One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 287 Cursed Blood
"I am going to my death."

The words that Roy had heard Lockes say in Lingling's memory now seemed to be becoming clearer to him.

He didn't know what had happened to the overlord of the sea in its final moments.

But now he is almost certain.

At the end of his life, Lox entered the Flower Garden, and there, he wielded his sword against the gods of this world.

As those who knew him knew—he did not choose to die peacefully, but instead did something that could be described as rebellious.

But the problem is...
"What exactly did he do?"

Was he just looking for Im before he died to vent his anger?
"No"

Roy quickly dismissed the speculation—if it were just for that reason, given his current understanding of Rocks' character, he wouldn't have tried to drag Whitebeard into it.

"Since he chose to involve Whitebeard and even invited Linlin and Kaido, it means he has a reason to perform this final dance."

"He must have accomplished something very important among the flowers!"

With this thought in mind, the Star Lord turned to look at the white-bearded man.

"Did he say what he was going to do at the Flower Garden?"

"Among the flowers?"

Upon hearing this, Whitebeard raised an eyebrow—he knew many secrets of this world, but he truly did not know of the existence of the Flower Realm.

"Yes, it's the divine realm of 'Imu,' the 'monster' who appeared in the Valley of the Gods!"

The Star Lord calmly revealed this news, which was enough to shake the ocean—by now, he no longer needed to hide it.

“Im.”

Whitebeard was clearly hearing this name for the first time: "That kind of monster actually has a human name?"

He said this with a smile, but then he answered Roy's question.

“He didn’t say where he was going, only that he was going to die, adding another layer of weight to the shackles of the ‘world’.”

"He told me to tell you his fate, but revealed nothing else."

"I even once thought that guy might still be alive, and after that, I observed the area around the Red Line for a while."

At this point, Whitebeard's words were almost delirious.

Yes.

Just like how Golden Lion didn't believe Roger would be captured and stormed Marine Headquarters.

People always have hope for guys like Roger and Rocks.

Even in the greatest crisis, they might still survive.

Even the most formidable enemy, he might be able to defeat.

But
"he died."

Whitebeard calmly stated this fact.

"His Devil Fruit ability has reappeared in the world—eight years ago, a pirate named Dias Barreus obtained that fruit."

The reappearance of Devil Fruits in the world signifies the death of the original users.

Only in this way can the 'wish' symbolized by that fruit return to the cycle of the world.

This is the ironclad rule of this sea.

Upon hearing this, the Star Lord remained silent.

But beneath the mask, Roy's eyes held a hint of doubt.

Diaz Barreus?
He felt like he'd heard that name somewhere before.

A moment later, he immediately realized what was happening.

Diaz Barreus—he had seen the other party in naval intelligence.

He was once a rear admiral in the navy, but he betrayed the navy by massacring civilians and trying to stop his colleagues, and eventually became a pirate.

Of course, that's not the key point.

The key point is that, if he remembers correctly, this guy is a key character in a certain part of the original story.

It was he who found the most expensive fruit in the entire world, and it was eventually eaten by Terfalgar Law, one of the supernovas of this era.

"Operation Fruit?"

Roy asked in a low voice.

"Ah."

The white-bearded man nodded calmly.

Thus, Roy finally confirmed the truth.

Was Rocks a user of the Op-Op Fruit?
"That's true."

After applying this concept, Roy immediately realized that it seemed to be true.

Judging from Skypiea, the Abyss, and the Gate of Justice in the original work, Rocks's slashes can create exaggerated cutting effects.

Coincidentally, once the user of the Op-Op Fruit activates the 'ROOM' (operating room), they can easily slice through everything inside the operating room. In the original story, after Law awakened his fruit, he could even freely slice through Seastone and Big Mom's 'Steel Balloon,' so slicing through the 'Gate of Justice' and even the entire 'Abyss' would be no problem!

In addition, users of the Op-Op Fruit can freely swap the positions of objects in the operating room, achieving an effect similar to 'teleportation'.

This also perfectly matches what Roy saw on the Abyss: Lox's exaggerated mobility.

"He is a user of the Op-Op Fruit, and he has definitely developed his ability to its limit—his 'operating room' is likely large enough to expand to a very long distance, which is why he can teleport that distance in an instant!"

Of course, these things themselves are not the key point.

What truly matters most is the result of the surgery itself.

"Queen Lily's Devil Fruit is also very likely the Op-Op Fruit, and Rocks was also a user of the Op-Op Fruit."

Roy didn't know whether this was a fateful coincidence or something that Lox had done on purpose.

But it is quite obvious.

“He said he wanted to add another layer of weight to the world’s ‘constraints’—just like Queen Lily.”

"He likely did something similar to what Queen Lily did, or at least used the same Devil Fruit ability to make the 'bindings' that queen left on Im even stronger."

Thinking of this, Roy felt a strange sense of emotion.

Davy Jones perished in the mist, Joy Boy died on the final island, Queen Lily left behind a cenotaph, and Rocks drank his own farewell wine.

Generation after generation, one hero after another has bravely faced the challenges of the high seas, ensuring that the hope of this world continues to this day.

"Thank you for letting me know."

At this moment, the Star Lord spoke calmly.

Whitebeard shook his head: "It's just a 'promise' with that guy."

As he said this, a complex emotion flashed in Whitebeard's eyes.

