Marco had inteo take his time heading upstairs. After all, how much trouble could a single Devil Fruit possibly cause?

  The middleman from the underworld had mentiohat the fruit had already been reserved by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea— Enel—who had even put doosit. That was slightly inve siaking it would mean stealing something Enel had already cimed.

  But Marco wasn't particurly ed. The Warlords were strong, sure, but he had his own pride. We're the Whitebeard Pirates!

  And what did that mean?

  They were the stro, the rgest, the most fearsome crew on the seas!

  Marco found it ughable to think that Enel, as one of the Warlords, would actually dare to pick a fight with them over a single Devil Fruit. That would be ridiculous.

  "If he wants an expnation, just give him some money," Marco thought casually.

  It had to be said, the Whitebeard Pirates were arrogant. But they had the power to back it up. For decades, they had been the ones doing the bullying. Who had ever dared to bully them? Even the Navy had to give them some face.

  The truth was, Whitebeard had spoiled his "sons" too much. But nothing sts forever.

  When he was gone, someone would teach them a hard lesson.

  As Marco pohese things, a sudden surge of powerful energy erupted nearby. One presence was unmistakably Teach, but the other, Marco's expression darkened as realization hit him.

  "Red-Haired!"

  Teach wasn't well-known, but Marew full well how strong he was, strong enough that they had once sidered making him the Sed Division ander.

  But Shanks?

  Shanks was a monster. He had gooe-to-toe with their old man and held his own.

  Armed, Marco didn't hesitate any longer. Whatever the reason for the fight, Teach wasn't strong enough to handle Shanks alone. If he didn't step in, Teach might die.

  With a burst of phoenix fmes, Marco shot forward at incredible speed, rag toward the battlefield.

  In pirate battles, there was no such thing as honor duels.

  No one cared about one-on-one fights.

  If you had numbers, you used them. No one was going to politely wait for their turn.

  And right now, Teach was getting mobbed by the Red Hair Pirates.

  Teach was suffering.

  This wasn't what he had p all.

  "I just wao get the Dark-Dark Fruit!"

  He had thought it would be simple. Get the fruit, keep Marco as backup, and everything would be fine.

  Instead, he had run into the worst possible situation, Shanks and his crew had the fruit now.

  And there was no way they'd hand it over without a fight.

  "Damn it! I should've brought backup!" Teach cursed internally.

  The Whitebeard Pirates were used to outnumbering their enemies. But now he was the oing jumped, and it was a humiliating experience.

  To his credit, Teach was incredibly strong, even without the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was only slightly weaker than Shanks. He could still hold his own, even as more and more injuries accumuted on his body.

  But Shanks had no iion of letting him go.

  This wasn't just about the Devil Fruit.

  The Whitebeard Pirates had barged into his territory looking for trouble. That wasn't something Shanks could just ignore.

  And as for whether killing Teach would start a war?

  Shanks didn't care. He might not seek out flict, but he wasn't afraid of it either.

  With both arms still intact, Shanks was strohan ever. His bde shimmered with Haki as he swung it at Teach, taking advantage of the moment when Teach was forced to defend against Be's assault.

  But just as the sword was about to nd, the wall exploded.

  A streak of blue fmes fshed across the room as Marco tahe attack head-on.

  Shanks' bde struck Marco's chest.

  There was no blood—Marco had take, abs the impact with his body.

  Pain shot through him, but he barely reacted. He had long growo it. After all, as the Phoenix, unless someone killed him ht, injuries meant nothing.

  The wound on his chest ignited with blue fmes, rapidly closing until there was no trace of damage left.

  Shanks and his crew halted their attack.

  "Phoenix Marco," Shanks muttered, frowning slightly.

  "Shanks, do you even realize what you're doing?" Marco asked coldly, his eyes flickering to the bloodied Teach.

  Shanks let out a boisterous ugh. "Hahahaha! We were just drinking and having a good time, he's the one who crashed our party! And now you're bming me?"

