bay had grabbed him by one leg and dragged him off.
"Just don't hit him too hard, and don't hit the face! He only made a mistake every man makes!!"
Whitebeard was having the time of his life, more entertained than a cold sake on a summer day.
Everyone else could guess Roy was in for hell, and probably wouldn't be seen for a few days.
Later that night, Roy showed up in the main hall completely wrapped in bandages. Whitebeard was drinking.
"Gurararara! Our mighty Vice Captain has returned!" Whitebeard roared with laughter.
"I told you guys to cut off his alcohol!" Roy said, eyeing Whitebeard's drink.
"This one's bought with my money," Whitebeard replied smugly.
"You? Where'd you get money?"
"I went out and clobbered a few newcomers for it. Yeah, I'm old, but that doesn't mean I've gotten weak."
"Fine, fine. As long as you're enjoying yourself. Nothing serious happened while I was gone?" Roy asked Marco.
"We found Teach," Marco replied.
"Oh? Where is he?" Roy asked.
"He somehow got his hands on the Float-Float Fruit, the one Golden Lion had. He's hiding in the sky now. He showed up recently to attack one of our islands and looted all its supplies."
"He got the Float-Float Fruit?" Roy narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah. Now that he's flying, it's really hard to track him down," Marco said grimly.
"This is troublesome," Roy muttered. "That fruit isn't easy to counter. If he's always airborne…"
He hadn't expected Teach to gain a new power, and such a dangerous one at that. He must have killed Golden Lion and taken his Devil Fruit.
The Float-Float Fruit wasn't as flashy and devastating as the Quake-Quake Fruit, but it was just as terrifying, capable of leveling islands with ease. In fact, its destructive capacity was arguably more immediate.
He could potentially erase an island off the map faster than a quake could.
With this power, Teach could stay airborne indefinitely, making him nearly untouchable. Catching him would now be far more difficult. The only time they'd have a chance would be when he needed to resupply.
But how would they know when or where that would be?
"Didn't expect Shiki to die," Whitebeard said calmly.
"If he didn't die, it would've been you," Roy said. "He was eyeing your fruit first."
"Serves him right! We have to find Teach and finish him off!" Jozu and the others growled angrily.
"What happened to the island he attacked?"
"They took all the wealth and food, and killed a lot of our people," Marco reported.
"I've already sent teams of three captains together, and also notified Doma's group, five crews per unit. If they find a trace of him, they'll report back immediately."
"This defensive stance won't cut it," Roy said darkly. "We need to go on the offensive. We'll kill him the next time we see him."
He'd made up his mind. Originally, he'd planned to leave Teach to Ace, but not anymore. He had to die. Immediately.
"But he's flying… We can't find him."
"Exactly," Marco agreed. "His crew is strong, too. Taking them down won't be easy. Unless we team up with others, it's nearly impossible. He's an airborne threat, that alone makes him a nightmare."
The Flying Pirates were a force to be reckoned with. They'd seen Golden Lion's strength before, not just once.
Back during the Edd War, everyone had thought it was insane that the mighty Golden Lion Pirates had lost to Roger's crew, which only had one ship.
The Whitebeard Pirates had never believed that outcome. Oden hadn't even joined Roger's crew at that point, and yet they had seen the Golden Lion Pirates' strength firsthand.
They acknowledged Roger's strength, of course.
But Roger had been up against tens of thousands in Shiki's fleet. He didn't win through strength, but because a storm in the New World had turned the tide and destroyed Shiki's fleet.
If that battle had taken place on calm seas, Roger's crew might've been wiped out instead.
To the Whitebeard Pirates, the Flying Pirates had no real weaknesses. Air vs. sea is like a mother beating her son, completely one-sided.
Now, Blackbeard had inherited that ability. He wasn't the only one who could fly, but he was the only one who could keep an entire island airborne.
Even Kaido couldn't maintain flame clouds to lift an island indefinitely.
This just showed how powerful the Float-Float Fruit really was. It wasn't as simple as it looked.
Of course, in a pure 1v1 where power levels are equal, it wouldn't be as directly effective as the Quake-Quake Fruit. Golden Lion himself had been a world-class swordsman; his Devil Fruit was just a bonus.
Unfortunately, he'd lost his mind, using his swords as prosthetic legs, abandoning his swordsmanship, and even sacrificing his hands.
His death was well deserved. Too foolish.
Ever since his escape from Impel Down, when he didn't return to the New World to rebuild his forces, his fighting spirit had already begun to fade. Losing his legs left him relying only on his Devil Fruit.
Teach would be far harder now to deal with.
They'd have to wait.
Wait for the right time, when the Devil Fruits Roy was nurturing bore fruit. Then… it would be hunting season.