Not long after, Teach returned to the City of Calamity aboard a Sky-Air Battleship.
He received an extraordinarily grand welcome this time; almost all the monsters living in the City of Calamity came out.
Everyone wanted to see the unprecedented situation of a Dual-Fruit Ability User.
On the top deck, Teach was genuinely startled by the setup when he descended from the massive battleship.
"Zehahaha! Did everyone come? That's a real honor!"
"Everyone is very curious,"
Roa said with a light chuckle. "What the unprecedented Dual-Fruit Ability User looks like!"
"So, did you really eat a second Devil Fruit?"
Kaido asked directly, impatient.
"That's right!"
The corners of Teach's mouth curled up. He raised his right hand, and the next moment, his entire hand was enveloped in black smoke. The black mist drifted up, forming a dense column of smoke that looked unsettlingly ominous just by sight.
"Oho!"
Katakuri exclaimed oddly.
He truly was the unprecedented Dual Devil Fruit Ability User!
"Mama-mama! How interesting!"
Charlotte Linlin stared intently at Teach, a strange light in her eyes, and even drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Teach instantly felt a chill run down his spine, instinctively taking a step back.
He knew exactly what Charlotte Linlin was thinking.
Who would want to have children with a dead old hag!
"Alright!"
Shiki was also scrutinizing Teach, the son of his former Captain. He grinned. "Hurry up and let me see what kind of power the unprecedented Dual Devil Fruit Ability User possesses!"
"I'll go!"
The Calamity Company's Chief Instructor, Roa's strongest spear, Douglas Bullet, stepped forward. "Come on, Teach, let me see what kind of power you have with a second ability!"
"Zehahahaha!"
Teach instantly broke into an excited laugh. "Just what I wanted, Bullet!"
He had wanted to beat up this bastard for a long time; he had been beaten up by this scoundrel too many times in the past!
However.
"No."
Roa smiled and said, "Loki, you do it."
A dark opponent should naturally be met with the sun; that feels right.
"Huh? Me?"
Loki, who was engrossed in watching the spectacle, was suddenly called out and instinctively froze for a moment.
Then, he cracked a grin. "Alright! Then this Big Shot will be the one to flatten Teach!"
Since Roa had spoken, neither Bullet nor Teach had any objections.
So, soon, on the top deck of the City of Calamity, Teach and Loki had already assumed their stances, ready to fight.
"Hahahaha, Teach! Don't expect this Big Shot to go easy on you!"
Loki carried his giant iron hammer, his face filled with an easy smile.
After eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, he had indeed created a power gap between himself and his former good brother, Teach.
"Zehahaha! Loki, don't let the ability I just got scare you away!"
Teach's body visibly swelled. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a ferocious beast-man form with three heads.
Compared to more than a year ago, this transformation was taller, stronger, and much closer to his full beast form.
Black flame clouds, like streamers, wrapped around his body!
Over the past year, while training Armament Haki and Observation Haki with Roa, Teach had completed the Cerberus Fruit's Awakening!
Then, dense black smoke billowed from his body, forming a huge column of smoke that soared into the sky.
"Zehahahaha! Come on! Loki!!"
Teach burst into loud laughter. Black flames and black mist surged simultaneously, making him resemble a demon god that had broken free from hell.
Even monsters like Shiki and Kaido had their eyes grow serious at this sight.
After achieving Awakening, Teach's strength was already quite close to King's. And now, after gaining a second Devil Fruit ability?
"Then don't blame this Big Shot for being rude!"
Loki was truly not polite. He immediately took a deep breath.
His massive body's mere inhalation created a vortex in the air, with a large volume of air instantly sucked into his stomach.
Then, he activated Life Return, and the air inside his stomach was instantly injected into his muscles.
Loki's body visibly swelled up.
Next, Armament Haki coated his entire body.
Loki, who was already enormous, instantly became a behemoth over a hundred meters tall.
"Here I come! Teach!!"
Loki's legs coiled up. The next moment, a terrifying elasticity burst forth. His colossal, mountain-like body pierced through the air like a black lightning bolt, launching towards Teach.
"Gum-Gum Heavy Hammer!!"
Thunder roared on the pitch-black heavy hammer. The air around it gave off a burnt smell, and the giant war hammer smashed down with a crash.
"Zehahahaha!!"
Teach laughed loudly, raising his right hand high.
Black mist and black flames fused together at that instant.
Then, with willpower, he injected both colors of Haki.
A ferocious, distorted, ominous black substance condensed into shape.
Teach slammed this black substance towards Loki's heavy hammer, as if he were throwing a writhing abyss!
