Next Bonus, 100!!
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The crowd parted. Thatch held up the chest.
Teach smiled, then his gaze fell on the fruit. His expression changed in an instant. His eyes were locked on it, and he stared, and stared.
"Well? Do you recognize it?" Ace asked.
Teach didn't respond. He was completely focused, his breathing growing ragged.
"Teach!"
"Eh? Ah, oh!" Teach snapped out of it. He looked up, his face once again a mask of simple-minded joviality. He scratched the back of his head. "Ah, no, I don't recognize it either. Could be a normal fruit, could be a powerful one. It's a complete gamble."
"No kidding," Ace said.
"Yeah!"
"Teach, didn't you used to brag about having read the entire encyclopedia?" Thatch asked.
Teach just laughed. "Zehahaha! Fate is a fickle thing, isn't it, Commander Thatch?"
Ace shook his head and ignored him. Although Teach was a member of his division, he was a veteran of the crew. He had been with Whitebeard since he was a kid. The Whitebeard Pirates didn't care about seniority, but a veteran was a veteran.
"So, are you going to eat it, Thatch?" Ace asked. "The rule is, whoever finds it, it's theirs. Are you going to sell it or eat it?"
At those words, Teach, who had been pretending not to care, fixed his gaze on Thatch.
Thatch hesitated. "I'll have to think about it. If I eat it, I'll become a hammer..."
"Zehahaha! Think carefully, Commander Thatch," Teach said. "This is a decision that will affect the rest of your life."
Thatch nodded. "You're right. Pops always says that when you eat a fruit, it becomes a part of you. Once you choose, you can't go back. If it's just an average one, the price of not being able to swim is too high. It might be better not to eat it." He looked at Ace. "You seem interested, Ace. Do you want it?"
"Well," Ace said with a sigh, "when I went to see that king, I promised him a Devil Fruit. I thought it would be easy, but I haven't come across a single one. So..."
Thatch understood. He closed the box and handed it to Ace. "Take it. It's for Pops, after all. There are a lot of Devil Fruits out there, but in this vast sea, most of them already have owners. They're not easy to come by."
"Uh, no, it's okay," Ace said. "You should think it over for a night."
Seeing Ace's hesitation, and knowing his pride, Thatch smiled. "Alright. I'll think it over for a night."
"Hey! Time for the victory feast!"
"YEAH!"
The pirates gathered, drinking and eating, their laughter echoing through the night. It was dark before they finally left the island.
On the ship, Ace and Thatch were doing a final check. They saw Teach in a corner, grabbing a pizza and a barrel of ale.
"You're on watch again, Teach?" Ace asked.
"Yep. You guys go get some sleep, Commander Ace, Commander Thatch."
"Alright. Be careful."
Ace and Thatch walked away.
"He's a strange one," Ace mused. "Does he ever sleep?"
"Yeah," Thatch said. "He says he's from a snow country."
"A snow country?"
"Yeah. He says if they fall asleep, they die."
"Eh? There's a place like that?"
"The world is a strange place," Thatch said. "But even if he's a little weird, he's a good man. Always pulling watch for us."
Teach smiled, watching Thatch's back as he took a large bite of pizza.
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Late at night.
The sea was calm, the waves lapping gently against the hull.
Thatch, Ace, and the others were fast asleep. The weather in the New World was unpredictable. You had to rest when you could.
Click.
As a commander, Thatch had his own cabin. The door slowly creaked open.
A massive shadow fell across the room in the moonlight.
It moved closer.
"Who's there?" Thatch woke with a start. He saw the figure standing by his bed and relaxed.
He yawned and sat up. "Oh, it's you, Teach. What's wrong?"
"Commander Thatch..." Teach said, leaning in close. "I have a gift for you."
"A gift? What is—"
Teach's hand, which had been hidden behind his back, shot forward.
It was so fast that even Thatch, a powerful fighter in his own right, had no time to react.
Shk...
A sharp dagger plunged into Thatch's chest, piercing straight through his heart and out his back.
Blood dripped onto the floor.
