Chapter 419

Saint Saint Saiwen didn't really take Blackbeard seriously.

Blackbeard became the biggest winner during the War of the Top because he was the hidden force behind the entire war, reaping all benefits at minimal cost.

First, he endured in silence for decades within the Whitebeard Crew.

He killed Sachi to seize the Dark-Dark Fruit, defeated Ace, and handed him over to the Marines in exchange for the title of Warlord of the Sea.

He used Ace's public execution to precisely provoke the Whitebeard Crew into launching a full-scale assault, forcing the Marines and the strongest pirate crew to cripple each other.

Only when both sides were exhausted did Blackbeard enter the battlefield and claim victory as the ultimate winner.

Under the guise of a Warlord, he infiltrated Level Six of Impel Down, recruiting legendary prisoners like Yuzhi Xiliu, the Evil Government King, and the Giant Warship, instantly transforming his crew's power.

He killed the mortally wounded Whitebeard and, using the unique ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit, successfully seized the Shake-Shake Fruit.

Then he defeated Marco's remnants of the Whitebeard Crew, took over all of Whitebeard's territories and influence, and officially joined the ranks of the Four Emperors.

Thus, he completely reshaped the New World's landscape.

Yet now, the sea's very soil—the foundation for pirate survival—was about to vanish entirely.

Both the Marines and the Army were all Saint Saint Saiwen's people.

The Four Emperors had submitted under the United Kingdom's banner, and nearly every powerful figure on the sea, one by one, now served Saint Saint Saiwen.

Even the Blackbeard Crew members from the anime—Yuzhi Xiliu and Lafitte—were, respectively, Saint Saint Saiwen's number two fanatic admirer and a man controlled by Saint Saint Saiwen's Devil's Pact.

Lafitte was even undercover beside Blackbeard.

Saint Saint Saiwen allowed Blackbeard to live—

partly to use Blackbeard's hands to locate the Dark-Dark Fruit, and partly to make Blackbeard a beacon, drawing out the remnants of the old era hiding in the shadows.

The Dark-Dark Fruit and that fruit called Rubber, which was in truth the Nika Fruit… were simply too bizarre.

The World Government had failed to obtain them for eight hundred years.

Especially someone like Saint Saint Saiwen, who was inherently incompatible with Devil Fruits.

Although these two Devil Fruits, under today's unified seas, could hardly alter the global balance.

Still, it was better to have them in one's own hands than let them slip away.

Of course, Saint Saint Saiwen did not place all his hopes on Blackbeard—he had already tasked the Red-Haired Crew with tracking these two Devil Fruits.

In addition, Yuzhi Xiliu's Black Ice Bureau, along with the Marines and the Army, were all searching for these two Devil Fruits.

And all other Devil Fruits.

With senior officials maintaining the United Kingdom's operations, Saint Saint Saiwen was freed from all duties beyond cultivation and began seeking the joys of life.

With six years still left before Yamato reached adulthood, Saint Saint Saiwen had no urge to do anything he truly wanted to do.

Time passed day by day.

Until one day, the geography of the Four Seas underwent a massive change—the Red Line, which had severed the Four Seas, was severed again by Saint Saint Saiwen.

The United Kingdom immediately built a port at the break, imposing tolls on merchant ships passing through, and from that day forward, exchanges between the Four Seas grew increasingly frequent and intimate.

Thus passed the first year of the United Kingdom's founding.

Shichibukai Islands, Island One.

The former slave auction house at the island's center had been completely rebuilt into a commercial exchange center, exclusively for merchants from the Four Seas and the Grand Line to negotiate trade and exchange market intelligence.

"Green bean ice, fine green bean ice."

Vaporeon, a Blackbeard Crew intern, was selling it from a street stall outside the commercial exchange center.

Due to the Blackbeard Crew's lack of funds, after a democratic vote among the three official crew members and one intern, Vaporeon was forced to take to the streets to earn money.

Otherwise, the crew couldn't even pay rent.

Vaporeon's heart was bitter.

After consuming the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Vaporeon had ruled over Iron Barrel Island, amassing over three million Berries in just over a year—only to fall again into Blackbeard's hands.

He lost not only his freedom but also his three million Berries in private savings, all seized by Blackbeard.

And Lafitte suffered even more than Vaporeon.

Though he had over two billion Berries in allowance from the captain, to maintain his cover, Lafitte was forced to live in poverty alongside Blackbeard.

He drank the plainest rum, lived in the worst seaside huts, and couldn't even eat his favorite bananas.

He was practically starving three meals out of nine.

To find Elaine Saint, who had vanished for a year, the four members of the Blackbeard Crew had lost a full circle of weight.

Fortunately, heaven did not forsake the diligent—Blackbeard accidentally discovered Elaine Saint's trail.

"That bastard, playing the fool under the lamp."

Thinking of the six months of miserable life, Blackbeard's anger boiled over.

Blackbeard never imagined that Elaine, whom they had searched for with such effort, was hiding right here in the Shichibukai Islands, having married into a fisherman's family.

Far off, they watched Elaine, bare-chested, fishing by the sea.

The three members of the Blackbeard Crew fell silent.

Though they knew little of Elaine Saint, the mere words "Celestial Dragon" were enough to conjure images of how extravagantly and arrogantly he had once lived.

Compared to the fisherman now scraping by, it was heaven versus earth.

"Captain, shall we move now?"

The thought of personally capturing the once-omnipotent Celestial Dragon stirred in former CP agent Lu Bianyi an uncontrollable thrill.

In the past, Lu Bianyi would never have dared such a thought.

From this perspective, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's overthrow of the World Government truly saved this sea.

But their comrades' vengeance must be settled.

"What are you thinking in broad daylight?" Blackbeard shook his head. "Karp is stationed at G1 Base right next door. We strike after dark. Capture him and leave immediately."

Even if Karp weren't next door, Blackbeard would never move in broad daylight.

Before possessing sufficient self-preservation power.

Unless absolutely desperate, Blackbeard refuses to expose himself to the Navy and the United Kingdom's gaze.

Even though he has fused the bloodline factors of two and a half top-tier races, granting Blackbeard power nearly approaching that of a Admiral, Admirals aren't even ranked within the United Kingdom.

Under Little Bai Mao's command are none other than Cap, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Red Count, and others at their peak end-year stage.

Most crucially—

Under Little Bai Mao's command are Bear, the Gum-Gum Fruit user; Jin Ni, the Door-Door Fruit user; and Bre, the Mirror-Mirror Fruit user, who can instantly transport this group to the Shabondy Archipelago.

With Blackbeard Crew's current strength, if pinned down by the Navy, it would be tantamount to total annihilation.

How, then, could he continue chasing his dream?

Blackbeard plans to wait another ten years; after a decade, these old men will all be aged, and that will be Blackbeard's peak.

"Lu Bianyi, we are still young."

"Stay patient; the future belongs to us."

Glancing again at the Miss wiping sweat from Elaine's brow, Blackbeard suddenly felt a pang of bitterness.

Even the Dragon People can find such a beautiful bride, yet Blackbeard remains a lonely bachelor to this day.

Yet, remembering that Little Bai Mao also has no bride, Blackbeard's mood instantly brightened.

Little Bai Mao, you're no better than me.