Ryu stood aside, watching as Smoker and Ace engaged in battle, showing no intention of stepping in. Instead, he observed Tashigi, who was directing the marines to surround the battlefield, with an eager desire to join the fight.
"You'd better not jump in. A Logia battle isn't something you can intervene in right now!" Ryu suddenly appeared beside Tashigi and whispered.
"Then why aren't you going?" Tashigi replied.
Ryu sighed and said, "I'm also not a Haki or a Devil Fruit user, so I don't really have a way to deal with them!"
Yes, just moments ago, Ryu had accidentally revealed his thoughts—he had been considering how to defeat both Smoker and Ace together.
Normally, that would be impossible, but given that they had been fighting for a while, their stamina would be quite depleted. Moreover, the port was not far away. If he could force both of them to the edge of the port, all he needed to do was deliver one decisive blow to send them into the sea, and he could claim victory over both. With their experience, it was likely Ace even had a bounty on him, making it quite a lucrative endeavor!
"I'm not refusing to go; it's just that I can't do anything right now. I can only think of ways to push them toward the seaside and hope that Captain Smoker can knock Ace into the sea. Then we'll have a sure win!" Ryu shrugged and suggested to Tashigi.
Tashigi glanced towards the naval base, seemingly calculating when the soldier would return with the Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs.
"Alright, I'll have the soldiers on that side withdraw. You go help Captain Smoker drive Ace toward the port!" Tashigi quickly made her decision.
"Okay, but let's be clear: Ace is the one that old man Garp specifically requested. You can't harm him, and when Garp arrives, I must be the one to hand Ace over!" Ryu said directly to Tashigi.
It was clear that he wouldn't step in unless they agreed to his terms.
Tashigi thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Don't worry. As long as you really hand him over to Vice Admiral Garp, I believe even Captain Smoker won't have any objections!"
"Great! Then you withdraw those marines, and I'll attack from this side, trying to steer the battlefield toward the port," Ryu said, nodding happily and joining the battle.
Sure enough, with Ryu's involvement, the pressure on Ace increased significantly. He was still getting accustomed to the power of his Devil Fruit, and even though Ryu's attacks, for some reason, didn't seem threatening, they still forced Ace to divert much of his attention to defend against Ryu.
As for Smoker, he quickly grasped Ryu's intention and coordinated with him to slowly draw the battlefield toward the port.
Ace, having just acquired his powers, didn't yet understand the taboos of being a Devil Fruit user as well as Smoker did. Unknowingly, he fell into their trap.
"How's it going, Ace? You starting to get the hang of your fruit's abilities?" Ryu said as the three of them reached the edge of the port, just a few meters from the sea. He paused and smiled.
"Hehe," Ace chuckled lightly. He had been planning to escape since his stamina was dwindling, and he suspected that the soldiers who went to fetch the Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs wouldn't be far behind.
Smoker took a puff from his cigar, glancing between Ryu and Ace. He was uncertain about their relationship and didn't know if they were acting together to draw him to the port with the intent to take him down.
Noticing Smoker's reaction, Ryu quickly realized the situation. He jumped out of the fighting circle and blocked Ace's escape route, saying, "Captain Smoker, I know you're wary of me. Here's what we can do: I'll block Ace's escape while you fight him. How does that sound?"
"Hey, you're really determined to drag me off to meet that old man!" Ace realized that with Ryu blocking his way, he had no choice but to fight with everything he had.
"Okay!" Smoker replied, blowing a few smoke rings as he nodded. He transformed into smoke again and charged at Ace.
Ace couldn't afford to be careless either. He turned into flames and engaged Smoker in battle.
After just a brief exchange, Ace had significantly improved his mastery over the Flame-Flame Fruit. Watching from the sidelines, Ryu felt it was quite unfair. He reflected on his own experiences, having spent countless days and nights just to master basic skills, while these two-dimensional characters seemed to excel effortlessly!
However, after what had just occurred, Ace realized Ryu and Smoker's plan. Even though Smoker was starting to gain the upper hand, he couldn't force Ace into the water without risking counterattacks from Ace and having to watch out for Ryu as well.
"Here they come!" The soldiers who had gone to retrieve the Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs appeared at the street corner, causing Ryu and the other two to tense up simultaneously.
