The giant demonic Robin quickly dissolved, while Robin's presence weakened noticeably from the strain.
"You can't use that technique carelessly when facing a real enemy."
Cyrus pulled her up from her defensive crouch and warned her seriously.
Robin's body was nothing extraordinary, and excessive use of Haki placed a genuine burden on her.
Under normal circumstances, the damage might be minor, but this newly awakened technique clearly consumed an enormous amount of Haki.
"It's not as though I ever get the chance to fight."
Robin lowered her hands with a helpless expression.
Cyrus had allowed her to fight some enemies during the early days of their journey. But as his opponents grew stronger, there was no longer any place for her in his battles.
Even now, despite all her progress, she still could not intervene against the people Cyrus fought.
"That's true."
Cyrus nodded.
"Then why don't I take part in the Hunter Exam? I'd like to see whether I can pass."
Robin thought for a moment before making the suggestion.
"You want to participate?"
Cyrus was about to refuse, but seeing the seriousness in her eyes, he changed his mind and nodded.
"Go ahead if that's what you want."
"I would also like to participate."
Hancock approached after their spar ended and immediately declared her intention to join after hearing Robin's decision.
"You too?"
Cyrus looked at her in surprise.
"My strength will certainly be enough to pass. Once I do, I wish to board Lord Cyrus's ship."
Hancock stared at him with open adoration.
"My ship?"
"With the Pirate Empress's strength, this exam should be easy for you," Robin said with a smile. "If you want to join his ship, you could simply ask."
"Really? I'm allowed?"
Hancock's face lit up.
Robin's expression stiffened as she gave Hancock a suspicious look.
She could not even tell what exactly the woman had imagined when she heard the phrase join his ship.
"If you want to try, then do it. The exam should be entertaining."
Cyrus shook his head faintly.
His Observation Haki had already detected quite a few powerful people across the island, most of whom were familiar faces.
Those people were bound to cause plenty of trouble.
Adding Boa Hancock to the exam would be like releasing a shark into a crowded pond, but perhaps that would make things even livelier.
The three did not remain in the trial grounds for long.
After they returned, Robin managed to send Hancock away with only a few carefully chosen sentences.
Cyrus naturally saw through what she was doing, but he was curious to see how it would play out.
…
"Looks like you haven't suffered much, Pops."
"You've been away for a long time, Teach."
Whitebeard showed little reaction when Teach entered and greeted him.
"Pops, I simply didn't know how I was supposed to face you."
Teach placed the enormous jar of liquor he was carrying in front of Whitebeard.
"What's the problem? I already knew you boarded that man's ship. Did something happen to Marco and the others?"
Whitebeard fixed his eyes on him.
"Nothing like that."
Teach shook his head.
"Marco and the others are still in the New World. Chairman Cyrus didn't make things difficult for them, though they can't continue living as pirates. As for the Whitebeard Pirates' former territory, without you there, they can't hold all of it."
He looked genuinely troubled.
Whitebeard studied this adopted son, surprise flickering through his eyes.
He had never paid Teach any special attention before, treating him no differently from the rest of the crew.
Now, however, Whitebeard began to suspect that he had underestimated him.
"The Hunter Guild didn't take control of those territories?"
Whitebeard poured himself a bowl of liquor from the jar.
"Chairman Cyrus had Marco establish a Hunter Guild branch, but he didn't send anyone else to defend the territory. You know what the New World is like, Pops."
"Teach, what are you trying to say?"
Whitebeard drained the huge bowl in one gulp and stared at him.
"Pops, Chairman Cyrus intends to change the world and overthrow the World Government. That doesn't directly conflict with anything you want."
Teach smiled sincerely.
"If you joined the Hunter Guild, you could probably return to the New World. With you there, Marco and the others would have a much easier time."
"Mamamama! Whitebeard, you've spoiled your crew too much. Without you around, those brats probably can't even feed themselves."
Linlin had been listening from nearby and finally interrupted with a mocking laugh.
