The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

A cold, mocking laugh escaped from the shadows.

"Mu's power... isn't so easy to obtain."

Im's voice remained calm, yet it sent a chill down Blackbeard's spine.

Immediately afterwards, the voice suddenly turned fierce, carrying an unyielding will.

"Here, Mom, come here!!"

"Boom!!!"

The Abyss Contract mark on Blackbeard's chest emitted light!

"Ugh?!" Blackbeard let out a groan of pain, not from physical agony (the contract seemed to have suppressed that part).

Rather, it is a forceful pull from the level of the soul!

"Wait, why, why..."

Blackbeard's expression changed drastically; he realized that his body was completely out of his control!

My legs felt like they were made of lead, yet I couldn't help myself, step by step.

Stiffly, he stepped toward the shadow on the soft couch!

It was as if an invisible hand was manipulating him like a puppet through the contract mark on his chest!

He tried to struggle and activate his abilities, but the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was completely suppressed by his own consciousness!

Even Conqueror's Haki couldn't unleash its full power!

"No... wait! Lord Im!"

We...we can work together! I'm at your service!

"Sweep away the navy and revolutionary army for you!!"

For the first time, Blackbeard showed genuine panic and tried to reason with him.

Only now did he realize with absolute clarity

This power of "immortality" carries with it deadly shackles.

However, Im did not respond to his words.

The shadow remained seated.

Only the sound of Blackbeard's uncontrollable forward footsteps could be heard.

The echoes reverberated within the deathly silence of the flowers, growing ever closer, ever nearer and closer to the ultimate darkness beneath the eternal throne.

The shadow on the soft couch seemed to ripple slightly.

He had an expression that suggested he was enjoying the prey's futile struggle.

His gaze pierced through Blackbeard's powerful physique, scrutinizing every detail of this new "vessel."

Assessing its resilience, and... when the next step can be taken.

The sweet floral fragrance among the flowers seemed to grow even stronger.

The intensity was so strong that it couldn't mask the gradually spreading, chilling aura of a predator.

Chapter 721 'Occupy'

With a "thump," Blackbeard knelt heavily on the cold, smooth ground in front of the couch.

Head bowed, hands gripping the ground tightly, knuckles white from clenching, a sense of forced humiliation swirling within.

His temples were throbbing with veins, yet even raising his head was incredibly difficult.

On the soft couch, Im seemed to be "gazing" at the new container kneeling at his feet.

However, this fluctuation lasted only a moment.

"Uh...ha..."

A heavy breathing sound leaked out from the shadows.

The shadow itself began to sway erratically, and the flow of dark matter within it showed signs of disorder.

The "wounds" left by the burning of the source by the sparks, and the aftershocks of Joy Boy's Conqueror's Haki impacting the contract system, continue to erode Im's "existence".

Time is becoming both a luxury and a necessity for it.

Although Blackbeard couldn't lift his head, Im's sudden display of pain gave him a glimmer of an opportunity.

He immediately suppressed his panic and anger, and spoke urgently in the most "sincere" and "humble" tone possible.

"Lord Im! Please believe me! We can cooperate!"

I now possess the power of 'immortality,' as well as the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!

As long as you give me a chance and support, I will definitely be able to sweep away those rebels for you!

Navy? Gern? Revolutionary Army? Straw Hat Boy?

"I can solve everything for you! We can take control of everything again! We can make the world grovel at your feet once more!"

Blackbeard went on and on about his blueprint for "cooperation."

He tried to win over Im with benefits and loyalty (in disguise).

He wanted to buy himself a breather, and even fantasized about using Im's power in return.

But Im ignored his words.

The painful gasps gradually subsided.

There is no time.

There's no time to slowly train it, no time to wait for this greedy hyena to truly submit.

The threat of Spark, the shadow of Joy Boy, the military might from the outside world... everything is drawing near.

We must...immediately...take control!

"Noisy."

Two cold words were uttered from the shadows.

next second.

"Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!"

Several tentacles of dark energy suddenly emerged from the soft shadows!

"Ugh!!!"

Blackbeard had no time to react; excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body!

The tentacles pierced his limbs, torso, and even vital areas near his head, but did not immediately cause fatal injuries.

Instead, they started injecting something frantically!

"Heh...heh..." Blackbeard's pupils suddenly dilated, then quickly dilated again.

Im's will forcefully surged into his sea of ​​consciousness along the tentacles.

To extract his own thoughts, memories, ambitions...

Everything that belonged to "Marshall D. Teach" was completely washed away, covered, and devoured!

This kind of invasion from the soul level is a thousand times more terrifying than physical pain!

Blackbeard felt his consciousness was like a small boat in a storm, ready to be shattered by the dark, raging waves and sink into eternal nothingness.

Is it... over...?

And just like that... he became a puppet...

Do not……

Do not! ! !

Just as his consciousness was about to completely succumb, deep within Blackbeard's soul...

That innate, twisted yet incredibly tenacious flame of ambition

It burst forth like the final roar of a dying beast!

I will become the king of the world! I will obtain everything!

I haven't even reached the top yet! How can I die here?!

How could it become someone else's property?!

Get out!

Driven by this almost instinctive extreme fear of "losing oneself" and a fanatical obsession with "ambition"

Blackbeard's unfocused pupils suddenly managed to focus a faint glimmer of light!

The invasion was momentarily halted by the stubborn resistance originating from the depths of "David's" bloodline!

"Oh?" A hint of surprise came from the shadows.

Im sensed the fierce resistance from Blackbeard's consciousness.

Forcibly seizing it might ultimately succeed, but...

This contradicts its original intention of cultivating the "perfect container".

Time is still of the essence.

So Im thought of the method he used to control Lox back then.

Stir up emotions.

It ceased the brutal instillation of will.

The malicious voice resounded directly into the depths of Blackbeard's already collapsing consciousness.

"Struggle? Rebel? Marshall D. Teach...or rather, Lox D. Teach?"

The name, like a thunderclap, exploded in Blackbeard's chaotic mind!

"Where do you think your 'ambition' comes from? Do you think your innate greed for power and domination is just a coincidence?"

Im's voice, like the most insidious hypnosis, forcibly projected a bloody and terrifying image, buried by time, into Blackbeard's mind:

Valley of the Gods, the burning village.

A tall, demonic-looking man (Lox D. Giebeck) with ominous dark flames burning in his eyes.

With a twisted, maniacal laugh on his face, he was wielding a sharp blade and frantically chasing after a frail woman (Blackbeard's mother) who was desperately fleeing with a child in her arms.

The man let out an inhuman roar, as if he had completely lost his mind and was being controlled by some deeper darkness.

The terror and despair on the woman's face, the baby's (young black-bearded) cries in its swaddling clothes... and that man, that face...

"Look closely... back in God Valley, it was the one who manipulated your father, Rocks D. Gibbek."

Like hunting prey, who is hunting you and your child...?

Im's voice, like a devil's whisper, revealed the final truth.

boom!!!

Blackbeard's mind went blank, followed by a deluge of fragmented memories!

Those childhood nightmares he buried deep in his heart, those he didn't want to touch.

The mother trembled with fear at night, her memory of the crazed and unfamiliar face of her "father" blurred.

There's also that deep-seated fear and anger about being "betrayed" and "controlled"...

So it was you!

Was it you who orchestrated everything behind the scenes?! Was it you who drove my bastard father insane?! You're the one who ruined us...!!!

Rage! Pure, undisguised rage stemming from blood and childhood trauma.

It instantly shattered Blackbeard's last line of rationality!

The fear of Im and the resistance to losing oneself were completely replaced by overwhelming hatred and resentment at this moment!