In the temporary base serving as the headquarters of the Creed Pirates, tens of thousands of pirates packed the grand plaza to the brim. On the high platform before them, Creed stood tall.
Behind Creed were all his top officers and division captains.
At this moment, Creed looked just like a supreme commander reviewing his troops.
He gazed at the sea of heads below and couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
By now, the number of divisions under his banner had grown to seven. Law led the sixth, and the ones who had joined afterward had been organized by Redfield into the seventh.
However, the total number of people was much smaller than when he had only five divisions.
Because Creed had already spread his banner and ideals loudly across the world:
the Creed Pirates had been founded for the sole purpose of overthrowing the World Government and dragging the Celestial Dragons down from their throne.
To walk so defiantly against heaven itself—what most people saw as deliberately seeking death—naturally made many cowardly, life-loving types back out.
On this point, Creed didn't force anyone in the least. He was very open about it, and not a single pirate who withdrew was punished; they were free to come and go as they pleased.
At the same time, however, pirates who resented or hated the Navy and the World Government were constantly defecting to his side, so the strength of the Creed Pirates had not diminished. In fact, because many of the newcomers were quite powerful, the crew as a whole had grown stronger.
His appearance here today, meeting all his subordinates in one place, had actually been suggested by Redfield, Crocodile, and the others.
With a grand decisive battle against the Navy very likely on the horizon, it was absolutely necessary for Creed, as the supreme leader, to come out and boost morale.
Creed wasn't very skilled at this sort of thing, but with a prepared speech to read from, he still managed to make everyone's blood boil. The masses roared slogan after slogan—"Down with the World Government!" "Overthrow the Celestial Dragons!" and so on.
"My skill at commanding subordinates is still way off… but I don't really need that kind of thing anyway. Maybe in the future, I can hand all of this to Dragon and let him realize his ideals about equality and freedom…"
Creed thought to himself as he looked at the crowd below.
So long as he possessed absolute strength, he didn't even need these followers. He alone could topple the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
Of course, Creed wasn't the type to dump a mess and walk away. After overthrowing the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, he would find appropriate people to clean up the aftermath.
Dragon was undoubtedly a suitable leader. King Riku of Dressrosa was another…
With himself sitting in town and overseeing things, Dragon and King Riku and the others would be free to do as they wished, unimpeded by resistance.
This was the rough framework taking shape in Creed's mind at present. It would need plenty of adjustments and additions in the days to come.
After rousing his troops' fighting spirit, the next step was to wait for Dragon and the remnants of the Revolutionary Army to link up with them.
Then, even if the Navy didn't launch the attack first, Creed's side wouldn't be able to sit still.
Because both sides knew they were bound to clash sooner or later; whether it was sooner or later really didn't make much difference.
Neither side could allow the "bowstring" they had drawn to stay taut without loosing the arrow, lest the "bow" snap in their hands.
In other words, both sides were already riding a tiger they couldn't get off.
The Navy was constantly conducting worldwide conscription, new forces pouring in without end. If Creed continued to sit back and watch, the accumulation of that frightening strength would grow without limit.
On the other hand, the Navy couldn't tolerate Creed and the Revolutionary Army joining forces either. Revolutionary ideology was frighteningly persuasive, and they had already paid dearly for underestimating that power before. It could strike at the very foundation of the World Government. If Creed's side were given enough time, the entire balance of power in the New World might shift.
So both sides had perfectly good reasons to act and could no longer afford to simply wait.
However, what the Navy never expected was that a sudden incident would completely disrupt all of their arrangements.
Banaro Island was a quiet island, its hallmark a few massive rock formations towering like mountain peaks.
But today, a terrifying battle had suddenly broken out here, engulfing the entire island. Not only were those iconic boulders smashed to pieces, but the houses and fields of the islanders were swept away as well, reduced to nothingness.
From afar, one could see blazing red flames and thick black smoke flashing again and again in the sky above the island, plunging it into alternating light and darkness.
The islanders who had fled in a panic could only stand on the shore and watch all of this, heartbroken that everything they owned had vanished.
The only thing they could be thankful for was that they had escaped with their lives. Those who ran too slowly had already breathed their last.
Many terrified people hurried onto boats to flee this place, abandoning their homeland of several decades without looking back.
At the center of the island—
"Zehahahaha! My dear Captain Ace, your hand-to-hand combat is way too weak! Relying too much on your Fruit ability isn't a good thing!"
Blackbeard looked at Ace, who had been sent flying dozens of meters by a single palm strike and was struggling to stand up again, and spoke with a grin.
Ace clutched his neck as waves of unbearable pain surged from it, shocking him to the core.
Could it be that his cervical spine was almost broken?
This Teach's physical strength was just too monstrous. Among the Whitebeard Pirates, his own close-combat ability was already considered very good, yet in front of Teach he was like a child sparring with an adult.
"You've already had a taste of my Yami Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) ability. You can't beat me. A young, promising guy like you shouldn't waste his life following that decrepit old Whitebeard, waiting around to die. You should be doing something meaningful with your life… I'll ask you one more time: do you want to join us and conquer the world together?"
Blackbeard reached out his hand, looking at Ace with apparent sincerity.
Behind him, a gigantic mass of strange black darkness was roiling, devouring all the light on the island, plunging everything in the area into gloom.
The power of the Yami Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit).
"If I submit to strength, I'm not worthy of being called a man. I'll never let my life be stained by that kind of regret! And as for someone with no shred of honor or humanity, you belong in hell—you don't deserve comrades. Got that, you bastard?!"
Ace wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and forced himself to stand once more.
"What a pity… Seems you're still too young. In this world, surviving is the only victory! Ace—die in the darkness!"
Seeing that Ace was still going to struggle on, Blackbeard stopped trying to persuade him. He unleashed the power of the Yami Yami no Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) at full force again. Black pillars of smoke surged into the sky, covering the heavens and bringing with them a heavy, suffocating darkness, as if night had fallen in an instant.
A bone-deep chill, an abyssal, bottomless sense of despair, and the aura of annihilation itself rushed at him, making Ace grit his teeth and roar:
"Dai Enkai (Great Flame Commandment)!"
At his shout, countless flames erupted from beneath his feet, ring after ring, layer after layer, forming concentric circular walls of fire that fused together into an enormous pillar of blazing flame shooting up into the sky.
The infinite fire rose and swirled, then gathered and transformed, finally forming a colossal fireball over his head, at least a thousand meters across.
Flames boiled and spilled from the surface of the immense sphere, flowing and dancing around it. It radiated unbearable heat, like a miniature sun, scorching the entire island until rock and earth blackened and smoke billowed everywhere.
"Entei (Flame Emperor)!"
Ace raised this massive "sun" aloft with one hand and glared at Blackbeard, his presence as stern and overwhelming as a sun god's.
(End of Chapter)
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