"One day, I'll be able to take it head-on," Luffy said firmly.
"Not bad. You've got spirit. By the way, you should know my rules, right?"
"What rules?"
"The ransom, of course!"
"I don't have any!"
"You're still as confident as ever. But if there's no ransom, that's a real shame. You know what happens then," kane said directly.
Luffy and the others' expressions changed drastically.
Because they knew very well that they were no match for kane at all.
Nami and the others, however, were still a little confused.
"What rules?"
"Miss Nami, that detestable old Marine loves money. As long as we hand over a ransom worth twice our actual bounties, he'll let us go," Sanji explained.
Nami and Vivi were stunned.
But Nami quickly understood.
Because the kane in her memory really was exactly that kind of person.
"How can that damned old man do something like this? Does he even have any Marine justice left in his heart?" Smoker said angrily.
Because he had heard what Sanji said.
As long as there was ransom money, they would be let go. How could a righteous Marine behave like that? What kind of joke was this?
"But among us, only one person has a bounty right now, right?" Nami suddenly said.
Everyone froze, then turned their eyes toward Luffy.
Up to now, he was the only one in the entire crew with a bounty.
"Why are you looking at me? I don't have any money!" Luffy said directly.
"No money? Then there's no helping it."
"Hold it right there. There's no way I'd just stand by and watch my troublesome little brother get taken away by the Marines!"
Luffy immediately lit up.
"Ace!"
"Oh? So you're going to help this brat pay, then?"
"As if! I'm a pirate. Have you ever seen a pirate pay money to the Marines?"
"Is that so?" A smile also appeared on kane's face.
Ace's gaze toward kane turned grave. The Marine in front of him was very strong, but there was no way he could just watch his little brother get dragged away.
"But aren't you forgetting one thing?"
"What thing?"
"You're a pirate too. You're also within this old man's hunting range."
"I see. Looks like we can have some fun, then."
"Fun? I guarantee you'll have a very good time."
"Luffy, take the others and get out of here. I'm enough to handle this place alone. I'll catch up to you afterward."
"You really don't take this old man seriously at all. Shave!"
kane vanished from where he stood.
A fist wrapped in Haki appeared in front of Ace in an instant.
Ace reacted quickly.
"Flame Mirror."
He swung his right hand upward.
Powerful flames instantly formed a wall of fire, blocking kane's attack.
But in the very next moment, kane's right hand directly transformed into a dragon claw.
Even fiercer flames rose into the air.
"Fire Dragon's Hook Claw!"
The powerful dragon claw tore straight through Ace's flaming defense.
Ace had not expected such a thing at all.
He immediately turned into fire and retreated backward.
"Sacred Fire: Unknown Flame!"
As he retreated, Ace brought both hands together. Powerful flames burst from his hands and shot straight toward kane.
Seeing this, kane revealed a trace of disdain.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A powerful spiral of flames formed in kane's mouth.
The moment the two attacks collided, kane's roar completely crushed Ace's attack.
Sensing the danger in kane's roaring flames, Ace immediately dodged.
The powerful blast scraped past his body.
Ace could even feel the destructive aura coming from it.
The roar passed through Ace and struck a distant sand dune.
A tremendous explosion rang out.
When everything finally calmed down, everyone was dumbstruck yet again.
Because the distant sand dune had vanished completely, leaving behind only a huge crater.
That level of destructive power was simply terrifying.
Ace's face also turned ugly. Sure enough, someone who could fight the world's greatest swordsman without losing was not that simple.
"You still have time to space out?"
"Shave!"
kane's figure appeared again.
But Ace had already been prepared, and he launched his own attack as well.
"Fire Fist!"
Ace leaned forward and threw a fierce punch with his right fist.
Powerful flames quickly swallowed kane whole.
Everywhere the eye could see became a sea of fire.
The scorching heat forced even the onlookers to retreat.
"Vice Admiral kane!" Tashigi cried out.
"Don't worry. That man isn't so easy to defeat," Smoker said immediately.
Someone who could beat him that casually could never possibly lose so simply.
Still, his expression was grave.
Because just from the offense and defense the two had shown, it was obvious that his own strength was still far behind theirs.
He suddenly remembered kane's words.
"Your Haki is pitiful, and your Six Powers are a complete mess."
"Looks like I really need to train properly," Smoker thought to himself.
Ace naturally did not think that one move would be enough to defeat kane either.
And he could still sense that kane's presence remained just as powerful as ever.
The next moment, kane's voice came from within the sea of flames.
"This fire tastes pretty good. But if you want to fight this old man, you're still a little lacking."
Everyone finally saw kane clearly, but they were stunned by what he was doing.
The flames around him were shrinking at an astonishing speed.
And those flames were actually being swallowed into the Marine Vice Admiral's mouth.
"He's eating fire? What a monster!" a terrified voice cried out.
Everyone turned to look, only to discover that the Straw Hat crew, who had already left before, had returned again.
And the one who had spoken was Chopper. At this moment, his eyes were practically bulging out.
Usopp's voice followed right after.
"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're really doomed this time! If I'd known, we never should've come back!"
Black lines appeared on Ace's forehead.
"Hey! Luffy, why didn't you leave with the others?!"
He was about to die from anger. This stupid little brother of his!
The Marine Vice Admiral in front of them was like a monster. Although Ace had confidence in himself, the odds of him losing were very high.
He had worked hard just to buy them time.
And yet these idiots had come right back.
"Sorry, Ace, I didn't want to either. But there were too many Marines, and our ship's been surrounded. We couldn't leave at all," Luffy's voice rang out.
Ace looked over and saw that behind Luffy and the others was a large group of Marines.
"This really is a bit troublesome now," Ace said.
But he still acted immediately.
"Flame Commandment!"
Powerful flames burst from Ace's right hand and shot into the sky.
They directly cut off the Marines behind Luffy and the others.
"And this is only a bit troublesome? Looks like this old man's really being underestimated," kane's calm voice rang out.
Ace looked over again.
kane was already walking toward him slowly.
The Marine coat of justice fluttered in the scorching air.
Ace instantly felt tremendous pressure.
"Why is an old monster like you in the first half of the Grand Line? And why can't my flames hurt you at all?" Ace asked directly.
----------------------◇ Bonus Chapter Rewards◇--------------------------
◇ Every 10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ You can read 60 chapters ahead on Patreon if you're interested:
patreon.com/Sanam123
Your support helps the story grow and motivates faster updates.