Chapter 1595 Blackbeard, I Hate Rich People

The Devil's Triangle, a sea area shrouded in fog and darkness year-round, appears even more desolate and lifeless after the recent earth-shattering battle.

The twisted shipwreck, like the skeleton of a giant beast, lay half-submerged in the dark sea. The few remaining relatively intact pieces of land were covered with deep, bottomless scorch marks left by the battle.

The sunlight seemed unable to truly penetrate the thick fog; only scattered, eerie blue will-o'-the-wisps, drawn from who-knows-where, drifted among the ruins, illuminating a bizarre scene.

This place has become a forbidden zone for life, and is by no means an ideal base for a large fleet to be stationed for a long time.

Under Akaza's undisguised intimidation, the low-ranking pirates who remained on the outskirts and belonged to the Blackbeard Pirates didn't dare to breathe loudly, let alone step forward to question the stitched-together monster behind him who exuded a dangerous aura.

The two walked one after the other, stepping over the slippery ruins and skeletons, heading towards the deepest part of this death zone.

Akaza's attention was almost entirely focused on the blood-stained scroll in his hand. The concept of the Eight Gates, this legendary forbidden technique, was exactly the same as his pursuit of martial arts that constantly pushed the limits of the physical body.

Another path for the circulation of Qi, the method of impacting the eight potential blockages in the body, sparked new insights into his own power with each line he studied.

As for bringing Kakuzu in to see Teach, it was just a side effect; his entire focus was now on this scroll.

After passing through the last barrier made of broken ship planks and twisted metal, the view suddenly opened up.

On a relatively flat open space, a bonfire burned. The flickering flames barely dispelled some of the chill, but they also stretched the shadows of those sitting around it to be very long.

Beside the campfire, a large, toothless man sat imposingly on an overturned wooden barrel.

He held a huge, sizzling, oily leg in one hand, its original form unrecognizable, and gnawed on it with his mouth full of grease.

On the other side was a Den Den Mushi projection screen that was flashing an image, showing the extremely brutal battlefield of Marineford.

Blackbeard took a big bite of meat and chewed it, his cloudy little eyes fixed on the screen, muttering incoherently, "Fight! Why aren't you fighting yet!"

"Whitebeard and Sengoku, you two old geezers, why don't you make a move? What's the point of just watching? You're driving me crazy!" He didn't care that his spittle even splashed onto the projection screen.

Hearing footsteps, Teach slowly turned his head, his small eyes, hidden among messy hair and fat, sizing up Kakuzu who was slowly walking behind Akaza.

Seeing Kakuzu's bizarre attire, the dense black stitches on his exposed skin, and his eyes that seemed indifferent to everything in the world, Teach's lips curled into an even bigger, toothless grin.

He casually tossed aside the half-eaten bone, wiped the grease from his mouth with his dirty sleeve, and said rather solemnly, "If I remember correctly, your name is Kakuzu, right?"

Kakuzu nodded silently in response, his gaze also sizing up Teach, assessing the man's value and risks.

Teach leaned forward and said, "Want to join my pirate crew? I'll give you a leadership position. Follow me, and you'll reap the rewards on this high seas."

His tone was as if he were bestowing a great favor. Upon hearing this, Kakuzu's face, which was mostly covered by a mask, remained expressionless.

He simply stared at Teach for a few seconds before slowly asking, "How much salary can you offer me if I join your pirate crew?"

Teach's smile froze slightly. He seemed to have not expected that the other party's first question would not be about power, dreams, or even what treasures he could get, but rather such a straightforward question about salary.

But Teach was Teach after all. He rolled his eyes, held up a short, chubby finger, and tentatively said, "One hundred million Berries? How about that? That's a huge sum!"

Kakuzu slowly shook his head, and a very faint sneer seemed to escape from beneath his mask.

Teach's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. He gritted his teeth, as if making a great decision, and raised that finger again. "One billion!"

His voice rose eight octaves, "Ten billion Berries, that should be enough, right? I'm being very sincere!"

Kakuzu slowly shook his head again, this time not even bothering to give him a second glance, his attitude as if to say, "That's it?"

Teach finally lost his composure, his voice tinged with anger: "You don't want 10 billion, do you? I wouldn't even be worth that much if I sold myself to the Navy. Do you think you're worth 10 billion Berries?!"

Faced with Teach's questioning, Kakuzu nodded calmly, "Worth it!"

"The dividends from my shares given to me by the Duffield Consortium are worth at least 10 billion in cash."

Kakuzu calmly watched Teach's changing expression and continued in his unwavering tone, "And the money I've earned for the conglomerate is far more than that."

Duffield Foundation!

The financial tycoon of the underworld possesses wealth and resources that even the World Government fears; Kakuzu even holds shares in him?!

Teach's pupils contracted sharply, and the annoyance and absurdity on his face receded like the tide, replaced by an undisguised jealousy.

He stared intently at Kakuzu, as if trying to see through this strange man covered in stitches. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence filled with complex emotions through his teeth: "I hate rich people the most, especially rich people who are richer than me!"

He was telling the truth. Since his defection from the Whitebeard Pirates, although he had seized the Dark-Dark Fruit through scheming and recruited a group of companions, he was indeed penniless when it came to money.

The little bit of wealth he plundered in Alabasta was already being used to build a new pirate crew, allowing himself and those around him to enjoy life while the treasure was almost gone.

One hundred million Berries, he might be able to scrape together if he gritted his teeth, but one billion, unless he robbed a wealthy country, is simply a pipe dream, and even selling him for ten billion wouldn't be worth it!

For a moment, the atmosphere around the campfire became somewhat tense. One was an ambitious but penniless schemer, and the other was a cold-blooded businessman who only cared about money. There seemed to be an insurmountable chasm called Berry between the two.

Akaza had no interest in the haggling over wages; he had already taken the precious scroll and walked into the shadows.

He sat cross-legged, completely absorbed in studying the mysteries of the Opening and Resting Gates, as if everything around him was irrelevant; only Teach and Kakuzu remained by the fire.