Blackbeard was full of hatred. He was the son of a Celestial Dragon's slave, and he had experienced the most miserable things in the world since childhood.
If he hadn't encountered the Dark-Dark Fruit, living a life of anonymity on Whitebeard's ship forever would have been something he could accept.
However, from the moment his mind was influenced by Rocks, he was destined to never spend his life in mediocrity!
"The mission of D!"
Rocks D. Xebec used the mission of the 'd clan' to lure Marshall D. Teach!
"Teach, do you know why your parents were captured and taken to God Valley?"
"Because of D! The Celestial Dragons call themselves gods, while the d clan is known there as the 'Natural Enemy of God'!"
"From the moment you obtained the name of D, your life was meant to be lived either under the control of the Celestial Dragons, or you die!"
"Of course, there is a third path: becoming the strongest in the world!"
Then, with the idea of seizing the Dark-Dark Fruit, Blackbeard boarded Whitebeard's ship!
All of this was Rocks's scheme!
However, the secret that Rocks wanted to gather the Dark-Dark Fruit, Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and Nuke Nuke no Mi to realize the reconstruction of the "Implantation" core—
Blackbeard only understood it just now when his body's control was usurped by Rocks!
Before this, he merely wanted to improve the strength of his pirate crew by seizing other people's Devil Fruit Ability and giving them to his companions!
If it weren't for Taro, everything would have gone smoothly, and Rocks wouldn't have stopped Blackbeard's idea of giving other plundered fruit abilities to his crewmates.
Rocks only wanted the Nuke Nuke no Mi!
It was precisely because of this that in the original plot, the Clear-Clear Fruit was given to Shiliew!
"He used me! The d clan, the mission, destiny—it's all a lie!"
Blood kept gushing from Blackbeard's mouth as he murmured almost unconsciously, not answering Aokiji's words at all.
Taro frowned and pondered for a long time before saying,
"Kuzan, thirty-six years ago during the battle of God Valley, the Rocks Pirates were wiped out. The person Blackbeard is talking about is Rocks! He inherited Rocks's will; in a sense, he IS Rocks!"
Aokiji's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. After thinking for a long time, he stared at Blackbeard again.
"So you're saying you were at God Valley at that time?"
Taro was stunned for a moment. Did Aokiji's words imply that he also knew something?
He was 47 years old this year. Thirty-six years ago, he was only 11. He joined the Marine twenty-eight years ago when he was 19!
These records were all in the Marine intelligence, so Taro had naturally seen them.
Did Aokiji learn about the God Valley Incident later on?
"Kuzan, how did you come to that conclusion?"
Taro asked.
Aokiji glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates Remnants, specifically at Marco, and then said softly,
"Taro, since you were able to come here, I assume you know quite a bit about the God Valley Incident as well?"
Taro frowned. "I know a little. That place has disappeared now!"
Aokiji shook his head. "It did disappear, but not completely!"
Taro was dazed for a moment. "What do you mean?"
Aokiji looked at Marco again. Marco hesitated for a moment before speaking in Aokiji's place.
"In the first half of the Grand Line, the Paradise, there is a sea area called the Florian Triangle. There, there is...!"
As soon as Marco said that, Taro was already dumbfounded.
"You mean Moria's Thriller Bark is God Valley? How is that possible!"
Marco looked at Aokiji with an unreadable expression.
"It is and it isn't. That is only a small part of God Valley!"
He paused and then added,
"To be precise, it was the main battlefield of the 'God Valley Incident' and the burial ground of the Rocks Pirates!"
Taro's head was buzzing, and he was speechless for a while.
What the hell was going on?
How did Moria get involved in this too?
In the Pirate World, can anyone with a name survive without some kind of background?
He was shocked for a long time before he whispered,
"So, that's why among Moria's shadow zombies, there are people like Captain John and Silver Axe, is that it?"
Aokiji and Marco didn't speak, which was clearly a silent admission!
Taro fell silent again for a while before staring at Marco, his tone becoming a bit colder.
"You said you didn't know what Whitebeard brought out of God Valley, but now you know some secrets of God Valley. Are you just humoring me by saying that?"
As he spoke, the Internal Energy in his body surged, and his Aura became even more frigid.
The captains around Marco tensed up, gripping their weapons and staying on high alert.
Just then, Taro suddenly looked up at the horizon. Aokiji and Marco also looked over at the same time.
A wicked voice rang out.
"Ha, hahaha! Taro, I can help answer that question for you!"
A strong wind carrying black sand whistled toward them. In the next second, Crocodile actually appeared on the island.
Beside him, Mr. 1 Daz Bones looked a bit pale, seemingly nauseous from being carried through the air by Crocodile.
"Crocodile?"
Taro raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: Well then, every time I make a move, things get pretty damn lively!
I just found out Moria was related to the events back then, and now Crocodile shows up!
Moria, Crocodile, plus Blackbeard—three former Warlord of the Sea. Tsk tsk!
Crocodile glanced indifferently at Blackbeard, then scanned Aokiji, Marco, and the others before finally looking arrogantly at Taro.
"Ha, hahaha!"
He took a puff of his cigar, laughed once, and then said, "Taro, are you surprised by my appearance?"
Taro nodded quite candidly.
"I certainly didn't expect it!"
Then he questioned him with some doubt,
"However, I'm more curious about what answer you can give me."
In Impel Down, Taro had mocked Crocodile to pass some information to Ace, so there was still a grudge between them.
Taro didn't believe for a second that Crocodile would be kind enough to clear up his doubts.
Crocodile tilted his chin up slightly, looking very arrogant.
"Taro, you may be smart, but you don't know everything!"
"I know exactly what happened back then! If you want to know, beg me! Beg me, and I'll tell you!"
The energy around Taro surged. "Are you looking for death?"
Crocodile acted very confident, as if he really had eaten the 'Fifty-Fifty Fruit' as the one piece fans joked about in his past life, never backing down regardless of who he fought.
"Ha, haha, are you sure you want to do that?"
Taro stared at him for a long time before his fists loosened slightly.
"What makes you think I'll believe you know about the events back then?"
A flash of severity crossed Crocodile's eyes as he rubbed the gold hook on his left hand.
"What if I said that during the God Valley Incident, I was also there?"
Taro's eyes widened!
Are you kidding me? You're only 44 this year. Thirty-six years ago, you were just an 8-year-old brat. What were you doing there?
Taro naturally didn't want to believe it, but Crocodile's expression didn't seem fake, leaving him with no choice but to believe it!
Holy shit!
Is it really Roger who started the Great Pirate Era?
Looking at it this way, it was clearly Rocks!
---------------------------------
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.
