A terrifying high temperature clung to Ace's blade. From a distance, the air appeared scorched and distorted by the heat. Upon closer inspection,
the dancing black flames on the blade even burned a tiny black hole in space.
"With this sword strike, I will end your life. Repent for daring to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates, Ochoku: 'Flame Emperor: Gods Punishment'."
The moment the voice fell, Ace's figure vanished from the spot, as if a beam of light had passed through Ochoku's body, leaving only a pitch-black line of fire in the air.
This move was truly too fast, so fast that after Ace finished his move, he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
Only then did a black line appear on Ochoku's neck, whom he had passed through, and raging flames began to boil on his neck.
Ochoku still wanted to counterattack, but it was too late. In his terrified eyes, he saw his own body.
His head lost the support of his neck and fell to the ground. In the final moment before he closed his eyes, he seemed to see the figures of Roger and Whitebeard in Ace.
"The young people of the new era, with their devil fruits, are all monsters. It seems that my era has long since come to an end."
A legend of the Rocks Pirates, the Pirate Patriarch Ochoku, died at the hands of Ace.
The City of Devouring Time swallowed Ochoku's remaining half body, and his Zoan, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Lizard Model Devil Fruit was extracted by Hera.
Kaido and Big Mom's expressions also turned solemn; that strike from Ace just now had made them both sense a hint of crisis.
However, for them, one could fly in the sky and also had the ability to control flames, while the other had ample confidence in her own physical strength.
Ace's slash could kill Ochoku, but it couldn't kill them. However, watching Ace's rise, a sense of crisis also grew in the hearts of Kaido and Big Mom.
Looking at Garp, Hera, and Shanks guarding to the side, Kaido and Big Mom also gave up the idea of delivering a finishing blow. With the three of them here, whoever dared to make the next move would suffer a heavy toll if they didn't die.
Another thought surged in their hearts. Kaido and Big Mom glanced at each other, both seeing through each other's thoughts.
Since Shanks, Ace, and the Marines all had some ambiguous connections, it seemed the two of them needed to further join forces.
The News Coo in the sky returned to the base with the photos taken.
When Morgans saw the photos of Kaido and Big Mom joining forces against Hera and Garp, as well as the photo of Ace killing Ochoku, he directly hugged the News Coo that returned to the base and kissed it twice.
At this moment, his eyes were full of passion for discovering big news, and he even picked up his pen to write the news draft himself.
"Fire Fist Ace kills Pirate Patriarch Ochoku, defending his position as one of the Four Emperors"
"Two of the Four Emperors join forces, intercepted by both Nightmare Admiral Hera and hero of the marines Garp"
As Morgans' news scattered across the world, everyone learned of this news. For the sake of this big news, Morgans even paid out of his own pocket to distribute this newspaper all over the world.
Rayleigh and Luffy, who were training on Amazon Lily, also saw this news. Luffy jumped up happily after seeing it and bragged to Rayleigh:
"See that? My big brother Ace has already become one of the Four Emperors."
A gratified smile also appeared on Rayleigh's face: "Is that so? He grew up so fast."
Luffy looked up at the sky and complained: "How come it hasn't been two years yet? I really want to set sail again soon."
Rayleigh smiled: "Alright, stop complaining. If you want to become the Pirate King, just your 'Fourth Gear' isn't enough. There's still a lot of room for improvement in your devil fruit development and Haki."
Luffy nodded, showing a thoughtful expression. During his devil fruit development, he also felt that he should have another form; 'Fourth Gear' was not his end point.
However, now, if he wanted to reach his peak, he seemed to be missing something.
After Ace killed Ochoku and collapsed, Hera's Aquarius Bullet had already been shot from 'Forging Sky'. Since the duel had been won, Ace would not refuse Hera's help.
Along with the continuous healing of the 'Aquarius Bullet', Ace gradually regained consciousness.
Seeing their plan here had failed, Big Mom and Kaido also left, but the direction Kaido left in was not his own territory; instead, he followed Big Mom to Cake Island.
He was preparing to discuss joining forces with Big Mom.
After Big Mom and Kaido left, Shanks also wanted to leave. Looking at Garp's iron fist, bad memories surged into his heart, reminding him of the days he was chased by Garp after inducing Luffy to become a pirate.
Even though he wasn't afraid of him anymore, even if he could win, being bruised and swollen would look too unsightly.
Besides, his daughter Uta was also here, so he still had to mind his image.
But before leaving, Shanks still said a proper farewell to Uta. During the farewell, Shanks couldn't help but ask: "What is your opinion of Hera?"
Seeing his daughter's face suddenly flush with shyness, Shanks, as an old father, already knew that his daughter had fallen in love.
Shanks' right hand, holding gryphon, bulged with veins: "Hera, you bastard, you already have so many people, are you still not satisfied?"
The guilty Hera beside him turned his head away and started whistling.
Uta quickly tried to dissuade him from the side. Looking at the still-angry Shanks, she threw caution to the wind and said: "I was the one who took the initiative, blame me if you must."
Shanks looked at Uta, who was hugging Hera, and his jaw dropped at her words. He had originally thought his daughter was the passive one, but he hadn't expected his daughter to be the one who took the initiative.
Beckman laughed: "Alright, alright, you can see that Uta's feelings for Hera are sincere, and Hera is also strong enough. Isn't that enough?"
Shanks said through gritted teeth: "I know all that, but looking at Hera, I'm just annoyed. I feel an inexplicable surge of anger in my heart."
Garp looked at Shanks' appearance, and especially after learning that Uta was actually Shanks' daughter, he laughed heartily:
"Hahahaha, you brat, you have your day too. My grandson was lured away by you to be a pirate, and your daughter was lured away to the Marines by my granddaughter, so it's even."
"When I get back, I'll propose to Sengoku to promote your daughter to Marine Vice Admiral too."
Shanks could only helplessly accept the fact that while Hera was taking care of her, he had ended up taking his daughter to bed. And from the looks of it, it was his daughter who had taken the initiative.
He had also heard about what happened on Elegia. After seeing that the people on the island had been pulled back from the alternate space by Hera, he also acknowledged Hera.
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