Chapter 48: The 'Lizard King', Hanafuda!
"Hiss... That hurts..."
"Hey, hey... The Piece of Spadille... you're kidding, right?"
"That Marine... who is he?"
Chaos reigned on the Piece of Spadille.
The wounded crew members had almost all been slammed onto the deck. They were lucky that they hadn't been killed outright by that strike.
But luck or not, many of their wounds had reopened, and they were groaning in pain.
The few who could still move stared in horror at the figure on the distant warship, slowly retracting his fist.
That figure seemed as insurmountable as a mountain.
They had encountered many Marines on their journey to the Grand Line, some of whom were considered 'strong.'
But... parting the sea with one punch? Shattering Captain Ace's wall of fire? Wiping everything off the deck of the Spadille with a single blow?
They had never even imagined such a thing.
"Wait... where's Captain Ace?"
One crew member's question snapped everyone back to reality.
"Yeah! Captain Ace... could he have been hit by that..."
"Impossible! That's Captain Ace!"
Panic set in as they realized their captain was missing.
But then...
CRACK! CRACK!
The sound of breaking wood.
And then...
FWOOSH!
Amidst a burst of flames, Ace stood up from the ruins of the rear cabin.
"Captain Ace!"
"I knew the Captain would be fine!"
The crew cheered. To them, who had followed Ace this far, he was the embodiment of 'invincibility.' As long as the Captain was there, they wouldn't lose.
But a moment later, they realized something was wrong.
Ace was injured.
Bruises covered his abdomen and arms. Blood trickled from his forehead. Even his orange hat had fallen off.
The Spade Pirates were horrified.
Just one hit, and their captain was hurt like this? Even when facing a Warlord, he hadn't taken damage like this from a single blow.
"Ace!?"
Deuce rushed to Ace's side, concern etched on his face. "Let me treat your wounds."
"Thanks, Deuce."
Ace thanked him, but his eyes remained fixed on the distant warship. "Sorry. I couldn't stop it... That guy's attack was monstrous. I'm just glad everyone's okay."
There was a hint of fear in his voice.
In that exchange, he had given up the chance to dodge via elementalization and chose to tank the hit with his ability.
But clearly, he had overestimated himself—and underestimated Roy.
Even with his full power, his fire had failed to stop the attack completely, and he had paid the price.
"That Marine... Roy Amos. Never heard of him."
Ace stared at the name on the sail, doubting himself.
If that punch had come from an Admiral or a famous Vice Admiral, fine.
But he had never heard this name.
"How can a guy like that be unknown on this sea?"
He didn't understand.
But clearly, it didn't matter.
"It's fine. No matter who the opponent is..."
After a quick patch-up, Ace stood up. "I will win."
Only by winning could he surpass that man—his biological father.
But just as Ace was preparing to fight again...
"Ace!"
Deuce stopped him.
"Captain!"
The masked first mate looked at his captain seriously.
"We can't fight anymore."
He said grimly. "Hanafuda is still chasing us... We have to run!"
Run?
Ace paused.
As a Supernova, as a man aiming to be the Pirate King...
He didn't fear fighting any strong opponent. He was confident he could beat anyone. He lived freely, doing as he pleased, fearing nothing.
But now...
"..."
Looking at his bandaged crewmates, seeing the blood seeping from their wounds...
Ace hesitated briefly, then let out a long breath.
"...Okay."
He nodded.
He understood Deuce.
If they continued to fight this terrifying Marine here, it would take time.
And don't forget—there was a Warlord hot on their heels.
If a real battle broke out, victory aside, many of his crew would die.
And clearly...
Ace couldn't accept that.
He wanted to surpass his father. He wanted to prove his existence had value.
But if the price was the lives of his precious crewmates...
"We run!"
Ace stood up.
Normally, escaping with three broken masts would be impossible.
But not for the Piece of Spadille.
Ace walked to a specific spot on the deck and stomped hard.
Two openings appeared in the deck, connecting to pipes below.
CLICK! CLACK!
With the sound of gears shifting, two massive exhaust ports extended from the rear of the ship.
Then...
FWOOSH!
Flames erupted from Ace's feet.
The fire traveled down the pipes and blasted out of the exhaust ports.
In an instant, the Piece of Spadille shot forward like a rocket, speeding away!
"A ship powered by an ability?"
Meanwhile, Roy watched the fleeing ship.
He wasn't surprised. In the future, Ace would have a personal striker boat powered by his fire. This ship was likely the predecessor to that concept.
He didn't really care about them escaping.
"..."
Roy just clenched his fist, excitement in his eyes.
He was satisfied with that punch.
The Daibutsu Fruit, a Mythical Zoan used by the Fleet Admiral himself, was terrifyingly powerful even at LV3.
And that wasn't even its full power. If he didn't have to worry about his cover, he could transform into the giant Buddha itself, and the power would be even greater!
But for Roy, that wasn't the most exciting part.
"Even with a strike like that, the stamina drain was small... No... the drain wasn't small. I've just gotten stronger."
That was what excited him.
It was the result of his hard training.
Zephyr's 'Black Body Style' was incredibly significant for him.
Although Roy's base stats came from equipping fruits, the training he did was real.
The muscle and stamina gains he made through training were retained to a certain degree even after he switched fruits.
To use a game analogy: Roy used fruit abilities to boost his stats by 100 points, allowing him to clear the '5,000-meter deep sea current' training stage. Each clear permanently increased his base stats by 5 points.
Even if he unequipped the fruits and lost the 100 points, the 5 points from training remained.
For Roy, whose base strength wasn't originally outstanding, this improvement... was massive!
In just one month, his physique and strength had increased significantly, and his control over his abilities had become much finer.
This was the power of a strong foundation boosting fruit abilities.
"...With this, I can definitely try those two moves."
Muttering to himself, Roy turned around. "Hans, Fal, prepare to pur..."
His voice died in his throat.
Because when he turned, he saw a sea of slack-jawed faces.
The Detention Unit Marines were still frozen in shock from that punch.
"..."
Roy sighed.
Forget it. Can't count on these guys.
He turned back to the railing.
VMMM!
Powerful fluctuations gathered in his hand again.
But just then...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He heard a series of loud explosions from behind.
Cannon fire.
The next moment, Roy saw shell after shell flying past, landing in the water near the fleeing Spadille, kicking up massive geysers.
Before Roy could even react...
BOOM!
His own warship shook violently as a massive explosion erupted near the stern.
Only then...
Did Roy see the fleet appearing on the horizon behind them.
The fleet wasn't large—only seven ships.
But they were massive. A Marine warship was considered large, but compared to these behemoths, it looked like a toy, barely a third of their size.
All seven ships were identical—hulls shaped like dinosaurs, sails made of pterosaur wing membranes.
And on their masts flew the same Jolly Roger.
A skull with a protruding jaw, like a T-Rex.
And standing on the prow of the lead ship was a figure that confirmed the fleet's identity.
He wore a black hooded coat, the hood shaped like a dinosaur head.
In his hand, he held a weapon—a scythe on one end, a flail on the other.
It was none other than the Warlord of the Sea...
"'Lizard King' Hanafuda!"
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