He could tell that the Star Lord clearly had some guesses about what he was talking about.

But just as he had told Rocks in the past, Whitebeard had no intention of asking. After fulfilling his promise to Rocks and informing Roy of his fate, he immediately changed the subject: "Besides that, I'd like to talk to you about Teach."

Roy wasn't surprised.

He had long suspected that Whitebeard would talk to him about Teach.

"You mean the fact that he's Rocks' son?"

Therefore, at this moment, the Star Lord spoke directly.

"You knew all along."

Upon hearing this, Whitebeard's expression also turned solemn.

But then he nodded, casually raised his glass and took another sip, then exhaled a breath of alcohol: "I met him at the port of the Kingdom of Lulusia—he said he wanted to become a pirate."

As Whitebeard spoke, he recalled the scene from that time.

"Please, I have nowhere else to go!"

“My mother has disappeared, and my two younger sisters have been killed—you know my bloodline, it's a forbidden bloodline. I want to carry on my father's wishes!”

"I'm determined to become a pirate no matter what, please let me join!"

Blackbeard pleaded like a grieving child who had lost all his loved ones.

But
"Now that I think about it, perhaps I was deceived."

Then, Whitebeard closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was looking at the Star Lord once more.

“Lox told me that after he survived the Valley of the Gods, he returned to the Kingdom of Lulusia. That was Alice’s hometown, and the place where Lox and she had agreed to meet.”

"That is also the 'starting point' for him to fulfill his promise to you."

When Whitebeard finished speaking, Roy was slightly taken aback, but after a moment's thought, he understood.

To this day, he is still not entirely sure what exactly happened in God Valley.

But now, he can find the starting point on the 'Rockets Operation Roadmap' in his mind.

After surviving God Valley, the great pirate first went to the Kingdom of Lulusia—a country located in the first half of the Grand Line, where his wife and children, whom he had rescued from God Valley, resided.

At the same time, Roy also realized something else.

That is it.
"Rocks may have told Alice and even Teach about the 'Star Lord'!"

This was almost inevitable—there was no reason for Rocks to hide his decision from his wife and children.

Keep in mind that even after Roy has investigated for so long...

According to his intelligence, there weren't many people who knew about the existence of the Star Lord during those thirty years—Whitebeard knew, Roger knew through Whitebeard, and Im and the World Government knew.

But now, there will likely be one more person on that list.

That was Marshall D. Teach.

And in fact
"I think it's very likely that Rocks told Teach about your situation."

At this moment, Whitebeard made a similar judgment to Roy.

Back then, Whitebeard couldn't bring himself to be ruthless towards his old friend's son.

Out of respect for Rocks, he allowed Teach to bear the name 'Whitebeard'.

Over the years, Teach has consistently acted honestly and kindly, concealing his identity as the son of Rocks.

But
“I can see he has ambition—I originally thought he might have inherited that guy Rocks’ will.”

Whitebeard spoke frankly.

On the contrary, Roy was somewhat surprised.

He originally thought that Whitebeard was completely kept in the dark by Blackbeard.

But now it seems that this is not the case at all—the well-informed Whitebeard had already seen through Teach's hidden ambition.

But he simply believed that it was the proper thing to do as the son of Lox.

Until recently.

“Teach is dead.”

Whitebeard smirked, his eyes turning icy: "He blew up the ship that was going to collect supplies and personally killed several 'family members'."

Just as mentioned before.

Everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates is like family to each other.

Even the ordinary crew members on the collection ship responsible for procuring supplies were part of Whitebeard's crew.

It wasn't until Marco brought back this news that Whitebeard realized it.

"Teach did inherit Rocks' ambition, but he was not his father!"

The white-bearded man said in a deep voice.

Just like the Rocks Pirates of the past.

Rocks had ambitions known to all, and was willing to do anything and remain anonymous to achieve them.

But that man would never betray his friends and partners, nor would he ever break a promise, even if it meant his death.

But Teach is different.

“Lox mentioned to me the curse that the David family bears.”

“Their cursed bloodline will always produce strongmen and ambitious men—because the David family is both ‘hope’ and ‘original sin’.”

“And Teach, that guy might be ‘David,’ but he’s not ‘D’!”

As Whitebeard finished speaking, Roy's eyes sharpened.

He had long known about the special nature of the David family.

However, in his conversation with Whitebeard, he gradually realized that this specialness might not be symbolic, but rather had a real special 'meaning'.

“David Jones and Im had an ‘agreement’.”

"He was the first to help Im and the last to rebel against Im—so the David family is indeed both 'hope' and 'original sin'."

And Roy now understands this perfectly.

For Im, who was once at the height of his power, Davy Jones's special significance was enough to be a source of power in itself—each of the original twenty kings received a unique 'contract' bestowed by Im, so what Davy Jones received must have been even greater!
These things, which are both power and curse, are likely hidden in David's bloodline.

Therefore, both Rocks and Teach, as David, were extremely powerful and outstanding.

But the difference is that Rocks is 'D', the 'David' who chose to rebel against the world.

Teach, however, is not 'D', but rather the original 'David' as an ambitious man.

so.
"What I want to tell you is, if you and your men encounter Teach..."

So at this moment, Whitebeard looked at the Star Lord.

"Stay alert, he's a dangerous guy."

(End of this chapter)