He's in One Piece, but he's also part of the Phantom Troupe.

Chapter 74 Teach's life has been...

Shortly after the tour group entered the Iron Bucket Kingdom, a group of uninvited guests also landed from the other side of the Drum Island coast.

The leader had two missing front teeth, a rugged appearance, thick body hair, a full black beard, a sinister smile on his lips, and undisguised greed and ambition in his eyes.

He is none other than one of the future Four Emperors, Luffy's nemesis, and the son of Rocks, the overlord of the era of family feuds—Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach.

At this moment, Teach was followed by five people, one more than the Blackbeard Pirates in the original story.

A burly berserker wearing a wrestler's mask—Gizas Burgess, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with the Power-Power Fruit ability.

Lafayette, a devilish sheriff with white wings on his back and a pale, weak face, is skilled in negotiation and hypnosis.

Wearing a strange hat, an eyepatch over his right eye, and a black cloak, the sniper is Van Augur, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with the Instant-Teleport Fruit ability.

A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with a terminally ill appearance, often seen riding a sick horse, Doc Q, the ship's doctor.

And the last one... a tall, red-haired man with a beauty mark under his eye, dressed in a clown playing card costume, looking around with a relaxed expression.

If Kuroro were here, he would be surprised, because of that extra person at the end...

It is the magician Hisoka.

However, if Kuroro knew that Blackbeard had recruited Hisoka, the former traitor and the engine that wiped out the Phantom Troupe, into the Blackbeard Pirates, he would definitely applaud.

Teach has had something in his life...

The thing Kuroro forgot about the Iron Bucket Kingdom is...

In the original story, the Blackbeard Pirates attacked this place after setting sail, causing King Wapol to flee and leaving the Iron Bucket Kingdom almost paralyzed and deserted.

"Hahaha!" Teach grinned maliciously as he looked at the snowy land ahead.

"Finally arrived—"

"Captain, what is our purpose in coming here? Are we here to kill everyone?"

Burgess grinned excitedly; he couldn't wait to tear everything in front of him to shreds.

"The purpose..." Teach licked his lips, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"The king of this island is a user of the Gluttony Fruit."

This ability... if developed properly, could be quite impressive. We're here to receive this gift.

"The Gluttony Fruit?" Burgess looked puzzled. "Is there anything special about this fruit?"

Teach's eyes gleamed as he nodded. "If the encyclopedia entry is accurate, this fruit has an extremely high potential; we must obtain it!"

He paused, his tone becoming cruel and casual: "But after that... do whatever you want."

"That's great! My favorite thing to do is torturing the weak—"

Bages cracked his wrists, his face filled with murderous intent.

Without Teach's instruction, Lafayette had already flapped her white wings and flown towards the town to gather intelligence for him.

Van Oka's sharp gaze swept across the quiet town covered in snow, his tone flat and emotionless:

"The aura is weak; there seems to be no powerful opponent worth fighting."

Poison Q lay listlessly on his horse, both he and his horse panting and utterly exhausted.

"Cough...cough cough."

"Boss, it's too cold here... It's not suitable for me to survive. Can I go back to the ship first?"

Teach ignored Doc Q's daily routine of being "terminally ill."

After everyone had finished expressing their opinions, Teach turned his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the red-haired man at the back of the line.

"Hisoka, what are your thoughts on this island?"

This man was one of his newly recruited members.

Hisoka enjoys hunting strong opponents, while Teach is determined to achieve great things, inevitably leading to battles with powerful individuals.

Therefore, the two immediately hit it off.

Most importantly, this person is abnormal enough... and strong enough, perfectly meeting his criteria for recruiting people.

Hisoka stared blankly at the snowy land ahead, then produced a deck of cards from nowhere and randomly drew one card.

Hisoka flipped the cards over and showed a surprised expression:

"What bad luck~ It's the Joker card."

He looked towards the town ahead, "It seems different from what the intelligence said; there might be a powerful figure emerging in this country."

"There are no strong people out there, why worry so much!" Burgess said discontentedly.

"Your card game is just a trick for kids!"

"Cough...cough cough...I think Hisoka is right." Doc Q agreed.

It looked like the two groups were about to start a fight.

"Heh," Teach interrupted them, "I think having some strong individuals isn't so bad~"

Teach looked at Hisoka,

"Your purpose in setting sail was to fight against more powerful opponents, right?"

"Well~ that's true~ I'm really looking forward to it~" Hisoka shrugged.

"Hahaha, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Teach let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh and led the group into the snow and ice.

Hisoka, trailing behind, gazed at Teach's retreating figure, a pleased smile playing on his lips.

"My purpose in setting sail is, of course, to battle against even more unripe fruits~"

"But the strongest opponent I most want to fight... is you~"

Teach——♡”

..........

"Why am I paired with you again?"

Bonnie, now wearing a mink coat that subtly revealed her stunning figure, was clutching her rumbling stomach and following weakly behind Kuroro.

"Otherwise, who would you follow?" Kuroro rolled his eyes.

"Do you enjoy fighting? Or are you skilled at intelligence gathering? Or are you adept at precisely procuring supplies and controlling our ship's expenses?"

Bonney looked aggrieved after hearing Kuroro's accusations.

They're not that useless!

"At least I can tell the difference between good and bad food. I'm a connoisseur, you know what a connoisseur is!"

Bonney then used her charm and started shaking Kuroro's arm.

"Kuroro, I'm hungry~ Take me to try the food in this country, I'll judge for everyone if it's good!"

"All you ever do is eat—" Kuroro, unable to resist her pestering, pulled out a pitiful 1,000 Berries from his pocket and led Bonney through the door into a tavern in Togo.

"You hear me? We'll pick the cheapest place later. We only have 1000 Berries. If we run out, I'll sell you here to work and pay off the debt!"

Kuroro gave his instructions.

However, Bonnie's eyes were already shining as she flipped through the menu.

"Ah, roasted reindeer meat! Dried rabbit legs! Hiking bear paws!"

"........."

"Duang—" Kuroro's giant electric cannon landed, and he couldn't help but roar at her:

"I already told you to give me a discount—"

Bonnie, looking pitiful, clutched her large bag and flipped to the next page of the menu.

"Then let's have a vegetarian dish—this is white truffle and matsutake mushroom salad."

"...Is that cheap?!"

Not far from where the two were playfully fighting,

A strange man with a hairstyle resembling "3" and a little girl wearing a red hat first looked up at the two of them, then looked down to compare the wanted posters in their hands.

"It's confirmed, it is indeed Chrollo, the captain of the Phantom Pirates, a great pirate crew with 720 million Berries."

And Jewelry Bonney, a member with a bounty of 230 million Berries.

The man looked at the announcement in his hand with a tempting expression.