"Ace, come here for a moment."
Ian waved over to Ace, who was sweating profusely, struggling to catch his breath from his training.
"Me?"
Ace ran over in surprise, "What's going on?"
"This is for you."
Ian handed Ace something.
Ace took it and looked at it. It was a strange fruit, pink in color, with scale-like bumps on it. Above these bumps, there were spiral patterns.
"This is...!"
Ace's eyes widened.
Even though he was somewhat ignorant, he had heard of the legend of this thing. "A Devil Fruit??"
He said in disbelief, "This is for me? It's something really valuable, right?"
The only ability users he had encountered were the few from the battle at the Goa Kingdom last night.
But each of their powers was incredibly strong.
Creating violent winds, freezing the ground, manipulating islands, and Ian's flames that burned everything.
The Devil Fruit must be the source of the powers they had, right?
Such powerful abilities... Are they really giving it to him directly?
"Hey! Ian!"
Behind him, Yamato jumped out from the ship's cabin, looking at the fruit in Ace's hand with surprise. "Isn't that a replica of Dad's power?"
"A replica?"
Ace froze again.
"This fruit is a replica of my teacher, the Pirate Emperor Kaido's power," Ian explained to Ace. "But don't worry, it's just as good as the original. It's a legitimate Zoan-type Mythical Beast Devil Fruit."
"Zoan, Mythical Beast?"
Ace was confused.
He didn't know what the classification of this Devil Fruit meant.
"Big Brother Ian, you're saying that this replica's ability is no different from Boss Kaido's? You've never told us about this before!"
Jack, who was close by, immediately reacted to Ian's words.
He certainly understood how terrifying Kaido's Azure Dragon form was and the power it held.
"Because we couldn't find the right user before."
Ian looked at Ace and said flatly, "Ace has that qualification."
Though it was a bit divisive for the group, it's true that Devil Fruits have different levels.
The Azure Dragon Fruit is among the top of all Devil Fruits, and even among the Mythical Zoan types, it's second only to Nika.
Such a powerful Devil Fruit naturally needs someone with top-tier talent to unlock its full potential.
Ace is that person.
Although Zoro's potential is not much worse, he's a pure swordsman and doesn't need a Devil Fruit to compensate for any physical shortcomings.
Ian planned to give him the two swords from Kozuki Oden, which were kept on Onigashima.
Ace's expression suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but grip the Devil Fruit in his hand tightly.
Ian, this guy... does he think that highly of me?
"Is that so?"
Jack scanned Ace up and down, but he didn't see any special qualifications in the guy.
Forget comparing him to Ian, even when he was Ace's age, he was much stronger.
But since Ian said so, it must be for a reason.
Jack had always unconditionally trusted Ian!
So, he seriously said to Ace, "Kid, you must not let Big Brother Ian's expectations go to waste! If you waste that fruit, I won't even let Big Brother Ian deal with you—I'll take care of you myself!"
It had the same vibe as Uncle King.
Ian smiled lightly. "Don't worry, Ace. Just take it step by step."
"Don't look down on me, Ian!"
Ace grinned and raised his chin. "You'll see what I'm capable of!"
He was never the type to be self-deprecating or timid.
Although he would sometimes feel sorry for himself, it was only because he believed his damn father had brought so much harm to this world.
Without hesitation, Ace bit down on the fruit in his hand.
Since Ian had said it, there was no reason to hesitate.
What was left to do was simple: prove to everyone that Ian's choice was the right one.
"Oh!"
Yamato was already excited. "Will you become like Dad?"
Ace's face instantly turned pale. "It's so disgusting!"
So that's why it's called a Devil Fruit?
"How is it?"
Yamato was eager to know.
"Mm!"
Ace furrowed his brow immediately.
Once you eat a Devil Fruit, it takes effect right away.
Using the ability becomes almost as instinctive as breathing, of course, Momonosuke was an exception.
"Is this how it is?"
Ace's body almost immediately began to change. Scales appeared on his skin, and his body started to stretch out.
"Oh!!"
