Blackbeard's pirate crew, although not having any truly impressive members even two years later, is downright pathetic right now.
The recruits Blackbeard gathered — they're bad enough, sure, but none of them have any outstanding strength. Not even a single fighter on par with a Zoro–Sanji tier fifty-fifty matchup exists.
They would even end up running away if they encountered the current Ace.
"Zehahahaha… Hades, are you really fine going alone? This is the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates,
Fire Fist Ace!!!"
Hades held his twin axes, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Don't worry, Captain. My Haki is very strong."
Ace looked closely. Among the Blackbeard Pirates, a tall and muscular man with long hair and sunglasses, wielding twin axes, stepped forward with an arrogant aura.
Ace raised an eyebrow.
"I know your name — the Super Rookie with the highest bounty in the first half of the Grand Line, Hades!"
"But with just you alone, you can't stop me. Let Teach face me!!!"
In Ace's eyes, the so-called Super Rookies of Paradise in the first half of the Grand Line sounded famous, but were actually nothing special. Too many people challenged Pops every year.
His younger brother Luffy was one of the best among them.
Tapping the brim of his hat with his index finger, Ace spoke disdainfully — which only made Hades laugh.
"Bang—"
The twin axe blades clashed, ringing with a metallic echo. Hades' gaze deepened.
"I hope you can still say that later."
"Zheng—"
As Hades got serious, waves of peculiar Armament Haki surged out of his body like flowing red sakura, wrapping around the axe blades with powerful momentum.
His whole aura changed in an instant, faint black-and-red lightning crackling around him.
Seeing this, the clueless grunts of the Blackbeard crew were shocked.
"What a flashy combat stance—this is Vice Captain's real strength?!"
Laffitte's pale face twisted in surprise. They didn't even understand what Haki was.
"Wehahahaha! Don't know what that is, but it looks super strong!!!"
Burgess continued speaking like the muscle-brain he was.
Among the Blackbeard Pirates, only Teach, who had spent a long time in the Whitebeard crew, was knowledgeable.
A wide grin spread across his face.
"As expected of a man with Conqueror's Haki… I only mentioned this technique once, and he actually managed to work out Armament flow on his own…"
"Zehahahaha!!!"
Teach stared at Ace with a cruel grin.
"Ace, you better be careful. Hades is about to get serious!!!"
"Hmph…"
Ace now also realized the man before him was likely a master of Haki. He immediately chose to strike first.
His hands transformed into a machine-gun stance, aiming at Hades.
"Fire Gun!!!"
Countless flaming bullets exploded outward — but they were all blocked by the Haki-covered axes, and Hades even charged forward through the barrage.
"Nani!!!?"
It was Ace's first time seeing something this crazy. Even a Haki expert shouldn't be completely immune to the flames of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
But there was no time to think. The axe-wielding man suddenly closed in.
Haki flowed around him as he rushed in with a grin.
"You rely too much on your Devil Fruit ability, Fire Fist Ace!!!"
With a swing, a jet-black slash tore through the Fire Gun bullets and cleaved toward Ace on the rooftop.
Maybe the slash wasn't that fast — because Ace managed to elementize ahead of time, turning into flame and rising into the air to evade.
But Hades wouldn't give him the chance to breathe. Like a cat toying with a mouse.
The roaring flames were like nothing before a man whose entire body was coursing with Armament Haki — like fire meeting the vast ocean, unable to do anything.
"Fire Fist!!!"
Leaping into the air with a serious expression, Ace unleashed a massive flaming punch several dozen meters wide toward Hades.
The world of flames swallowed the figure instantly.
"Vice Captain Hades!!!"
The Blackbeard crew panicked, the shockwave of Fire Fist sending them tumbling backward.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Ace gasped for breath. This intense flame output and constant movement had drained a good portion of his stamina.
Staring at the sea of flames before him, he let out a small sigh of relief.
"At least… this should…"
"Should what?"
Ace jolted. From within the blazing inferno, a man with long, spiked, hedgehog-like hair walked out slowly, twin axes in hand.
Though he had several "wounds," he seemed perfectly spirited.
There was a bit of "anger" in Hades' eyes. His figure suddenly vanished, flowing Haki gathering at the axe tip.
"Nani!!!"
"Fire Pillar!!!"
Spiraling pillars of flame shot skyward, engulfing Hades — but it was ineffective.
At some unknown moment, Ace's chest was slashed. An X-shaped wound burst open with blood.
Hades appeared behind Ace.
"How boring…"
He didn't even give Ace the chance to use "Great Flame." A concentrated point of pure Haki knocked Ace to the ground instantly.
Only by suffering can a child truly grow…
Carrying the unconscious Ace, Hades walked back to Teach and tossed him onto the ground, expression blank.
Blackbeard burst into laughter upon seeing this.
"Zehahahahaha… Your Haki really improves fast, Hades!!!"
But inside, he felt a faint unease.
Hades' rate of improvement was a bit too strong. Teach would even believe he could fight a Yonko's right-hand man right now.
Not to mention he had Conqueror's Haki — with the talent he displayed, he might soon learn Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Looks like he needed to acquire a second Devil Fruit as soon as possible…
Teach felt a growing sense of urgency.
He wanted to say more, but then noticed Hades zoning out again. So he changed the subject.
"Next, we hand over Fire Fist Ace to the Marines. The result will be the same!!!"
"Zehahahahaha!!!"
...
While Blackbeard's crew defeated Ace and prepared to head to Marineford, Luffy's crew had already arrived at the area of Thriller Bark.
A giant black chicken-leg silhouette was now watching a man calmly drinking red wine inside the castle.
"Shishishishi~ Mihawk, you haven't visited here in a long time~ What brings you here?!"
But Hawkeye only turned his head slightly, calm and indifferent.
"Nothing. I just came to check on that girl."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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