Marco’s stamina, among the top-tier fighters, was on the weaker side.

Two hours of enduring all kinds of powerful attacks, alternating between fighting back and recovering, had taken its toll. After two hours, Marco’s stamina was depleted.

His body, covered in lightning, was paralyzed, and this time, his blue flames failed to appear. Without stamina, his powers couldn’t be activated.

Shakky kicked the paralyzed Marco, sending him crashing into the ocean near the Radiant Eclipse.

Marco lay limp, floating on the surface, tethered by two chains that extended from the Radiant Eclipse, hanging lifelessly off the side of the ship.

Marco kept his eyes shut, unwilling to witness his own pitiful state. He didn’t beg for mercy, nor did he hurl threats—he played dead and accepted his fate.

“Captain, should we kill him? Killing Marco isn’t an issue, but I’m afraid the Whitebeard Pirates might have a Vivre Card for Marco. If we kill him, Whitebeard would know immediately, and he’d be able to guess it was us,” Shakky said after returning to the ship, looking towards Kuke.

“Let them come; are we supposed to be afraid? If their number two is just this weak, Whitebeard’s title as the strongest man is overrated. He can’t even compare to our captain,” Belo Betty responded confidently.

She feared nothing; in any situation, her first instinct was to act.

Kuke glanced at Belo Betty. She still listened to him as captain—when he told her to zip up, she complied. Though, he thought she looked better when it was left open. Once Marco was dealt with, maybe she could go back to her previous style.

The seemingly unconscious Marco dared not use Observation Haki to sense what was happening, but he could still hear their voices. They were discussing what to do with him?

No, that wasn’t it—did she say “Captain”?

Marco’s expression changed dramatically.

The captain of the Sun and Moon Pirates—everyone knew who it was: Captain Kuke.

But Kuke had been dead for twenty days now.

Could it be that the Sun and Moon Pirates had already chosen a new captain?

“Betty, killing Marco doesn’t matter, and neither does Whitebeard,” Shakky continued explaining to Belo Betty.

Marco couldn’t help but let out a small laugh inwardly.

Whitebeard doesn’t matter? If that were true, then why were they discussing it? Clearly, they were worried.

Shakky’s voice continued, “The concern is that if Whitebeard loses his mind and comes after us, it could interfere with our plans.”

Shakky’s real worry was this. Marco was Whitebeard’s most beloved “son,” and Whitebeard would definitely not take his death lightly.

If Whitebeard had shown up at Sabaody Archipelago at that time, and they had to face both Whitebeard and the Navy, it would have been an unwinnable situation.

“So what do we do?” Everyone looked towards Kuke, the captain’s decision was final.

Kuke curiously observed Marco, who was pretending to be unconscious.

“Once we handle things at Sabaody Archipelago, we’ll go to the Whitebeard Pirates afterward. That’s what I originally planned anyway.” It was Marco’s own fault for chasing after them; otherwise, Kuke wouldn’t have wanted any conflict with the sea emperors for the time being.

Once they engaged either Whitebeard or Kaido of the Beasts, it would attract the attention of the entire world, and Kuke’s resurrection would be exposed, rendering his plans ineffective.

“Huh?” Kuke’s voice startled Marco. It felt like a thunderbolt striking on a clear day, leaving him completely stunned.

A man? According to the wanted poster issued by the World Government, everyone in the Sun and Moon Pirates except for Captain Kuke was female. Many pirates had envied Kuke’s fortune.

Kuke was dead. So who was this man’s voice coming from?

Suddenly, Marco opened his eyes.

He stared dumbfoundedly at Kuke standing before him. His mind went blank, unable to process what was happening.

“K-K-Kuke?!”

The face on the wanted posters and newspapers—he had seen it countless times.

It was the pirate Kuke, who had become the most renowned figure in the sea in just a year.

“This is impossible. You’re supposed to be dead.” Marco couldn’t believe his eyes.

Photos of his death had circulated across the world. The Navy and World Government had firmly declared that Kuke was dead. It was impossible for such a significant matter to be a lie.

“That’s the expression I like,” Kuke said, smiling at Marco’s ghost-stricken look.

If Marco was like this, Kuke could only imagine how much more entertaining the expressions of Sengoku and the Navy would be.

“You’re not dead?” Marco asked, struggling to accept the truth.

The man was standing right before him—no matter how impossible it seemed, Marco had to accept that the Navy and the World Government had gotten it wrong. Everyone had gotten it wrong.

Everyone believed he was dead, but here he was—alive and well, living more freely than anyone could imagine.

“You fooled the whole world,” Marco said, looking at Kuke, his emotions a mix of terror, disbelief, admiration, and confusion.

He felt like crying. He was the first to be deceived.

If he had known Kuke was alive, he wouldn’t have suggested to Pops that they take in the remnants of the Sun and Moon Pirates—not even as a fleeting thought.

Although Marco couldn’t fathom how Kuke had managed to pull off such an impossible feat, he knew one thing—

The world was about to descend into chaos, and he was going to be the first casualty of that chaos.

How unlucky.

Marco forced a few nervous laughs. “Captain Kuke, I’ve always had great respect for you. The Whitebeard Pirates also respect you. We mean no harm; trust me.”

It wasn’t quite begging for mercy, nor was it a complete lie. It was just that the respect wasn’t quite as high as he was implying.

Marco was panicking.

The Sun and Moon Pirates without Kuke and with Kuke were two completely different things.

Kuke had fought off four admirals and nearly killed one. Reports said Zephyr was still unconscious, and Akainu had been gravely injured. No one dared question Kuke’s strength.

And now Marco had experienced the power of Gion, Shakky, and Stussy firsthand.

Marco didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if he caused Pops and the Sun and Moon Pirates to go to war. Regardless of victory or defeat, it would not end well. The thought of it filled him with regret.

He had endangered the entire pirate crew.

“Do you think saying that now matters?” Kuke asked in response.

Marco fell silent, letting out a bitter laugh. No, it didn’t.

Talking like this was pointless among pirates.

“You’d better hope your importance to Whitebeard is high enough. If I don’t get what I want, you know what will happen to you,” Kuke said.

Marco understood. His fate would be death. And after his death, the Whitebeard Pirates and the Sun and Moon Pirates would be at war, and Marco would become the sinner of the Whitebeard Pirates, even in death.

An overwhelming sense of guilt filled Marco, making him wish he were dead.

“Betty, chop him up, put him in a Seastone cage, and throw him into the sea,” Kuke ordered, turning towards Belo Betty.

“Understood,” Betty replied, raising her hands. “ROOM!”

A spatial field emanated from her hands, covering the entire ship.

Betty picked up a blade, slashing towards Marco from a distance.

Marco looked down, stunned to see his body being dismembered without feeling any pain.

This strange power filled Marco with fear once again.

Was every seemingly ordinary member aboard the Radiant Eclipse actually a monster with terrifying abilities?

What kind of pirate crew was this?!

Betty pointed, and Marco’s dismembered body parts vanished, reappearing under the ship, submerged in seawater—everything except his head.

Marco’s head was placed at the bottommost level of the ship, where the prison was located. After the Radiant Eclipse was built, Kuke had made sure Franky and the others reinforced the lowest level into an indestructible prison, crafted with a high cost using Seastone bars.

It was an investment that was already proving its worth.

Marco was its first occupant.

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 144+ at patreon.com/Emik01.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep