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What was happening?
Their brains were short-circuiting.
The absurd, comedic scene washed away the memory of the earlier bloodshed. Deuce, Ace's first mate, let out a long sigh of relief.
"That was a close one. The Marines will be here any second. We should go, Ace. Ace?"
He turned.
Ace was gone.
"Ace!"
Deuce frantically looked around, then he heard a loud roar: "FIRE FIST!"
He looked up.
Ace was high in the air, his right arm a colossal fist of pure, searing flame, crashing down toward Law.
"Dammit!" Deuce's face paled.
Ace's desire for fame was acting up again. 'If I beat that guy, I'll be even more famous, right?'
That's undoubtedly what Ace was thinking.
It was a simple, foolish thought. But that was Ace at this point in his life: impulsive, irrational, a fire burning out of control.
Until it was finally extinguished.
Of course, it wasn't just his hot-blooded nature. Ace had been moved by Bartolomeo's display of loyalty.
As for what started the whole mess... who cares? Let's not get bogged down by the facts.
"Hm?"
A blast of hot air washed over Law. He turned his head and saw a meteor of fire crashing into his ROOM.
He drew his sword and sliced the flames in two, but Ace had already spotted the weakness of his ability.
He stayed outside the ROOM and began throwing punches, a machine gun of fire bullets that rained down into the sphere.
Ace's combat genius, his battle instincts, were undeniably potent—arguably even more monstrous than Luffy's.
It was no exaggeration.
In his own side story, he had awakened his Conqueror's Haki while saving Sabo. He had awakened his Armament Haki while defeating a Marine Vice Admiral on Sabaody. He had entered the New World, traveled to Wano, defeated Hanafuda, fought Yamato... and awakened his Observation Haki.
And all of this before he challenged Whitebeard.
He had fought Jinbe for five days and five nights.
And then he had fought Whitebeard himself.
His "Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor" had engulfed an entire island in fire and had even left Whitebeard panting.
And he had accomplished all of this within a single year of setting out to sea.
Luffy had at least had Rayleigh to train him for two years.
Ace had just bulldozed his way through.
One year.
From an unknown in the East Blue to a powerhouse who could challenge Whitebeard and give him a real fight.
He was, in a word—a God of War.
Ace had earned his position as the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division through combat, with a record that had won the respect of all the other commanders.
As for his later defeat at the hands of Blackbeard...
On one hand, he had been at an intelligence disadvantage. Teach had been with him for a long time. He knew his personality, his moves, inside and out. He had a specific strategy to counter him.
On the other hand, it was a matter of fruit compatibility. The Dark-Dark Fruit's ability was a nightmare for any strong fighter who relied on their fruit.
And finally, it was a matter of bloodline.
So you're Roger's son?
So what! Teach is Rocks's son.
Roger and Garp had to team up to defeat Rocks. In a one-on-one fight based on bloodline, Ace was outmatched. He would have needed Luffy with him to win.
So it was no surprise that he had lost to Teach.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The relentless barrage of fire bullets forced a frown onto Law's face. A Logia... what a pain.
Seeing that Ace was sticking to long-range attacks, Law dispelled his ROOM and began to close the distance, dodging the fireballs.
Maintaining the ROOM consumed a massive amount of stamina. Even with all his training, he had to carefully manage his time and rhythm.
The two of them were locked in a fierce battle.
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Reiju and Robin, who had been out shopping, returned to the scene.
They saw the battle and began to deal with Bartolomeo and his men, who were all missing arms or legs.
"Barrier Ball!"
Realizing he was outmatched, Bartolomeo created a spherical barrier, enclosing himself and his crew. The Barrier-Barrier Fruit was incredibly strong, its defense almost a conceptual absolute. It could block any external attack.
Reiju, Maya, and the Germa 66 soldiers' attacks were all useless.
"Hehehehe! You can't hit me! You can't hit me!" Bartolomeo taunted, sticking out his tongue and making faces.
Don't ask why the man who had been consumed with rage just moments before was now acting like a clown.
Comedic characters, simple-minded and single-celled organisms, are just like that.
"So, you're saying it can't be broken... from the outside?" Robin asked.
