Pirate: Eternal

When Vlad returned to his own room in the cabin, he turned on the hot water and put it in the wooden bucket, preparing to take a nice hot bath while waiting for the time to leave the Moby-Dick.

He had already eaten the real dark fruit, and the fake one hidden in the hat had just been handed over to a slovenly strong man who liked to borrow money without paying it back. Teach's attention was also diverted to it.

Everything is going according to plan.

Lying in the barrel, Vlad did not feel any discomfort from becoming an esper. Presumably, water other than seawater had no effect of suppressing espers.

This was also expected by Vlad. After all, Nicole Robin often liked to take baths with Chopper in her arms, and she never showed any symptoms of discomfort.

After bathing, the sun had already set below the horizon, and the sea fell into endless darkness. When Vlad was about to put on the black windbreaker that Saatchi had commissioned to buy...

"Ugh!"

A miserable cry echoed through the night sky.

boom boom boom-

There were dense footsteps on the deck, and the pirates dropped everything they were doing and ran towards the place where the sound came from.

"What happened?"

"Who was attacked?"

"..."

"It's Guajardo, he's been killed!"

After all, they are a pirate group that has seen big scenes. Even though they were drinking and bragging a moment ago, they can still quickly enter a state of preparation for war when encountering emergencies.

After Vlad was dressed, he rushed to the aisle not far from the small gambling house in a panic, pushed through the crowd and came to Guajardo's body.

"Brother Guajardo!"

'Oh, it turns out this guy's name is a bit weird indeed. '

Vlad knelt on the ground, grabbing the corpse's still warm arms with trembling hands. Two lines of hot tears fell from his cheeks, but he was cursing in his heart.

His performance made Marco, who arrived first to check the body, be startled. It seemed that he was a little surprised that the relationship between the two would be so good that he shed tears. After all, Guajardo's reputation on the ship was not very good.

"He was stabbed in the heart with a dagger from behind."

Marco first told Vlad the cause of death, then raised his head and glanced at the surrounding pirates.

"Assemble everyone on the deck. The attacker may still be hiding on the ship. Be careful not to act alone."

After giving the instructions, Marco quickly ran towards Whitebeard's room. Until this moment, he had not thought that someone would kill his companion. Instead, he thought that an assassin was lurking on the ship and wanted to kill Whitebeard, but he was killed by the unlucky Guaha. Erdo bumped into him in advance.

"Vlad, I didn't expect you and Guajardo to have such a good relationship."

"Although it's sad to see my partner die, this guy is really not very likable."

"..."

After Marco left, the pirates ignored the body that was still cold on the ground and started talking about Vlad with concern. After all, Vlad was as popular as any captain at this time.

Vlad stood up, wiped away his tears, and said to everyone: "Brother Guajardo lent me a lot of money and hasn't paid it back yet, and I also left my Devil Fruit with him for safekeeping."

"..."

The pirates were silent for a while, followed by several wails.

"How can we repair it! Guajardo still owes me more than 300 million beli!"

"Crugalu! You owe me more than 400 million beli!"

"Faq! My 500 million Baileys!"

In this way, Lao Lai Guajardo received the tears of several friends after his death, and he no longer had any regrets in his life like a salted fish.

Vlad thought that Guajardo might cheer with joy when he went to hell...

------

On the deck

Whitebeard was sitting on the armchair at the bow of the ship, surrounded by more than a dozen division captains, all of whom had ugly expressions on their faces. The pirates standing opposite them were also silent.

After everyone gathered, information was exchanged and shared, and the results of the assassination here were calculated.

When someone rushed to the scene of the incident when the screams started to sound, they saw Tiqi hurriedly leaving in the opposite direction of the crowd.

There was one less lifeboat hanging on either side of the Moby-Dick.

There was no sign of Teach among the assembled crowd.

The Devil Fruit that Vlad left with Guajardo has disappeared.

Putting all this together, the conclusion is that Teach killed Guajardo for the Devil Fruit, and then defected while in a panic.

Ace, who was originally drunk, was completely sober. His fists were clenched and his whole body was shaking with anger.

"Oh Yaji, Tiqi violated the only taboo on the ship by killing his companions. I will bring his head back to give everyone an explanation."

Whitebeard looked at Ace, and after a moment of silence he said, "Teach has been on the ship for so many years. Although he is very powerful, he never competes for it. This behavior of killing his friends for the Devil Fruit is too abnormal. Ace, please don't be impulsive."

Whitebeard was also helpless. If he had turned the world upside down ten years earlier, he would have chased Killtic, but now his body was deteriorating day by day, and his physical condition did not allow him to do so.

The most important thing is that although the dead guy is also his son, the relationship is not very close.

Ace shook his head resolutely and said angrily: "I don't care what the reason is, I must bring Teach's head back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ace jumped up from the deck regardless of Marco's obstruction, jumped into a fire-powered boat on the sea, and sped away.

Marco shook his head helplessly, fearing that Whitebeard would be dissatisfied with Ace, and explained: "Guajardo and Teach are both members of the second team. Ace's character is absolutely unbearable for something like this to happen."

Whitebeard nodded, not because he agreed with what Marco said, but because he was satisfied with Marco's performance.

Although he had planned to train Ace to be the next Pirate King since he learned that he was Roger's son, Ace's current ability is not enough to take on the important role.

As the captain of the first team, 'Royal Vice' Marco, both in terms of strength and ambition, have met Whitebeard's expectations. If Ace wants to become the Pirate King, Marco's assistance is absolutely indispensable.

If it were other narrow-minded people, if they knew that the next captain was not him, they would definitely complain and even cause a riot on the ship, but Marco would definitely be happy to assist Ace.

"Oh Yagi!"

Just as Whitebeard's thoughts were surging, Vlad pulled Ozma and stood out from the crowd.

"Brother Guajardo died because of the devil fruit I placed with him. I want to hunt down Teach with Brother Ace to avenge Brother Guajardo!"

Before Whitebeard could speak, Marco took the lead and said, "Oh Yagi, let him go, so that Ace and I can help each other."

Marco knows Ace too well. Although he has seen the dangers in the world, he has always maintained an innocent heart. Perhaps he has matured a bit recently, but he still has a childlike heart.

To put it harshly, it means that if you can’t turn your head around, you will easily suffer losses.

But Vlad was different. In just one or two months, he became very familiar with everyone on the ship, and he could often get benefits from others with just a few words of flattery.

Such a person would never suffer. With Vlad following Ace, he could rest assured.

As an old fox who has been sailing the sea for decades, Whitebeard also saw this and readily agreed to Vlad's request.