"Things aren't looking too good. Teach really is the only one suited for this kind of opponent. Let's get out of here, Stronger."
Seeing that the situation was turning against them, Doc Q, slumped over his horse's back, quickly urged his sickly steed, Stronger, to turn around and flee.
At the same time, he reached into his basket, grabbed three bright red apples, and hurled them with all his might toward Allen.
Laffitte also leaped high into the air, unfurling a pair of white wings from his back and flapping them to fly backward.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
The three red apples landed on the ground around Allen and abruptly detonated. Intense flames mixed with black smoke swallowed his figure.
Before they could even celebrate their escape, Laffitte and Doc Q's expressions shifted to shock the very next second. Allen's figure dashed out of the smoke like a flash of lightning.
"Tch, so he doesn't plan on letting us go."
A cold glint flashed in Laffitte's eyes. Facing Allen's aggressive charge, he rapidly spun his umbrella-handled cane.
However, in the next second.
Buzz—!
Allen's gaze darkened. The two pairs of wings on his back vibrated at a high frequency, emitting a trilling hum as his body suddenly accelerated.
Leaving an afterimage in his wake, Allen's true body instantly appeared right in front of Laffitte. His large hand grabbed Laffitte's face and ruthlessly slammed him down toward the ground!
Bang!!
With a look of sheer astonishment in his eyes, Laffitte's body plummeted uncontrollably from the sky like a white comet. He crashed into the street, blasting out a deep crater as spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground.
"Damn it...!!"
Doc Q squeezed the words through his teeth. He glared at Allen, his eyes revealing his apprehension, and hastily grabbed two more apples from his basket to throw.
The two bright red apples had barely left his hand when Allen, relying on his terrifying acceleration, flew right up to his face.
Reaching out to catch one of the apples, Allen let out a cold sneer, curled his fingers, and squeezed hard!
"Wait! Hold on, at this distance...!"
Boom!!
Before he could finish speaking, under Doc Q's terrified gaze, the apple violently exploded. The fiery blast instantly engulfed them both!
Whoosh—Bang!
Black smoke mixed with flames soared into the sky. Doc Q and his horse were blown away by the explosive shockwave, slamming into a wall before tumbling to the ground.
The man and the horse lay sprawled on the ground, completely charred. Their clothes were torn to shreds, making them look utterly pathetic.
From within the cloud of smoke, Allen's ferocious figure stepped out like a demon.
Doc Q struggled to lift his head. Looking toward the end of the street, he shouted hoarsely for help:
"Hey... Teach...! What the hell are you doing? If you don't hurry up, we're going to be killed!"
Bang!
At the end of the street, from within a collapsed, ruined house, a large hand burst out from the buried rubble. A massive amount of black mist surged from the cracks in the stones like a tidal wave.
Wherever the black mist spread, the broken walls, shattered stones, and wooden planks were continuously crushed, emitting cracking sounds. Everything seemed to be swallowed up and sunk into the darkness.
Teach's figure subsequently emerged from the ruins. Wisps of dark power clung to the surface of his body, and the black mist behind him shot into the sky like a tornado.
"That hurt like hell... you bastard...!"
Teach's face was clouded with gloom as he glared over fiercely. The wounds on his body were fading away along with the clinging black mist.
Allen narrowed his eyes, his cold gaze carrying a hint of solemnity.
"Allen!"
"Boss! Are you okay?!"
At this moment, Nami, the Nyaban Brothers, and the others hurried over, coming to a halt on either side of Allen.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"A Devil Fruit user?"
"I don't know what kind of power that is, but all we need to know is that he's an enemy."
Seeing Blackbeard's appearance across from them, Sanji and the others wore expressions of confusion mixed with gravity.
Opposite them, Teach looked at Allen's group. The anger on his face suddenly vanished, replaced by a wide, grinning laugh:
"Zehahahaha! Looks like a sneak attack is out of the question. What a shame. I thought I could take you down easily, but I didn't expect your reaction to be so surprising."
"To speak of a sneak attack so righteously... what a despicable, shameless bastard."
Nami glared at him.
Sanji's gaze sharpened as he said in a deep voice, "If you call this a challenge, your methods are far too underhanded. Just who the hell are you people?"
