Chapter 314: Ready?

After losing three crew members—Arlong, Lafitte, and Wapol—in succession, Blackbeard was left completely alone.

His extreme craving for crew members had already driven him to a near-maddened state.

Especially after learning of the blood feud between Lu Bianyi and the little white-haired one, Blackbeard immediately extended an invitation to join his ship without hesitation.

Whether Lu Bianyi was powerful or not was irrelevant; what mattered was that Blackbeard desperately needed a crew member to maintain his status as captain.

If he had not a single crew member, would the Blackbeard Pirates not become a laughingstock?

Worse still, if the news leaked out again, he would utterly disgrace his father figure, Rocks, and become fodder for gossip over tea and meals.

How could this be allowed!

If Lu Bianyi agreed to join the Black Crew, that would be ideal; but if he chose to refuse... Blackbeard was certain Lu Bianyi would absolutely not refuse.

Because in the current seas, no one possessed the power to take revenge on the little white-haired one; they could only unite to have a chance at avenging their grievances.

Hearing Blackbeard's invitation to join the ship, Lu Bianyi hesitated for a moment before extending his hand.

"Captain, please guide me in the future."

Lu Bianyi had long realized that with his own strength alone, he could never avenge his companions; otherwise, he would not have spent years in a drunken stupor in Loguetown.

He had thought there was no hope for revenge in this lifetime.

Who would have expected that Blackbeard, a pirate with a bounty of one billion, also held a grudge against Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen.

Seeing this, Blackbeard grinned, revealing two rows of teeth missing two front incisors.

"Zehahaha~"

"Brother Lu Bianyi, we share a common goal... sooner or later, I will personally defeat Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen."

Of course, the premise is finding the Dark-Dark Fruit.

Then, using the Dark-Dark Fruit as a foundation, hunt down Devil Fruit users across the seas, strengthen himself, and transform the Black Crew into a team of all Devil Fruit users.

By then, even if he couldn't defeat the little white-haired one, he would at least have the qualification to challenge him.

Blackbeard had never considered defeating the little white-haired one alone; that did not fit his personality and style: why fight one-on-one when you can bully the few with the many?

However, the little white-haired one also had quite a few subordinates.

Mihawk, Master Tenghu, Barrett...

Blackbeard hurriedly pulled his thoughts back to reality, trying not to dwell on how strong the Morning Star Crew was at this moment, because the more he thought about it, the more despair he felt.

"Captain, where are we going?"

"To the West Sea; we are going to the West Sea to recruit people."

Lu Bianyi tied his messy hair back and pulled a newspaper from his pocket.

"Captain, instead of going far to the West Sea, why not first bring the pirates of the East Sea under our command?"

"This is Kriek, the Provincial Military Commander of the Kriek Pirates; at twenty-five, he possesses superhuman strength far beyond the norm."

Even if Kriek's strength was mediocre.

For the current Black Crew, the Kriek Pirates were the richest blood bag in the entire East Sea.

There was no choice; a Marine Vice Admiral returned to the East Sea to visit relatives every so often, sweeping through the pirates upon his return and sweeping through them again upon his departure.

The fact that the Kriek Pirates could develop so well in the East Sea was already extremely rare.

"If we annex the Kriek Pirates, we will at least possess a decent pirate ship."

Upon hearing this, excitement flashed in Blackbeard's eyes, and he enthusiastically patted Lu Bianyi's shoulder.

"Brother Lu Bianyi knows the East Sea very well."

"Captain, I grew up in the East Sea; these past years I have lived at Roger's Bar, with nothing to do but read the newspapers."

Lu Bianyi suddenly changed the subject and made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Should we go to Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's hometown..."

Blackbeard hastily interrupted him.

"Brother Lu Bianyi, I am still wanted by the Marines; it is best to be cautious for now."

If they truly killed all the villagers in the little white-haired one's hometown, the two of them would likely face only one outcome: unable to live, unable to die.

Moreover, before having a sure guarantee of victory, Blackbeard did not even intend to provoke those around the little white-haired one.

Rather than wasting time on such trivial matters, it was better to spare nothing to find the Dark-Dark Fruit; the Dark-Dark Fruit was the key to the Black Crew's rise.

"Very well."

Actually, Lu Bianyi had had this idea long ago, but he dared not go alone.

Now that he had joined the Black Crew and fallen into piracy, he had intended to persuade Captain Blackbeard to go for courage, but unexpectedly, Blackbeard lacked the courage too.

Taking revenge on Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen is a long and arduous journey.

Standing by the ship's wheel, Blackbeard took out the Log Pose he had seized from other pirate crews and set forth for his dream once more.

"Brother Lu Bianyi, let us go find Kriek first."

When coming from the New World to the East Sea, Blackbeard did not even have a decent ship.

Along the way, he relied entirely on robbery: robbing merchant ships, then pirates, then civilians after robbing pirates.

Now that he knew the Kriek Pirates were developing well, Blackbeard already viewed them as a sure thing; he intended to seize both the men and the ship entirely!

As the gap with the little white-haired one grew wider, Blackbeard could no longer care about anything else; his mind was full of recruiting more people and developing as quickly as possible.

So-called: one step slow, every step slow.

He had already fallen far behind the little white-haired one; for the Black Crew to catch up with the Morning Star Crew, they must not follow the usual path and must do what others dare not do.

For example, heading to those chaotic non-member nations, or places pirates would never go...

"Hmm?" A flash of inspiration struck Blackbeard.

Recruit at the Marine Academy? Specifically target those bad students who do not want to be Marines and deceive them?

"Zehahaha~"

I am truly a genius!!!

Inazuma, the Capital of Flowers, the Shogun's Mansion.

After traveling at five times normal speed, the Donghai Dihuang finally returned to Inazuma, and Saint Saint Saiwen immediately summoned Master Tenghu and Mihawk to the Shogun's Mansion to consult.

"Mr. Tenghu, how many elite troops do you estimate Inazuma will have ready for battle in one year?"

Tenghu pondered briefly before replying.

"Captain, if we count the Zou Mink soldiers, there will be about fifty thousand elite soldiers in one year."

"You... are already prepared?"

Tenghu knew that the reason Saint Saint Saiwen had not yet raised the banner of rebellion was precisely because he lacked great confidence in defeating Imu.

Such a question clearly indicated he was prepared.

"About sixty percent confidence."

"However, I am somewhat hesitant. If my plan succeeds, should I rebel openly then, or use my Celestial Dragon identity to extract more benefits first?"

If Imu were truly sent by Saint Saint Saiwen to eighteen years in the future, the Five Elders, the God's Knights, and that bunch of scallions and ginger could be thrown into the pot by Saint Saint Saiwen at any time.

With Imu gone, no one in the World Government camp could threaten Saint Saint Saiwen.

At that time, should he rebel openly, or slaughter the Five Elders and the God's Knights, and then become the true master of the World Government?

After all, once war breaks out, casualties are ultimately unavoidable.

But if a gentle approach is adopted, some remnants of the old era cannot be thoroughly eliminated.

This is precisely the reason for Saint Saint Saiwen's hesitation; his choice determines the life and death of countless people.

However, if he fails, then there is only one path left: open rebellion.

Fifty thousand elites... are ultimately still too few.

Whichever of these two possibilities ultimately unfolds, Saint Saint Saiwen must prepare a response in advance.

"By the way, Old Mi." Saint Saint Saiwen casually took out the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Griffin.

"I can understand that you do not eat Devil Fruits, but does the Black Blade Yoru eat them? You should ask it."

Mihawk paused for a moment.

"If you are prepared to rise up in one year, then... feed it."