Chapter 438: The Whereabouts of the Former World King

The Calm Belt of Paradise, the Impel Down sea area.

On the deck of the Queen merchant ship, Blackbeard looked at Arlong, who had become as thin as a lightning bolt, and his eyes naturally misted over.

"Brother Arlong, you have suffered so much these years."

Having spoken, Blackbeard pulled Arlong into his arms and gave him a huge hug.

Arlong clearly hadn't expected Blackbeard to come to rescue him from prison; feeling Blackbeard's round belly, Arlong grinned.

"Captain, you should lose some weight."

Blackbeard released Arlong and said helplessly, "I'm already thirty-two. At my age, I gain weight even if I drink cold water."

In fact, Blackbeard suspected something abnormal about his unnatural weight gain: it was highly likely because he had only fused half of the Beccania bloodline, causing his body to swell and fatten.

But there was no way to solve it for the time being.

Blackbeard could only hope to resolve this issue after capturing Vegapunk alive in the future.

"Brother Arlong, this is Lafitte, whom you have met before; this is the ship's intern Kid, a Paramecia-type Island-Island Fruit user."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Blackbeard handed Arlong over to Lafitte's care and then went to another unremarkable merchant ship.

Inside the cabin lay the intelligence he had been longing for.

"Commissioner Foxy, I am Dai Wei D. Teach, the boss of the Blackbeard Club."

The establishment of the United Kingdom offered one best thing for Blackbeard: as long as you don't break the law, you can roam the four seas freely.

Even descendants of the Dai Wei family are treated equally before the United Kingdom.

But if you break the law, sorry, you either get executed, thrown into the Impel Down underwater great prison, or sent to a mine for labor reform.

Precisely because of this, these years Blackbeard has traveled the four seas under the guise of a merchant, always presenting himself as Dai Wei D. Teach.

"It's you." Foxy crossed his legs, sizing up the black-and-fat Blackbeard before him.

"I know you; previously you were with Minister Ma Ma Ma Erke, helping us guard Honeysuckle Island."

Upon hearing this, Blackbeard immediately felt a bit sour in his heart: Ma Ma Ma Erke, who was also in the Whitebeard Pirates, is now the powerful Deputy Minister of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Health.

And he, Blackbeard, is merely a merchant, a merchant who looks somewhat like a Pacifista.

Due to his body fat gain, the Pacifista manufactured according to Blackbeard's appearance ten years ago only bears a slight resemblance to Blackbeard at this time.

"That is indeed me."

Foxy didn't respond further but shifted the topic with a despondent look in his eyes: "Speak, Brother Teach, what do you want to inquire about that made me come here?"

Seeing this situation, Blackbeard confirmed that Foxy was indeed a fringe figure of the Morning Star Group; otherwise, he could never be so despondent.

Moreover, with Bai Mao's wedding approaching, the fact that Foxy, a member of the Morning Star Group, did not return to the Holy Land for the wedding speaks volumes.

"It's like this." Blackbeard paused.

"Commissioner, you know, my Dai Wei family and the World Government have a blood feud; although the Five Elders were executed by the United Kingdom, I still feel uneasy in my heart."

"These years, I have always wanted to figure out if any other Celestial Dragons are still alive."

"Celestial Dragons?" Foxy stroked his chin, his scrutinizing gaze fixed tightly on Blackbeard.

"The whereabouts of the Celestial Dragons are an additional price; the previous two billion was just my appearance fee."

Hearing this, Blackbeard really wanted to move and kill Foxy on the spot; two billion appearance fee, do you think you are Bai Mao?

However, when Blackbeard thought that the United Kingdom had become so corrupt internally, he suddenly felt inexplicably excited.

Corruption is good; everyone should be corrupt.

Otherwise, how could he, Blackbeard, overturn the United Kingdom and make this sea free again?

"Then... what price do you name?"

Foxy held up one hand: "Five billion, I tell you the whereabouts of all Celestial Dragons; ten billion, I additionally gift you a piece of valuable information."

Blackbeard silently clenched his fist, really wanting to punch Foxy's dog head until it exploded.

However, Blackbeard finally silently nodded.

"Fine, ten billion is ten billion."

Fortunately, with the support of the Old Noble Alliance these years, the Blackbeard Club made a lot of money from business, and Blackbeard had at least around three billion in liquid funds.

Having spoken, Blackbeard took a file bag out of his carried briefcase.

"Commissioner, these are eighty billion worth of bearer bonds from the Shabondy merchant house; the remaining twenty billion will be presented after the matter is settled."

"Sensible." Foxy happily took the file bag, opened it, and examined it carefully for over ten minutes like a greedy ghost in the midst of wealth.

This scene made Blackbeard even more reassured.

This is a fringe person exiled to Impel Down, who has given up on himself to the point of thinking of ways to rake in money.

"Not many Celestial Dragons survived; among them is Shanks' brother Shamrock, who currently serves as the Chief Guard for Lord Saint Saint Saiwen."

"Manmea Gunshi, currently employed at the Holy Land Library."

"Elaine Saint, currently employed in the Engineering Department."

"Besides that, there is a Celestial Dragon lost in the East Blue's Satsuruso Province, who is exactly ten years old this year, seems to be named Koby, with pink hair."

"I only know these things."

Blackbeard nodded: if Foxy had listed a bunch of names, he would have found it suspicious instead.

After all, Foxy is just an ordinary member of the Morning Star Group, not even a cadre.

Once this matter is settled, I must go to the East Blue personally to kidnap this Celestial Dragon named Koby and keep him by my side to torture him properly.

"In exchange for the ten billion."

Foxy lowered his voice: "I will tell you a secret; the former World King Saint Imu actually didn't die, but was sent by the Captain to seventeen years later..."

Halfway through speaking, Foxy burst into a laugh.

"Nine years have passed in the blink of an eye; in eight years, the former World King will return."

Foxy portrayed the lonely demeanor of a workplace failure, suffering exclusion from superiors and colleagues, to perfection.

Blackbeard stood there, stunned.

Eight years later... the return of the former World King?

"Why send him seventeen years into the future?" Blackbeard quickly pressed for an answer.

Foxy shrugged.

"Don't get greedy, brother Teach. This secret comes at a different price."

Seeing this, Blackbeard had no choice but to pull out another Sabaody Stock Certificate.

"Commissioner, this is two billion."

Foxy happily took the certificate: As expected, I am the captain's favorite. For such a good assignment, the captain always thinks of him.

"Because even Saint Saint Saint Saiwen, my lord, had no confidence in defeating the former World King, so he could only send the opponent seventeen years into the future. Now, only eight years remain."

"Brother Teach, listen to my advice."

"Enjoy life while you can. In eight years, this world will descend into chaos again."

"No need to see me off."

Foxy, carrying a hundred billion Berries, departed and set sail toward Impel Down, preparing to use the Impel Down teleportation array to reach the Holy Land for the captain's wedding.

Leaving Blackbeard behind in place, his breathing grew more and more rapid until he could no longer hold back and threw his head back, laughing wildly.

"Thousand hahaha~"

Isn't the opportunity right here?

During these eight years, he would find the Dark-Dark Fruit no matter what; otherwise, he wouldn't even have the qualification to cooperate with the former World King, Imu.

Blackbeard returned to the Queen Mary with boundless ambition.

Seeing this, Lafitte pressed his lips together.

He knew it: so many years had passed, and ordinary methods of encouragement no longer had any effect on Blackbeard; only outside-the-box tricks worked.

The senior nuclear-powered workhorse Blackbeard is in position; is the Dark-Dark Fruit far away?!