I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Sigmund took a step toward Blackbeard and the others, his body enveloped in flowing black flames.

He took a step forward, while Burgess and the others behind Blackbeard instinctively took a half step back, cold sweat appearing on their foreheads as they considered retreating.

"Stop, Captain," the devilish sheriff Lafitt couldn't help but urge.

"Sigurd just defeated the Navy's Fleet Admiral; he's very strong..."

Blackbeard's expression shifted between light and dark as his gaze swept over the black flames engulfing Sigurd's body before finally hardening.

"It's too late to say all this now."

"Retreat? If you retreat every time you encounter a powerful enemy, you'll never have a chance to turn things around!"

"Besides, if we back down this time..." Blackbeard glanced at the makeshift operating room made of white cloth behind Sigurd and gritted his teeth.

"Even if we retreat to the ends of the earth, there will be nowhere safe!"

"Attack together! Burgess... all of you, go and attack Whitebeard's operating room!"

Blackbeard, on the contrary, became more determined at this moment.

Throughout his life, he always played the role of a dutiful son on Whitebeard's ship, and spent his entire life looking up at Whitebeard's back.

Now, even Whitebeard, known as the strongest man in the world, is seriously injured and on the verge of death under their siege. What can Siguru do if he comes?

He grinned maliciously, spread his arms, and darkness erupted from his body:

"Sig, the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit looks familiar to you, doesn't it?"

"This is the power of Rocks, the former ruler of the seas!"

"Whitebeard and Shiki were just Rocks' subordinates back then, and although you were the first mate, you were also defeated by the power of Rocks' Dark-Dark Fruit!"

Blackbeard was shouting, but he didn't seem very confident and was just trying to convince himself.

Sig didn't even look at him. A black fireball the size of a house burst from his hand, hurtling towards Akainu to the side. It collided with Akainu's lava fist and vanished into nothingness.

Akainu stared grimly at the black wall of fire formed by the fireballs gathering in front of him, which blocked his path.

“Troublesome ability…” Lava dripped from his fist onto the ground. He was about to force his way out when he heard a deafening roar from the sky.

Looking up, the sky island had been completely torn apart by the two forces in the battle between Shiki and Fujitora.

Fujitora was clearly at a disadvantage. The rocky sky island was torn apart in mid-air and shattered into countless large and small rock fragments that fell from the sky. The largest of these fragments was the size of a small mountain and crashed down onto the Marine Headquarters fortress.

"Golden Lion... Damn it, he had to mess things up at a time like this!"

Akainu's face darkened further. He leaped up, his right fist transforming into lava that rapidly expanded and shot straight into the sky.

"A massive fireball!"

The oppressive heat distorted the air high in the sky. Akainu's magma fist pulverized and vaporized a small mountain in the air, but many more rocks of various sizes fell like raindrops.

.....

"You mean Rocks' Dark-Dark Fruit ability?" Sig looked coldly at Blackbeard in front of him, his face expressionless.

"That's terrifying."

The pitch-black flames divide the ability into four stages, with the energy consumption rate increasing sequentially.

The second stage of the jet-black flames possesses the property of energy annihilation, and can attack elemental Logia-type Devil Fruit users such as Kizaru.

But Blackbeard is an anomaly. His Dark-Dark Fruit is a Logia-type Devil Fruit, but he cannot transform into an element.

The fourth stage of the jet-black flames has the characteristic that it exists only if you believe in it, and does not exist if you don't. As long as Blackbeard believes that Higuma's flames are powerful, they can harm his body, but this is accompanied by a high-speed consumption of chuunibyou energy... If the mental world is opened, the consumption of chuunibyou energy will be even higher.

If it's just to defend against the Dark-Dark Fruit's attacks, stages two and three will suffice. But to inflict damage on his body, stage four must be activated. Sigurd has experience with this.

"Mahaksha!"

A dense darkness spread from Blackbeard's entire body to the ground beneath his feet, as if forming a pitch-black abyss. Blackbeard had also heard that Whitebeard was undergoing surgery, and knowing that success or failure hinged on this moment, he attacked without holding back.

The darkness seemed to coalesce into a pitch-black sun rising slowly, the wind and clouds changed color, all the light was absorbed, and the sky became as dark as night.

An invisible, twisting force erupted with the darkness, tearing the ground and glaciers into deep ravines. In the distance, waves roared, and the dark sun sank toward Sieg and the operating room behind him.

As the dark sun swallowed up Sigurd's figure, Blackbeard's entire crew charged forward, preparing to take the opportunity to attack Whitebeard.

At the same time, a raging black flame erupted from Sig's body. This black flame collided with and annihilated each other with the dense darkness created by the Dark-Dark Fruit. Everything was black, and the boundary between the two powers began to blur, appearing as one in appearance.

In the sky, the golden lion squinted at the two balls of darkness erupting beneath its feet, then suddenly paused, frowning.

In the pitch-black darkness, Blackbeard had already strode up to Sieg, and the two struck out with their palms almost simultaneously.

"Dark water!"

He struck at Sigurd with a palm strike, and a burst of darkness erupted from his hand, creating a suction force. "Dark Water" is a technique that can only be used at close range and has a short range, but it can temporarily steal an enemy's Devil Fruit ability.

