"Eh? What's this?" Ace said to himself, surprised, as he held an orange-yellow fruit with spiral patterns.
Ace thought hard for a moment. It seemed he had only been on this island for less than two days. First, he visited the execution platform where the Pirate King, Roger, was executed, and then he started to rest.
Right, he had met that strange guy named Ryu at the restaurant while eating. That guy had handcuffed him to take him to see the old man, showing no brotherly compassion whatsoever.
Thinking of this, Ace, somewhat angrily, took a bite of the fruit in his hand.
"Ugh~~ Does this taste like poop?" Ace grimaced, looking at the disgusting fruit. He had no idea how it ended up in his hands. It seemed like he had bumped into someone while escaping, and this fruit just appeared in his embrace.
"That bastard!" Ryu, who had been trailing Ace, witnessed the whole process of Ace acquiring the Flame-Flame Fruit and eating it. He could only say, he really is a family of Luffy. The protagonist's aura was shining even here.
Just now, he had clearly seen a merchant sneakily coming out from a small alley, only to be bumped into by the fleeing Ace. As a result, the Flame-Flame Fruit ended up in Ace's hands. The unfortunate merchant fell to the ground, and Ryu didn't hesitate to step right over him.
The chef and restaurant staff who were chasing after them followed suit, stepping over the merchant as well. Ryu guessed that the man would be seriously injured, if not dead.
"I say, could you stop chasing me?" Ace shouted back at Ryu while running.
"If you stop running, I won't chase you!" Ryu gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Then never mind, you can keep chasing!" Ace shrugged and replied.
He knew that even if Ryu was physically fit, there was still quite a gap between them.
"That bastard!" Seeing that the pursuers behind them were gradually falling behind, Ryu didn't waste any more time. He channeled his inner strength into his legs and swiftly closed the distance toward Ace.
"You're cheating!" Ace shouted as he saw Ryu rapidly approaching him.
Ryu didn't have time to respond; he threw a punch at Ace's head from behind.
"Eh~?" Ace stopped, surprised to see Ryu's fist passing through his body.
"Idiot, didn't you realize that you just ate a Devil Fruit?" Ryu said helplessly.
"You mean that fruit that tasted like poop?" Ace pondered for a moment before asking.
Ryu had no choice but to explain the concept of Devil Fruits to Ace, making sure this idiot wouldn't accidentally drown if he fell into the sea.
While he was talking to Ace, Smoker's warship had already returned to the harbor and coincidentally encountered the group of chefs chasing after Ace and Ryu.
"Go find out what's going on!" Smoker said, holding two cigars in his mouth, directing his subordinate, Tashigi.
"Yes, Captain!" Tashigi saluted and went to gather information.
Soon, she returned to report to Smoker, "According to everyone's descriptions, one of them should be the rookie pirate Portgas D. Ace. The identity of the other person is unclear but is likely Ace's companion!"
"Portgas D. Ace? Interesting guy. Let's go take a look!" Smoker said, focusing on the direction where Ace and Ryu had fled.
"So, does that mean I can never swim again? Well~~ forget it, but this ability is really cool!" Ace said with a smile, using his elemental transformation to free his hands from the handcuffs.
"Don't be too careless. Now that you've become a user of a rare Logia-type fruit, there are many things that can counter you, like Sea-Prism Stone! Besides, only when you're truly strong is when you're genuinely powerful. Devil Fruits are still external things!" Ryu said solemnly.
"Don't worry, I know what to do! By the way, aren't you going to capture me to see the old man?" Ace replied nonchalantly.
"You're already a Logia user now. Given my current strength, I'm probably not your match anymore. That's why the Logia-type Devil Fruits are said to be invincible in the early stages!" Ryu shook his head.
"Ha ha, as expected of my good brother. Let's celebrate our reunion with a feast!" Ace laughed heartily.
"Throwing a feast is fine, but let me first test just how powerful your Logia really is! I have some guesses I need to confirm!" Ryu smiled slightly, shaking his head.
"What's going on?" Ace asked as he saw Ryu's hand pass through his body, but he sensed that Ryu's previous attack seemed to be able to affect his actual body.
"This is what I want to tell you. Although Logia types are invincible in the early stages, there are still things that can counter them, namely Haki!" Ryu said. He had infused a trace of internal strength into his previous attack. Although he hadn't completely captured Ace's true body, it proved that inner strength was effective against Logia types.