Boom!!
The moment the war hammer and the black substance collided, a violent explosion instantly surged, and a ferocious wind spread everywhere, threatening to destroy everything on the top deck.
"Hohoho! That's quite good!"
Roa laughed.
The respective attacks of the two men were essentially equally matched.
Laughing Red, who was watching, had a look of emotion in his eyes. Another young man has already surpassed me.
"Not done, not done, not done!"
Loki laughed, smashing down with one hammer after another without pause.
But at this moment, Teach smirked and stretched out his left hand. "Dark Water!"
"Ugh!!"
Loki, who was swinging his war hammer almost frantically, instantly stiffened. His massive body was pulled by an invisible force, plummeting straight down.
"What?"
Loki couldn't comprehend.
What is this thing?
What captured me!
Teach laughed loudly and leaped up, heading straight toward Loki.
After his Awakening, his speed was astonishingly fast. He closed the distance to Loki almost instantly. As they rushed towards each other, Teach's left hand pressed directly onto Loki's chest.
"Waaaah!!"
Loki immediately let out a pained scream.
Blood instantly began to seep from various parts of his body, and streams of air escaped from his pores.
"What!!"
The spectators were all stunned.
What's happening?
"Tsk tsk."
Roa, the professional commentator, explained dutifully. "It's a countermeasure. When Teach touches him, the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit vanishes. Loki is no longer a resilient rubber body, so the air injected into his muscles will cause him big trouble."
"Zehahahaha! Loki, did you see that—"
Teach was laughing loudly.
But before he could finish, a huge fist wrapped in two colors of Haki struck him from the side.
"Waaah!"
Teach was instantly knocked away by the punch, smashing heavily onto the ground.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
Teach tumbled and rolled on the ground like a child whose bottom had been spanked.
Roa chuckled.
Whitebeard's assessment was spot on: Teach, your biggest weakness is getting carried away.
"What, what happened?"
Katakuri looked at the bloodied Loki, somewhat confused.
"The Dark-Dark Fruit is the bane of all ability users."
Roa, the designated expositor, explained. "Darkness can attract all ability users, and any ability user touched by Teach will temporarily lose their ability."
"What?"
Even Charlotte Linlin couldn't help but gasp in surprise. "There's actually a Devil Fruit that defies logic like that?"
"There's more."
Roa looked at Teach, who had stopped rolling and was slowly standing up, and smiled. "Although he cannot elementalize like other Logia users, the Dark-Dark Fruit user can absorb the damage they take, regardless of whether Haki is used or not."
"The only drawback is probably that the user suffers double the pain."
"Zehaha! Boss is right!"
Despite being hit hard by Loki's punch, Teach was now completely unharmed. "It hurts like hell, but it's totally worth it, right!"
"And, the ability I chose to enhance with the Lineage Factor is Endurance! Zehaha! As long as my stamina doesn't run out, I can continuously absorb damage!"
"You bastard! How dare you trick this Big Shot!"
Loki's chest heaved violently, his expression constantly changing.
This scoundrel's ability seemed to really counter him!
As soon as he was touched, the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit would be suppressed.
Now, he couldn't carelessly inject air into his body and activate Gear Four.
Otherwise, even if he used Haki to attack from a distance, he couldn't guarantee that Teach's fist wouldn't smash into him!
In that case.
"Gear Second!"
Loki roared.
His blood instantly accelerated, his skin started turning red, and steam rose from his body's surface.
If he only accelerated his blood, even if his ability was nullified, he could rely on Life Return to instantly slow his blood down!
Soru!
Loki's massive body instantly vanished, leaving only a streak of lightning across the sky.
Loki's Lineage Factor enhancement, like King's, was Speed.
Not only his movement speed but his reaction speed was also greatly improved. Combined with Life Return, Loki would definitely not be at a disadvantage even against a speed-type powerhouse like Shanks.
"Zehaha! Speed is useless against me!"
Teach laughed loudly and leaped into the air, extending his left hand again. "Dark Water!"
As the black mist spread, Loki, who was arriving like thunder, was captured again. Although his speed hadn't decreased at all, his body did fall into a brief moment of stiffness.
However.
"Life Return!"
His willpower instantly forced his stiff body into action. The giant iron hammer ruthlessly smashed towards Teach.
"Zehahaha!"
Teach wasn't surprised. It would be strange if he could defeat Loki so easily!
The black substance collided with the war hammer once more.
Boom!!
The roar continued.
However, without the boost of Gear Four, Loki, facing Teach's Fruit Fusion Technique with only Gear Second, was at a disadvantage and staggered backward from the blow.
