Chapter 414: The Sun
Vegapunk held the ring with both hands. It shimmered with spiraling patterns of light. He cradled it as if holding a masterpiece that transcended eras, a smug expression on his face.
"This ring—is no ordinary creation."
He deliberately kept them in suspense, his voice gradually dropping low before suddenly spiking:
"It is a fusion of—two 'Heat-Heat Fruits'!"
As his words fell, the air instantly froze.
"What?!"
Ace took a sudden step forward. The flames on his chest erupted with a loud boom. The blistering heat distorted the space around him, as if even the air itself was combusting.
"Two?!" His voice was filled with sheer disbelief. "Didn't Big Brother Roy only give you one?!!"
Vegapunk's long tongue lolled about, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes as he glanced at Roy.
"You didn't tell him?"
A smile surfaced on Roy's lips. He reached out and took the ring, the fiery light reflecting off his sharp, handsome features.
"Charlotte Oven's fruit, strictly speaking, should actually be called the [Scorch-Scorch Fruit]."
"Its ability is to raise temperatures and bake things, with an upper limit of only a few hundred degrees. It can transfer heat to any object it touches, instantly superheating it. When the user heats themselves, simply touching enemies can inflict severe burns. It can even transfer heat into the ocean, boiling large swaths of the sea, cooking Sea Kings alive, and causing ships to disintegrate from the sheer temperature... It can also scorch enemies from a distance."
"But when it comes down to it, this fruit's capabilities are mostly supportive."
Roy tossed the ring into his palm. The fiery luster flowed through the metallic grooves as he slowly walked toward Ace.
"The other one—is the true, definitive [Heat-Heat Fruit]."
As his words settled, the air pressure in the laboratory abruptly plummeted, becoming so heavy it suffocated the lungs.
Vegapunk's six satellites collectively froze, their gazes drawn over involuntarily.
"Consuming this fruit allows the user to arbitrarily alter their own body temperature, ranging from one degree to ten thousand degrees."
"They can walk across a sub-zero, freezing sea as if on flat ground, and stand upon molten lava completely unscathed."
"Anything they touch can be melted or evaporated. They can even swallow magma as if drinking water."
With every word he spoke, the temperature in the laboratory steadily climbed.
The cold metal walls began to vibrate faintly. The casings of the equipment groaned, and even the main body of Vegapunk reached up to tug at his collar, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Roy stopped in his tracks. Meeting Ace's gaze—which looked ready to ignite everything in its path—he solemnly handed the ring over.
"Ace—I'm looking forward to the birth of the true 'Flame Emperor'."
"BOOM—!!!"
The moment the ring touched his palm, crimson flames erupted like a spewing volcano! The fire soared into the sky, bursting straight through the laboratory ceiling. It was blindingly bright, instantly dyeing the sky above all of Punk Hazard a brilliant crimson-gold.
That blistering radiance felt like the descent of a new sun. Even the Sea Kings far out in the open ocean surfaced in panic due to the surging temperatures.
Vegapunk's satellites retreated in unison, absolute shock written across their faces. The equipment blared with ear-piercing alarms, several glass containers shattered with loud pops, and white steam churned within the inferno.
In the dead center of the blazing flames, Ace's eyes were fiercely bright. Fire burned wildly in his pupils as he spoke with a deep, unwavering voice:
"Big Brother Roy... I definitely won't let you down!!!"
Roy watched him quietly, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly as a faint smile surfaced on his lips.
"Ace... I've always believed in you."
His voice was very soft, yet it branded itself deeply into the very bottom of Ace's heart.
After receiving the ring, Ace was itching to test its effects immediately. Roy looked toward Vegapunk, who wiped his sweat and grinned. "I already prepared a place for you guys~"
Spatial fluctuations enveloped Ace and Vegapunk. The moment their feet touched the ground again, a gargantuan training ground resembling a volcanic crater appeared before them.
The rock walls were completely crimson, magma rolling in the depths below, and incredibly dense waves of heat floated through the air.
Vegapunk's six satellites were already in position at the control consoles. Protective shields hummed to life, ready to withstand ultra-high temperature impacts at a moment's notice.
