"What’s going on!!!"
"After a brief and intense clash, only two contestants are left!!!"
At the comntary desk, Gatz was passionately shouting,
"Ogu-san, who do you think will win?!!!"
Orin stood at the comntary desk, his eyes behind sunglasses fixed on the two in the arena, with the comntator amplification transponder snail placed beside him.
"Although that big guy with the paper bag on his head is really fierce..."
"That sleepy fellow might just give the audience a little surprise~"
As his voice fell, two newly added giant screens in the arena showed the appearances of the two contestants.
"Wehahahaha!!!"
Seeing this, Burgess stopped pretending and imdiately tore the paper bag from his head.
The audience were stunned in shock.
The person before their eyes was actually the fad mber of the Blackbeard Pirates—
Jesus Burgess!!!
"Wehahahaha!!! A strategic Devil Fruit like the Float-Float Fruit of course belongs to our Blackbeard Pirates!!!"
Seeing himself on the big screen and the audience turning their eyes toward him, Burgess grew imnsely pleased, wantonly showing off his muscles, completely ignoring the young man in the red captain’s coat.
And that sleeping figure slowly woke up at this mont. Hearing the other party’s arrogant voice, a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
"So... soone from Teach’s side..."
The hat used for disguise was slowly blown away by the wind, revealing the young man’s black, center-parted short hair.
At the sa ti, the cara slowly shifted over.
Suddenly, so older, knowledgeable spectators noticed sothing was wrong. They gradually fell silent, then seed sowhat incredulous, beads of cold sweat appearing beneath their foreheads.
"That young man... looks kind of familiar..."
"That face, and that mustache..."
A bold and universally known execution image slowly overlapped with the face before them, and the comntator’s voice happened to ring out.
"Who could he be? This youth whose face is strikingly similar to the legendary... Pirate King Roger!!!?"
Orin indulged himself in the thrill of comntating, and the transponder snail’s image also shifted to that now sowhat gloomy face.
The handlebar mustache was slowly burned to ash by flas. That slightly freckled face, a bit more mature than it had been two years ago, appeared before everyone.
The audience were speechless, their eyeballs seeming to pop from their sockets, mouths gaping wide.
"Th-th-that is!!!!"
"Fire Fist Ace!!!"
Comntator Gatz was beside himself with excitent, grabbing the transponder snail and roaring,
"He’s appeared!!!"
"The spark that ignited the war two years ago at Marineford, the man hailed as bearing the most evil bloodline, son of Pirate King Roger, the strongest rookie of the new era!!!"
"Fire Fist Ace!!!"
"The forr Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and the current cadre of the Blackbeard Pirates—what kind of sparks will fly between them?!!!"
In the arena, Ace’s eyes were icy cold, staring straight at Burgess.
Burgess did not shrink back. Instead, he flexed his biceps.
"Wehahahaha!!!"
"To et Fire Fist Ace here of all places—what a pity the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates have already been completely crushed by us. You’ve shown up too late!!!"
Ace’s face darkened.
He slowly stepped forward, and Burgess had long since gathered his strength, Armant Haki appearing on his hands.
"I’m no longer who I was two years ago. The power of the Logia Fla-Fla Fruit won’t be able to keep you invincible anymore!!!"
But Ace acted as if he hadn’t heard, slowly spitting out two words.
"Shut up."
"Shock—Elbow Strike!!!"
The audience watched as the two figures, one large and one small, slowly drew closer. Burgess raised that powerful arm that looked capable of sweeping away everything, as if he would tear the young man before him apart in the very next second.
The timid ones had already covered their eyes—and at that mont,
"Crackle—"
Clusters of black-red lightning wrapped Ace’s fist, flas swirling within.
"I told you to shut up!!!"
With just one punch, a blinding flash erupted across the arena, and the thunderous roar instantly filled the venue.
Though unhard, the audience still broke out in a cold sweat.
On the field, smoke curled from Ace’s fist. The arena floor remained perfectly intact, yet Burgess’s figure had vanished from where he’d stood.
In the pool by the edge of the arena, countless fish rolled belly-up on the water’s surface, and the unconscious Burgess floated among them, mouth agape.
"The winner is..."
"Fire Fist Ace!!!"
When only one person remained in the arena, Ace finally seed to react, smiling as he raised both hands to greet the cheers of the spectators.
...
The scene then shifted.
Only helplessness remained on his face.
"Luffy, that’s enough already!"
Luffy had already found them and imdiately threw himself onto the two of them, laughing wildly in excitent.
"Ace!!! Sabo!!!"
"How did you two end up here!!!"
"Of course we’re here for serious business. Ace isn’t a pirate anymore."
The reason Sabo and Ace entered the competition was that Dragon later called him.
The Float-Float Fruit is of great strategic value to any faction, so if possible, Dragon hoped Sabo could obtain it.
"Not... not a pirate anymore??"
Luffy’s smile faded, seeming sowhat incredulous, since Ace had long ago set his sights on becoming a pirate.
"Yeah~ My life was saved by Orin-san. I don’t really have any grounds or reason to argue against that~"
Ace had co to terms with it. Now he only wanted to repay those who were happy he existed—those kind and dear to him.
"The only reason I can openly take action here is that I’m helping my own brother. It’s really helpless, you know~"
His current position had already been restricted by Orin. He could only be a good brother to the other two or a good son to his mother.
Besides that, Orin didn’t allow him to do anything tied to a pirate’s stance, including forming a pirate crew or taking revenge and the like.
"So strictly speaking, I’m helping Sabo seize the Float-Float Fruit—and also dropping by to see you, brother."
"I see..."
Luffy nodded, then after a brief mont of thought, suddenly smacked his fist into his palm.
"Okay!!! It’s decided!!!"
"Huh??"
Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy in confusion.
"Whichever of us three brothers ends up with the Float-Float Fruit in the end, we’ll give it to Sabo!!!"
"You..."
"Because..."
The three shared a knowing smile and bumped their fists together.
"We’re brothers!!!"
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