"Did you just use Haki?" Ace asked curiously.
Ryu shook his head and said, "No, what I used isn't Haki; it's our family's internal strength! Your grandpa, Vice Admiral Garp, is the master of Haki!"
"No wonder Luffy, being a rubber man, gets beaten around by that old man every time!" Ace said in sudden realization.
"Let's go, since things are settled, we should go have a drink!" Ryu said with a slight smile.
But just as the two were about to leave, a voice rang out, "You two might not be going anywhere!"
"Smoker?" Ryu turned around to see a burly man with silver hair, holding two cigars, surrounded by a group of navy soldiers.
"Oh? You actually know me?" Smoker looked at Ryu, somewhat surprised.
"I'm a bounty hunter, not a pirate. The marines on this island know that, so don't confuse me with him!" Ryu suddenly thought of something and distanced himself from Ace.
"Eh? No way? Ryu, aren't we partners?" Ace asked incredulously, his expression one of disbelief.
"Cough~ Ace, you have to understand, they're the navy. They definitely have Sea-Prism Stone to imprison Devil Fruit users in the prison. If I cooperate with Captain Smoker to catch you, then the impossible mission becomes possible!" Ryu coughed lightly and said with malicious intent to Ace.
"What's going on? Are you going to turn on each other? Even so, neither of you can get away after causing such a huge disturbance in town!" Tashigi said seriously, adjusting her glasses.
"Hey, little girl, watch your words. I'm not a pirate!" Ryu shot a glance at Tashigi and said.
"Ah haha, Ryu! Look, the Marine thinks of you as my partner now. Come join my crew as my companion!" Ace said enthusiastically as he linked arms with Ryu.
Ryu's face darkened, ignoring Ace as he turned directly to Smoker, "I made a deal with Vice Admiral Garp to capture Ace and take him to see him!"
"Vice Admiral Garp?" Smoker paused, momentarily caught off guard.
"Yes, I ran into Vice Admiral Garp while he was on vacation, and we agreed to meet in Loguetown, where I'll bring Ace to see him!" Ryu nodded.
Smoker pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright, I'll help you catch Ace!"
The reason Smoker trusted Ryu was that he knew Vice Admiral Garp returned to the East Blue for vacations periodically. Although this was not a secret at Marine Headquarters, very few people in the East Blue were aware of it, which led him to trust Ryu.
"Ace just ate a Logia-type Devil Fruit, so do you have Sea-Prism Stones?" Ryu asked, taking a fighting stance as he faced Ace and then turned to Smoker.
"No, although we have Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs at the base, we just returned from an external mission. I'll have someone fetch them right away!" Smoker said, signaling a marine to go get the handcuffs.
"Hey, Ryu, are you really going to do this?" Ace asked seriously as he saw Ryu assume a combat stance.
"Unless you agree to come meet Vice Admiral Garp with me, I'll have to take you down!" Ryu said with a smile.
"I absolutely refuse to meet that old man!" Ace said, looking very displeased.
"Then let's see what you've got!" Ryu said, launching himself at Ace.
"Haha, you're no match for me!" Ace said, dodging Ryu's attack while feeling rather cocky.
"Hmph! Tashigi, surround them and prevent their escape!" Smoker ordered as his lower body transformed into smoke, for he was also a Logia user of the Smoke-Smile Fruit.
"White Snake!" Smoker's arm morphed into a smoke-like white snake, quickly wrapping around Ace.
"Hmph~ You're not all that!" Smoker said disdainfully to Ace as his technique took effect.
"Is that so?" Ace chuckled and slowly turned into flames, breaking free from Smoker's grasp.
"Are you an idiot? Didn't I just tell you that he's also a Logia user?" Ryu said, jumping back in frustration at Smoker's oversight.
The battle between the two Logia users left Ryu feeling like an outsider who couldn't intervene.
"Hmph~ I don't need your advice on how to fight!" Smoker retorted, somewhat irritated.
"Fine, if you think you can handle it, go ahead!" Ryu said, feeling a bit angry as well. It was just as well that they burned off some energy first. From what he knew, even Logia users needed physical stamina.
Smoker didn't mind, allowing Ryu to watch from the sidelines as he and Ace fought fiercely. Ace, having just acquired his powers, was still getting used to them. Even though he was being overwhelmed by Smoker's attacks, having a Logia user like Smoker to spar with was a valuable opportunity for him.
........
Started editing the chapters now ^^
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