"Everyone, stop here,"
Having made his decision, Smoker led Tashigi and his platoon of Marines toward the vicinity of the desert where Ace and Natsu were fighting...
Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the two men who were constantly radiating immense heat, Smoker suddenly raised a hand, signaling his men to halt. He stared forward with a grim expression and said in a low voice, "Any further and we'll be caught in the crossfire."
BOOM!
Not far away...
The roar of fire and the thunder of blazing explosions continuously hammered the Marines' ears, while each brilliant blast of light stung their eyes.
"Is this the power of the great pirate Portgas D. Ace, the man with a 550 million Beri bounty who became the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates just three years after setting out? He's a monster."
Tashigi stared at the rising heat waves in the distance, her eyes, hidden behind her nearsighted glasses, filled with utter shock.
"Heh..."
"The one who truly surprises me isn't Portgas D. Ace! As a high-ranking officer of the Whitebeard Pirates, he wouldn't last long in the powerhouse-filled 'New World' without this kind of strength."
"The one who truly astonishes me is the kid fighting him! How is a boy who's only been at sea for a week, with a paltry bounty of 60 million Beri, fighting the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates to a standstill? It's unbelievable."
A cigar hung from Smoker's lips, his eyes fixed firmly on Natsu, a hint of irritation showing. The thought of yet another uncontrollable monster appearing among the pirates vexed him to no end.
"Are they really just at a standstill, evenly matched?"
Just as Smoker's words fell...
Eden's voice suddenly rang out beside Smoker's ear.
That's right, aside from the flying cat Happy, Eden and Nami had also kept their distance from the battlefield, choosing a safe zone to watch from afar.
"I knew I saw you! The great pirate 'Sea Emperor' Eden, with a bounty of 120 million Beri! You'd best surrender peacefully!"
The moment she saw Eden, Tashigi drew the katana from her waist, pointed it at him, and shouted.
"Yo, Smoker~"
"Did you not explain the... situation between us to your little subordinate here?"
Eden didn't even glance at Tashigi and her drawn sword. Instead, he looked at Smoker and chuckled.
"Tashigi, put your sword away."
"Have you forgotten what I told you before?!"
"That man, Eden, is not an opponent we can defeat on our own."
Smoker shot a glance at Eden before speaking to Tashigi in a commanding tone.
However, even though he was speaking to his subordinate, his gaze never left Eden...
It was as if he would strike the very instant Eden made a move.
"Captain Smoker, he's a pirate," Tashigi said stubbornly.
"That's an order," Smoker replied, finally turning to look at her, his voice stern.
"Understood."
Under Smoker's serious command, Tashigi reluctantly sheathed her katana and stood obediently to the side.
"Bleh~"
As soon as Tashigi returned to Smoker's side with a frustrated look, Nami, who was standing next to Eden, immediately stuck her tongue out and made a face at her in a clear gesture of provocation.
"You..."
Tashigi was so angry she couldn't even speak.
"Eden, what did you mean just now?"
"What did you mean by 'are they really just evenly matched'? Could it be...?"
Once Tashigi had finally calmed down, Smoker looked up at Eden and asked.
"Just keep watching quietly, and you'll see."
Eden silenced the talkative Smoker. It's common sense to shut up when you're watching a good show.
"You..."
Smoker shot Eden a vicious glare but ultimately closed his mouth in frustration.
On the Battlefield.
"Fire Gun!"
Ace turned his hands into a pair of infinitely reloading revolvers, firing continuously at Natsu like a western cowboy.
"Useless! Useless! Useless!"
Natsu let Ace's fire bullets hit him, completely unfazed.
"Fire Dragon's... ROAR!!"
Natsu took a deep breath and answered Ace's attack with a torrent of searing flames.
"It's no use!"
"You may be immune to fire attacks..."
"But I am fire itself!"
"How can fire possibly have an effect on fire?!"
Seeing the ferocious flames approaching, Ace simply turned his body into fire, becoming intangible and letting Natsu's attack pass right through him.
"Huh?!"
As for Natsu, watching Ace freely transform into fire, a bold idea suddenly sparked in his mind...
'If Ace is made of fire... does that mean I can eat him?' Natsu thought to himself.
"You're thinking something nasty, aren't you?"
Ace's eye twitched. He spread his arms wide, gathering an infinite amount of flames in his hands before hurling them violently at Natsu. "Divine Flame: Sea Fire!!"
BOOM!
The scorching flames instantly burned the sand into glass, a testament to their incredible temperature! The terrifying inferno didn't stop there, continuing its charge toward Natsu.
"Sluuurp~"
Seeing this, Natsu opened his cavernous mouth and simply swallowed the flames whole.
BOOM!
The moment Natsu swallowed Ace's flames, the magic power within him exploded. The terrifying force was so great it even scattered the clouds in the sky...
"It's overflowing! It's overflowing!"
"Take this!!"
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
Natsu roared with laughter as he unleashed his Dragon Slayer Secret Art upon Ace.
In an instant, a terrifying Dragon's Flame burned across half the sky. It incinerated countless swathes of sand, forming a massive crescent of fire that slashed toward Ace.
"It's useless!"
"I told you, I am fire..."
"How can fire be defeated by fire?!"
Ace said, confidently becoming intangible again.
However, the moment Ace tried to tank Natsu's attack with his elemental body, he immediately felt something was wrong.
"Ow, ow, ow, OW...!"
A moment later, Ace, having taken Natsu's hit head-on, was forcibly knocked out of his elemental state. He hopped around on the sand, frantically patting out the flames on his sun hat that Natsu had ignited. He looked at Natsu with utter disbelief and confusion. "This is weird! I'm fire! How can fire get burned by fire?!"
"The Dragon Flame I use is a flame that can even burn other flames!" Natsu declared.
"..."
Hearing Natsu's words, Ace fell completely silent.
Wait a minute!
This Natsu guy can eat fire and use his fire to burn my fire, while my attacks do absolutely nothing to him. Doesn't that make my ability pure garbage?
It was that same thought again: the Mera Mera no Mi Fruit is so bad even a dog would turn it down.
"Hey!"
"I didn't want to use this move."
"But I have my pride to think of, you know?!"
"Listen up, Natsu my boy!"
"Now, you'd better do everything you can to survive."
As Ace spoke, his body began to erupt with scorching hot flames, igniting everything around him. In the center of this terrifying domain of fire, a colossal fireball, nearly a kilometer in diameter, slowly began to form.
"Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!!"
Yes, at this moment, Ace had finally gotten serious.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Is that a move you can just use whenever you want?!"
In the distance, Smoker was stunned by Ace's actions. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he said in terror, "Is he trying to blow up everything nearby, including the entire town in the distance?! Has he gone mad?"