  Teach, still catg his breath, wiped the blood from the er of his mouth. "Hand over the Devil Fruit, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened."

  Shanks' expression darkened. "Are you threatening me?"

  "Are y to start a war betweewest pirate crews?" Marco shot back, unwilling to back down.

  He hadn't sidered the possibility that Teach might be maniputing him into this fight. To him, it was simple, Teach had run into Shanks by act, and the Red Hair Pirates had stolen something that beloo the Whitebeard crew. It was reasoo demand it back.

  If Shanks ha over, there would be no need for flict.

  If not…

  Shanks sneered. "You're not worth my time. If e wants to talk, then we talk."

  Marco's expression darkened. It was clear that Shanks had no iion of handing over the fruit.

  And while he had mentioned Whitebeard's name, Marew the st thing he wanted was t their father into this mess.

  Fighting over a Devil Fruit? If the world found out they were going to war over that, they'd be a ughingstock.

  Teach, watg Marco's hesitation, grew increasingly irritated.

  Shanks exuded overwhelming fidence. Why 't Marco act like that?!

  Teach didn't care about starting a war.

  His goal was the Dark-Dark Fruit, aake it no matter what.

  He saw Marco wavering and immediately decided to escate things.

  Without hesitation, Teach lunged—

  And Shanks tered instantly.

  The battle reignited, f Marco to get involved as well. He might not have made up his mind, but he couldn't just stand by while his ally got beaten down.

  The Red Hair Pirates were strong, but Mard Teach were no pushovers, especially Marco.

  Marco was annoyingly difficult to deal with. His ability wasn't about overwhelming offense, but sheer endurano matter how many times they knocked him down, he'd just get back up.

  It was the kind of frustrating, drawn-out fighting style that could wear evero oppos down.

  The csh between two Emperor crews quickly spread across all of Pleasure Street.

  Fortunately, the local underworld authorities had immediately initiated an emergency evacuation pn, so civilian casualties were minimal.

  But the property damage?

  That was aory entirely.

  ---

  At the same time, on the port of Versailles, Enel had just disembarked from his ship.

  His Observation Haki was exceptional.

  Even before he stepped onto the isnd, he sehe chaos unfolding on Pleasure Street.

  His brows furrowed. "A high-level battle? What's going on?"

  Then, as realization dawned, his expression twisted.

  "They're stealing my Devil Fruit?!"

  His heart ched for a moment.

  And then—

  Before his other foot could even touch the ground—

  CRACK!

  Lightning fshed.

  Enel vanished.

  In an instant, he appeared above the battle, looking down.

  He saw Marco.

  He saw a man he didn't reize, who was also incredibly strong fighting against the Red Hair Pirates.

  And then he saw it.

  The Dark-Dark Fruit, clutched in the hands of a fat man.

  "So they did steal from me!"

  Enel didn't care who they were.

  Whitebeard's crew? Red Hair Pirates?

  His backer was the Celestial Dragons.

  Did these so-called Emperors think they could outrank the Wover?

  Without hesitation, Enel unleashed a devastating lightning strike aimed directly at Lucky.

  Lucky hadn't expected anyone else to interfere. Caught off guard, he barely had time to react. Instinctively, he hardened his body with Armament Haki, managing to bloel's lightning strike head-on.

  But in the instant, the lightning transformed—into Enel himself.

  "Thunderbird," Enel murmured.

  With a sudden burst of speed, he delivered a devastating kick to Lucky Roux's chest. The strike was infused with interical energy, taking the shape of a screeg thunderbird as it made impact.

  Lucky coughed up blood as he was sent flying backward.

  The Dark-Dark Fruit, which had been firmly in his grasp, was knocked loose, spinning through the air.

  Teach had been watg the fruit closely the eime.

  The moment he saw Enel arrive, he khings had gotten even more plicated.

  But there was no time to hesitate.

  Without a word, Teach lunged forward, reag out to seize the Dark-Dark Fruit!