Bang!

Van Augur, the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates, squared off against a grinning, brown-haired man. With blinding speed, he shouldered his rifle and fired a shot, blowing a hole straight through the man’s stomach.

The cold, detached Augur thought he had finished it, but to his surprise, the man didn’t bleed. Looking closer, he realized the wound’s edges didn’t look like they had been caused by a bullet.

"A Logia?" Augur muttered. He hadn’t mastered Armament Haki yet, a technique far more difficult than simple physical hardening. If his opponent truly was a Logia user, he wouldn’t be able to deal with him.

"No, no," the brown-haired man laughed, flashing a wide, toothy grin. "I’m definitely not a Logia."

Augur replied flatly, "Is that so? Then I can rest easy. I can kill you."

"Heh, you’ve got quite the mouth on you."

On the other side, Sabo was fighting at high speed, taking on both Jesus Burgess and Doc Q at once. He didn’t fall back an inch, proving that his strength as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was no joke.

Meanwhile, Laffitte seemed slightly overwhelmed facing the numerous members of the "Sabo Pirates." Using his Bird-Bird Fruit abilities, he wove through the crowd, launching occasional sneak attacks. While he hadn’t injured many yet, the enemy couldn’t land a hit on him either.

Mm... this is a bit taxing. The Sabo Pirates are stronger than expected, Laffitte thought as his arms transformed into wings.

The Blackbeard Pirates alone would struggle to win this. They would have to rely on the strength of the Golden Hair Pirates.

"Fire Fist!!"

Ace thrust his arm forward, launching a massive column of flame over fifty meters in diameter straight at Teach—his signature move!

"Zehahaha! What a truly powerful ability, Ace!"

Teach praised him even as his left hand swirled with Dark Water, creating a small vortex. When the violent Fire Fist collided with it, the flames were sucked in like a black hole, vanishing into another dimension.

But Ace didn’t stop just because his ability was nullified. After Teach absorbed the fire, he was shocked to find Ace right in front of him. Ace’s hands were coated in Armament Haki, and his fist was inches away from Teach’s fat nose.

"Not bad, Ace!"

Teach’s right hand formed a claw, swinging upward at Ace.

Thud! The strike landed. The one who was faster... was Ace!

A heavy, Haki-clad punch slammed into Teach’s nose. However, Teach didn’t fly back; his feet remained firmly planted on the ground as his upward claw swiped across Ace’s abdomen. But because he was reeling from Ace’s punch and the double-damage effect of the Dark-Dark Fruit, the strike lacked half its usual power.

The first round went slightly in Ace’s favor.

With three claw marks on his stomach, Ace didn’t halt his momentum. He performed a mid-air backflip and brought his index fingers together into a cross-shaped gesture.

"Cross Fire!"

Teach, still struggling with the doubled pain of the Dark-Dark Fruit, was about to be hit when his body suddenly sank into the dark shadows on the ground. He bypassed the flames entirely, shocking his opponent.

"What?"

Using his Observation Haki, Ace immediately leaped away. At that exact moment, a hand surged out from the ground where he had been standing, nearly grabbing his ankle.

Teach’s bloated body rose from the shadows. "Sharp reflexes, Ace. If that had succeeded just now, you would have lost."

Ace narrowed his eyes and suddenly spun his body. "Extinguish: Brahma!"

Flames erupted from Ace, and every part of his body below the neck ignited into a roaring inferno.

"Full elementization? But my Dark-Dark Fruit can nullify all abilities!"

Teach was genuinely surprised that Ace had developed his Logia fruit to this level at such a young age, but it wasn’t enough to reach the level of "fear."

"Dragon Claw!"

Suddenly, a voice reached the ears of the two combatants, followed immediately by a scream of agony from Burgess.

The two glanced sideways to see Burgess coughing up blood under Sabo’s Dragon Claw attack, crashing violently into a nearby Yarukiman Mangrove. He was out of the fight!

Doc Q was also pinned down by another man and couldn’t break free.

How pathetic, Burgess, Teach thought, while simultaneously acknowledging Sabo’s prowess. But he truly is a man worthy of the title of Warlord.

"Nice work, Sabo!" Ace shouted, clenching his fist.

"I’m here to help, Ace!" Sabo offered a grin, swinging his metal pipe as he charged toward them.

Teach’s face darkened. The gap between him and Ace was already small; with Sabo added to the mix, there was no way he could win.

"Biken: Blue Bird!!"

Suddenly, a silver flash of sword-light sliced through the air. Sabo, relying on his excellent reflexes, quickly blocked with his pipe.

As their strengths locked, Sabo finally saw his opponent’s face. He gasped, "No. 3 of the Golden Hair Pirates... Cavendish?"

Cavendish, his veins throbbing at his temples, barked back, "Who’s Number 3?! Sooner or later, I’ll take the top spot and rename the Golden Hair Pirates to the Beautiful Pirates!"

With a surge of strength, Cavendish pushed back. Sabo didn’t meet him with brute force; instead, he yielded and retreated, putting ten meters of distance between them.

"Don’t ever mention that disgusting pirate name in front of me again."

A massive, intimidating presence loomed, causing everyone to turn. Dozens of men were marching toward them, sending a chill through Sabo’s group.

"What is a main force crew of a Yonko doing here?" Sabo asked, tightening his grip on his pipe. He thought bringing an elite Revolutionary Army squad would be enough to handle Blackbeard, but the reinforcements were far more troublesome.

"My apologies, Portgas D. Ace," Ivalis said, slowly drawing his saber with an expressionless face. "Though we have no personal grudge, for the sake of our plan, please allow yourself to be captured."

Ace didn’t know the reason behind it, but those words confirmed their status as enemies.

"Pirates are enemies by nature anyway."

Ace didn’t scream about "cowardly ambushes." He understood the rules of the sea. Being stabbed in the back wasn’t about "cowardice"; if you were hit, you only had your own negligence to blame.

"Good. You have resolve." Ivalis held his blade before him, the steel reflecting his icy gaze. "I’ll make sure it isn’t too painful."

Nearby, on a branch of a Yarukiman Mangrove hidden in the shadows of the leaves, Alucard’s body slowly emerged. He chuckled softly. "Now then... how long can you hold out? Son of Roger..."

———————

Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]