Chapter 65

Teach's words could be said to have deeply pierced Ace's heart.

Before this, although Teach had killed Thatch and fled from the Whitebeard Pirates, deep down Ace simply could not bring himself to believe what Teach had done; Ace wanted to chase after Teach and get a clear answer.

He wanted to know why Teach had suddenly turned on and brutally killed a companion who had been so good to him for so many years.

"You bastard!"

"What on earth do you take your companions for?!"

Before Ace could say or do anything.

The instant Teach's voice fell, Natsu directly charged furiously toward the spot where Blackbeard Teach stood.

At this moment, Natsu had truly been seized by rage.

Watching Blackbeard Teach so casually answer that he had killed a companion just because the man "got in his way," Natsu truly flew into a rage.

Boom!

Under the stunned gazes of everyone, Natsu passed straight through Blackbeard Teach's figure and slammed a heavy punch into the street behind Blackbeard.

"Interesting."

Teach looked toward Natsu and said, "Same fire as Ace?"

From start to finish, Blackbeard Teach had merely been an illusion conjured by Aizen Sosuke using his Kyoka Suigetsu; although Lin Cheng could also have Aizen simulate the five senses, there was no need.

Today, all that was needed was to have Blackbeard show his face at Fairy Tail and have a little exchange.

"Bastard!"

"I'm definitely going to send you flying today!"

Natsu, refusing to believe it, swung another fist at Teach's body.

Without any surprise, Natsu's fist passed straight through Teach's body, meeting no solid resistance at all.

"Natsu, no need to keep wasting your effort."

"If I'm not mistaken, this should just be an illusion."

Mirajane, not far off, watched Natsu keep trying to punch Blackbeard Teach flying and said rather seriously, "It has no physical body; you won't be able to hit it, Natsu."

At the same time, Lahar on this side also felt the matter was getting somewhat complicated.

Or rather, Lahar at this point had also caught on, realizing he seemed to have been used as a pawn.

Although it seemed he hadn't actually played any substantive role.

"An illusion?"

Seeing that Blackbeard Teach's figure was an illusion, Ace took a deep breath, forcibly calming the fury in his heart, and said, "So, you suddenly came looking for me—what's your purpose?"

"Purpose?"

"Ace, you're asking me about my purpose?"

Watching Ace struggle to calm the fury in his heart, Teach let out a couple of chuckles and said, "Isn't it you, Ace, who's been looking for me all along?"

"Seeing how hard you've been searching for me, I just took some time to come take a look."

"No matter what, you are my good brother after all, Ace."

"But, if I really have to say I have some purpose, it's not like I don't."

At this point, Blackbeard Teach's tone paused slightly.

As if waiting for Ace to ask on his own.

"What purpose?"

Ace looked at Teach, who had paused.

Looking at Teach, whose face had shown not a trace of guilt from start to finish, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Join my crew, Ace."

"Aren't we good friends?"

Teach looked at Ace and burst into laughter, waving his big hand vigorously, and said, "The me who has now obtained brand-new power already has the confidence to compete with pops."

Boom!

A pillar of light formed from flames completely enveloped Teach's figure.

Rolling waves of heat spread outward from the pillar; a month later, the people of Fairy Tail once again felt Ace's terrifying power, enough to instantly kill a member of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Although Ace's attack had no effect on Blackbeard Teach's phantom, without a doubt Ace's attack made his stance perfectly clear.

"What a shame."

"But then again, that's Ace for you."

Watching Ace, whose face had grown extremely dark and who no longer spoke to him, Blackbeard Teach chuckled lightly twice and said, "Well then, let's call it a day here; we've caught up about enough."

"If you can find me, Ace, we'll have a proper chat then."

Saying so, Blackbeard Teach's figure vanished on the spot under the gaze of everyone watching.

Not far off, Aizen Sosuke slowly sheathed the Kyoka Suigetsu in his hand and turned to leave.

The atmosphere in the Fairy Tail guild was somewhat oppressive.

Although this was only the first encounter with Blackbeard Teach, from the conversation between Blackbeard Teach and Ace they had already been able to glean quite a bit of intelligence.

At the same time, everyone understood just how terribly distressed Ace was feeling at this moment.

"Haha, I think I accidentally wrecked the guild everyone worked so hard to rebuild."

Before the people of Fairy Tail could say anything, Ace had already put his smile back on, and said to Erza beside him, "I'm canceling the mission request I posted earlier."

"Let the reward from the mission request be used to pay for the damage to everyone's guild, and as compensation for the hard work of those three mages."