"Big Mom!"
Teach turned toward her.
"Your children aren't in a much better position. Things may have remained peaceful while Chairman Cyrus was in the New World, but now that he's returned to Paradise, do you really think they can defend Totto Land?"
Linlin's expression stiffened.
Her eyes darkened as she stared at Teach.
"Do you understand who you're speaking to?"
Conqueror's Haki erupted from her body.
"Zehahaha! Pops is right beside me."
Teach laughed wildly, seemingly unaffected by her Haki.
"So you possess that quality as well, Teach."
Whitebeard looked at him in surprise.
"You hid it well."
"It only awakened recently, Pops."
Teach scratched his curly hair and gave them an honest smile.
Whitebeard did not believe him.
Neither did Linlin, whose expression remained grim, nor Shiki, who was watching with obvious interest.
"Whitebeard, wasn't it only you who possessed Conqueror's Haki aboard your ship?"
Shiki asked.
"With all those fools hiding beneath him, how could any of them ever awaken it?"
Linlin immediately perked up at the chance to mock him.
She might have fallen slightly short of Whitebeard herself, but her son Katakuri possessed Conqueror's Haki.
Katakuri's actions during her defeat might have bordered on betrayal, yet Linlin did not truly blame her children.
Or rather, she did not care enough to blame them.
In her mind, Cyrus was still the real reason she had lost.
Admitting that she had been defeated by her own children would have been far too humiliating.
"You truly didn't possess it while you were on my ship?" Whitebeard asked again.
Teach instinctively prepared to repeat the same excuse, but the words stopped before leaving his mouth.
He studied Whitebeard's expression, then sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Zehahaha! There's no harm in telling you now, Pops. That's right. I awakened Conqueror's Haki while I was aboard your ship."
"Then why did you hide it? What were you planning?"
"I wanted to follow you, of course."
Teach grinned.
"And while I was there, I hoped you would help me find something. It was extremely difficult to locate. If I never found it, I would've remained your loyal son forever."
His voice sounded completely sincere.
"What were you looking for?"
"The Dark-Dark Fruit."
Teach's eyes filled with excitement the moment he named it.
The expressions of Whitebeard, Linlin, and Shiki all turned strange.
Noticing their reactions, Teach's heart jumped.
"You know something?"
He shot to his feet, excitement spreading across his face.
"You know where it is? Tell me! Where's the Dark-Dark Fruit?"
A powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body.
"Jihahaha! So that's what this was all about."
Shiki burst into laughter, clearly delighted by what was coming.
"I know exactly where it is, but do you have the courage to take it?"
"Where?"
Teach stared intensely at him.
"Cyrus ate it."
Whitebeard answered before Shiki could continue.
Teach's Conqueror's Haki vanished instantly.
His face went rigid, and he slowly turned toward Whitebeard in stunned disbelief.
"Someone already ate it? Chairman Cyrus?"
His voice trembled with disbelief.
"But he already…"
Cyrus had clearly eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Why would Whitebeard claim he had consumed the Dark-Dark Fruit as well?
"Don't look at me for an explanation. I don't know how he did it either, but he definitely ate that fruit."
Whitebeard shook his head.
Teach collapsed onto the ground, his eyes completely lost.
"There's something truly satisfying about watching a man's hopes shatter."
Shiki grinned as he enjoyed Teach's despair.
Boom!
A fist surrounded by a white sphere came crashing down.
"Have you lost your mind, you bastard?!"
The ground shook violently as Shiki floated in midair and roared at Whitebeard.
"Teach said that if he never found the fruit, he would remain my good son forever."
Whitebeard withdrew his fist.
"That makes him my family. You mocked my family, Shiki, so perhaps you wanted to test my fist."
Shiki's lips moved as he glared at Whitebeard.
In the end, he gave a cold snort and floated down some distance away.
"Pops…"
Teach had been jolted from his daze by Whitebeard's attack, and his expression became complicated.
