If looks could kill, Blackbeard would have hacked Taro into a thousand pieces and even scattered his ashes!
He stared fiercely at Taro for a long time until Aokiji's patience was almost exhausted, before whispering with hatred,
"I told you, to enter that place, you need something from Whitebeard's hands!"
Aokiji glanced at Taro, then looked at Blackbeard, shaking his head slightly,
"Hmph, that factory, there's no longer any need for me to go inside!"
"What I want to know now is, you who inherited Rocks' will, what exactly do you want to do to this world?"
Blackbeard's expression changed drastically upon hearing this,
"How do you know it's a factory...?"
Then, he realized and looked at Taro, shouting in shock and anger, "It's you?! You've been inside?"
Taro curled his lips, revealing a trace of a disdainful sneer,
"Surprised? Unexpected?"
Blackbeard felt as if he had been struck heavily, staggering back two steps as he shouted,
"Impossible, you're also an ability user, how could you possibly have the authority to enter!"
Taro raised an eyebrow and softly uttered a few words, "Origin Factory!"
This name struck heavily on Blackbeard's heart; he finally believed that Taro had indeed gone inside,
"Otherwise, it would be impossible to know the name of the factory!"
He shot a resentful look at the Whitebeard Pirates Remnants,
"So, that old fellow Whitebeard actually gave that thing to you?"
Taro frowned and looked at Marco, seeing that Marco was also completely bewildered,
"Clearly, he didn't know what on earth Blackbeard was talking about!"
"Answer Kuzan's question honestly. As for how I got in, you don't need to know!"
Taro's brow furrowed deeper, his tone cold.
Blackbeard stared at Taro for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter,
"Zehahaha! Twenty-six years ago, when I joined the Whitebeard Pirates, I already entrusted my life to fate..."
"To obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, I studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia thoroughly and hid my strength..."
Blackbeard suddenly began to recount his journey, from believing the Whitebeard Pirates were the most likely to obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit, to murdering Thatch and seizing the Dark-Dark Fruit.
However, these were almost all things known to those present, with no substantial content.
The more Taro listened, the more he felt something was off; this guy was clearly talking nonsense!
Sure enough, after rambling for a long while, Blackbeard finally laughed almost maniacally, the thick clouds on his body surging,
"Zehahaha! You want to know my secret? Having long since gambled my life, why on earth should I tell you!"
Instantly, Blackbeard was enveloped in black mist, and the entire battlefield was shrouded in thick, tangible black clouds,
"[Dark-Dark Fruit Awakening learning failed; Soul conditions do not match, unable to learn!]"
Taro's eyes widened slightly,
"This guy has already cultivated the Dark-Dark Fruit to the level of Awakening?"
"Is he a cheater?"
"He's only had the Dark-Dark Fruit for less than half a year in total!"
However, the current situation left Taro no time for further thought; his Internal Energy Domain and the Dark-Dark Fruit Domain had completely intertwined!
Everything on the entire battlefield was being swallowed by the darkness!
This darkness was much more powerful than Blackbeard's 'Black Hole Path' technique in terms of swallowing effect,
Aokiji and the Whitebeard Pirates Remnants activated their Armament Haki to resist the swallowing effect.
Taro's brow tightened; his Internal Energy was not being swallowed,
"However, the ground used to attach the Internal Energy was entirely swallowed by the Dark-Dark Fruit Awakening!"
Losing its attachment point, the Internal Energy gradually floated up, and below it were the surging, rolling black clouds!
Taro felt as if he were in thick ink; his Observation Haki could no longer pinpoint Blackbeard's location,
"Only the detection effect of the Internal Energy remained."
Taro couldn't see how Aokiji and the others were reacting, but judging by the energy sparks constantly flickering in the thick clouds, they were fine for the time being!
"You're not an ability user at all!"
Just then, Blackbeard's cry of surprise reached everyone's ears from all directions,
"As if the thick clouds themselves were Blackbeard,"
After a while, Blackbeard's voice became raspier and coarser, as if a different person had taken over, changing the tone,
"So that's how it is!"
Taro's Internal Energy searched through the black clouds and finally locked onto Blackbeard's location,
"However, his expression turned strange,"
The feedback from the Internal Energy sketched out Blackbeard's appearance in Taro's mind,
"A lean physique, with beard and hair branching out like an enraged lion!"
"Rocks D. Xebec?"
Taro raised an eyebrow, uttering a name with both doubt and certainty.
"Clack, clack, clack!"
The sound of footsteps came from the black clouds, and a robust man about three meters tall walked out,
He stared at Taro for a while, then grinned widely,
"Hahahaha, you actually recognize me!"
Then, his smile grew crueler,
"I must say, you really are quite knowledgeable!"
Taro's brow was tightly knit,
Blackbeard's Soul was abnormal; Taro had already deduced this from the System's repeated prompts that he couldn't learn Blackbeard's Moves.
However, he had always thought that Blackbeard's Souls were those of his mother and sister,
"He had never imagined it would be Rocks!"
"Blackbeard doesn't need to sleep because you were hiding inside his body. I'm curious, who does the remaining Soul belong to!"
Taro withdrew his Internal Energy and asked while staying wary of "Rocks."
Rocks' pupils contracted slightly; he placed his hand over the wound on his shoulder and peeled away the Internal Energy that couldn't be swallowed,
"Then, he pinched a wisp of Internal Energy and observed it carefully for a moment,"
"Brat, you even know about that? Hahahaha! I originally intended to just kill you, but now I'm curious to see what else you know!"
Taro was extremely vigilant internally, but he appeared relaxed on the surface, letting out a sneer,
"I know a lot, but in Blackbeard's words, why on earth should I tell you?"
Rocks' gaze turned cold upon hearing this; with a pinch of his fingers, that wisp of Internal Energy vanished into thin air,
"You don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
Before his voice had even faded, half of his body, swept up in black clouds, lunged straight at Taro,
"Second Gear!"
"Armament Hardening!"
"Conquerors Haki Infusion!"
"Vibration Energy Infusion!"
"Nether Dog!"
Taro didn't dare to be the least bit careless, pushing his Internal Energy to the limit. His left arm was enveloped in pure white Internal Energy as he threw a punch towards Rocks,
"Bang!"
"Rumble!"
"Crack!"
While the two were still over ten meters apart, their added abilities had already violently erupted!
As soon as the surge of energy spread out, it was swallowed by the pervasive black clouds,
Even the light from the explosion and the rumbling sound only lasted for an instant before being completely swallowed!
Then, their fists collided head-on!
"Bang!"
A sharp sound rang out as Taro's punch sent Rocks flying back into the black clouds!
Taro was dumbfounded,
"Rocks was actually this weak?!"
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.