Several days later, at the Dadan Family.
Luffy sat by the wall, gnawing on a large piece of beast meat, with a competitive Uta beside him.
Across from them, Ace stood with clenched fists, baring his teeth, looking unconvinced.
The other mountain bandits consciously spread out around them, watching quietly, not daring to disturb.
"Damn it, I want to duel you."
Ace pointed at Luffy, saying indignantly.
In the few days since Luffy arrived, he had been able to bring back better prey than Ace every day.
This had rapidly elevated Luffy's standing within the Dadan Family.
Until today, Luffy had even dragged back a tiger that Ace had never been able to defeat.
This completely unsettled the always arrogant Ace, who immediately challenged Luffy to a duel to prove he was stronger.
However, the current Luffy had no interest in sparring with Ace; it would be like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito, completely incomparable.
So, he pushed out Uta, who had always been annoyed with Ace.
During this time, Ace's rude attitude towards both of them had already angered Uta.
Although she wasn't interested in fighting, she would never allow herself to be bullied.
"If you can beat Uta, then I'll duel you," Luffy responded indifferently.
Uta had sailed with Shanks for seven years and then trained with him and Garp for several months, so her strength was no less than Ace's current level.
But Ace didn't think that way; seeing Luffy push out a girl, he thought the other party was looking down on him, and he immediately became even more furious.
"Damn it! You bastard…"
However, since he was challenging the other party, he had to follow their rules.
He ultimately did as Luffy said and fought Uta first.
…
Several days later.
In front of the Dadan Family's home.
Ace and Uta exchanged blows, and after several hours of evenly matched fighting, Uta finally ran out of stamina and collapsed first.
"Hoo… hoo… hoo…"
Ace panted heavily, his body hunched with exhaustion, looking at Luffy, who was attending to Uta, and then said breathlessly,
"I… I've defeated her."
"Now, it's your turn to duel me, right?!"
Luffy glanced at Ace, feeling a sense of admiration.
Ace's talent was still a bit stronger than Uta's.
Their initial battles were always indecisive.
But after several days of evenly matched sparring, Ace ultimately surpassed Uta one step earlier.
Looking at Ace, whose eyes were filled with fighting spirit, Luffy nodded.
"After you recover!"
Finally getting Luffy's agreement, Ace breathed a sigh of relief and fell backward.
…
Three days later!
At the entrance of the Dadan Family's home.
Ace's fists were clenched, his eyes full of fighting spirit.
Across from him, Luffy's expression was calm and unruffled.
The Dadan Family excitedly sat at the foot of the wall, waiting to enjoy this battle of the century.
They hadn't seen Luffy fight before, but since he could bring back powerful prey, his strength was certainly not weak.
And Ace's strength had always been considered very powerful in everyone's minds, especially after he had defeated the equally strong Uta three days ago.
So, they had been eagerly anticipating today's battle of the century.
Today, the strongest fighter of the Dadan Family would be decided.
While the Dadan Family was filled with anticipation, Uta, standing beside them, raised her right hand high, then brought it down.
"Begin!"
"Ah!!!"
As Uta gave the command, Ace immediately let out a powerful roar and charged at Luffy with a clenched fist.
The Dadan Family nodded repeatedly at this powerful aura, their eyes filled with admiration.
They then turned to look at Luffy, and one by one, they all shook their heads.
Luffy, facing the formidable Ace, still looked unhurried, appearing to have no fighting will whatsoever.
In such a state, how could he possibly defeat Ace?
The mountain bandits thought so in their hearts.
Suddenly, they all looked as if they had seen a ghost.
They all opened their mouths wide, their jaws dropping to the ground, their eyes bulging as if they would pop out.
They stared in disbelief at the fallen Ace, their faces filled with shock.
They had clearly seen that Luffy had simply thrown a casual punch, and the duel was over.
"Is… is it over?"
"It looks like it!"
"Ace… is he alright?!"
…
Ace lay motionless on the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He never imagined that the gap between himself and Luffy was so vast.
He had considered that he might lose, but he never thought he would lose so utterly defenseless.
Just then, a brilliant smiling face appeared in his line of sight.
"Ace, do you want to get stronger?"
Looking at the kind-faced, brightly smiling Luffy, Ace asked in confusion,
"What do you mean?"
Luffy smiled.
"I can help you train and get stronger!"
"From now on, let's get along well!"
Saying that, Luffy extended his hand to Ace.
Ace looked at Luffy with an extremely complex expression.
He didn't understand why, despite his terrible attitude towards this guy, he didn't mind at all and was now even offering to help him get stronger.
But seeing Luffy's sincere expression, Ace finally managed to raise his trembling right hand and shook hands with Luffy.
He and Luffy had no prior enmity; his previous bad attitude was largely due to his unwillingness to accept defeat.
Now that he had realized the difference in their strengths, he let go of it.
"Your Insight is heaven-defying. Through personal combat experience, your soul has been enhanced."
"Your soul has been enhanced, and your Conqueror's Haki has been strengthened."
The sudden notification in Luffy's mind came as a deep surprise; he hadn't expected that fighting Ace could also enhance his Haoshoku.
"It seems that as long as the opponent has the potential for Haoshoku, whether it's awakened or not, I can gain improvement."
Luffy made a judgment in his mind.
However, he could feel that the improvement gained from Ace was far less than what he received from Garp.
It seems the intensity of the increase is related to whether the opponent has awakened, and the strength of the opponent's Conqueror's Haki.
However, Luffy was still very satisfied with the improvement he gained.