Ace sat quietly alone. He showed a look of deep determination on his freckled face. However, his thoughts quickly drifted back to the confusing idea of marrying Yamato. Ace could not help but blush deeply. He never expected that the major events of his life would be decided in such a strange and sudden way. It felt as if he was just messing around with his entire future. But then he remembered that he had made a firm and serious promise to Whitebeard. He knew he could not go back on his word to his adoptive father.
"It's all Luffy's fault. He just talks nonsense without thinking about the consequences. What am I supposed to say when I see Yamato again? I can't just say we should stop being brothers and she should become my wife instead."
Ace buried his face in his hands. He felt a deep sense of suffering over the whole situation.
While Ace suffered over his complicated romantic problems, Marshall D. Teach was suffering for entirely different and much more violent reasons.
The massive battle that took place in the North Blue resulted in incredibly heavy losses for his entire crew. The Blackbeard Pirates were violently beaten back to their original state. They even lost one of their highly valuable ships during the chaos. Right now, the Whitebeard Pirates had snatched back almost all of their former territory. Blackbeard only managed to keep a few small islands under his direct control. He did not have many loyal crew members left alive. His current situation looked as pitiful as it possibly could.
When Whitebeard finally returned to the New World, he did not shrink his battle lines like he always did in the past. Instead, the incredibly strong old man actively pushed forward and suppressed Blackbeard's remaining forces. Whitebeard's tactical purpose was very simple and clear. He wanted to completely prevent the Blackbeard Pirates from developing any further power.
Because Blackbeard suffered such humiliating setbacks in the North Blue, terrible rumors quickly spread across the sea. People loudly claimed that he completely disregarded the safety of his own partners. As a direct result of those rumors, many strong pirates no longer wanted to join his pirate crew. This sudden lack of fresh recruits completely destroyed Blackbeard's grand idea of rebuilding his military forces in a short period of time.
Right now, Blackbeard could only curse the Straw Hat Pirates in secret. On the surface, he tried his absolute best to maintain the calm and collected attitude that a proper pirate captain should have.
However, the shocking news delivered in today's morning newspaper made Blackbeard's facial expression look even more twisted and angry.
Straw Hat Luffy actually defeated the legendary Demon Heir, Douglas Bullet.
Blackbeard naturally knew all about Bullet going to find trouble with the Straw Hats. He felt incredibly happy when he first heard that news. He desperately hoped that the powerful monster would wipe out Luffy's entire crew for him.
He never expected harsh reality to play such a massive joke on him. Bullet actually lost the fight against a rookie.
Because of this completely unexpected result, Blackbeard immediately raised the danger level of the Straw Hats to a much higher level in his mind. He even vaguely listed Straw Hat Luffy as his absolute number one enemy for the future.
However, the single thing Blackbeard worried about the most right now was that completely lunatic Bullet coming to his front door next.
"From now on, we must fully shrink our defensive lines. We need to strictly guard against any sudden attacks from Bullet. At the same time, send some men to contact Kaido and Big Mom. We must seek a deeper alliance with them. If it doesn't work out normally, I'll just marry one of Big Mom's daughters. I don't care how ugly she might be. For the sake of my great cause, I can't care about small details like that."
Blackbeard formed this desperate survival plan in his dark heart. He immediately began to arrange his remaining subordinates to carry out the necessary orders.
Deep under the rough surface of a certain sea area located in the New World, a very strange mechanical submarine slowly moved forward through the dark water.
Many giant Sea Kings wanted to swallow the metal vessel as a quick snack when they swam past it. However, they instantly felt a terrifying and overwhelming pressure radiating from inside the ship as soon as they approached. The massive monsters immediately turned around and ran away in pure terror with their tails between their legs.
Inside the quiet interior of the submarine, Bullet sat heavily on a metal chair. He was completely covered in thick white medical bandages. He looked exactly like a giant mummy.
A fresh newspaper rested on the cold table right in front of him.
As he carefully read the detailed article in the newspaper, Bullet could not help but laugh out loud. Big News Morgans boldly compared the fighting power of Bullet, Luffy, and the legendary Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Bullet did not feel disgusted by this grand comparison at all. Instead, he thought the bird journalist possessed a very insightful perspective on the current era.
From Bullet's personal point of view, even if his current physical strength was not completely equal to Roger's prime level, there was only a very slight gap between them.
Since Straw Hat Luffy actually managed to defeat him in a direct physical clash, Bullet felt it was not an exaggeration to call the rubber boy the true Pirate King of the new generation.
However, Bullet did not give up on his ultimate goal. He planned to continue challenging the other Emperors of the Sea and the highest-ranking Marine Admirals. Once he pushed his strength even higher through endless combat, he would definitely go back and challenge Straw Hat Luffy to a brutal rematch.
