Uchiha's personal opinion

"It's the other way around!"

Sachi, who was originally quite pleased with himself, almost fainted from anger when he saw this situation.

You have to understand that the Whitebeard Pirates' biggest and only crime was killing their own crewmates! Such a heinous act of fighting in public almost wiped out all of his achievements!

Immediately, Sachi leaped to his feet, swiftly reaching the transport ship. In a few quick movements, he knocked down his fighting subordinates, shouting angrily, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

"And who did this? Find them and kill them!"

At this point, Sachi still thought that one of the Navy prisoners possessed a power similar to a hypnotic fruit, which had bewitched his subordinates.

"team leader……"

A wounded pirate timidly pointed to a box in the middle of the group and said, "This is what caused it..."

"What the hell!"

Sachi walked over with a frown, and kicked several of his resentful subordinates, sending them tumbling over.

However, when he bent down to pick up the box and opened it, he was immediately taken aback.

"It's actually..."

Sachi's eyelids twitched, and he finally understood why his subordinates had disregarded the ban and brazenly drawn their swords against him.

The box contained a Devil Fruit, and thoughtfully, an instruction label was affixed to the inner layer—

"...Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit!"

Even Sachi was momentarily stunned and lost in thought.

As we all know, Logia-type Devil Fruits are the strongest of the three types! And the Dark-Dark Fruit possesses the most ferocious absorption ability among all known Devil Fruit types. Apart from the inability to transform into an element, the Dark-Dark Fruit has no other weaknesses!

Therefore, this Devil Fruit is undoubtedly a most precious treasure that can support a pirate to become an unparalleled powerhouse!

"I don't want this to get out..."

Sachi hesitated for a moment, then closed the box containing the Devil Fruit, looking solemnly at his greedy subordinates.

Although his subordinates were still somewhat resentful, since the Devil Fruit had already fallen into the captain's hands, they had no choice but to give up the fight.

But deep down, he was still somewhat dissatisfied.

In their view, this should be their spoils of war, and should become a powerful support for them to climb to the top of the world!

However, after being defeated by Captain Thatch, the reality of their strength brought them to their senses, and they began to remember the Whitebeard Pirates' absolute taboo. So, while they were dissatisfied, they also felt a little uneasy.

Sachi didn't say anything more. After briefly explaining the aftermath of the naval prisoners, he leaped back onto his flagship.

Meanwhile, the pirate subordinates who had chosen to turn their swords against their comrades began anxiously cleaning up the mess.

Sachi understood the psychology of his subordinates who were fighting amongst themselves, but he did not intend to explain it. After all, his subordinates' behavior had violated the absolute taboo of the Whitebeard Pirates, and such behavior was absolutely unforgivable to 'Old Man'.

Although Thatch also coveted this rare Logia-type Devil Fruit, he did not intend to keep it for himself. Instead, he planned to offer it to Whitebeard and ask 'Old Man' to forgive his subordinates' reckless behavior.

He even had his excuse ready—

"Everyone makes mistakes, but they've acknowledged and corrected them! So they're still good pirates!"

……

On the return journey, in order to keep the secret, Thatch only told his friend Ace about the Devil Fruit he had captured, asking Ace to bring men to meet him and to say a few good words for his subordinates when he met Whitebeard to "present the treasure".

Ace readily agreed.

But the pirate crew members, who were struggling to row and follow in the cargo ship's hold, were secretly making plans.

They all agreed that going back this time would mean certain death.

After all, given Whitebeard's past practices, he had never spared any of his pirate subordinates who violated taboos, so they had absolutely no chance of escaping punishment—especially since they were unaware of Captain Thatch's plan to offer up a Devil Fruit in exchange for the boss's leniency.

Therefore, while rowing to atone for their sins, these pirate subordinates, after a semi-public conspiracy, reached a consensus to defect.

So the question is—how to escape? And where to escape to?

Do you guys have any Den Den Mushi (snail phone dens)?

Suddenly, a pirate who had recently joined Thatch's crew whispered, "As far as I know, Marshall D. Teach of the Second Division has always been obsessed with obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit..."

"What can that guy do?"

Another pirate frowned and said, "He's just a vulgar and rude guy under that brat Ace..."

"No!"

The rookie pirate immediately said, "As far as I know, he has been hiding his strength all along, and he is definitely not an ordinary, crude fellow!"

