Chapter 227: Speculation

Karl whistled loudly, and after a while, a "Caw!" echoed in the air.

"Caw caw! (I'm here, I'm here, stop rushing me!)"

Karl reached out to catch the Raven and introduced it to Chopper: "Its name is Raven. It's also a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, but it's a bit different from you. It was originally a sword."

A sword? So objects can eat Devil Fruits too? Do they know how terrible Devil Fruits taste?

Chopper greeted the Raven in confusion: "Hello, Mr. Raven, I'm Tony Tony Chopper."

"Caw caw caw? (You're an animal, how can you talk?)"

"Eh, I couldn't speak human language at first either. To fit in with humans, I learned to speak Move Move Like them, but..."

"Caw caw! Caw ahhhh! (Damn it! Forget it, tell Karl to give me extra food. I want roast pork today!)"

Chopper nodded: "Oh, oh, Mr. Karl, Raven says it wants to eat roast pork today."

"You'll get your share, stop talking nonsense and turn into a sword for me!"

"Caw caw... (You have two other swords, sigh~ but who says I'm the favorite! I can't do anything about you...)"

Chopper gave the Raven a strange look and wisely chose not to translate.

Then, before Chopper's shocked eyes, the Raven gradually transformed into a handsome long sword, the blade exuding an inexplicable aura that made one's hair stand on end.

Karl gripped the Raven and swung it lightly at the door in front of him—at least, to Chopper, it was just a light swing.

"Chopper, Ain, step back a bit."

Ain stepped back without hesitation. Seeing Chopper still stunned, she decisively grabbed his arm and pulled him further away.

*Creak*... With a teeth-gritting sound, the armory door slowly fell outward.

*Bang*, a loud crash, kicking up a sky full of snow mist.

Chopper was startled, quickly hid behind Ain's leg, and swallowed hard.

"Mr. Karl, that's amazing."

Ain smiled: "Of course, he is a Navy hero, one of the most powerful Navy officers in the world!"

"World... strongest! That's amazing! Doesn't that mean Mr. Karl can defeat all the pirates?"

Ain was slightly taken aback, then answered firmly: "That's right. As long as Karl wants to, no one in this world can defeat him, and there is no pirate he cannot beat."

"So amazing!"

Mr. Karl, who looked so gentle, was actually this strong. It was truly worthy of a Navy hero!

"Phew~ Ain, Chopper, come over, it should be safe now."

Karl walked into the armory first, looking left and right. Cannons, firearms, swords—they were all ordinary weapons, and they hadn't been used for a long time, covered in a thick layer of dust.

"What? Did you find anything?"

Karl shook his head: "This shouldn't be what they were looking for. Let's go check the treasure vault! Chopper, where is the treasure vault?"

"Uh, it should be over there. I'll take you."

"It's all been cleared out. It seems the pile of gold and treasure Nelson found on Wapol's ship was all moved from here. That batch of money wasn't anything special either."

Ain wondered: "Since neither the weapons nor the money were what the Blackbeard Pirates were looking for, why did they invade Drum Island? And according to Ms. Kureha's description, they didn't loot any supplies; they just came for a visit and left disappointed."

Karl rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and said: "Do you think there's a possibility they came here to find someone?"

"Find who?"

"Wapol."

Ain was even more confused: "Wapol? Why look for him? Aside from being the king of Drum Island, is there anything special about him? Oh, I remember, he's also a Devil Fruit user."

"According to intelligence from the Intelligence Department, Marshall D. Teach's hometown is likely Drum Island. Could he have come to seek revenge on Wapol?"

"After all, this guy clearly isn't a good person; he might have bullied Teach when he was a child."

In truth, while Karl said this, he had a vague speculation in his heart.

Otherwise, Teach would have had no reason to invade Drum Island.

To promote his pirate crew, to gain fame?

Impossible. Pirates might indeed do something big for fame to increase their bounty and reputation, thereby attracting others to join. Blackbeard's invasion of Drum Island could increase his fame to some extent, but is that really what he needs right now?

Don't forget, he is currently in a state of flight, with the Whitebeard Pirates searching the entire ocean for him. Wouldn't this just expose him?

Heard that Drum Island is a medical powerhouse, so he wanted to find a ship doctor as a partner? That's even more impossible. Having Doc Q is enough; why would he need so many?

Deliberately fishing for law enforcement, trying to lure Ace over?

That's also unlikely. Perhaps Blackbeard does have a plan to gain fame and rise by defeating powerful pirates. But Blackbeard doesn't even know who is chasing him, so how could he be fishing?

And Blackbeard's target from the beginning wasn't Ace, but Luffy. Why risk fishing for Ace?

Based on Karl's understanding of Teach, he is a profit-driven person through and through. Since he dared to risk exposure to invade the Drum Kingdom, there must be a reason why he had to come.

Just Move Move Like how he knew that Karl might not give him the Dark-Dark Fruit, yet he still followed Karl's request and killed his own companion.

Then there is only one possibility: Teach came specifically for Wapol or the Munch-Munch Fruit.

The reason Teach can eat multiple Devil Fruits is likely because he isn't just one person, but a fusion of multiple people.

Because Karl vaguely remembered that Blackbeard had two sisters, but he didn't know why only he was left. And Wapol's Munch-Munch Factory just happened to have this ability to fuse people.

Thinking about it this way, the thread of events becomes clear.

Blackbeard's two sisters didn't die, but lived inside his body in another way. One person can only eat one Devil Fruit, but three people could eat three.

And Teach likely knows this, or has a guess he wants to verify, which is why he wanted to find Wapol to see if he could mass-produce "monsters" Move Move Like himself.

But Wapol is a coward who fears death; hearing the news of the pirate invasion, he ran away without hesitation, leaving Teach with nothing.

"Karl, your expression is a bit off. Did you find something?"

Karl shook his head: "No, just some speculation without evidence. It's not worth mentioning."

"Phew, since there are no clues, it seems we have to leave here."