"That's right! As long as we're in here, WE'RE SAFE!" Bartolomeo laughed, flashing a peace sign.
A thoughtful, dark smile played on Robin's lips. "Is that so...?"
"What do you mean?"
"No way...!"
Bartolomeo suddenly froze, a look of horror on his face. "Don't tell me...!"
Robin crossed her arms, and a flurry of flower petals filled the air.
Wherever she looked, arms suddenly sprouted from Bartolomeo's body, twisting his own arms behind his back and binding him.
The Paramecia Flower-Flower Fruit.
Robin could make any part of her body bloom like a flower on any physical object within her line of sight, for attack, eavesdropping, or any other purpose. With training, she could even create full-body clones and giant limbs.
Bartolomeo's barrier was transparent. They were all within her line of sight. She could attack them without ever touching the barrier.
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"Hey! Out of the way!"
"Clear the street!"
A roaring cloud of smoke and steel, Smoker on his four-wheeled smoke-cycle, leading a large contingent of Marine soldiers, charged toward the docks.
They were just about to arrive when the ground suddenly trembled. The cobblestones of the street ahead shattered, and a wall of earth rapidly rose up.
"What?!"
"Look out!"
Smoker slammed on the brakes.
A massive amount of earth surged upward, forming a wall over ten meters high, which then quickly hardened into a smooth, solid barrier, blocking their path.
"A Devil Fruit user?"
Smoker looked around, but he couldn't see anyone.
"What do we do now, Captain Smoker?" Tashigi asked. She wore a pair of glasses and had a slightly dazed look about her, giving the impression of someone with more bust than brains.
"You go around," Smoker said, a cigar clamped between his teeth. His lower body dissolved into a cloud of smoke, and he shot up and over the wall.
The Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
"Yes, sir!"
Tashigi quickly led the other soldiers on a detour.
Although some of the more elite soldiers could have followed Smoker over the rooftops, none of them did. They all went around with their subordinates.
And that was the difference between the Marines and pirates.
Pirates fought as individuals. The captain and the officers did their own thing, and the grunts just followed along. If the captain won, they won. If he lost, they ran. An average pirate crew could only fight with the wind at their backs.
The Marines were different. Although individual strength was important, they placed a greater emphasis on teamwork, on fighting as a cohesive unit.
And from another perspective, for a pirate, the only options were to fight or flee. For a Marine, it was a choice. One was the cat, the other the mouse. The pirates were right there. It didn't matter if they were caught now or later. It wouldn't affect their salary. And unlike pirates, their lives weren't constantly on the line.
So why risk it?
Unless you were one of those officers with limitless potential, on the fast track to promotion, most Marines were just trying to get by.
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Smoker, now on the other side of the wall, hovered in the air. He looked down and saw the blood-stained ground, the scattered limbs.
And two battlefields.
On one, a boy wreathed in flames was locked in a fierce battle with a man in a spotted hat.
On the other, an ordinary-looking woman was in a standoff with Bartolomeo. Robin had him in a hold, but the man was stubborn and refused to lower his barrier, resulting in a stalemate.
Smoker didn't recognize Robin. To avoid trouble, both she and Law had had their appearances altered by the Munch-Munch Fruit. And since the photos on bounty posters were notoriously unreliable, it was hard to recognize someone unless you knew them well.
But he did recognize Ace. "Fire Fist" Ace. His signature flames were unmistakable.
"The Marines? Smoker?"
Deuce, seeing Smoker, glanced at the still-fighting Ace, grit his teeth, and leaped forward.
"Hey, Smoker! Your opponent is me!" he yelled, drawing his sword. Although he was a doctor, he knew a thing or two about sword fighting.
"The Spade Pirates?" Smoker recognized Deuce. When had they docked? How had he not known? What were his patrols doing?
Smoker raised his signature weapon—the Nanashaku Jitte—and blocked Deuce's overhead strike. The clash of steel echoed through the street.
He pushed Deuce back, but the man just landed and leaped at him again.
On a rooftop behind them, Jin had pulled up a chair and was munching on a bag of sunflower seeds.
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