Ace concentrated his strength, trying to push Smoker away to buy himself some time to escape. Smoker was also fully committed, wrapping around Ace to give him no chance to resist. Meanwhile, Ryu, who had been waiting for an opportunity, gathered his internal energy into his legs and dashed towards the two.
"Oh no, Ryu, you jerk!" Ace immediately guessed Ryu's intentions upon seeing him closing in.
As Ryu's fist was about to connect, both Smoker and Ace instinctively transformed their bodies into their elemental forms. However, what they didn't expect was that Ryu's punch would completely ignore their elemental forms and strike their physical bodies directly.
"Bang! Boom!"
"Splash! Splash!"
Ryu felt the surge of energy coursing through him after delivering a powerful double punch, splitting his internal energy into two and directing it into each fist. The strong impact sent both Smoker and Ace plummeting into the sea.
The sudden turn of events caught Smoker off guard, leaving the marines present in a state of confusion.
"Ryu-kun! What are you doing?" Tashigi rushed forward, drawing her sword and confronting him.
"If I didn't do this, how could I be sure to hit Ace? Besides, with you all here, Captain Smoker will be fine, right?" Ryu replied with a mysterious smile.
Just as he had anticipated, after falling into the ocean, it didn't take long for both to lose consciousness. He received a prompt from the system, notifying him of the hefty experience gained, which raised his level to ten. However, this wasn't the time to celebrate.
"Get someone to immediately rescue Captain Smoker and Pirate Ace!" Tashigi glared at Ryu, slowly retracting her sword, Shigure, a fine blade among the 50 known as Meito Shigure.
Before long, the marines managed to fish Ace and Smoker out of the water. It was as if they were characters from a two-dimensional world; they regained consciousness shortly after surfacing. However, both were left weak and powerless from the seawater immersion, especially Ace, who had just acquired his powers and had fought fiercely against Smoker. Though he was awake, he lay on the ground, unable to move.
"Click!" Ryu laughed as he cuffed Ace with the Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs.
"Don't worry, I won't really capture you. Just agree to meet the old man with me, and I'll help you escape later!" Ryu whispered to Ace while fastening the handcuffs.
Ace's expression shifted slightly, but knowing this wasn't the right time to talk, he simply gave Ryu a deep look before being led away by the marines.
"Did you just use Haki?" Smoker, recovering a bit, lit another cigar and asked Ryu.
Ryu shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, who knows? Maybe I did? But it doesn't really concern you!"
He didn't want to elaborate on this with Smoker, who was also a Logia user. He certainly wasn't going to reveal that he only had the strength for one hit.
"When Vice Admiral Garp comes to Loguetown, I'll hand Ace over to you, but he must be imprisoned at the naval base for now!" Smoker said slowly, taking a puff from his cigar.
"Sure, as long as I get to hand over Ace. I won't interfere otherwise. After all, I'm a bounty hunter, and I'll likely have to deal with the marines a lot in the future. I hope you'll take care of me, Captain!" Ryu felt elated, not only because he had reached level ten but also because Ace's situation had turned out optimistically.
Afterward, Smoker led the marines back to the marine base while Ryu returned to the inn alone. He hadn't had a chance to carefully examine what he had gained from leveling up, and he hoped for a chance to receive a skill book for an advanced internal cultivation technique. That way, he could finally start training in the Zixia Divine Skill he had in his backpack.
"Congratulations, host! You have defeated the pirate Portgas D. Ace and gained 700 experience points and 500 diamonds."
"Congratulations, host! You have defeated the Marine Captain Smoker and gained 800 experience points."
"Congratulations, host! Your level has increased. You have received 5 free attribute points and 1 skill point."
"Congratulations, host! You have completed the main quest and gained 500 experience points, 500 diamonds, and 5000 berries, plus one intermediate skill book!"
"Main quest has changed. Please check on your own!"
Indeed, he had obtained an intermediate skill book. Although it was just one and randomly offered one among body tempering, movement, or meditation skills, defeating Ace had granted him 500 diamonds, bringing his total to a thousand. Even if he didn't draw a skill book for an advanced technique, he could still purchase one from the shop.
After his shower and getting dressed, Ryu, with a sacred expression, opened the intermediate basic skill book:
"You have used the intermediate skill book. You have obtained one intermediate body tempering skill book. It has been detected that your beginner body tempering skill can now be advanced. Would you like to use the intermediate body tempering skill book?"
........
Started editing the chapters now ^^
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