By 1517 of the Sea Circle dar, the bance of power in the New World had begun to stabilize.

  With its ever-growing strength, the Marines had tighteheir grip ory points to the New World, restrig the movement and influence of pirates.

  Meanwhile, Kaido had officially ted himself as the sed Emperor of the Sea, following Whitebeard.

  Last year, Shanks had cshed with Kaido in battle. Though no definitive vierged, the sheer scale of their fight had propelled Shanks into the ranks of the Emperors, seg his position as the third great power of the New World.

  Thus, the "Three Emperors" were established, eaanding a massive territory and solidating power over what remained of the pirate fas in the region.

  As a result, the once-chaotiew World began to settle into a more structured and predictable era.

  With the Three Emperors, the Marines, and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a delicate triangur bance had emerged, leaving the rest of the pirate world relegated to sed-rate pyers.

  However, not everyone leased with this newfound stability.

  Cudius, for one, was unimpressed.

  A chaotic world was far more useful to him—after all, disorder created opportunity.

  But at present, no ideal ce had preseself to disrupt the bance, so he tio watd wait from the shadows.

  ---

  Meanwhile, in the New World, aboard Enel's airborne ship, the self-procimed Thunder God listeo a report from one of his subordinates.

  "Lord Ehe intel is solid! This information is firmed!" the pirate reported excitedly.

  Eroked his , sing the dot in his hands before a wicked grin spread across his face.

  "A Logia-type Devil Fruit?" he mused, the ers of his lips curling upward. "Good. You've done well. Go cim your reward."

  Despite being a Warlord of the Sea, Enel remained dissatisfied with his current status. His own Thuhunder Fruit had granted him immerength, but he had made little effort to develop an actual pirate fleet anization.

  Ever sihe Gold Gold Fruit mishap from a few years ago, Enel had developed a particur i in rare Devil Fruits.

  Not for himself, he had no iion of eating another fruit but rather, as s to Cudius.

  Enel admired and respected Cudius deeply, even to the point of idolization.

  Having noticed that Cudius enjoyed colleg unusual and powerful things, Enel had taken it upon himself to seek out rare Devil Fruits and gift them to his superior.

  As a result, his crew had expaheir intelligewathering all sorts of information on Devil Fruit sightings.

  Over the past few years, Enel had personally gifted Cudius several iing fruits, all of which had ultimately been handed over to CP-X, serving as rewards for elite agents.

  Now, another opportunity had arisen—the Dark-Dark Fruit.

  Flipping through the information in his hands, Eudied the details of this new Devil Fruit.

  Its description was intriguing.

  While it was cssified as a Logia, its ability set differed signifitly from typical elemental fruits. The most notable cim was that it could "nullify" other Devil Fruit abilities.

  Of course, Enel himself wielded one of the most powerful Logia abilities ience, his Thuhunder Fruit was often referred to as "invincible."

  So while the Dark-Dark Fruit seemed powerful, Enel wasn't particurly impressed.

  "A det find, at least," he muttered. "Might as well grab it for Cudius."

  He gnced down at the se of the report.

  Apparently, the Dark-Dark Fruit had fallen into the hands of a retively unknown pirate, someooo weak to appreciate its true value.

  Rather than ing it, this pirate had decided to sell it off, hoping to make a fortune aire from piracy altogether.

  To that end, he had listed the fruit for sale in the underworld, though not through Dofmingo's work.

  Dofmingo's Devil Fruit business had taken a hit ever sihe Mignon Isnd i, where a 5-billion-beri deal had colpsed spectacurly.

  Though Dofmingo himself didn't care, the i had slightly tarnished his reputation as the go-to middleman for Devil Fruits.

  As a result, other brokers in the underworld had stepped in to fill the gap.

  The seller had priced the Dark-Dark Fruit at 1.2 billion berry, believing it to be just anh-value odity.

  However, he had made a grave mistake.

  He had uimated the significe of what he possessed and, more importantly, who might be after it.

  ---

  Elsewhere in the New World, aboard the Whitebeard Pirates' sed division ship, a certain Marshall D. Teach sat with the exact same report in his hands.

  His eyes gleamed with anticipation, and a sinister grin spread across his face.

  "Zehahahahaha…" Teach ughed under his breath, gripping the paper tightly.

  The Whitebeard Pirates' sed division was a unique o had no designated ander, with figures like Mard Joz stepping in as needed.

  Teach himself was one of the lo-serving members of the crew.

  He had been aboard Whitebeard's ship for nearly two decades, even befol D. Roger's death.

  And in all that time, he had never orayed his crewmates.

  He was deeply trusted by Whitebeard's "sons."

  Figures like Mard Joz didn't see him as just another crew member by all logic, Teach had the qualifications and experieo bee the captain of the sed division.

  Yet, he had always refused the position.

  Because everything he did was a gamble.

  ---

  Ever since childhood, Teach had been obsessed with ohing, the Dark-Dark Fruit.

  Having studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia at a young age, he had discovered its description and bee utterly fixated on it.

  Because Teach had a secret.

  His body was… different.

  Though he had ested it, he believed there ossibility that he could wield two Devil Fruit abilities at once.

  Of course, this was a gamble with his life.

  But Teach didn't care, because he had already bet everything on obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit.

  That was the only reason he had joined Whitebeard's crew in the first pce.

  If the world's stro man couldn't obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, then who could?

  Yet, for decades, there had been no trace of it.

  He had almost given up, resigning himself to his fortable life aboard Whitebeard's ship.

  He had even sidered finally accepting the position of division ander.

  But then—fate had answered his call.

  The Dark-Dark Fruit had surfaced.

  And it had fallen into the hands of an absolute fool.

  Teach grinned.

  With the power of the Whitebeard Pirates behind him, seg the fruit would be child's py.

  And once he had it…

  His true ambitions would finally begin.

  ---

  Not far away, Maroticed Teach's unusual excitement.

  "Teach, what's so funny?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow.

  They were in the middle of a ba, surrounded by crewmates.

  Teach quickly masked his expression, fshing a wide, i smile.

  "Marco, I think I just found my treasure!" he decred.

  Marco ughed. "Oh yeah? What is it?"

  Teach's grin widened.

  He had no doubt, the crew would help him get the fruit.

  And once he had it…

  Marshall D. Teach would cease to exist.

  In his pce, "Bckbeard" would rise.

  "Zehahahahaha…"

  ***

  Chey new ff: Heavenly Restri User of the Gojo : I Refuse to Be Cut in Half

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