More than ten minutes later, the enormous waves gradually subsided.
The torn sky and the sea that had been cleaved apart were completely restored to calm.
Looking at the sea once again settling into tranquility, everyone standing aboard the warship felt their mouths go dry.
Their gazes toward Lucas were still filled with disbelief.
They had witnessed powerful slashes before, but compared with that single strike just now, all of them seemed like nothing more than children’s play.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they absolutely would never have believed that a casually unleashed slash could be this powerful.
"Admiral Lucas, we’ve located Blackbeard and the others. However, their injuries are quite serious." Ain hurriedly stepped forward to report.
"Fire Fist Ace, however, isn’t in any serious condition. He was rescued by CP0."
"CP0?"
Lucas took a swig of liquor and looked toward the broken raft.
Figures wrapped in bandages lay there like mummies. Even Blackbeard had been wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages.
The moment Blackbeard saw Lucas, he couldn’t care less about the pain coursing through his entire body. He struggled and roared,
"No... No way! There is clearly only one Dark-Dark Fruit in this sea! What exactly was that power you just used? As long as you tell me, I’ll tell you a world-shaking secret related to Commander Ace!"
In Blackbeard’s eyes, this was the most powerful Devil Fruit he’d spent decades waiting for.
He had hidden himself aboard Whitebeard’s ship for all those years, remaining an inconspicuous nobody.
He had even betrayed Whitebeard and killed his own division commander, someone he had regarded like a brother, just to obtain this ultimate Devil Fruit.
When he fought Ace, he had felt absolutely unstoppable.
So how had everything gone wrong when he faced Lucas?
Especially after witnessing Lucas’s astonishing final slash.
Blackbeard felt as though he had a mouthful of blood permanently stuck in his chest.
"A secret?"
Lucas landed beside the stretcher where Blackbeard lay and spoke indifferently.
"I’m only interested in how many tens of millions your capture is worth. I don’t care about any secrets."
"Besides, anyone who isn’t blind can tell that what I used just now is the same type of power as yours."
"It’s just that yours is suited for support, while mine is suited for offense."
"Of course, it’s also possible that your Devil Fruit is female and mine is male. Different properties, you know!"
"Support? Offense?"
"Female? Male?"
Blackbeard was completely dumbfounded.
The next moment, his face turned livid. He spat out a mouthful of blood and muttered through a twisted expression,
"No! I refuse to believe that Devil Fruits have genders!"
THUD!
After saying that, Blackbeard’s entire body went rigid before crashing back onto the stretcher.
His eyes remained wide open as he passed out.
Tashigi and the others nearby were left completely speechless.
An utterly absurd thought emerged in their minds.
Did Devil Fruits really have genders?
Otherwise, why was Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit so vastly inferior to Lucas’s when the two were compared?
Lucas naturally had no intention of explaining himself to anyone else.
After glancing at Spandine, whose body was covered in blood and whose face and clothes were caked with dust and grime, his gaze shifted toward Ace.
"You actually would have been better off dying just now."
Ace’s expression froze.
The words he had been holding inside instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.
He let out a faint sigh and said bitterly,
"Can you kill me?"
Everyone’s expression changed dramatically.
The exchange between Lucas and Ace had completely come out of left field, catching everyone off guard.
Smoker and the others immediately tensed up, staring at Lucas with anxious expressions.
They desperately wanted to know whether Lucas would actually kill Fire Fist Ace.
"Marine Admiral, you—you can’t kill Fire Fist Ace! And you certainly can’t kill me! I’m a member of CP0! Y-you’ve already beaten me once!"
Spandine hurriedly spoke up, his voice becoming increasingly desperate toward the end.
He had no intention of making the same mistake again.
If Lucas suddenly decided to attack him once more, Spandine absolutely didn’t dare take any chances.
"Relax. He’s worth a bounty, so I won’t kill him."
Lucas took another swig of liquor before looking at Spandine with a faint smile.
"As for you..."
"You’re a walking treasure chest."
"A walking treasure chest?"
Spandine stood frozen in place, clearly unable to understand what Lucas meant.
But after repeatedly confirming that Lucas wasn’t going to suddenly attack him, he instead felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Was this really supposed to be a good thing?
"Yo, yo, Admiral Lucas. Brigadier General Tashigi just contacted me and asked me to come here and join you. I heard Blackbeard is here as well, so I can conveniently save myself some trouble and complete Old Man Sengoku’s mission."
A beam of light descended from the sky.
In an instant, it gathered into Kizaru’s figure.
Seeing the former Admiral arrive, the Marine soldiers present immediately performed a military salute.
At the same time, they couldn’t help glancing at Blackbeard, who was lying on the stretcher wrapped up like a giant rice dumpling and had just passed out after vomiting blood.
Kizaru also noticed that something was off about the atmosphere.
The lecherous expression on his face stiffened slightly as he instinctively looked to the side.
When he saw the miserable state of the man on the stretcher, the muscles in Kizaru’s cheek twitched involuntarily.
"Admiral Lucas, don’t tell me that rice dumpling is Blackbeard?"
"Ahem. Admiral Kizaru, everyone here can testify that Blackbeard attacked first. I merely cut him once, and he ended up like this."
Lucas patted Kizaru on the shoulder and coughed lightly.
"When we get back, remember to explain the situation to Old Man Sengoku for me. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for me to ask for my bonus."
"Just cut him once?"
Kizaru looked at Blackbeard on the stretcher, the muscles in his cheek still twitching.
He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to ask what kind of blade Lucas had used.
What kind of slash could turn a prospective Warlord of the Sea into this state with a single strike?
But things had already reached this point, and Kizaru didn’t feel like saying much more.
In fact, he was more than happy to save himself the trouble.
Three Days Later — Harbor Entrance of Marine Headquarters, Marineford
A ship flying a pirate flag rapidly approached the harbor.
Commodore Kibin, who was responsible for overseeing the arriving vessel, couldn’t help but turn pale.
"Commodore Kibin, what kind of pirates are these? How dare they sail a pirate ship directly into Marine Headquarters at Marineford? Aren’t they afraid that we’ll attack them all at once and sink them immediately?"
A Marine recruit was the first to lose his temper, speaking indignantly.
In their eyes, Marine Headquarters was a sacred place of justice.
Allowing pirates to set foot here was practically an insult to justice itself.
"Don’t shout."
"You’re a recruit, so it’s normal that you don’t understand."
Kibin spoke with a solemn expression.
"That’s the pirate ship belonging to the Donquixote Family, the family of the Warlord of the Sea known as ’Heavenly Yaksha,’ Donquixote Doflamingo."
"This isn’t something we can handle."
"Hurry and notify Vice Admiral Tsuru. Let her deal with this."
As a Marine Commodore, Kibin naturally understood exactly what kind of pirate could sail so brazenly into Marine Headquarters.
However, the instant he finished speaking, his body moved on its own.
His right hand suddenly seized the katana at his waist and drew it in one swift motion.
He swung it directly at the Marine recruit standing before him!
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