62

"Spare me! I can be your subordinate...!"

Enduring the pain, Blackbeard softened when he saw Elior approaching. If fighting wasn't an option, then begging for his life came first.

As for submitting to Elior? That was obviously just lip service. For someone like Blackbeard, that was impossible. It was the same as when he kneeled to Whitebeard during the war — just an act.

But would Elior, someone who knows the original story inside out, really fall for that?

"Blackbeard... A man's dreams... will never die, right?"

"A man's dreams... will never die!"

Instinctively, Blackbeard responded to Elior's question. He'd uttered this line countless times before.

Yes. His dream would never end!

But in that very moment, Elior pressed his palm against Blackbeard's chest — right where his heart was — and shhk! A sharp ice spike shot out, piercing straight through his heart.

Blackbeard's eyes widened. As endless pain surged through his body, he felt his life draining away. Desperately, he raised his right hand, trying to grab Elior for one last counterattack... but in the end, his strength faded, and he collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"Go chase your dreams in hell. Because your dream... conflicted with mine."

At last, Blackbeard's struggles ceased. Even in death, his face remained twisted with pain... and bitter, bitter unwillingness. 

....

[Ding! Check-in available. Would you like to check in?]

"Check in."

Elior was already familiar with that mechanical voice, even if it always caught him a bit off guard.

It seemed killing Blackbeard triggered the check-in condition. Elior had noticed that whenever an important figure from the original story appeared, the system would often trigger—just like it did with Shanks back then... and now Blackbeard.

"What would happen when I show up at Marineford then...?"

...

[Check-in successful. Reward:

Imagine Breaker [ Ability of Kamijou Touma]

"Imagine Breaker?! That's... that's the ability that can nullify any supernatural power, right?"

Elior's lips curled into a grin of surprise.

Imagine Breaker... The power from A Certain Magical Index, belonging to Touma. It could erase any supernatural ability — whether magic, esper powers, or otherwise. In some ways, it was similar to Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit "Black Vortex" but vastly superior. It wasn't an offensive ability, but as a support-type, it was ridiculously powerful.

...

[Please choose whether to bind Imagine Breaker to your right hand or left hand]

"My right—wait. No... Left hand."

Elior reconsidered. Since he often wielded a sword with his right hand—being at the level of a top-class swordsman — it made more sense to keep his sword arm free. Imagine Breaker could stay on the left hand.

...

Meanwhile, Bullet and Shiryu quickly cleaned up the rest of Blackbeard's crew. With monsters like them on the field, guys like Burgess and the others were utterly crushed. It wasn't even a fight — they weren't on the same level.

"So... the man who claimed he would succeed Whitebeard died just like that? Honestly... pretty pathetic."

Crocodile scoffed, shaking his head in disdain.

Urouge chimed in, kissing ass as usual, "Well, I mean... he was fighting the Captain after all!"

At that moment, Elior turned around and said, "Law... cut open Blackbeard's chest. Let's see how many hearts this bastard has."

"How many hearts?" Law blinked, stunned. "You... You're joking, right?"

Everyone was caught off guard. In this world, whether human, animal, fishman, or merfolk, there was no question—every living thing only had one heart. What the hell did Elior mean?

Still, as a doctor obsessed with dissection, Law was the most intrigued—and confused.

"I'm serious" Elior said. "I suspect Blackbeard had at least two hearts. Let's dissect him and see."

Law didn't hesitate any longer. He flicked his left index finger, activating Room. Inside the surgical sphere, he cut open Blackbeard's chest with surgical precision—without even spilling blood.

If Blackbeard's spirit were still lingering... watching his corpse be cut open like this... it would probably die a second time from sheer humiliation.

"Huh...? What... What the hell...?"

Law's eyes widened in pure shock.

The others leaned in to look—and one by one, their jaws dropped.

Blackbeard... had three hearts.

Yes. Three.

"I've dissected hundreds... no, probably close to a thousand bodies" Law muttered, voice trembling. "I never imagined... I'd ever see someone with three damn hearts."

Shiryu exhaled, "Even for this world... that's insane."

Bullet crossed his arms. "Freak of nature."

Crocodile sneered, "A literal monster."

Elior nodded. "Exactly. This is why... even after eating the Dark-Dark Fruit, he still wanted the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He's not like normal people. A normal human body can only handle one Devil Fruit. But Blackbeard? His abnormal physiology... allows him to hold two—no, probably three Devil Fruits."

"Three?!" Everyone echoed in unison, completely floored.

Elior explained, "Think about it. One heart equals one body. Three hearts... essentially means three bodies merged into one. That's why he can withstand the power of three Devil Fruits—the strongest from each class: Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan. His plan was to become the ultimate existence."

"Crazy bastard..." Shiryu muttered.

"But it doesn't matter anymore" Elior added coldly. "His life... has already come to an end."

In the original story, whether Blackbeard ever intended to steal Kaido's power was left ambiguous... but now, that future was dead.

Devil Fruit powers are tied to the heart...

Elior recalled a scene from the original—when Law swapped Smoker's and Tashigi's hearts, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's power followed the heart into Tashigi's body. Another example was Big Mom consuming Mother Carmel... and inheriting the Soul-Soul Fruit.

It was always about the heart.

Today, Elior felt like he'd uncovered a major secret about the Devil Fruits. Not that it mattered to him personally—he had no need to eat one.

Bullet laughed. "But even knowing this... most people wouldn't dare. Even if you told some random guy, 'Hey, your body's special. You can handle two Devil Fruits,' he'd probably be too scared to try. Blackbeard... that man was insane. If Captain hadn't stopped him, he really might've taken the Tremor-Tremor Fruit."

Everyone nodded. If Elior said it, they believed it. After all... everything else he predicted had already happened.

Elior was a man shrouded in mystery—someone who seemed to know the future itself.

"By the way... Captain..." Shiryu spoke up. "Do you know how exactly one steals a Devil Fruit power?"

Everyone turned, eager for the answer.

Elior shook his head. "It's probably a special ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit. There's another theory—that if an ability user dies with a pile of fruit nearby, the Devil Fruit power transfers into one of them. But honestly... I doubt that. Think about it. Impel Down was filled with Devil Fruit users. The World Government could've slaughtered them all and stockpiled fruits if it was that easy. Clearly, that method doesn't hold up."

The crew thought about it... and realized he was right. The World Government may be corrupt—but they weren't stupid.

"Oh yeah, Captain... should I stitch his corpse back together?" Law asked casually.

"Stitch it...?" Elior blinked... then smirked coldly. "Nah. No chance in hell."

Poor Blackbeard. Not only did he die unwillingly... but even his corpse was treated like garbage.