"Zehahaha! Now, I am stronger!"
Teach again laughed loudly, carried away by his triumph.
Roa wasn't surprised either.
This Teach was not the one from the original story who wasted decades on the Whitebeard Pirates.
He had been rigorously trained by Bullet, honing his ability, martial arts, and Haki to astonishing levels, making him a true powerhouse with no blind spots.
Even when pulling in a close-combat monster like Loki with Dark Water, Teach was completely confident.
Shiki and Kaido, who were watching, couldn't help but frown.
Should we say, as expected of that scoundrel Rocks' son?
After eating a second Devil Fruit, his strength was no longer inferior to theirs.
Even—
Kaido snorted coldly.
If his ability were nullified and he had to face this Teach, his performance might not be better than Loki's.
However, unlike Loki, he wouldn't suffer any damage even if his ability was nullified.
Shiki, on the other hand, was indifferent, as his combat power relied minimally on his Devil Fruit ability.
"Alright, that's enough."
Roa interrupted the battle while the two were fighting heatedly.
"Boss!"
Loki, looking a bit disheveled, was dissatisfied. "I haven't lost yet!"
"Zehaha!"
Teach laughed triumphantly. "Isn't the result obvious!"
"Loki, if you're not satisfied, then become stronger."
Roa said with a smile.
He indeed had high hopes for Loki.
If the Gum-Gum Fruit could Awaken, what was the Dark-Dark Fruit compared to that?
"Damn it!!"
Loki was practically gnashing his teeth.
"Zehahaha!"
Teach laughed smugly.
Now, besides the Boss and Imu, he feared no one!
"Very good."
Roa also nodded with approval.
As for the current Teach, even without considering the Dark-Dark Fruit's counter to ability users, he was already at the level of Elder Shiki and Brother Kaido.
"Zehaha!"
Teach chuckled. "It's all thanks to your grace, Boss!"
"Then,"
Roa asked with a smile, "Have you decided what your third Devil Fruit will be?"
"..."
Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished.
Katakuri even stammered, "Th-the third Devil Fruit?"
"Hey, Roa!"
Even Shiki couldn't keep his composure. "Are you serious?"
"Hmm? I told you,"
Roa said with a smile. "Teach can eat multiple Devil Fruits, and that doesn't just mean two."
"He can eat a total of three Devil Fruits!"
The Cerberus Fruit was a perfect fit for Teach.
With two Devil Fruits, he was already this strong. If he ate a third, Teach would undoubtedly surpass the limits of humanity and reach the domain of true monsters.
"Three?"
Everyone looked at Teach with utter shock.
What kind of monster is this guy?
"Zehaha!"
Teach chuckled. "Boss, what do you think about the Quake-Quake Fruit?"
"Hmm, a good idea."
Roa wasn't surprised. "Mythical Zoan, Logia, plus the strongest Paramecia. A perfect combination."
Not surprising at all.
"Wait! Hold on a minute!"
Charlotte Linlin exclaimed in shock. "What do you mean, the Quake-Quake Fruit? Whitebeard isn't dead yet!"
"Oh, this involves another interesting ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit."
Roa chuckled. "In any case, Teach, want to give a demonstration?"
"Of course!!"
The City of Calamity did not lack ability users, but besides the artificially created Devil Fruit users, there weren't many genuine Devil Fruit users.
However, there were some who could be used for experimentation.
The first batch of Calamity Knights, the artificial human who had eaten the Ancient Zoan Brachiosaurus Fruit, was brought over.
"Zehahaha! Then allow me to demonstrate the most interesting ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit!"
Teach, holding an apple in his right hand, strode towards the Calamity Knight, who had a calm expression.
Everyone frowned, wondering what trick this guy was up to now.
Only Shiki's expression slightly changed.
Putting together Roa and Teach's previous conversation, he suddenly had a terrifying guess.
"Zehahaha! Die!"
Teach grabbed the Calamity Knight's neck.
As Haki surged, even the exoskeleton of the Lineage Factor couldn't withstand Teach's strength. The Calamity Knight's neck was snapped by Teach.
The life of this initial Lineage Factor artificial human vanished instantly.
Then.
"Dark Water!!"
Dark gravity activated from the hand holding the apple.
The Calamity Knight's body was pulled in.
Then, as his life completely dissipated, something was pulled out from within his body by the gravity.
The next moment, everyone's expressions drastically changed.
The apple in Teach's hand began to change form. Spiral patterns elongated out, circle after circle.
"What!!"
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