Everyone on the sea had their own dream.
Teach's dream had always been to find the Devil Fruit he believed was destined for him.
Now that he had learned Cyrus had already eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit, he suddenly had no idea what direction his life was supposed to take.
Footsteps approached from outside.
Several Guild Hunters rushed into the room, stared at the cracks covering the floor, then glanced at the four people present before quickly retreating again.
"Go outside for now. I'll seriously consider what you said."
Whitebeard could tell that Teach was in no condition to listen to anything else.
That Dark-Dark Fruit truly seemed to mean everything to him.
Whitebeard, meanwhile, also needed time to decide what he would do next.
Teach walked outside in a daze.
He had barely crossed the doorway when he stopped.
His face stiffened. A vicious glint flashed briefly in his eyes before fading away.
"Were you looking for this?"
A mass of bottomless darkness churned above Cyrus's left hand, seemingly capable of swallowing everything around it.
Teach's breathing immediately quickened.
His eyes locked onto the darkness.
The thing he had dreamed of possessing was right before him, yet it had become forever unattainable.
Even if he somehow managed to kill Cyrus, he had no way to extract the Dark-Dark Fruit from his body.
And killing Cyrus?
The idea appeared in Teach's mind for only an instant before he discarded it.
The difficulty was no lower than conquering the entire world.
"No."
Teach lowered his head.
"Good. Go take care of your own business."
Cyrus nodded and walked past him.
Teach turned to watch Cyrus's retreating back, his expression utterly dejected.
Then he suddenly froze.
"My own business? What am I supposed to do now?"
…
Cyrus's arrival did not surprise Whitebeard or the others.
Whitebeard had restrained his strength, but even a controlled use of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit caused considerable damage.
There was only one person on Sky Island—or anywhere else in the world—capable of keeping the three of them under control.
The Guild Hunters would naturally report the disturbance to Cyrus.
"You made quite a mess."
Cyrus glanced at the damaged floor and calmly walked into the space between the three former pirate captains.
"Do you not care about what's happening in the New World?" Whitebeard asked. "You have no interest in controlling it?"
"Most of your sons are talented. Anyone who reached their current level possesses exceptional talent and determination."
Cyrus turned toward him and spoke evenly, merely stating what he saw as fact.
"But you protected them too much."
"They're my family."
Whitebeard frowned.
"Even family must eventually leave the nest and face the world for themselves. Even birds understand that their young must fly away once they've grown."
Cyrus shook his head.
"There are countless hidden monsters in the New World. Even without Kaido, someone else will always appear."
"And?"
Cyrus smiled at him.
Something about that smile made Whitebeard uncomfortable.
"They were pirates."
All three former captains' expressions changed.
"I was already being generous when I spared them before."
"If they complete the work I assigned them, I may loosen the restrictions further. But right now, they're performing worse than Katakuri."
Cyrus glanced toward Linlin as he spoke.
Her mouth was stuffed with sugary cream, and she acted as though she had not heard a word.
"Or you could do exactly what Teach suggested. Then you could continue protecting your sons yourself."
Cyrus turned back and drove the point home.
Frankly, speaking this way was an insult to Whitebeard.
Yet the enormous man remained motionless, his expression deeply conflicted.
"A man like you shouldn't be making that face. You aren't even afraid of death."
Cyrus walked a few steps, moving slightly closer to Shiki as he continued.
"You don't look much like Edward Newgate right now."
"I am Whitebeard!"
Whitebeard surged to his feet.
"Calm down."
Cyrus casually waved one hand.
"I never took away your name."
Whitebeard almost cursed aloud.
Shiki's face twisted as he struggled not to laugh.
"You knew Teach wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit," Whitebeard said after drawing a deep breath and changing the subject. "Is that why you deliberately took him away from my crew?"
"That's exactly why."
Cyrus nodded without denying it.
"And if there's anyone from your crew who has the potential to reach your level—or even surpass it—Teach is the one I'd put my money on."