"Zehahahaha! Underhanded or not, as long as I achieve my goal, the methods I use don't matter at all!"
Teach laughed heartily, his palms facing upward as he continuously released black mist, boasting arrogantly:
"I don't mind telling you. My name is Marshall Teach, and our Blackbeard Pirates came here for one purpose only!"
"And that is to seize the title of Warlord of the Sea!"
As his words fell, Teach's eyes turned ruthless. A massive amount of black mist erupted from beneath his feet, surging along the ground and rapidly spreading into the streets and alleys!
"Black Hole!!"
The black mist was like a bottomless swamp. Wherever it spread, all the buildings began to sink, their foundations continuously compressed and pulverized by an invisible, mighty force!
"My home!"
"What the hell is this thing?!"
"Run!"
Countless residents screamed in panic in the streets, fleeing madly as the black mist chased them from behind.
"The captain is going on a rampage!"
"Weehahahaha! Run, run!"
Seeing this, Burgess, Doc Q, and the others nearby quickly scrambled up from the ground, laughing maniacally as they joined the crowd in fleeing.
"What in the world is this stuff?"
Watching the black mist rapidly spreading across the ground, Sanji and the others were both confused and grave. They simultaneously leaped toward high places like nearby stalls, streetlamps, and rooftops.
At this moment, a few civilians in the street had just run out of their buildings. The moment their feet touched the ground covered by the dark power, they tried to flee, but their entire bodies began to sink as if swallowed by a quagmire.
"Waaah! No!"
"Help! Somebody save me!"
"It can even swallow people?"
Seeing this, Gin couldn't help but frown, revealing a look of dread.
Robin quickly reached out toward the civilians. A new arm sprouted from her palm, and from the palm of that new arm, another one grew.
Repeating this elongation process, she soon reached the sinking civilians. The arms at the end bloomed, branching out like a tree to grab their collars.
Robin exerted force to pull them back. However, no matter how much strength she used, the speed at which the civilians were sinking didn't slow down at all, let alone allow them to break free.
"Zehahahaha! It's useless! I ate the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit! I am a darkness human!"
Teach laughed wildly, the black mist behind him soaring into the sky as he brazenly displayed his power to everyone.
"The essence of darkness is infinite gravity that can absorb, compress, and crush everything! Not even a single ray of light can escape this gravity!"
"It's no use. That power isn't something that can be resisted."
Robin's brows furrowed tightly. Although unwilling, she had no choice but to helplessly deactivate her ability.
However, right at that moment.
On the street covered by darkness, a figure abruptly flashed into existence, appearing out of thin air around the sinking civilians.
Kuma's towering figure stood amidst the black mist. He took off his glove, bent down, and plunged his arm—clad in powerful Armament Haki—directly into the black mist.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, Kuma remained expressionless. With a pull of his large hand, he yanked the half-submerged civilians right out!
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Kuma rapidly teleported through the streets and alleys, pulling out the civilians who were being swallowed one by one. With a press of the paw pads on his palms, he swatted them away, evacuating them from the scene.
"How did that guy do that?"
"Could that also be the power of a Devil Fruit?"
Sanji and the others couldn't help but marvel at Kuma's strength.
Meanwhile, both Blackbeard and Allen were left staring in shock.
They naturally knew how Kuma had done it, and it was precisely because they knew that they felt so shocked.
It had nothing to do with his Devil Fruit ability. Kuma had simply relied on his Armament Haki to briefly resist the dark power and quickly pull the people out.
Although the principle was simple, it wasn't something just anyone could do simply by knowing how.
Without a doubt, Kuma was incredibly powerful in both Haki and physical strength. Allen admitted to himself that his current self couldn't compare at all.
The Buccaneer Tribe truly lived up to being a race with Giant blood. With such an innately formidable body, it was no wonder Vegapunk coveted it.
But compared to that...
Allen stared at Teach with a burning gaze.
A special physique capable of consuming multiple Devil Fruits was obviously much more covetable to him.
As long as he could get his hands on Teach's blood, he could use his ability to analyze the unique aspects of his body structure and replicate it within himself...