"Liberation!"
At that moment, Blackbeard suddenly roared, and the flames that had been sucked into the black smoke earlier, along with a portion of the buildings, were violently 'spat out' from the void.
These objects came crashing down toward Ace like a tidal wave, briefly obscuring his vision.
'In that case, I'll just kill you again!'
Ace reacted swiftly, unleashing a [Fire Fist] that instantly engulfed everything before him.
The houses, carriages, and whatever else was in the way were all reduced to ashes by the flames, leaving only scorched remnants behind.
But it was enough.
The members of the Blackbeard Pirates regrouped.
Their ship's doctor, Doc Q, had somehow managed to temporarily numb the pain in Lafitte's wings and Jesus Burgess's fractured elbow.
Now, at the very least, they still had some fight left in them.
"So this is your ability, Teach."
"Is this why you killed Thatch?"
Faced with Ace's accusations, Blackbeard's grin widened.
"Yeah, that's right!"
"This is the fruit I've been dreaming of!"
Originally, Blackbeard had planned to spout some excuses, like 'I had no choice', 'It was just a coincidence', or 'This power chose me'.
But the pain in his chest and the 'heartache' of losing one of his hearts made him discard any pretense.
"I stayed in the Whitebeard Pirates because that was the place with the highest chance of obtaining this fruit!"
"I will become the strongest! Whitebeard's era is over!"
'Words like these were the most effective at shaking the resolve of Whitebeard's so-called 'sons'.' Blackbeard smirked inwardly.
If Ace showed even the slightest opening, he would strike immediately.
Unfortunately, having endured much harsher trash-talk training, Ace only gave him a cold glare.
Then, without another word, he silently fired several [Fire Gun].
"Tch, not falling for it, huh?"
Blackbeard waved his hand, and the dark smoke 'swallowed' the flaming bullet.
"But it doesn't matter-"
"Watch closely, the power of this ultimate fruit."
"I've eaten the Yami Yami no Mi! I am the Human Darkness! Darkness is gravity! An infinite gravitational force that devours all light!"
"Kurouzu!"
His palm transformed into darkness, and a powerful gravitational force instantly pulled Ace toward him.
If Ace hadn't been cautious enough to keep his distance, the sudden pull alone would have been enough to drag him into Blackbeard's grasp before he could react.
Though he didn't fully understand Blackbeard's intentions in trying to drag him closer, Ace knew one thing… whatever the enemy wanted, he had to stop it.
Bang!
At that moment, Van Augur's bullet shot toward him.
Ace tried to dodge, but his body was still being pulled by the gravitational force, leaving him momentarily immobilized.
Just as the bullet was about to hit, Ace's body turned into flames, deliberately creating an opening to let the bullet pass through harmlessly.
"What?!"
Even Van Augur was stunned.
That bullet had been specially crafted from Seastone, a precious tool designed specifically to counter Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
Although the bullet miss, but in the brief moment Ace turned into flames to evade, Blackbeard had already pulled him close, gripping his shoulder.
Bang! Bang!
Two more bullets came flying.
Ace tried the same trick again, but this time, he realized his body couldn't turn into flames… his Devil Fruit powers were completely nullified.
"You've noticed, haven't you?"
"This is the power of the Yami Yami no Mi!"
"It's the natural enemy of all Devil Fruit users… Argh!"
Blackbeard's boastful speech was cut short as Ace headbutted him with a Haki-infused strike.
The double pain made Blackbeard scream instantly, his grip loosening.
Regaining his abilities, Ace tried to turn into flames again, but he was a fraction too slow.
Two Seastone bullets pierced his shoulder and waist, forcing a pained grunt out of him.
"Hurry up, that's my last Seastone bullet."
Van Augur shouted to his comrades.
Burgess, Lafitte, and even Doc Q all charged at Ace simultaneously.
Injured and unable to fight back fully, Ace could only release a wall of flames to obscure their vision, then turned into fire to create distance.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
At this time, Blackbeard's furious roars echoed as an overwhelming tide of black smoke surged toward Ace.
The fire wall Ace had just created was swallowed up in an instant.
With several teeth knocked out and his face covered in blood, Blackbeard glared at Ace with bloodshot eyes, clearly consumed by rage.
Any thoughts of 'recruiting' Ace had vanished, replaced only by killing intent.
"Die!!!"
Darkness surged forth, and Ace had no choice but to endure the pain from his wounds and gather his flames once more.
Circles of fire rapidly expanded around him before swiftly converging into a massive fireball.
"Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!"
This was another one of Ace's ultimate techniques… a devastating attack with an enormous area of effect.
"Run!"
Seeing both sides going all out without holding back, the other Blackbeard Pirates immediately reacted.
Burgess hoisted Doc Q and his beloved horse, Stronger, onto his shoulders, while Lafitte took to the skies.
At this time, Van Augur, who hadn't yet obtained the Wapu Wapu no Mi, had no choice but to flee on foot with the others. (T/N: Warp-Warp Fruit.)
"Let's see which is stronger… the sun or the darkness!"
Darkness and flames collided, producing a deafening explosion.
Neither side gave ground, the opposing forces pressing against each other until, ultimately, the darkness prevailed, completely devouring the sun-like inferno.
When the smoke cleared, Blackbeard slumped down, somewhat exhausted.
Despite putting up a fierce fight against Ace, he had still been ambushed first, losing one of his hearts in the process.
An injury like that would have killed anyone else instantly.
If not for Doc Q's anesthetic abilities, the overwhelming pain from his wounds would have left Blackbeard immobilized.
'Fortunately, the plan at least succeeded.'
But just as Blackbeard was thinking this, Van Augur returned from scouting the battlefield with bad news.
Ace was nowhere to be found.
In other words, at the final moment of their clash, Ace had chosen to flee.
"You've grown quite a bit, Commander Ace..."
Blackbeard gritted his teeth as he stared at the bloodstained cowboy hat his crew had retrieved.
It belonged to Ace.
Clearly, Ace hadn't escaped unscathed either.
"Don't worry, Captain. Those bullets were coated with Doc Q's special poison. He won't get far." Van Augur reassured.
Hearing this, Blackbeard's lips twisted into a savage grin.
"Right... he can't escape."
"You're the stepping stone I need to rise higher, Ace-!"
Blackbeard crushed the hat in his grip.
This time, it was his turn to hunt Ace down.
But the violent motion tugged at his wounds, making Blackbeard hiss in pain.
Obviously, with injuries this severe, he wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
More critically, losing a heart meant his grand plan, the plan to steal the power of the world's strongest man, was now in jeopardy.
"Agh… ! Damn it hurts...! Doc Q, is there any way to fix this?!"
After weighing his options, Blackbeard decided his priority was healing.
Doc Q shakily injected another dose of anesthetic before speaking.
"Captain, you have lost a heart after all. There is nothing I can do for this level of injury."
"Unless... we find the Ope Ope no Mi."
"The Ope Ope no Mi?"
In his quest for the Yami Yami no Mi, Blackbeard had memorized the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, including the abilities and appearances of every known Devil Fruit.
The legendary fruit capable of performing the [Perennial Youth Operation] was naturally among them.
If possible, Blackbeard would certainly want to obtain this magical fruit-
But where would he even find it now?
At this time, Doc Q, a native of the North Blue, slowly finished his sentence.
"I happen to know of a rookie who recently set sail... one with the ability to steal 'hearts'. It's eerily similar to the Ope Ope no Mi's powers."
After all, they are both doctors, so Doc Q naturally pays attention to this ability.
"-Then we'll head to the North Blue and find that brat. What's his name?"
"Trafalgar Law."