Chapter 253

He had also gone looking for this Nika Fruit.

But fate always plays tricks; the Nika Fruit was actually eaten by his son.

From that time on,

Dragon, who had ignored Luffy since his birth, began to secretly observe Luffy.

Even when Luffy first set sail, Dragon followed and protected him for a while.

Later,

Dragon learned that Sabo, his chosen successor and the Revolution Army's second-in-command, was actually Luffy's sworn brother.

Everything seemed as if fate had arranged it long ago.

Dragon's mind cleared; he was convinced that his son Luffy was absolutely the Child of Destiny, was Joy Boy, was the final Sun God and Savior!

Judging from Rayleigh's attitude and previous words,

not only him, but even this legendary Dark King, and the Emperor of the New World, Shanks, all held the same view as him.

Dragon's conviction grew even stronger.

Even though the Beasts Pirates' power was growing ever more formidable, and the fame of the Fifth Emperor, Luo Xing, that man, was becoming ever more resounding,

the ultimate victor would certainly belong to Luffy!

This was the arrangement of fate; it absolutely could not be wrong!

Just as Dragon and Rayleigh were discussing how to get Luffy to pull himself together soon and begin cultivation,

a Revolution Army soldier suddenly ran in in a panic, panting and saying:

"Chief, someone is ambushing us! They claim to be the Blackbeard Pirates!"

3.7 "What, Blackbeard?!"

Rayleigh stood up in shock:

"How could he find this place?"

The location of Baltigo was extremely secret; even the World Government did not know it.

Dragon, however, remained calm and said:

"Earlier, a ship returned from the outside world; it was likely followed by them."

Sabo asked:

"Mr. Dragon, let me go capture that Blackbeard!"

Ace had been handed over to the Navy by Blackbeard; Blackbeard was equivalent to the main culprit behind Ace's death!

How could Sabo, whose memories had already been restored, not hate Blackbeard?

Dragon merely shook his head and said:

"Now is not the time to erupt into war with them. We need to continue hiding our strength; besides, letting Luffy cultivate in peace is the most important thing."

"Sabo, order your men to withdraw. Do not let the brothers of the Revolution Army die in vain."

"Ivan Koff, next the headquarters will likely be moved to your country."

217. The World-Ending Might of the God-Level Monster Cell, System Upgrade Lv8

The Revolution Army actually abandoned Baltigo and chose to withdraw.

This decision exceeded Blackbeard's expectations; Blackbeard had thought they would have to fight a life-or-death battle.

After all, the opponent had the Dark King Rayleigh present, and the Chief, Monkey D. Dragon, was certainly no simple figure.

For Blackbeard to conquer Baltigo was actually not that easy.

Therefore,

when the Revolution Army chose to withdraw, Blackbeard, though puzzled, was glad to see it.

His key task now was to accumulate strength; there was no need to truly fight the Revolution Army to the death.

Blackbeard let the Revolution Army retreat without conducting any proper pursuit.

However.

The one left behind by the Revolution Army to cover the retreat was their Chief of Staff, a young man named Sabo.

That young man, upon seeing him, Blackbeard, acted as if he had met an enemy, with a look of gnashing teeth.

In his carelessness, Blackbeard fell victim to a Dragon Claw Fist from the opponent, causing him to cry out in pain.

The young man named Sabo said:

"Blackbeard Teach, sooner or later, I will settle the score with you for Ace!"

Blackbeard then understood that this person hated him so much because of Ace's death.

Blackbeard let out a cackling laugh:

"I'm waiting for that day, tee hee hee!"19

After the Revolution Army had completely withdrawn.

The smile on Blackbeard's face gradually disappeared.

It became gloomy.

There was no excitement at all about having captured Baltigo.

Burgess asked in confusion:

"Captain, are you afraid of that Revolution Army Chief of Staff, Sabo?"

Blackbeard sneered disdainfully:

"What is that guy? At best, he's just about on par with Ace; he's not even worth my notice!"

Burgess continued to ask:

"Then what are you thinking about, Captain?"

Blackbeard said:

"I'm thinking about how to seize the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"

Even now,

Blackbeard still has no intention of giving up his plan to obtain the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's ability.

After all,

that is a power capable of destroying the world; only by obtaining the Tremor-Tremor Fruit would Blackbeard be confident of being the number one under heaven.

The Dark-Dark Fruit is powerful, yet it still has many limitations.

For instance, against a pure Haki powerhouse like the Emperor Luo Xing, the Dark-Dark Fruit's advantage over other ability users simply cannot be fully realized.

Moreover, the side effect of the body suffering double damage would instead greatly hinder Blackbeard.

This is why, when encountering Luo Xing several times previously, Blackbeard always chose to flee in disgrace.

He currently lacks means to deal with non-ability users.

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is something Blackbeard must obtain.

"But Whitebeard is already dead; no one knows how long it will take for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to reappear on the seas."

Burgess scratched his head and said:

"Then how long must we wait?"

"No, we don't need to wait idly!"

Blackbeard clenched his fist, a strange light flickering in his eyes,

"As long as I can get Whitebeard's corpse, I still have a way to seize the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"

The Dark-Dark Fruit possesses a certain special ability: it can steal a Devil Fruit ability from a deceased ability user.

Blackbeard can absorb these abilities into his own body, or transfer them to others.

Therefore,

after obtaining the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, Blackbeard's plan to dominate the seas is to forge a mighty legion composed entirely of ability users.

In this way, he will have the capital to contend with the World Government and the Beasts Pirates!

"But Whitebeard's corpse was taken by Shanks; who knows where he buried it?"

Navigator Lafitte said, frowning.

Blackbeard let out a sinister, eerie laugh:

"I don't even need to think to know the burial location; it must be Whitebeard's hometown!"

"That is the place Whitebeard cherished most; even within the Whitebeard Pirates, very few people know of it."

"Thief hahaha, but I spent decades on the Moby Dick; such a thing is certainly not hidden from me!"

Blackbeard had guessed the movements of Marco and the other remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates perfectly.