Chapter 46: Everyone in the D Clan Is Out of Their Minds (Please Vote, Please Recommend)

As Baggio drew nearer step by step, Teach summoned every ounce of his strength, gradually absorbing all the masts, rigging, and other debris from Moria’s ship into the dark matter. In the end, Baggio was not spared; it was as though he had sunk into a swamp, unable to extricate himself.

Witnessing this, the expressions on both Ace and Moria’s faces grew grim. Burgess, engaged in combat with Saul, looked back and burst out laughing, “Hahaha! You’ll soon be swallowed by despair!”

Saul seized the opening, his massive fist cloaked in Armament Haki, and knocked Burgess out cold. Now, only Teach remained, the last commander of the Blackbeard Pirates.

Teach pressed one hand to the ground, and the area covered by the dark matter contracted rapidly until, when it shrank to his feet, it vanished altogether.

“The power of dark gravity is to compress matter infinitely until it is destroyed!”

Teach raised his fists toward the sky and shouted, “Release!”

A vortex of darkness reappeared behind him, disgorging everything it had previously devoured—though now, all of it was shattered debris.

Except for Baggio, who alone remained unscathed.

There he stood on the deck, exactly as he had been before being drawn in. Glancing down at his body, still coated in Armament Haki, he remarked seriously, “So this is darkness? It’s not so impressive after all.”

At these words, Teach was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor. Even though he’d half expected this outcome, he couldn’t believe Baggio had emerged without a single scratch.

Buffon watched as Baggio strode calmly toward Teach, shaking his head and sighing inwardly, “He’s really showing off now—truly invincible!”

And as for Teach, why bother with all these tricks instead of attacking directly? Hadn’t he heard the saying, ‘The higher you climb, the harder you fall’?

Ace, too, felt conflicted. It was his first time witnessing Teach’s terrifying power, and he couldn’t help but compare himself; it seemed they were evenly matched. Yet Baggio was unnaturally strong—a zombie who’d done nothing on Drum Island, yet now possessed such a formidable physique. If Ace himself were drawn into that dark matter, he wasn’t certain he could escape unharmed.

With this in mind, he glanced back at Buffon, not far behind him. Baggio was, after all, this man’s masterpiece.

“Buffon, you really are a man of unfathomable depth. No wonder, when the old man invited you aboard, you refused without hesitation,” Ace said with a smile.

Buffon simply shook his head, gesturing toward Teach to indicate Ace should keep watching.

Moria, meanwhile, was utterly astounded. Apart from Buffon, he alone knew all of Baggio's secrets.

He knew that, without Buffon’s handiwork, this corpse could never have reached such heights. If left to that hack Hogback, resisting Teach’s dark matter would be out of the question; at best, he’d have been able to fight Orka to a standstill.

“Perona, with Buffon around, you’ll never be bullied again in your life,” Moria suddenly said to Perona beside him.

“Whoa! Whoa! Moria, is Buffon really stronger than you now?” Perona asked with her wide, pupil-less eyes.

Moria nodded gravely. “How much stronger, I don’t even know.”

Baggio continued to close in on Teach. Extending his right hand, Ryoma, who’d been watching from the sidelines, lifted the sword Autumn Water from his waist and handed it to Baggio.

Drawing the sword with his left hand, Baggio tossed the scabbard back to Ryoma.

Teach noticed this detail. He distinctly remembered Baggio wielding his sword in his right hand when toying with Orka earlier.

Could it be...?

Baggio touched the sword’s tip to the deck and dashed toward Teach, the blade scraping up splinters as he advanced. In a flash, he leaped before Teach and slashed upward, landing behind him as he murmured, “Dragon’s Flash.”

This move was not originally part of Shiryu’s repertoire; it was something he had learned from Buffon during their bouts over the past year.

A massive wound appeared on Teach’s exposed chest, blood spraying like a fountain. Had it been an ordinary person, they would have been cleaved in two.

Teach collapsed, howling in pain as he rolled on the ground, clutching his wound.

Buffon, who understood well, knew that this monster Teach always made a comeback after taking a beating. The doubled pain he suffered each time might be precisely what drove him to crave strength.

Moreover, the sole weakness of the Dark-Dark Fruit was that it could not render the body intangible; it could only absorb damage, but that damage would cause Teach double the pain.

Before anyone else could react, Teach staggered to his feet, blood still gushing from his wound, sweat pouring from his face in beads larger than broad beans.

“Ze ha ha ha! The pain I endure is beyond your comprehension. That’s why I am destined to surpass you all!”

With that, Teach extended one hand once more. His palm turned black, and eight streams of dark matter formed a vortex, surging toward Baggio.

“Dark Water!” Teach uttered, and the vortex drew Baggio toward him.

Soon, Baggio was under Teach’s control, but the black water in Baggio’s hand struck Teach’s body again.

The moment Teach’s hand touched Baggio’s left arm, a familiar sensation washed over him, making him momentarily forget his agony. At that instant, Teach was almost certain—the owner of this severed arm was the red-haired man he’d once fought years ago.

Now, Teach sensed a real threat from Baggio. If he were a living man, perhaps Teach would not have minded, but this was a monster who could not bleed or feel pain.

Compared to his own body, which felt pain doubly, this...

Behind him, the dark matter surged forth again, even more intensely than before.

Buffon, recognizing the scene, was reminded of the famous battle between Ace and Blackbeard in the original story. Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit was truly sinister; Buffon had no desire to risk losing Baggio.

With this thought, Buffon sprang into action, appearing behind Teach in a flash. Reaching out his right hand, he plunged it through the darkness and grabbed Teach by the nape, hurling him away.

Teach, who had never seen Buffon fight, was utterly stunned. A frontal assault he might have withstood, but to be grabbed and thrown through his own darkness—this was the power of an admiral! And yet, this was someone under Moria’s command?

Coughing up blood, Teach grinned, “Ze ha ha ha! Who would have thought such talent would serve under Moria? How about joining me instead?”

Hearing this, Buffon could only shake his head at these so-called D’s and their delusions, especially Teach’s.

Did he not see the situation he was in?

Buffon shook his head and said to Baggio, “Return to the ship.”

At this, Ace spoke up, “Buffon, this is between us—let us handle it ourselves.”

Before Buffon could reply, Teach laughed again, “Ze ha ha ha! Ace—fire and darkness, only one can prevail. Prepare to die in the dark!”