Chapter 47: Clash of Flames and Darkness

Suddenly, the dark matter surged behind Teach, its force even greater than before. Seeing this, Ace did not hesitate; flames gathered beneath his feet in a whirling vortex.

“Buffon, move quickly!” Ace shouted.

Buffon was positioned right between the two. Seeing their techniques, Buffon—ever the expert—didn’t need Ace to name it: this was “Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!”

Buffon sighed lightly. “Are these two out of their minds?”

This was a ship, not land, and the two were unleashing their most powerful attacks. Moria’s vessel could not possibly withstand such force.

Both of them couldn’t swim; this was a reckless disregard for their own lives.

Ace’s hands formed a massive fireball dozens of meters tall, and the dark matter behind Teach was just as formidable.

“Buffon, get out of the way!” Ace repeated, more anxious.

Teach paid no heed; he guided the dark matter toward Ace, launching his attack.

He reasoned that if Ace also attacked, the collision of their powers might defeat this mysterious strongman. If Ace didn’t, he’d make his move and then leave.

Ace, seeing Teach’s attack, could no longer hesitate. He raised his fireball and advanced to meet him.

Saul, back aboard the Juventus, saw Buffon about to be caught in the crossfire and prepared to leap over. But Moria stopped him. “Trust him!”

Dark matter and Ace’s fireball collided, trapping Buffon in the center.

Buffon’s body was roasted by extreme heat on one side and pulled by the dark matter’s suction on the other, yet he felt little discomfort.

Armed Haki and Iron Body allowed him to withstand the forces with ease. But another idea crossed his mind. He recalled from the original movie that the Swallow-Swallow Fruit supposedly could absorb other abilities and gain their powers, though whether this was true had never been proven.

Buffon decided to experiment. He couldn’t bring himself to “devour people,” but wondered if he could absorb the energy from their abilities and perhaps combine them into something new.

At this moment, the collision between dark matter and fireball had formed a sphere dozens of meters high—one side fire, the other darkness. With Buffon at its center, unseen by anyone else, he switched to the Swallow-Swallow Fruit and began to absorb both dark matter and flames. Yet things did not go as he imagined.

After several seconds, the fruit’s ability seemed to reach its limit; he had to stop and begin the synthesis.

A moment later, he spat out a ball of black flame. It looked bizarre, exuding a terrifying aura that inspired dread.

At that moment, Ace and Teach seemed to sense something, both increasing their energy output.

The energy sphere continued to expand, and the ship beneath began to disintegrate.

Buffon realized the inevitable outcome would be an explosion, which could affect the nearby Juventus.

“It’s time to end this battle,” he thought silently. Switching to the Paw-Paw Fruit, he unleashed Bear’s Impact, using its repulsive force to pressurize the atmosphere and form a massive air block. The resulting shockwave blew apart the flames and dark matter.

With the shockwave’s power, the ship beneath their feet vanished entirely, and everyone aboard fell into the sea.

None of them could swim—Devil Fruit users or zombies alike—so falling into the ocean meant death.

Buffon withdrew his fruit’s power and swam to Ace, grabbing his exhausted body and tossing him back onto the Juventus.

Seeing Buffon unharmed, the crew erupted in cheers, but their hearts were filled with unprecedented awe. Moria’s group had never seen Buffon display such power before.

As for the force of the previous impact, they assumed it was the explosion caused by the fire and dark matter reaching critical mass.

Moria was dumbfounded, shaking his head and muttering, “That kind of power… he must be on par with a Navy Admiral by now.”

A moment later, Buffon surfaced, dragging two others—Teach and Doc Q—back to the Juventus. He called out, “Saul, come help fish out the zombies!”

Saul leapt into the water and helped Buffon retrieve the fallen zombie puppets, along with Wapol’s trio and Lafitte.

Once everyone was rescued, Buffon bound the Blackbeard crew with silk threads, stitched Teach’s wounds, and switched the Dark-Dark Fruit for the Snip-Snip Fruit.

Now, with the Swallow-Swallow Fruit, he could synthesize Wapol Alloy to make suturing needles and scalpels—the Snip-Snip Fruit was no longer essential.

After finishing these tasks, Buffon returned to the deck; Ace had yet to awaken.

Moria approached and asked, “Buffon, what have you been through this past year?” He knew Buffon likely wouldn’t answer, but curiosity compelled him.

To his surprise, Buffon replied, though his words remained as enigmatic as ever: “Just focus on being a good Warlord.”

“Gee hee hee hee hee! I think the title suits you better!” Moria said earnestly.

He now fully recognized Buffon’s strength far exceeded his own, and he didn’t believe it had increased so much in just one year. Buffon must have concealed his power before!

But since Buffon had stayed aboard the Thriller Bark for so many years, it meant he regarded Moria as a trusted companion, so the title of Warlord seemed more fitting for Buffon.

After all, the rank was merely a shield to secretly grow stronger.

Buffon shook his head and continued, “Leave the Blackbeard crew—except for Teach—to the Navy. It’ll help reinforce your status as a Warlord.”

Moria nodded, then said, “Hurry and deal with this wound for me. This green glow feels extremely uncomfortable.”

Buffon agreed, led Moria into the lab, and knocked him out with a karate chop to the surgical table. He switched to the Swallow-Swallow Fruit and swallowed the green glow, then instantly spat it out again.

Even Buffon found this operation revolting, vowing never to let anyone witness such a scene.

As he removed stitches and re-stitched Moria’s wound, Buffon noticed the green glow had a corrosive effect on his suturing threads.

“So Doc Q really is an ability user! And his fruit’s power is extraordinary,” Buffon mused as he finished stitching.

Just then, sounds of fighting came from outside the lab, followed by Saul’s voice: “Captain Buffon, hurry! Blackbeard has escaped!”

Buffon’s brow furrowed. He rushed to the cabin where the Blackbeard crew was held, only to find a gaping hole. Teach, Doc Q, and Wapol’s trio were gone!

Buffon darted to the hole, seeing Doc Q and Teach already on their “raft.”

The rope connecting the two ships had been severed, and Doc Q’s mount, “Strong Strong,” was leisurely swimming toward the raft with Wapol’s trio on its back.

“No matter how carefully I planned, I overlooked this damned horse!” Buffon cursed inwardly, leaping into the sea to pursue them.

Teach threw a figure in the opposite direction of the raft’s course.

Buffon focused his gaze—it was Perona!

He dove after her, using his Fishman strength to maximize his underwater speed.

Buffon surfaced, holding the unconscious Perona in his arms, but Teach’s raft had already vanished from sight.

Looking at the barely breathing Perona and the two gaping, green-glowing wounds on her body, Buffon suppressed the urge to continue his pursuit and returned to the Juventus.

He glanced at Saul’s own green-glowing wounds, cursing Doc Q’s name a thousand times in his heart.

Buffon, carrying Perona, called Saul and headed toward his laboratory.