Chapter 24: An Easy Fight
The inferno blazing behind Ace pressed down on the Musket Pirates like a physical weight. This was the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit, and their captain only possessed a Paramecia.
Their captain had an 88 million Beri bounty, but facing an intangible Logia user, their hearts filled with despair.
"Damn it! He's a Logia user?!" Vincent's face twisted into a mask of fury and fear. In that moment, his courage failed him. He didn't dare fight Ace.
There was a reason he had been reluctant to continue sailing, choosing instead to play king on these islands. He had encountered a Marine with a Logia power before—a name everyone on the seas knew: the current Admiral, Kizaru.
He had barely escaped with his life that day, while all his crew were captured. The men he had now were all recruited after he fled here, some by force after he killed their previous captains. The memory of that encounter had left him with a deep-seated terror of Logia powers.
"Flame Gun."
Ace extended his arm, fire wreathed around it. The flames stretched out, and Ace's fiery hand shot forward to grab Vincent.
"Machine Gun!"
Vincent thrust his hands forward, his fingers morphing into gun barrels. Sparks flew as a storm of bullets erupted from his fingertips.
Rat-a-tat-tat!!!
But the ordinary bullets passed harmlessly through Ace's fiery body, shattering the bottles on the bar behind him.
Vincent managed to dodge the initial lunge, but Ace's flame-wreathed hand still managed to clamp down on his shoulder.
"It's hot! It burns!" Vincent screamed.
Ace surged forward, his entire body transforming into a raging fireball that slammed into Vincent, blasting the captain clean through the tavern wall and sending the pirates behind him scattering.
"Ace, try to control it! Don't burn the whole town down!" Roy shouted after him.
"No problem!" Ace's voice echoed from within the conflagration.
"Hot! Too hot!" Vincent scrambled out of the flames, parts of his body protruding into multiple gun barrels. He aimed frantically at the fiery mass that was Ace and unleashed another volley.
It was useless. You can't extinguish flames with bullets. Ace rematerialized, slammed into Vincent again to send him flying further down the street, then stretched out his hand.
"Scorching Blast."
BOOM!
Flames detonated inside Vincent's chest. The explosive force hurled him backward through the air, and he crashed to the ground, unmoving. Just like that, the pirate with an 88 million Beri bounty had been dealt with.
"Retreat!" Vincent's men screamed, turning to flee.
Roy materialized in front of them. The pirates skidded to a halt, then drew their weapons and charged him in a panic.
"Earth Dragon Wave."
Roy drew the white sword from his back and made a single, graceful swipe. The tip of the blade kissed the ground.
BOOM!
The earth shattered. The ground where the pirates stood disintegrated, a crater more than fifty meters deep opening up beneath their feet. They tumbled into the pit with a chorus of screams.
This move utilized Roy's Smash-Smash Fruit power, channeled through his swordsmanship. The shockwave released by the strike simply broke the rock beneath them, creating the massive pit.
"Done," Roy said, sheathing his sword.
"Wait, our ship! Our treasure is still on board!" Joseph suddenly cried out.
"Ah! Our treasure!" Ace and Roy shouted in unison. The three of them, along with the rest of the crew, sprinted towards the beach.
They arrived to find their ship surrounded by three large pirate vessels. Men were busy carrying their belongings—including the strongbox—onto the enemy ships.
"Use your fists. Try not to break anything," Roy advised.
"No problem. Wanna see who can take down more?" Ace grinned.
"Loser buys the next round of drinks for the winner," Roy countered.
"Deal." Ace nodded.
The two launched themselves forward. The pirates on the three ships saw them coming and froze for a critical second before realizing the danger.
To speed things up, Ace shot forward on a jet of flame. Roy simply kicked off the ground with immense force, landing squarely on the deck of the nearest ship.
The moment his feet touched the wood, he drove his fist into a pirate, sending the man crashing to the deck. He shifted into a whirlwind of motion, his Observation Haki active, ensuring no enemy on the ship could escape his perception.
He cleared his first ship quickly. Ace had done the same. They leaped onto the third and final ship simultaneously. The pirates aboard this vessel faced a truly hopeless situation, caught between two relentless fighters.
A minute later, Ace and Roy were sitting comfortably on a large pile of unconscious bodies.
Ace grinned. "Eighty-six."
"Sorry," Roy laughed. "Ninety."
"How is that possible?!" Ace exclaimed, his jaw dropping.
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Is the Pacing Bad?
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