Ace's eyes burned with the fire of excitement. Unable to wait any longer, he slipped the ring onto his right index finger.
Click—!
The ring instantly lit up with spiraling patterns of light. Crimson flames violently exploded from his entire body, the scorching aura whipping up a fierce gale.
"Phew—!" Ace exhaled, and the air instantly distorted.
The ring gleamed with a red light as the temperature instantly spiked to—one thousand degrees!
The ground beneath his feet sizzled. The hard rock was instantly reduced to flowing magma.
"Hiken (Fire Fist)—!!!"
He threw a punch, and a column of flames blasted outward.
The moment the 1,500-degree fireball slammed into the steel target tower, its structural keel melted into boiling molten iron, splattering all over the ground.
Ace tilted his head back and laughed wildly. Fueled by his manic excitement, the flames burned fiercer and fiercer.
—Two thousand degrees!
The color of the fire abruptly shifted to a blinding yellow-white. The very breath he exhaled was enough to sublimate rock directly into white mist.
A spear of flame tore through the air, piercing through dozens of meters of thick granite wall and leaving behind a jagged, gaping hole.
The luminous patterns on the ring spun frantically, as if crying out for even higher temperatures.
—Three thousand degrees!
The air suddenly ionized. The flames carried thunderous, explosive cracks. The entire training ground seemed to plunge into a thunderstorm. Howling winds whipped up the plasmic inferno, dyeing the domed ceiling as bright as day.
"This is too exaggerated! He can actually enter a plasmic flame state!!!"
Vegapunk's eyes went wide. His six satellites desperately reinforced the energy shields, yet they were still sweating profusely under the oppressive heat.
—Five thousand degrees!
A blindingly bright, golden-white pillar of fire shot into the sky! Ace was engulfed in churning flames, looking exactly like a walking sun!
Within a hundred-meter radius, the stone walls spontaneously combusted. The tough alloy flooring softened and caved in at a visible rate. The air was burned white, making the scene look like the end of the world.
The thick energy shields hissed violently. The energy panels flashed with frantic red warning lights. The six satellites operated the consoles anxiously, but were still forced to retreat under the blistering heat.
Ace's eyes were blazing. Roaring at the heavens, the flames coalesced into a miniature sun, so hot that even space itself was warping!
"Dai Enkai (Great Flame Command)—!!!"
In the next moment, it looked as if absolutely everything was going to be incinerated to ashes!
—Right at that moment.
"Enough."
A voice as deep as thunder pierced through the roaring flames.
Roy's silhouette quietly appeared dead center in the inferno. Black-red spatial ripples instantly expanded outward, forcibly compressing and swallowing the nearly out-of-control 5,000-degree flames, reducing them to absolute nothingness.
"Whoosh—!!"
The extreme heat abruptly receded. The air in the training ground felt as if it had been vacuumed out, plunging the area into dead silence.
Ace panted heavily, his chest heaving violently, but his eyes were still manic with excitement. Fire continued to burn fiercely within his pupils.
His ring-bearing hand trembled, the flames in his palm still refusing to extinguish.
"Big Brother Roy!!!"
"This is the power I've always been searching for! I will definitely use it... to become the true Flame Emperor!!!"
Roy stared at him, his gaze profound, his voice dropping low: "Ace, you must remember—"
"The light of the sun can illuminate all of creation, but it can also incinerate everything."
Ace's body jolted, and the blazing flames gradually receded.
He lowered his head, staying silent for a long time before speaking hoarsely, "I... got carried away."
He slowly loosened his tightly clenched fists. The roaring flames scattered into sparse sparks, and the breathing in his chest gradually stabilized.
When he raised his head again, his eyes no longer held just blind fanaticism; there was now an added layer of calm and introspection.
"I almost... destroyed this place. If we were on a battlefield, I might have dragged my comrades into it too."
He looked at Roy, his voice resolute: "I will calm my heart and properly develop this power. I won't let it swallow me, nor will I let it mistakenly harm the innocent."
The fiery light gradually faded, and the air began to flow once more.
Ace's figure remained scalding hot, but it was no longer pure, unrestrained frenzy. Instead, it was slowly condensing into a flame capable of illuminating the future.
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