Under the eruption of the dark water, the pitch-black flames on Sig's body were absorbed and dissipated at an astonishing speed.

"Hahaha... The Dark-Dark Fruit's power is the strongest! Now I am the nemesis of all Devil Fruit users!"

Seeing that his abilities were taking effect, Blackbeard's confidence soared, and he laughed loudly:

"No matter what kind of ability you have, or even multiple abilities, you are nothing in front of me!"

Pulled by the dark water, the black flames swirling around Sig's body seemed to be completely devoured.

At this moment, Sigurd's right palm was no longer enveloped in black flames. As if drawn by the gravity of the dark water, his palm was pulled toward Blackbeard's right hand.

Slap it.

Sig's right hand slammed directly onto Blackbeard's dark palm, gripping his hand tightly.

Blackbeard's maniacal laughter abruptly stopped.

The black smoke swirling on his dark palm faded away at a visible speed, and his palm returned to its normal skin color.

His Devil Fruit ability failed him. The moment Sigurd grabbed his hand, he was completely unable to use even a trace of the Dark-Dark Fruit's power!

Blackbeard was suddenly filled with immense fear.

The Dark-Dark Fruit, the bane of all Devil Fruit users, had its power stolen when he used Dark Water?

This is impossible!

Before Blackbeard could recover from his shock, Sig grabbed his wrist tightly with his right hand, while his left arm suddenly swelled several times its normal size, the bulging muscles of his left arm now thicker than a normal person's thigh.

“What a filial son! Well then, I’ll discipline you on behalf of Whitebeard,” Sig said in a deep voice.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amidst the roar of the Emperor's engine, his swollen left hand formed a palm, and the fourth stage of pitch-black flames once again swirled around it. This slap brought a whistling sound and struck Blackbeard's cheek hard!

Snapped!

With a single slap, the immense force sent Blackbeard flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the ice and creating a spiderweb-like crack.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, the blood mixed with his front teeth, the heavy blow to his face causing him to feel dizzy for a moment, leaving him stunned.

The remaining black flames entangled on Blackbeard's body burned his skin, scorching his chest and face, causing blood to evaporate and wounds to almost expose bone.

His injuries only improved slightly after he activated the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit again, causing darkness and black flames to annihilate each other.

His mouth was full of blood, and the thick chest hair on his chest had been burned off.

He stumbled and swayed as he stood up from the ground.

"No...impossible!" Blackbeard's mouth was full of the taste of blood. He stared wide-eyed at Sig, as if struck by lightning.

The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit caused him to experience double the pain.

If such a heavy blow were to happen under normal circumstances, Blackbeard would definitely be writhing on the ground in excruciating pain.

But now.

The immense psychological shock he experienced far outweighed the physical pain, and for a moment he even forgot about his injuries.

"What kind of Devil Fruit user is this? My Dark-Dark Fruit was Rocks's power back then, it should be the nemesis of all Devil Fruit users!"

"Why can you still use your abilities, and even temporarily take them from me?"

"It's just like... just like another Dark Fruit!"

Blackbeard was deeply shaken. The Dark-Dark Fruit was the ability he had longed for his entire life, and it had almost become his spiritual pillar.

So what he was seeing made him question the meaning of life.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Black flames rekindled around Sieg’s hands as he stepped forward to continue his attack, going along with Blackbeard’s words:

"Your Dark-Dark Fruit is female, and mine is male. It makes perfect sense that a female fruit won't work when it comes to a male fruit."

As he spoke, the fourth stage of pitch-black flames erupted once more, taking advantage of Blackbeard's wavering mind to surge forth again and engulf him.

"No...no! How could two Devil Fruits be exactly the same? This must be a different fruit, just with similar techniques developed!"

"But... but why can't my Dark-Dark Fruit absorb your power? It doesn't make sense..."

Blackbeard grew agitated and activated the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit once more, unleashing a surge of darkness from his body. He still refused to believe in evil.

But this time the result was exactly the same.

The fourth stage of the pitch-black flames can annihilate energy, destroy the environment, and, if the enemy believes in this ability, can also cause harm to the human body.

Higuma unleashed a massive burst of four-stage black flames that completely enveloped Blackbeard, annihilating all darkness and turning him into a pitch-black fireman.

"Ouch, it hurts so much!"

Blackbeard rolled around on the ground without any regard for his image, barely managing to extinguish the black flames on his body.

But when he stood up again, Sieg paused for a moment.

Blackbeard's appearance had changed drastically. He had grown to four or five meters tall, and his limbs had turned into black arthropods. Most notably, a layer of black armor had appeared on his back, as if he were wearing a black armor.

"This... the captain is already a dual-ability user? This is a Zoan-type beastman form?" Burgess exclaimed in surprise.

Even these crew members had never seen Blackbeard in this form, and Blackbeard had never mentioned it.

But upon closer inspection, they felt a sense of absurdity.

“It looks like some kind of insect,” Lafitte whispered.

"This seems to be...this seems to be..." Lafitte looked somewhat bewildered.

"Shit...no, dung beetle?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Blackbeard suddenly shuddered, his eyes flashing with two flames of hatred as he stared intently at Sieg.