Central Tower, Twenty-Second Floor.
"Heh heh heh... I can't believe you actually dared to come and see me. Aren't you afraid of death?" Aeridar stared at the man before him and asked savagely.
"Zehahaha! Afraid! Of course, I'm afraid of death!"
Blackbeard Teach sat on the sofa opposite Aeridar, a grin on his face. He met Aeridar's gaze without flinching. "But what I fear more is failing to realize my dream!"
A silence fell over the room. The atmosphere gradually became heavy, and the air began to hum strangely. The intense pressure of their respective Haki seemed to form an invisible field, enveloping the entire space.
The teacups on the coffee table, a vase on the floor, and even the hundreds of bottles of wine in the cabinet were all vibrating slightly.
Crack…
A faint sound of splitting.
"This is… the materialization of Conqueror's Haki!"
Teach looked down, his expression startled. A fine crack had appeared on the purple sandalwood coffee table between them.
"My apologies. I've only just reached this stage and have a little trouble controlling it," Aeridar apologized half-heartedly, which only made Teach more wary.
With that interruption, the heavy atmosphere dissipated, and both men retracted their overbearing presence.
"Zehahaha! You're getting stronger and stronger! The New Era is certainly in our hands!" Teach laughed, grinning widely.
"Don't lump us together. You and I are still competitors for the title of Yonko!" Aeridar also sneered, speaking without reserve.
"Don't lie to me, zehahaha! If you really wanted to become a Yonko, you would've made your big move already!" Teach laughed loudly, arrogantly stating, "The remnants of Marco's crew still have some power, but only I am the biggest obstacle to you becoming a Yonko. If you were truly vying for the title, you wouldn't have ignored my constant expansion of power."
"Heh heh heh..."
Aeridar chuckled deeply, looking at Teach noncommittally.
"In truth, when Malha found me, I was tempted for a moment. But when I saw the newspaper featuring Byrnndi World, I realized the truth," Teach said honestly. "Setting aside whether we could even beat you if we teamed up, if I were to join forces with him, given my current influence, I wouldn't be able to defend against penetration by the Cipher Pol organization. My downfall wouldn't be far off."
"You're surprisingly self-aware." Aeridar was a little surprised. He hadn't expected the rough-and-tumble Blackbeard to think things through so carefully.
However, it was reasonable. Otherwise, Blackbeard wouldn't have been cunning enough to manipulate both the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates in the palm of his hand, becoming the biggest winner of the Paramount War.
"While I've been frantically expanding my territory, you've done a few major deeds but have otherwise stayed put in your own domain, making no move."
"But the world believes you're not indifferent to the Yonko title. They all guess that you're secretly gathering strength, and then you'll unleash a lightning-fast attack to eliminate both Marco's crew and me, clearing all obstacles on your path to becoming a Yonko!"
"However, I have a different view."
Teach's tone was confident, and his face held a malicious smile.
"Let's hear it."
Aeridar watched Teach with great interest.
"I can't be sure whether you're stronger than me or I'm stronger than you, but what I am sure of is that your forces are absolutely more powerful than mine."
Teach didn't conceal anything, speaking plainly. "The Chris Pirates, once they go all out, neither the current Blackbeard Pirates nor the Whitebeard Pirates without their old man would be your match. That's why I've been expanding my power like a maniac, trying to narrow the gap."
"But if you really had the ambition to claim the Yonko title, you wouldn't have let me expand my power so wildly. The idea of you 'secretly gathering strength' is a joke! A clean sweep, a lightning strike, that would be your true approach! Zehahaha…" Teach sneered, his mockery directed at the world's assumptions.
"Heh heh heh... Hahahaha..."
Aeridar clapped and laughed loudly, looking at the cunning, insidious man before him as if seeing him for the first time. "Brilliant! Simply brilliant!"
"Zehahaha," Teach chuckled deeply. "Though I don't know your true goal, becoming the Pirate King shouldn't be your dream."
"Who knows about that?"
Aeridar shrugged, leaning lazily back on the sofa. He suddenly gave a cold laugh. "Tell me, if my goal really is the Yonko title, don't you think you've walked right into a trap today, Blackbeard?"
A flicker of blood-red light crossed his eyes, and a terrifying killing intent erupted from Aeridar's body. The intense bloodlust surged towards Teach like a mountainous tide.
Hiss…
Instantly enveloped by the powerful killing intent, Teach almost felt the air before him turn red. The horrible sense of crisis made the hair on his neck stand up, and he nearly lashed out in attack.
"That kind of joke isn't funny at all!"
Teach fixed his dark gaze on Aeridar, enunciating every word, as a smoky black mist began to rise from his body.
"A joke? That's your assumption!"
Aeridar's face twisted into a snarl, his body suddenly sitting upright. At the same time, he raised his arm, and a pale white pressure field enveloped his right fist.
A sense of terror filled Teach, and he quickly raised his own fist, a vibrating pressure field surrounding it as well.
Crack…
As the identical fists slammed into each other, countless tiny cracks immediately appeared in the air.
Boom!
A terrifying seismic force erupted, and a visible ring of warped ripples spread outward. In a flash, every object in the room—the furniture, the wine bottles, even the crimson rug on the floor—was instantly disintegrated into piles of shards and tatters as the air ripple passed over them.
However, both men had excellent control over their strength, as the entirety of the force was contained within the room and didn't spread outside.
"Tsk, tsk. Nice control over your power. You've improved!" Aeridar looked at the wall behind Teach, clicking his tongue in amazement. A few months ago at Marineford, Teach still had some trouble controlling the force of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but now he had almost mastered it.
Teach's face darkened as he glanced behind him. The cracks on the wall behind him were a stark, painful contrast to the clean wall behind Aeridar.
"Zehahaha!"
Suddenly, Teach burst into laughter instead of anger, stating in a low voice, "If you want to keep me here, are you really prepared for what that means?"
Aeridar's eyes narrowed dangerously at the question.
"Heh heh heh..."
The next moment, Aeridar also began to laugh.
"Zehahaha!"
"Heh heh heh… hahaha!"
Teach and Aeridar roared with laughter, breathless with mirth.
After laughing for a full half-minute, they finally calmed down.
Aeridar stared intently at Teach and said coldly, "The Yonko position is yours, but…"
Before Aeridar could finish, Teach interrupted directly, "I acknowledge the status of the Neutral Zone."
Aeridar looked deeply at Teach, then continued, "I will hunt down Malha and strike at the organization behind him."
"Pirate matters are not for the enemy to interfere with."
Teach's tone was resolute. In that moment, he was genuinely serious.