Capítulo 41: CHAPTER 41
Hearing that the opponents were the two with the lowest seniority in the Flying Six, Thatch relaxed a little.
But he still didn't dare to be careless. The reason was that Alastor had been offered a bounty of 330 million by the Navy for the first time. No one knew his exact strength.
Moreover, the number of opponents was several times greater than theirs. Regardless of the outcome of the fight, the Fourth Division would definitely suffer heavy losses.
As captain, Thatch had to consider this.
"Turn on the ship's engines and see if we can shake them off."
Thatch gave the order without giving the crew a chance to refute.
"This battle can't be fought if we can't win. As for Dad's face, he doesn't care about those false honors. He cares more about the lives of his sons."
With Thatch's words, the others had no choice but to obey the order, though reluctantly.
And so, the chase began.
In this vast sea, the warships of the Hundred Beasts and the pirate ships of the Whitebeard Pirates engaged in a pursuit.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the speed of the Hundred Beasts' warship was clearly faster, and the distance between the two sides was steadily shrinking.
"Fire the cannons and sink all the cowards from Whitebeard's crew into the sea!"
When the distance was within firing range, the Hundred Beasts opened fire.
The members of the Fourth Division immediately flushed with anger upon hearing the word "cowards."
Although Thatch didn't want to fight, the situation had reached a point where he couldn't avoid it. He wasn't made of clay, and he had to retaliate.
The Whitebeard Pirates fired back.
The sea battle between the Four Emperors officially began.
Both sides exchanged heavy artillery fire, the booming sounds shaking the sky.
Page One turned to one of his subordinates. "Get me a speedboat; I'm going to their ship."
After his humiliating defeat against Cracker, Page One was deeply ashamed. He wanted to redeem himself in this naval battle.
Alastor didn't stop him; after all, his goal was to find the Dark Fruit, which he could only get by boarding the Fourth Division's ship.
Page One boarded a speedboat with only a few subordinates and quickly closed the gap between the two ships.
Thatch noticed this and quickly gave orders to his crew: "Concentrate your firepower and sink that speedboat first!"
"Hmph, think you can stop me?"
Page One sneered and transformed into his human-beast form, using his tail to knock away the incoming cannonballs.
Then, with a powerful leap, he used his animal abilities to jump directly onto the Fourth Division's ship.
"Whitebeard Pirates, let me test your strength and see if you're truly worthy of being called the strongest of the Four Emperors!"
"Arrogant brat, don't be so shameless!"
Even though the Fourth Division wasn't primarily a combat division, they weren't pushovers either. Several figures rushed toward Page One with armed haki-covered swords.
"Roar!"
Page One let out a fearsome roar and charged at them, undaunted by the incoming attackers.
The battle shifted from artillery fire to hand-to-hand combat.
With Page One's interference, more and more of the Beasts Pirates boarded the Fourth Division's ship.
Thatch's face turned ashen. The disparity in strength between the two sides was overwhelming, and hand-to-hand combat was extremely unfavorable for them.
"We can't continue like this. We need to take out some key figures from the Hundred Beasts to force them to retreat!"
Thatch was ready to make his move.
Although he was only a chef and not very skilled in combat, he was far stronger than most ordinary pirates, and compared to Marco and Jozu, he could hold his own.
Thatch set his sights on Page One. As a member of the Flying Six, if he could kill or seriously injure him, it would damage the morale of the Hundred Beasts.
Although Page One was currently entangled with other members, Thatch figured he couldn't waste this opportunity.
But just as he was about to act, an intense sense of danger surged through him, causing every hair on his body to stand on end.
Thatch suddenly turned around and looked up at the sky.
A tall young man with black hair and black eyes hovered above him, holding a strange demon sword and looking down coldly.
"Do you want your funeral to be held now, or in a few days?" Alastor's voice was slow and menacing.
"This guy, when did he..."
Thatch was shocked. He had no idea when Alastor had appeared above him. The words he spoke and the sword in his hand made him feel an inexplicable sense of dread.
Thatch took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He couldn't panic now; it would only make things worse.
He fixed his gaze on Alastor and spoke coldly:
"My funeral? I may just be a cook, but I've been on these seas far longer than you. You're too confident!"
Alastor couldn't help but show a trace of pity in his eyes.
"How about we make a deal?" he suddenly asked.
"You hand over all the treasures on your ship, including the Devil Fruits, and I'll immediately order my men to retreat."
Alastor's goal was the Dark Fruit; whether or not he killed Thatch didn't matter to him. After all, this man wouldn't survive much longer anyway.
"Oh, dreaming!" Thatch sneered and refused without hesitation.
Considering the deep hatred between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Hundred Beasts, it was no surprise Thatch wouldn't cooperate. Kozuki Oden had died at Kaido's hands, and even before that, Whitebeard and Kaido had never gotten along.
