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Chapter 228: He's a Dead Man. I Said So.
🕑 Added 2025-10-04 12:20:57 +0000 UTCChapter 228: He's a Dead Man. I Said So.
"I've already taken my revenge on the Marines for that! And you don't need to tell me you weren't fully responsible! If you were, Teach, you'd already be a corpse!"
SHINK!
As Whitebeard roared, the massive blade of his bisento was suddenly at Teach's throat. The cold steel on his skin made his savage grin freeze. He swallowed hard. He looked up and saw only disappointment and a profound weariness in Whitebeard's shadowed eyes. He looked around. Marco, Vista, Thatch... his former comrades... their gazes were cold, disdainful, or filled with disbelief.
An ordinary man would be terrified. But he was not an ordinary man. He was Teach.
"So you can't bring yourself to kill me after all, Pops!" he laughed, his missing teeth on full display. "I knew it! After all, I'm still your son! The son who's been by your side for over twenty years!"
"..."
Whitebeard stared at him, his face unreadable. He looked up at the sky, let out a long breath, then sheathed his blade. He clenched his left fist, and a terrifying, white aura of tremor energy gathered around it.
"Go, Teach! Run to the ends of the sea!" Whitebeard roared, his voice filled with a terrible, final anguish. "After today, you are no longer a part of the Whitebeard Pirates! The next time we meet, I will take your life!"
As he spoke, his fist, holding the power to shatter mountains, slammed into Teach's stomach.
BOOM!
The very air around them cracked like a mirror. Teach let out a pained grunt as the blow sent him flying backward, through the ship's railing, and into the sky like a cannonball. In an instant, he was just a black dot on the horizon.
Clank.
Whitebeard's bisento fell to the deck. The crew stared in stunned silence. Whitebeard walked back to his throne without a word. As he passed Shane, he hesitated for a moment, then continued on. He sat down, grabbed a gourd of sake, and began to drink.
"Was that necessary?" Shane asked quietly.
"What?" Whitebeard rumbled.
"You're afraid of me, Whitebeard," Shane said.
The old man's drinking paused. He slowly lowered the gourd. "Gurarara... you've got a lot of nerve, kid. You really think I'm afraid of you? I know you killed the Golden Lion, but if you think I'm just another washed-up old man..."
"Then why were you watching me?" Shane asked, swirling the sake in his own gourd. "You looked at me when you grabbed him, and you looked at me when you sent him flying. What, were you afraid I'd kill him?"
Whitebeard was silent for a moment, then he roared with laughter. "You've got a sharp eye, kid. Yes! I was afraid you'd kill him! That bastard may be a dead man walking, but he was once my son! If anyone is going to end him, it will be me!"
"You let him go. It'll be hard to catch him again. That was probably your only chance, and you went soft."
"A young man with a happy family wouldn't understand. For a pirate whose ship is his home... you don't kill your own son in your own house," Whitebeard said, shaking his head. "I know you're just looking out for me, but it's done. After today, he is no longer my son. And the next time we meet... I will not be so soft."
Will you really? Shane thought, a look of pity on his face. This old man... he was as tough as a mountain, but his heart was as soft as cotton. Even in the original timeline, at Marineford, with his entire family on the brink of destruction, he had still hesitated when Blackbeard had called him "Pops." Shane admired his spirit, his unique brand of pirate justice... but this... this he could not understand. He was the opposite of Whitebeard. He always cut the weeds at the root.
"Lord Shane," Marco said, a wry smile on his face. "On this, I agree with you. If I were Pops, I would have killed him on the spot. Teach is as strong as a commander. If he finds that Dark-Dark Fruit... he will be a terrible enemy. But..." He looked up at the silent, drinking giant. "That's just who Pops is. He's not a perfect captain, but he is a perfect father... and that's why we follow him."
The other commanders nodded in agreement.
"Gurarara! Enough with the sentimental crap!" Whitebeard laughed. "You stupid sons! But... you've made this old man feel a little better." He looked at Shane. "This was my family's business, but since that bastard made an enemy of you... I doubt you'll just let him go, will you?"
"Of course not," Shane said. "But I'll give you this, Whitebeard. You said he's not your son after today. So, for today, I'll let him live. I'll stay here, and we'll drink. We'll talk about him tomorrow."
Tomorrow? Whitebeard was a little taken aback. The kid was so confident. Did he really think he could just hunt Teach down whenever he felt like it? The sea was vast... but, for now, he would drink.
"Hey! My sons!!!" he roared, raising his gourd. "From this day on, the Whitebeard Pirates owe the Curtain Call Pirates two great debts! The first, for saving the lives of Vista and Whitey Bay! The second, for exposing the viper, Teach! From now on, they are our most cherished friends!"
"YEAH, POPS!" the crew roared back.
"To the last drop?" Whitebeard held out his gourd.
"To the last drop," Shane laughed, clinking his own against it.
Late that night, on a deserted island, Blackbeard collapsed onto the beach, his wings of fly-parts retracting. "Zehahaha... I'm alive! I'm alive!" he coughed up blood, a manic grin on his face. Pops... you old fool. He couldn't go back, but that was fine. He was tired of playing the part of the good son anyway. And now that he was free... he'd find the Dark-Dark Fruit. It was his destiny! "Just you wait, Pops..." he hissed. "When I find it... I'm coming back for your Tremor-Tremor Fruit. And then... I'm coming for you, Shane."
The next morning, the Moby Dick set sail. "Goodbye, Lord Shane!" the Whitebeard pirates called out, waving from the deck.
"Hey, where's Pops?"
"He was up at dawn. I saw him taking a piss off the stern. He was just staring out at the sea... maybe he's still upset about Teach."
Shane watched them go, then pulled out his hover-motorcycle and the Marauder's Map. He had said he would wait until tomorrow. And he had. Now, it was time to hunt.
The wool he had sheared from the drunken Whitebeard pirates the night before—[You have sacrificed Whitebeard's white beard. You have gained 5500 points.], [You have sacrificed Jozu's shoulder pad. You have gained 2100 points.], [You have sacrificed Kozuki Oden's old pistol. You have gained 3000 points.]...—was more than enough to pay for the 2000-point search fee.
He typed "Marshall D. Teach" into the map. A red dot appeared. "Heading for the Red Line, huh? As expected..." he was about to close the map when he noticed the name of the island the dot was hovering over. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Koron Island?"
