Chapter 1 After Obstacles

Having overcome the obstacles of the locust sand and the giant octopus, the Queen Anne's Revenge set sail once more.

Due to the complex topography of the sea around Jumo Island, the pirate ship could only proceed slowly.

About thirty minutes later, they arrived at a rocky beach that looked like a suitable landing spot.

As before, Blackbeard sent Garlic Head and his two brothers, leading a team of about ten men, ashore to scout the way.

This time, they didn't even bother with a small boat; they jumped straight from the deck of the large ship into the water, wading through it to the rocks and then onto the island.

Things went smoothly. Before long, the dozen or so men had thoroughly checked the beach and the nearby woods, finding no danger. They signaled to the ship.

Upon receiving the signal, Blackbeard decisively ordered his four lieutenants, ten crew members, and his three "allies" to disembark.

In addition, he did something no one expected—he ordered that "Mad-Eye" from the prison be brought along as well.

"Don't worry, the shackles on his hands are specially made. With those on, he's weaker than a common drunkard." As they walked on the rocky beach, Blackbeard noticed Honghu constantly wary of Mad-Eye, so he offered a word of reassurance.

"Hmm... I see," Honghu replied with a nod.

"Feels like seastone," Feng Bujue remarked casually from the side.

"Not really..." Snow countered, "Seastone has two main properties: first, it renders Devil Fruit users powerless and unable to use their abilities; second, it is exceptionally hard. Neither of these... means anything to Mad-Eye. First, he's not a Devil Fruit user; second, judging by how he tore through your equipment with his bare hands... breaking free from seastone shackles wouldn't be too difficult for him using brute force. Therefore..."

"Hey~ hey~ are you done yet?" Feng Bujue interrupted him before he could finish. "I said 'like seastone,' not 'is seastone.' Can you get the premise straight before you start arguing? And how many times are you going to bring up the equipment thing? Do I need you to remind me? Am I going to forget that in a short amount of time?"

Snow was speechless. Honghu shook his head beside them and muttered, "A walking mockery professor..."

While the few of them were bickering, the group gradually arrived on the island.

Including the dozen or so pirates who were already waiting, the total number of people who landed this time was exactly thirty.

"Mr. Feng." When everyone reached the edge of the forest, Blackbeard spoke again. "Could I trouble you..." He looked at Feng Bujue, pointing to the sky. "...to go up and observe the terrain?"

"Sure, I wanted to take a look anyway." Feng Bujue readily agreed to Blackbeard's request and took two steps back, away from his teammates.

Honghu and Snow knew what he was going to do...

The next second, Feng Bujue bent his legs and crouched down, compressing himself. After charging up for two seconds, he suddenly exerted force, and his whole body shot upwards like a spring.

In the blink of an eye, Feng Bujue had leaped into the air, nearly a hundred meters above sea level.

As the momentum of his ascent completely subsided, Feng Bujue activated the [Treading Void] effect, standing firmly in the air.

He looked around and found that, although the area of this island rock was not small, it was still possible to see the edge. Also... in the distance on the sea, he could see several dark shapes of similar size to this island.

To see further, Feng Bujue used [Moon Step] in mid-air again, climbing continuously until he reached a height of nearly four hundred meters.

From this vantage point, combined with his data vision, he could finally confirm that the originally huge, unified Jumo Island had now separated into five parts, roughly in the shape of a cross.

The part that Feng Bujue and the others had landed on was the northernmost part of the "cross," or the "North Island."

From an aerial view, the east, west, north, and south islands all had dense forests and rolling hills, and the size of each island was about the same. Only the "Central Island" in the middle of the "cross" was the smallest and composed entirely of "crystal." That area was undoubtedly the original "Crystal Maze."

After looking for less than two minutes, Feng Bujue slowly descended from the sky. Relying on the effect of his legendary-grade shoes, as long as he ensured that the soles of his feet landed first, he would be unharmed no matter how high he fell from.

Then, Feng Bujue briefly told Blackbeard what he had seen, and after finishing, he asked, "Let me confirm something first, did you come here to find your subordinates first, or to find treasure first?"

"They're the same," Blackbeard replied almost without thinking.

Honghu reacted quickly, "Your subordinates and the treasure are in the same place?"

"Yes," Blackbeard replied, "Every treasure that I left in the main universe is guarded by one of my subordinates. Depending on the value of the treasure, the strength of the guardian will also vary."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Feng Bujue keenly thought of something. "Then let me ask, the batch on the Queen Anne's Revenge... would you consider that your most valuable treasure?"

"Hmph..." Blackbeard wasn't stupid either, and instantly understood that the other party was probing him. "If you want to know if Rabbit Earl can be considered my strongest subordinate, then I can tell you very clearly... no." He paused. "Because... in fact, he can't be considered my 'subordinate'."

"Then what is he?" Feng Bujue asked again.

Blackbeard replied unhurriedly, "Many years ago, I saved Rabbit Earl's life. He felt he owed me a favor and always wanted to repay it. So he came aboard my ship and worked as a pirate for a while. Later, I sensed that a 'change' was coming and that I had to leave the main universe for a period of time, so I entrusted my ship and the treasure on board to him. At the time, I estimated that I would need at least three hundred years to return, and once the task of 'guarding the Queen Anne's Revenge until I return' was completed, he and I would be even."

"Oh... no wonder I didn't see him on the ship," Feng Bujue muttered, "But it seems you still haven't answered my question."

Blackbeard curled his lips and continued, "What I can tell you is that the treasures I hid in various places in the main universe are superior to the batch I hid on the pirate ship, both in quantity and quality."

"Because there's limited space on the ship?" At this time, Snow jokingly chimed in.

Unexpectedly, Blackbeard actually answered, "Yes, because the ship can't hold it all." He spread his hands out. "There are also some 'special things'... that aren't suitable to be kept on the ship all the time."

"Okay..." Snow also shrugged and responded noncommittally.

"Of course." A second later, Blackbeard changed the subject again. "My 'Queen Anne's Revenge' itself can also be regarded as a treasure, and its value is among the best of all the treasures I possess."

"Alright, alright." Seeing that the other party's answers were airtight, Feng Bujue gave up on further probing and questioning. "Let me rephrase the question..." He paused for half a second, then continued, "The subordinate who's guarding the 'Jumo Island treasure,' compared to Rabbit Earl, who's stronger?"

"It has to be Rabbit Earl," Blackbeard replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Short-Haired Divine Fist Fist Saint is a sub-god level fighter, none of the lieutenants I have with me right now are a match for Earl."

His words clearly reached the ears of the four lieutenants, but the four of them acted as if nothing had happened, as if they were all well aware of this and had no objections.

"Then..." Feng Bujue continued with his previous question, "Compared to Dance of Shadow?"

"Hmm?" Blackbeard smelled something from this question. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, is there any possibility..." Feng Bujue continued, "That your subordinate embezzled the treasure and killed Dance of Shadow when she came to search for it?"

As soon as these words came out, all the pirates on the beach turned their heads and looked at Feng Bujue.

Their eyes looked strange, and Honghu and Snow also noticed something unusual in them.

"Hehe..." After a maddening silence, Blackbeard grinned, revealing his rotten teeth, and gave a very rare, kind smile. "Let me put it this way... the one responsible for guarding this treasure... is my son."