As for finding the hidden island of Laugh Tale, that was just something he planned to do after he firmly established himself as the absolute strongest person in the entire world.
"Bullet, who are you planning to look for next?"
Buena Festa, his scheming business partner, asked from the other side of the small room.
"I'll naturally look for another Emperor of the Sea. In addition to the older members of the Four Emperors, there are two newcomers sitting on the throne. One is Straw Hat Luffy, and the other is Marshall D. Teach. This Blackbeard is a traitor who ran away from Whitebeard's crew. He's also a person who somehow wields the abilities of three different Devil Fruits. I want to see if he actually possesses the true strength to match that massive reputation."
Bullet obviously felt a deep and violent interest in a strange creature who could handle three different Devil Fruit powers at the exact same time.
Originally, he wanted to find Blackbeard first. However, the massive war that took place in the North Blue made Bullet much more interested in the Straw Hat Pirates. Because of that, he chose to find Luffy before anyone else.
Luffy certainly did not disappoint Bullet during their battle. Now, it was entirely up to Blackbeard to prove his worth in combat.
If Blackbeard only possessed an empty name without the raw power to back it up, Bullet would not mind cleaning up the ocean by crushing him into dust.
Festa looked a bit confused by this sudden decision.
"They say that lightning swordsman is also incredibly powerful. Don't you want to continue challenging their crew?"
"How could I not challenge him? But it isn't the right time yet. I'll challenge everyone else on the sea first. The Straw Hat Pirates give me a very familiar feeling. They're extremely similar to the Roger Pirates. Straw Hat Luffy and that swordsman Carl are just like Roger and Rayleigh back in the old days. I truly hope Carl doesn't let me down when we finally clash."
Festa simply shrugged his shoulders. He did not care who Bullet decided to fight next. His only real job was to rescue his crazy partner when things went wrong and pilot the submarine far away from danger.
A few quiet days passed by in the blink of an eye.
Marine Admiral Kizaru finally returned to the massive fortress of Marineford. He felt incredibly uncomfortable just thinking about facing Fleet Admiral Akainu's deeply angered and strict face.
When he slowly walked into the massive central office, he saw that all the high-ranking Marine officials were already gathered inside. It looked exactly as if they were in the middle of a very serious strategic meeting.
Kizaru did not bother to ask about the exact content of their ongoing discussion. He simply found an empty chair near the back of the room and sat down. He planned to quietly think of a good excuse to muddle his way through the complete failure of his recent mission.
Unfortunately for him, Akainu already spotted him entering the room.
"Oh, Borsalino. Why didn't you say something when you finally decided to come back? After all, you just returned from a very important mission. It must have been incredibly hard work for you. I must take very good care of you."
Hearing the strict Fleet Admiral speak in such a rare and sarcastic tone made Kizaru instantly realize that Akainu felt extremely furious.
Kizaru knew he had to bite the bullet and defend his actions.
"Sakazuki. I mean, Fleet Admiral. Fujitora and I are indeed responsible for the failure of this mission. But you must understand that it isn't entirely our fault. The Marine intelligence department simply isn't strong enough. They strictly told us that Bullet always traveled alone. Because I firmly believed the official news from our own intelligence agency, I was completely defenseless against outside interference. As a result, a hidden partner suddenly appeared and rescued Bullet from our grasp."
Akainu, former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and Vice Admiral Tsuru looked at each other in complete silence.
They also read the updated intelligence reports. To be completely honest, they really did not fully blame Kizaru and Fujitora for the sudden escape.
Ever since Bullet left the Roger Pirates decades ago, he always traveled the seas completely alone. He never kept a partner around. The fact that another person suddenly appeared out of nowhere to rescue Bullet caught everyone completely off guard.
However, Akainu knew he could not just let Kizaru off the hook so easily. If he did, the famously lazy Admiral would definitely find another excuse to slack off during his very next assignment.
"What about the Straw Hat Pirates?"
Akainu asked the question while deliberately keeping a dark and gloomy expression on his scarred face.
"Do you really need to ask me that? You already know exactly how strong the Straw Hats are. Fleet Admiral, you experienced it yourself. Back during the great war, you were beaten up. I mean, you personally experienced their overwhelming strength back then. You don't honestly think that Fujitora and I could successfully capture Straw Hat Luffy right now, do you?"
Kizaru's voice became much more confident as he stated the clear facts to his superior.
Unlike a lone wolf like Bullet, the Straw Hat Pirates currently stood as the strongest Emperor crew in the entire New World.
Therefore, even if Straw Hat Luffy had just finished a brutal duel and possessed absolutely no stamina left, the two Marine Admirals still might not be able to win a fight. They knew they could not easily defeat them because Carl and the rest of those monstrous crew members were not just standing around doing nothing. They would have protected their exhausted captain with everything they had.