Teach's roar echoed like thunder across the battlefield, and Sengoku's face instantly turned ashen. "Silence him! Carry out the execution now!" he bellowed, his voice tinged with an unprecedented panic.
But just as the executioner was about to bring down his blade, he was suddenly forced back by a wave of blistering heat!
Sengoku felt an unusual, pervasive dryness and warmth. To his horror, he saw faint tendrils of smoke rising from his Marine coat.
The temperature on the entire execution platform was skyrocketing at an alarming rate. The metal railings grew searing hot, and the wooden planks began to crackle and pop.
"What is happening?!" Sengoku snapped his head up, his eyes widening as he saw the distant horizon warp and distort strangely, as if an invisible sun were rising.
"Is it a celestial phenomenon?"
Heat haze shimmered in the air, distorting vision, and the very surface of the sea began to boil and bubble.
Akainu was the first to recognize the anomaly: "This heat... it's unnatural..." As a user of the Magu-Magu no Mi, he knew better than anyone that the current temperature had far exceeded any natural limit.
The executioner on the platform suddenly screamed, dropping his long sword with a clatter—the hilt was already glowing red-hot. Teach yelped as the soles of his feet were scalded, yet a wild gleam of hope flashed in his eyes: "Zehahaha... Am I saved again?!"
An eerie silence fell over the battlefield, punctuated only by scattered gasps of shock.
Whitebeard stood frozen, Murakumogiri in hand, his gaze completely captured by the distant phenomenon. The tip of Shanks's Gryphon dipped slightly, their clashing Conqueror's Haki unconsciously receding.
"Preposterous..." Kaido's draconic eyes narrowed to slits, his whiskers twitching uneasily. His massive Azure Dragon form coiled higher, straining to identify the true source of the heat.
Big Mom's Napoleon drooped, her pink curls whipped about by the hot wind: "Mamamama... This temperature... It's sweltering! Is a volcano erupting?!"
The ice melted at a visible pace, and the previously frozen pirates seized the chance to scatter and flee.
"Quick, back to the ships!"
"The ice is melting!"
"What in the world is causing this cursed heat?!"
"..."
A flicker of stern concentration crossed Aokiji's face. He slammed his palms onto the sea: "Trying to escape? Ice Age!"
Extreme cold erupted once more, and the melting sea surface instantly refroze. Several slower pirates screamed as their boots were frozen solid into the ice.
"It's no use!" a pirate yelled, eyes wide, before he decisively kicked off his boots and continued his barefoot escape.
Others followed suit, and soon the ice was littered with discarded Marine and pirate boots alike.
Aokiji shook his head wearily, ice crystals forming in his hair. "I've done all I can..." His gaze turned toward the source of the heat, his brow deeply furrowed.
All eyes were drawn to the sea area obscured by the abandoned ship wreckage.
Behind the burning remnants of a vessel, Ace sat cross-legged, his entire body enveloped in a strange, pale flame.
The flame appeared cold, yet it radiated a suffocating, extreme heat, scorching and distorting the very air around him.
Jinbe, who had been guarding Ace, was now forced to retreat step by step.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from his blue skin—the heat was unbearable!
It felt like standing on the surface of the sun!
"Ace, my brother... what are you doing?" Jinbe's voice was raspy from the dry heat, the worry in his eyes intensifying.
Ace's eyes were tightly shut, his expression shifting between pain and tranquility.
At his chest, a pale white flame was slowly merging into his body.
It was the ultimate power of the Mera-Mera no Mi—seemingly cold, yet containing a terrifying, all-consuming heat.
"Ughhh—!" Ace suddenly let out a low groan, and the pale flames around him surged violently.
With him at the center, the seawater within a hundred-meter radius instantly vaporized, revealing the parched seabed below!
A colossal mushroom cloud of steam shot into the sky, blotting out the heavens.
This sudden transformation allowed everyone to clearly see the figure within.
Whitebeard lowered Murakumogiri slightly, a trace of astonishment in his eyes: "Is that... Ace?"
Shanks let Gryphon slide back into its scabbard: "That boy... what dangerous power is he tapping into?... Those pale flames feel like they could burn the world itself."
Sengoku's expression was strained, sweat pouring down his face from the scorching heat. He glanced at Garp, who stood equally stunned beside him: "This is bad! Everyone, fall back!"
By now, no order was needed; everyone could feel the terrifying temperature rising wildly!
Jinbe had already retreated to a safer distance, but his gaze remained locked on Ace.
He held a Fish-Man Karate stance, ready to charge in and rescue his friend at any moment. Sweat dripped from his chin, vaporizing before it could even hit the ground.
"Ace, my brother... hold on..." Jinbe murmured, his muscles taut as drawn bowstrings.
At that moment,
The pale flames surrounding Ace suddenly contracted, coalescing into a perfect sphere.
Through the translucent fire, Ace's body could be seen undergoing a dramatic transformation.
Pale white flame patterns etched themselves across his skin, his hair bleached to a frosty white, and when his eyes snapped open, his pupils had become twin pulsating orbs of pale fire!
"I've done it..." Ace's voice was now deep and hoarse, carrying a strange, echoing quality.
He then shook his head slightly, a hint of disappointment in his fiery gaze,
"What a pity. I could feel the deepest power of this Fruit, yet it feels like I'm still just short of reaching that ultimate level."
Ace didn't know if this was his Devil Fruit's Awakening, but... it must be close.
Then, snapping back to the present, he realized that even if his fruit wasn't fully awakened, the temperature of his flames now was absolutely terrifying!
"To burn all creation... I am the Flame Emperor!"
He rose slowly to his feet, the rocks beneath him softening and melting into lava.
Marine soldiers in the distance recoiled in terror: "M-monster!"
Akainu's magma-coated right arm trembled involuntarily: "These flames... they surpass even my magma..."
Ace's gaze swept across the battlefield, finally settling on the execution platform, where Teach's eyes were practically bulging from their sockets.
The corner of Ace's mouth curled into a chilling smile: "Now... it's my turn to take the stage."
Before the words had fully left his lips, his form had already transformed into a streak of pale white fire, blazing toward the execution platform!
Where he passed, seawater vaporized, steel melted, and even the very air ignited!
Jinbe charged after him without hesitation: "Ace! Wait!"
But his speed was no match for that pale streak of flame. He could only watch helplessly as Ace shot toward the most dangerous heart of the battlefield...