As Ace finished gathering his power and threw the punch, a torrent of fire erupted from his fist, blasting straight into the mountain cave.
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed as the entire cave was engulfed in flames. The grass and trees at the entrance were instantly incinerated, reduced to ash. A searing wave of heat washed over them.
"Amazing!" Vivi exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.
"Is this the power of the Whitebeard Pirates?" The restaurant owner was completely stunned.
"Scree! Scree!" The white-bearded monkey shrieked as the heat wave hit, leaping away to a safe distance.
Just then, a wind materialized before the group, whipping the intense heat upward and suppressing it. The scorching sensation vanished instantly, replaced by a gentle, refreshing breeze.
"The captain is the best!" Nami said, looking at Ryuuto with pure admiration.
"Captain, what kind of ability does Ace have?" Vivi asked, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead as her curiosity got the better of her.
"Ace ate a Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Flame-Flame Fruit. He's earned the nickname 'Fire Fist Ace' for it," Ryuuto explained to Vivi.
Crocus stared at Ace for a few moments.
Portgas D. Ace. Such a distant memory, he thought to himself, averting his gaze.
"Ryuuto, that move just now was pure finesse," Ace said, looking over at him as he loosened the strap of his cowboy hat, letting it hang down his back.
"Just a little trick," Ryuuto replied nonchalantly. "Let's head inside now."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ace took the lead and walked into the cave.
"I... I think I'll stay out here!" the restaurant owner said, shaking his head frantically.
Ryuuto didn't press the issue, simply leading Nami, Vivi, and Crocus into the cave behind Ace.
The cave did indeed resemble a storage warehouse. After passing through a narrow entrance, the space opened up dramatically. It was thirty to forty meters long and a good ten meters high, with scorch marks covering every surface. At the very back of the cave, dozens of barrels of fine wine were neatly stacked.
"We found it! There really is wine!"
Seeing the barrels, Nami and Vivi kicked off in their sandals and ran toward them.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Nami and Vivi's feet began to shift. An enormous, dark maw shot up from the dirt, snapping at the two of them.
Just as I was waiting for, a thought flashed through Ryuuto's mind.
He shouted to Nami and Vivi, "Jump!"
"Ah...!" Confused at first, the two of them looked down to see a ten-meter-long crocodile twisting its body, its massive jaws lunging for them.
"Luck Drain!" Nami stomped her foot, activating her Devil Fruit ability as she grabbed Vivi and leaped into the air.
Crack! Bang!
At that exact moment, a cracking sound came from above. A huge boulder broke loose from the cave ceiling and fell just as the crocodile's jaws were about to clamp down, landing squarely in its mouth. Nami, in mid-air, dodged the falling rock, landed perfectly on top of it, and used the momentum to spring back to the group's side.
Crunch!
The crocodile chomped down in fury, shattering the massive boulder. It then whipped its tail around, turning its head to face Ryuuto and the others, huffing angrily as it glared at them with vicious eyes.
"Interesting. It's like this crocodile appeared out of nowhere," Ace remarked, studying the massive reptile with a curious expression.
The creature's hide was a dull gray, as coarse and rugged as stone. Before it attacked, it had given off no life signature, making it seem no different from a boulder by the wall. Because of this, even the Observation Haki of Ryuuto, Ace, and Crocus had failed to detect it.
"Nature is full of wonders," Ryuuto mused.
But the moment the crocodile's heart began to beat to launch its attack, its presence was exposed to the three of them. Nami had also reacted instantly, using her Devil Fruit's power to successfully evade the attack. If Ryuuto had simply slashed at it, he might have ended up destroying the precious wine.
But now...
Whoosh!
Lightning sparked around Ryuuto's body. He moved in a blur, leaving an afterimage in his place and reappearing above the crocodile's head in an instant.
"Lightning Fist!"
With a sharp cry, Ryuuto's right fist erupted with electrical power. Arcs of lightning crackled around it, illuminating the giant crocodile's terrified expression.
Boom!
He brought his fist down with the crackling sound of a thunderstrike. A colossal force, burning the very air with flashing arcs of electricity, slammed directly into the giant crocodile's back.
Bang!
The Lightning Fist struck the beast with the force of a mountain, sending a massive cloud of dust billowing into the air.
When the dust settled, the giant crocodile lay still, the smell of burnt flesh rising from its body. It was clearly dead. Ryuuto had dispatched it with clean and decisive efficiency.
Crack!
Suddenly, a crisp sound came from the nearby wall. A large section of the rock face crumbled away, revealing an old wooden chest.
Ryuuto walked over and picked up the box. It wasn't very large, roughly a cube about twenty or thirty centimeters on each side.
"Captain, hurry and see what it is!" Vivi urged.
"Yeah, yeah! Open it up! See if it's full of gold!" Nami added, her treasure-loving instincts kicking in again.
Ace and Crocus also watched the chest with curiosity. Tales of discovering great treasures were common in this world, and they were both eager to see what lay inside.
"Alright," Ryuuto nodded. Feeling its weight, however, he doubted it was gold.
Click.
As the chest was slowly opened, a Devil Fruit with swirling patterns, resembling a red lychee, came into view. More importantly, as the lid lifted, the rich aroma of wine wafted out.
"It's a Devil Fruit!" Ace's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow! A Devil Fruit! This is worth way more than gold!" Nami's eyes practically turned into berry symbols as her greedy imagination ran wild.
"So it's true, there really are countless treasures in this world," Vivi said, first with a gasp, then with a sigh of wonder. She couldn't help but think to herself, Going out to sea as a pirate is so much more interesting than being in Alabasta.
Crocus had been hoping for something more interesting. Seeing that it was just a Devil Fruit, he immediately lost interest.
"I wonder what kind of Devil Fruit this is," Ryuuto said, turning the fruit over in his hands. He realized that the intoxicating aroma of wine was coming directly from it.