The one thing Ace had in common with his father, Roger, was a carefree personality and an indescribable charisma that naturally made people want to follow him.
Roger had it, Ace inherited it, Luffy inherited it, and even Shanks had inherited a piece of it. Ivalis saw a shadow of that trait in Ace, so he did sothing extrely rare, he decided to indulge the kid’s wild idea. With the corner of his mouth twitching upward, he said, "Fine. Let’s have a banquet!"
Half an hour later, in a suburban clearing near the gates of the Kingdom of Arderay, countless barrels of ale and cuts of at were spread out on mats. Everyone sat around, talking loudly and without restraint.
Initially, the Spade Pirates were cautious, but as the atmosphere lightened, they began to speak up.
"This city feels surprisingly empty... probably because it’s so huge," Ace remarked, sitting across from Ivalis with a massive two-liter tankard in his hand.
"Arderay was once a superpower with a population of two million. It’s only natural," Ivalis replied, matching Ace by draining his own giant mug in one go. "The crew stationed here barely numbers ten thousand; of course it’s going to feel a bit sparse."
"I... I’ve been wanting to ask a question."
Ace glanced at the surrounding crowd, who were already deep into the party spirit. He lowered his voice significantly, trying to ensure no one else would overhear.
"Alucard is... the man who defeated Red Hair, right? As a forr core executive, why do you follow him?"
Ace was far more sensible than Luffy; he chose the word "defeated" instead of "killed."
Ivalis fell silent for a few seconds. Just as Ace began to worry that he might have sparked an outburst of rage, Ivalis unexpectedly laughed. It was a clear, prominent laugh, even a bit exaggerated.
"Fire Fist Ace, do you realize there is a power in this world called ’The Ultimate’?"
"Huh?" Ace’s expression froze, clearly not grasping the aning behind Ivalis’s words.
Whirrrr—
The sudden drone from above caused everyone below to look up.
High in the sky, Aranea Highwind peered down at the gathering. She descended, landing gracefully between the Golden Hair Pirates and the Spade Pirates. She removed her helt, tucked it at her waist, and said with a grin, "Yo, everyone. You sure look like you’re having a good ti."
"Aranea... Highwind."
Soone in the Spade Pirates called out her na.
She had recently made headlines as the woman known as the Female Dragon Knight. With a bounty of 77 million Berries, she was a forr military officer for the Governnt who had defected to join the Immortal Pirates.
Ace stared at Aranea’s dark red armor, which left only her arms and a portion of her waist exposed. His gaze focused primarily on the chanical wings on her back. He thought to himself, She can fly... is it because of that armor? How peculiar.
"A blonde with a huge... my favorite..."
Naturally, there were also those whose attention was fixed squarely on Aranea’s face and figure.
"Would you like to join us for a drink, Guard Captain Aranea?" a mber of the Golden Hair Pirates invited.
Since becoming Vegapunk’s bodyguard, the other mbers of the Immortal Pirates occasionally referred to her as "Guard Captain."
"I’ll pass. I heard from Vegapunk-san recently that the Captain has a Logia-type Devil Fruit that might suit . I’m considering whether or not to eat it," Aranea said, resting her chin on her hand.
"Oh, a Logia?" Ace’s interest piqued instantly, being one himself.
"Our Captain is a Logia user too. Would you like to test him out, beautiful lady?" a bolder mber of the Spade Pirates suggested.
"Oh?"
Aranea’s mouth parted slightly as her gaze shifted to Ace. "A very young boy, isn’t he?"
"That works for . I’ve been wanting to test the strength of a Yonko’s subordinates anyway," Ace said, striking his left fist into his right palm. Flas erupted from his arms, his eyes burning with excitent.
At this stage, Ace was still just a rookie, a total greenhorn. It was this exact temperant that fueled his hidden desire to challenge Whitebeard, the very trait that would eventually lead to his own downfall and the death of Whitebeard.
"Mmm~ Alright then. But let’s keep it to a friendly spar," Aranea said, dropping her hand from her chin.
Soon, both parties followed the two fighters to a wasteland ten miles from the city gates. Aranea and Ace stood ten ters apart.
"Heh!"
Ace grinned, his right foot sliding out as he dropped into a horse stance. He pointed two fingers from each hand toward his waist like a Western cowboy drawing his revolvers. "Fire Pistol!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless small bullets of fire shot out from Ace’s fingertips.
The armor on Aranea’s back erupted with a burst of pressurized air, too fast for the naked eye to track, propelling her into the air. She dodged the attack effortlessly. Seeing that his Fire Pistol was having trouble tracking her, Ace quickly switched to a more powerful move designed for aerial targets.
"Fla Pillar!"
Ace dropped into a full crouch and slamd both palms into the ground. A massive pillar of fire soared into the heavens, faster and more violent than the previous attack.
In the crowd of spectators, a mber of the Spade Pirates said confidently, "270 million versus 77 million. This should be over pretty quickly, right?"
"Idiot."
Beckman took a drag of his cigarette and thought, Fledgling pirates.
Facing the incoming pillar of fla, Aranea controlled her flight armor perfectly. By shifting the direction of the air jets, she maneuvered her flight path as naturally as if it were her own limbs, a level of control no less perfect than Doflamingo’s with his String-String Fruit.
Seeing several of his moves fail to hit, Ace, the greenhorn who had experienced smooth sailing for most of his voyage, started to lose his cool. Flas erupted from his feet like a jet engine as he rocketed into the sky, intending to close the distance for a lee fight.
Unfortunately for him, his "jet" could only fly in a straight line. He lacked Aranea’s ability to move left, right, up, and down at will.
"Rookie..."
At this mont, even Cavendish, the mber with the least seniority among the Immortal crew, let out a sigh of lant.
Doesn’t that Fire Fist Ace see the weapon on Aranea’s back?
It was a gun-lance! A pure close-quarters weapon.
As an ability user, Ace should have kept his distance. Instead, he charged in for a lee brawl. Was he out of his mind?
Cavendish was willing to bet his life on it: Fire Fist Ace would be defeated within ten moves!
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