Thatch's eyes were wide with shock. He looked up at Teach, who was smiling, a sinister, contemptuous smile he had never seen before.
"Why...?"
An unprecedented sense of triumph washed over Teach, his face twisting into a hideous grin.
"Sorry, Commander Thatch. I've waited for this chance for too long. But why did you have to be the one to find it? Why not me?? The rule is, whoever finds the Devil Fruit, it's theirs. If I want it... I have to kill you and take it from you."
He grabbed Thatch by the throat.
"Ghh... ghh..." Blood gurgled in Thatch's throat. "If... you wanted it... you could have just... asked..."
"I've waited for this chance for too long!" Teach said, his voice a low growl. "A true pirate takes what he wants with his own two hands."
This was his philosophy. He had been patient for too long.
Tonight, that changed.
Though grievously wounded, Thatch summoned his remaining strength and threw a punch at Teach.
Thud.
Teach didn't even move. Thatch was stunned. He'd had no idea Teach was this strong.
He remembered a joke Teach had once told. "The scar on Shanks's eye... was that really you? You've been hiding your strength all this time!"
"That's right," Teach said.
He pulled the knife out and stabbed Thatch again, seven or eight times, until he collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Teach took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of it.
He glanced at the desk. The wooden box... it was as if a voice were calling to him from inside.
He dropped the knife.
He walked over, and with his blood-stained hands, he opened the box. He stared, mesmerized, at the deep-purple, spiral-patterned fruit.
"The Logia... Yami Yami no Mi."
"The most evil power in history."
"With this, I'll have the power to nullify any other ability user, to rule the seas, to take the world."
His heart pounded, his hands trembled. He had waited for this moment for so long. Over thirty years.
"And when I find the Paramecia... Munch-Munch Fruit... I will become a black hole that can swallow the world!"
Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside.
"Hey, what's going on? Commander Thatch's door is..."
Teach's eyes narrowed. He quickly closed the box, stuffed it in his coat, and walked out, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Oh, it's you, Teach."
"What are you doing here?" a crewman on patrol asked.
"Zehahaha! Nothing. Just chatting with Commander Thatch. You should let him sleep."
"Alright."
After the patrol had passed, Teach waited until all was quiet, then went to the deck, untied a lifeboat, jumped in, and disappeared into the night.
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Before dawn, a scream.
"COMMANDER ACE! SOMETHING'S WRONG!"
Ace shot out of bed and rushed outside.
"Thatch... Commander Thatch..."
What?
Ace's pupils constricted. It felt like a sledgehammer had slammed into his gut, the world spinning as he stumbled forward with the other crewmen.
"Kodatsu smelled the blood and broke down the door..."
Ace looked. The lynx, Kodatsu, was whimpering beside Thatch's body.
"THATCH!!!" Ace screamed, rushing to his side, his mind a blur of panic. "The doctor! Deuce...!"
Deuce rushed in, his face a mask of grief. "Ace," he said quietly. "Commander Thatch is... he's gone."
"No! Save him...!"
"Ace! Calm down!"
A great fire erupted from Ace's body—the flames of his rage.
"WHO DID THIS?? I'LL KILL HIM!!!"
A search of the ship revealed nothing out of the ordinary. The only things missing were the Devil Fruit, Teach, and a lifeboat.
You didn't need to be a genius to put the pieces together.
Teach had killed Thatch for the fruit and fled.
"TEACH??"
Ace rushed to the deck and stood on the rail, staring out at the vast, empty sea.
"TEACH! SHOW YOURSELF!" he roared.
The crew's best swimmers dived into the water, but it was useless. Teach was long gone.
With a heavy heart, Deuce contacted the Moby Dick. When Whitebeard heard the news, he came at once.
"Teach," Whitebeard growled, his voice a low rumble of thunder. He looked down at the body as Marco pulled back the white sheet, and a wave of fury and power erupted from him, shaking the very seas.
He wasn't the only one. All the commanders, all the crew... they were all weeping, their grief turning to rage.
Ace knelt on the deck, consumed with guilt.
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