Yamato's eyes sparkled in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, a small pink dragon, about ten meters long, was already coiled on the deck.
Pink scales, pink whiskers, yellow mane, yellow horns.
It still looked quite young, the horns were still rounded, but it gave a glimpse of the future ferocity.
"Whoa!"
All the little friends were drawn over by the change, and Law exclaimed in awe, "Did it really perfectly replicate Boss Kaido's ability?"
"The colors are a bit different though."
Black Maria said softly.
"Ian said that, aside from the color, the abilities are exactly the same as Kaido-sama's," Jack said.
"So that means..."
Viola swallowed nervously. "A real Mythical Zoan?"
"Mythical Zoan? What's that?"
Zoro and Kuina were somewhat inexperienced.
Hancock looked at Ace with a rather critical gaze. "Does this kid really deserve this fruit? I hope he doesn't waste Ian's effort."
Drake spoke seriously. "Since this is Lord Ian's decision, this kid must have something special about him."
"True!"
Hancock instantly shifted her gaze to Ian with sparkling eyes. "Ian would never make a mistake!"
Ian twitched the corner of his mouth. "Ace, try out all the abilities you've learned."
In the original, that kid Momonosuke took a lot of effort just to learn Flame Clouds and Heat Waves.
Ace wouldn't be the same, right?
"Alright!"
The little dragon responded loudly. "Let me see... it should be like this?"
Yellow clouds appeared from his four claws, and he continuously grabbed them, flying higher into the sky.
"Oh! He can make clouds?"
Ace shouted in surprise while starting to experiment with other abilities. "Next is—"
He took a deep breath and then exhaled.
Whoosh!
A burst of flame suddenly shot out from his mouth.
It wasn't very large, nowhere near as big as the flames from Kaido that could blow up a mountain, and certainly not comparable to Ian, who specialized in fire.
But it definitely came out.
"Hahahaha! There's more, there's more!"
Ace laughed joyfully like a child who just got a new toy. He curled his body, and a wild gust of wind suddenly spread.
Then came a furious roar, and lightning jumped out of his mouth.
Indeed, power is power; there's no way a fruit could be eaten and not be used.
Ian smiled, thinking, Momonosuke really was useless.
"It's exactly like Boss Kaido's ability!"
Law pulled the corner of his mouth.
Vegapunk, truly terrifying!
"That's amazing!"
Kuina stared up, stunned.
If she ate a Devil Fruit like that, could she completely disregard the differences between men and women?
As Ace was having fun in the sky, Ian received a call from Morgans.
"Hahahaha! Ian! I just got a message from the government!"
Morgans had returned to calling himself "Ian" again.
"They want me to report on the battle in the Goa Kingdom last night!"
"Huh?"
Ian leaned against the ship's railing, speaking casually, "What are they changing this time? Are they going to say that Hero Garp killed the Golden Lion Shiki?"
"Not exactly," Morgans chuckled. "They want me to report it exactly as it happened, but they want me to emphasize your role."
"Oh?"
Ian raised an eyebrow.
This was a bit new.
The Golden Lion had destroyed several nations in the East Blue, and in the end, a pirate was the one to take him down. Where would the government save face in that?
"They've already sent me your new bounty," Morgans continued. "A full 3 billion Berries! You've reached the level of the Emperors now!"
Even Kaido and Charlotte Linlin's bounties were in the three billion range, with Linlin's being only 3.3 billion.
3 billion was definitely in the Emperors' league.
"In fact, the government also asked me to promote it like this," Morgans said with a grin.
"There are four people who rule the New World like Emperors. They've established their rule in the countries of the world, Wano, Hive Island, and the vast stretch of the New World."
"They're collectively known as the Four Emperors!"
Ian smirked.
Is the division still going on?
Good for him.
At the same time, in the New World.
A woman named Stussy received an order from her superiors.
Her beautiful face instantly turned complicated.
"The target is to cause a rift between Ian and Kaido, but as for the Beasts Pirates..."
"Queen is there?"
**********
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