Chapter 290: Ha Ha Ha Ha

What is the end of the road?

For Blackbeard, the closer he got to New Marineford, the less time he had left.

Especially after learning from Aokiji that the order to arrest him came from Mary Geoise.

Just as he had once dreamed of storming Mary Geoise and wreaking havoc, the World Government would never let him go.

Yet after the initial panic, Blackbeard found peace.

Since joining Whitebeard's crew at age twelve as a member of the Second Division, Blackbeard had deliberately hidden his strength, avoided conflict, and deceived everyone in the Whitebeard Crew, all just to wait for the Dark-Dark Fruit recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

Even when he later saw Whitehair's meteoric rise, Blackbeard pondered again and again before leaving the Whitebeard Crew to sail alone.

Everything he had done was to suffocate his dream.

Why should Whitehair achieve greatness so young, while he had to wait until late in life?

It was just a pity,

He had escaped from Akainu and Kizaru one after another, but fate no longer favored him—he encountered his nemesis: Admiral Aokiji, fleeing by jumping into the sea.

Aokiji's Ice Age technique shattered Blackbeard's dream of kingship completely.

Before he could even leap into the sea, the entire ocean had been frozen into solid ice by Aokiji.

Truly, such is fate.

Blackbeard accepted all of this.

But one thing he could not understand: how did the Navy know he was in the North Blue? And why had they lain in wait for days at the inlet where Reverse Mountain met the North Blue?

"Hey, Admiral? How did you know I'd come to the North Blue?"

Aokiji replied lazily.

"Lafitte provided the intelligence."

Upon hearing this, Blackbeard choked on a surge of dark blood, held it back for a moment, then spat it out.

Unforgivable!!!

Lafitte, traitor, deserves to die.

Last time in the South Blue, it was Lafitte who led Admiral Kizaru to him; had Blackbeard not been destined to survive, he would have drowned in the deep sea long ago.

And back when he first encountered Akainu in the North Blue.

Even A Long and his brothers dared to fight Admiral Akainu, but Lafitte, the traitor, said nothing and immediately used Flying Escape to flee.

Lafitte betrayed him again and again—even when locked in Impel Down, he still couldn't resist selling him out.

Indeed, no one but himself was worth trusting.

Because trust always comes with betrayal.

Just as Lafitte betrayed him, just as Whitebeard, Gold Lion, Big Mom, and Kaido betrayed their father Rocks, Lafitte was the greatest traitor in the Blackbeard Crew.

If he somehow escaped this time, Blackbeard swore he would grind Lafitte to dust and scatter his bones.

"Will I be locked up in Impel Down?"

The fierce hatred toward the traitor Lafitte strangely stirred Blackbeard's will to live—if he could survive, he'd do anything.

Even bow his head to Whitehair.

"Probably not," Aokiji said coolly.

"The World Government seems to have other plans for you. The reason we returned to New Marineford first is because the Navy ships need resupply."

In truth, Aokiji was also puzzled.

Why could he chat so freely with Blackbeard, as if some strange bond, guided by fate itself, connected them?

The faint spark of survival instinct Blackbeard had just felt was instantly doused by Aokiji's words.

What lay ahead was likely a fate worse than death.

Would the World Government use him as an experiment to unravel the secrets of the Davy family? Like the exterminated Lunaria and Baccania clans?

These damned beasts.

They have no moral boundaries whatsoever.

"How will you handle A Long and Lafitte?"

Blackbeard suddenly realized: Aokiji might be the last normal person he'd ever meet; once handed over to the World Government, he'd likely face nothing but masked lunatics.

"A Long?" Aokiji paused.

"With Seven Warlords' Tegu pleading for him, he might be released after a few years. As for Lafitte..."

"Lafitte performed great service and was never wanted by the Navy—he'll likely be released from Impel Down."

Blackbeard was filled with rage.

The traitor Lafitte would be released from Impel Down? Is there no justice? Is there no law?

"Alright, your break time is over."

Aokiji waved his hand, signaling the marines to relock Blackbeard in the ship's brig, when suddenly he sensed a luxurious yacht approaching from afar.

Such extravagance could only belong to a World Noble.

"World Nobles running rampant in the New World? That's rare indeed."

After all, most of the New World waters are controlled by the Four Emperors.

Soon, an old man with a sword at his waist and a beard trimmed into a cross shape stood on the deck, speaking haughtily.

"Hey, Navy."

"Have you seen a small boat?"

Aokiji stepped forward: "We just returned from the North Blue. We saw no small boat."

"Huh?" The bearded old man pointed at Blackbeard: "This fellow looks decent—my family just needs a slave mount."

Upon hearing this, Blackbeard's face turned black.

He would break into Mary Geoise, not be shamefully dragged there as a slave of the Celestial Dragons.

But this way, he might gain freedom...

Blackbeard was instantly torn—surrender his dignity and become a slave of the Celestial Dragons, or resist to the death and be handed over to the World Government for study.

"My lord, Blackbeard is a criminal the Navy is ordered by the World Government to capture alive."

"Tch." The bearded old man grinned.

"I'll ask you one thing: can I, Soma Z, speak for the World Government?"

Soma Z had been chasing Doctor Phoenix for days, only to let him escape from Sabaody Archipelago to the New World; he was already in a foul mood, and Kizaru's words only made him angrier.

Kizaru immediately changed his tone.

"Blackbeard is wanted by Satan Saint."

No matter how powerful you, Soma Z, are—can you be more powerful than Satan Saint of the Five Elders?

Soma Z let out a cold snort.

Again with Satan Saint? As if the Five Elders were Satan Saint's personal dictatorship—didn't his Sheppard family have a Five Elder too?

Jupiter Pit Saint, can you stand up for yourself already!

After hurling a threat at Blackbeard, Soma Z continued on his way, determined to capture Doctor Phoenix alive and make him suffer.

"You won't escape."

Watching the luxury yacht depart, Kizaru exhaled in relief.

If Blackbeard escaped in such an unexpected way, the three Admirals would be nailed to the pillar of shame—thankfully, Satan Saint's name still held weight with the Celestial Dragons.

"Take Blackbeard inside quickly."

Kizaru did not wish for any further mishaps.

About half a day later, Kizaru's group and Akainu, returning from Punk Hazard, arrived at New Marineford almost simultaneously.

When Blackbeard, bound in chains of Seastone, was escorted from the ship's hold to the harbor by several Navy soldiers,

Akainu asked without expression.

"Did you capture Marshall D. Teach?"

Kizaru nodded: "We captured him."

As the two chatted, the sky above New Marineford suddenly split open.

A colossal dragon, vast as a shadow obscuring the sky, and three figures radiating overwhelming aura, along with a floating island, descended upon New Marineford.

At a single glance, Kizaru rubbed his brow.

"The Four Emperors of the New World..."

Unlike Kizaru's distress,

Seeing all four Sea Emperors appear together at the Navy Headquarters, Blackbeard froze in shock for several seconds, then threw his head back and burst into wild laughter.

"Hehehehehe~"