"His dream is to become the master of the world!"

"I dream of becoming one of the Four Emperors!"

The other pirates were immediately amused.

"As long as you tell him about the Dark-Dark Fruit, he will definitely take action!"

The rookie pirate ignored his companions' mockery and continued, "I was recommended to join the Whitebeard Pirates by his subordinate Laffitte, so I know very well about Lord Marshall's situation; as long as we can contact him, we'll be saved!"

"..."

The pirates exchanged glances, slowing their rowing. No one said anything more, except one of them silently pulled out a Den Den Mushi and handed it over.

The rookie pirate immediately dialed and contacted the other party using code words.

"Life and death are left to fate..."

After reporting the situation, the rookie pirate calmly returned the Den Den Mushi and continued to focus on paddling.

……

"Captain Sachi!"

Not long after, Thatch encountered a patrol boat at sea, also from the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, with Marshall D. Teach of the Second Division standing at the bow.

Why did you come here?

Sachi found it a little strange but didn't think much of it, because Marshall D. Teach was one of his friend Ace's subordinates.

"I'm out on patrol under orders!"

Marshall D. Teach leaped onto Satch's ship, still tearing into a piece of roasted meat in his hand: "Boss Ace told me to get out and about, otherwise I'd be bored to death staying cooped up in the harbor!"

"Is that so..."

Sachi raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further questions.

"By the way, would you like some barbecue?"

Marshall D. Teach waved the drool-covered roast meat in his hand and asked.

"no need……"

Sachi forced a smile, his lips twitching, while instinctively clutching the box in his arms.

"Huh! What's this ship...?"

Suddenly, Marshall D. Teach pointed in great surprise at the naval transport ship behind his flagship and shouted loudly.

"It's nothing..."

Sachi gave a perfunctory reply.

"Should I go back to patrol?"

Marshall D. Teach nodded and said something seemingly casually.

"Um……"

Sachi did not respond, but stared straight ahead at the sea.

Marshall D. Teach turned around following his gaze and was immediately startled!

Several pirate ships suddenly appeared on the sea. Judging from the appearance of the ships and their flags, the newcomers were none other than Portgas D. Ace, the nominal boss of Marshall D. Teach, also known as "Fire Fist"!

"If you're not busy, let's go back together."

Sachi breathed a sigh of relief, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Okay, okay~"

Marshall D. Teach nodded repeatedly, but his heart was completely tense—he was not on a so-called patrol mission, nor had he received any orders from Boss Ace. He came here because he had received news about the Dark-Dark Fruit from Lafayette's spies!

In his view, Ace's arrival would inevitably take away his Devil Fruit—yes, in Marshall D. Teach's eyes, this Devil Fruit was already his!

"Don't blame me, it's all Ace's fault..."

Marshall D. Teach, who was looking around and seemingly unintentionally walked up behind Satch, gritted his teeth and suddenly drew his knife and stabbed Satch in the back!

"Bah..."

Sachi felt a sharp pain in his chest, and all his strength vanished instantly!

He looked down with difficulty and discovered a blade protruding from his left chest, near his heart, and the blade was slowly rotating!

"Don't blame me, blame yourself for stealing my Devil Fruit..."

Satchi heard Marshall D. Teach's devilish whispers in his ears, but before he could react, all his consciousness plummeted into the abyss.

"Sachi!"

As Ace approached, he noticed what was happening on Thatch's flagship and immediately leaped into the air, charging towards Marshall D. Teach!

"It's all your fault!"

Marshall D. Teach caught the wooden box from Satch's arms, glanced at it, and then immediately jumped back into the sea, saying, "If you hadn't shown up, all of this could have been avoided!"

"It's all your fault! Ace! You're the one who killed Sachi!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Marshall D. Teach fell into the sea and disappeared without a trace. As for the subordinates who came with the ship, they were nothing more than punching bags or sacrifices for Ace!

……

Inside the operations command center of the Navy's G1 branch, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood up with a sigh of relief after hearing the exclamation coming from the eavesdropping Den Den Mushi.

"Let's get ready according to the plan!"

After saying this, Zhan Guo walked out.

All of this, from the transport ship to the Dark-Dark Fruit, and even that 'pirate rookie' who was a spy under Dafit, was just one link in a trap he set to dismantle the most powerful Whitebeard Pirates!