"Well, that's a pity. I was hoping you'd last a few more days," Alastor sighed, his eyes suddenly cold with murderous intent.
This area wasn't far from Whitebeard's territory. Since Thatch refused to cooperate, Alastor had to act swiftly instead of wasting time with defenses.
The cursed sword instantly transformed into a black blade, and Alastor swung a crescent-shaped slash.
Thatch wielded a pair of knives that resembled kitchen knives, fitting his status as a chef. He coated them with armament haki and blocked them in front of him.
The crescent-shaped slash came at him in an instant, striking his blades.
Thatch's expression changed dramatically as the force of the attack sent him stumbling back before he could fully block it.
"What incredible strength, is this guy really that strong?!"
Although Alastor was a recent newcomer, his strength was on par with pirates who had been on the seas for over a decade.
But Thatch had no time to be shocked, as Alastor had already vanished from his position and appeared beside him.
"Ghost Sword Style, One Sword Style, Purgatory, Shura!"
Thatch's vision was filled with pink cherry blossom petals as a massive black and red sword slash seemed to tear through space.
Thatch's face drained of color, disbelief etched on his features.
He recognized that the pink cherry blossom petals must be the symbol of Ryou, and the man in front of him had actually mastered the unique skill of Kozuki Oden from back then!
In this brief exchange that lasted only a few breaths, Thatch realized he was no match for Alastor.
Although he was the captain of the Fourth Division, his position was more a result of his long tenure and early induction rather than his strength.
Otherwise, the character in the original story wouldn't have been so easily killed by Blackbeard.
"Hateful!"
Thatch gritted his teeth in frustration, but at this moment, he could only gather all his armament haki to strengthen his defense.
Boom!
A loud roar echoed.
Thatch was sent flying and crashed into the railing of the pirate ship behind him.
The impact was so forceful that it immediately caught the attention of those around him.
Seeing their captain injured, the members of the Fourth Division immediately cried out, "Captain Thatch!"
Thatch coughed up blood, a long gash across his chest with his bones faintly visible.
He was so badly wounded that he couldn't even rise to his feet.
...
"Father, it's bad! The Beast Pirates attacked Thatch and the others, and the Fourth Division is in danger!"
On the Moby Dick, a scout from the Whitebeard Pirates ran in, panicked, shouting the news.
"What?!"
Phoenix Marco, Fire Fist Ace, Diamond Jozu, Vista, and Izou all suddenly changed their expressions.
Whitebeard tore open a bottle on his body and asked in a deep voice:
"Where is the battle taking place?"
He only asked for the location of the battle, not the identity of the enemy. Clearly, Whitebeard wasn't afraid of Kaido himself.
The scouts quickly marked the location on the map.
After a brief glance, Whitebeard stood up from his recliner and gave an order that stunned everyone:
"Prepare the fastest ship, I will go rescue Thatch myself!"
Upon hearing this command, everyone exchanged glances, unsure of how to react.
Marco was the first to speak up, saying, "Father, if you need to go out personally, I'll do it."
"Yeah, Dad, we'll bring Thatch back safe and sound," Ace added.
The others quickly joined in, urging Whitebeard to stay behind.
They all knew that their father's health was declining, and sending him out on a dangerous mission wasn't the best idea.
But Whitebeard gave them a fierce look. His eyes were full of authority as he stomped his foot, and shouted:
"Do you really think of me as a dying old man? I have a white beard!"
The old man's fury silenced everyone, and they stopped protesting.
Whitebeard continued:
"I know you all want to avenge Oden, but I won't let you go. But Oden was my brother—do you think I can ignore this?!"
"No need to say more, if I don't show my power, Kaido and the rest will think they can trample all over us!"
This was the real reason Whitebeard had decided to act personally.
On one hand, he still mourned the death of Kozuki Oden and wasn't willing to let it go.
On the other hand, the Hundred Beasts Pirates had dared to attack the Fourth Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, openly disregarding his authority.
How could Whitebeard tolerate that?
In the past, on the Rocks ship, Whitebeard had been the strongest powerhouse, with Kaido merely a trainee pirate.
Even now, though old and sick, he would never allow Kaido to show him disrespect!
Edward Newgate, even in his final years, would never fear any enemy. This was Whitebeard—the strongest man in the world!
Whitebeard set off alone in a speedboat.
The captains on the Moby Dick exchanged looks of helplessness, but also concern for their father's health.
Marco comforted them, saying, "Dad is right; it's time to show them what we're made of. Otherwise, people will think the Whitebeard Pirates are easy to bully. As for Dad's health, don't worry. I'll follow him to make sure everything's okay."
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Shirokendama
Shirokendama Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
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