With a thunderous roar, raging flames suddenly ignited on Onigashima.
"Who is it?! Which bastard has a death wish? How dare you attack our Beasts Pirates!"
A group of Beasts Pirates, looking like demons and Monsters, shouted loudly as they charged toward the area where the explosion occurred.
These pirates all looked fierce and malicious; the leader among them, amidst his roar, transformed directly into a half-beast state and arrived at the dock where the explosion had taken place.
The entire dock was engulfed in raging flames; several pirates were rolling on the ground, burning and roaring continuously, revealing their half-beast, half-human forms.
Many more pirates had already turned into charred remains, and only those pirates who were Zoan-type Devil Fruit Users possessed the tenacious vitality to survive in this sea of fire.
"Who the hell is it?!! Get out here now!!"
The Beasts Pirates who came to support the port looked left and right but saw no one. The pirate who had originally partially transformed into a beast turned entirely into a giant silverback gorilla, beating his chest and roaring loudly.
"Oh! As expected of the Beasts Pirates, there are so many Zoan-type Devil Fruit Users here! Could there really be 100 Zoan-types?"
An inquisitive voice rang out from within the sea of fire. The endless flames gathered together, revealing a shirtless young man wearing a cowboy hat, with a handsome face and slight freckles.
"You are... that Logia-type Devil Fruit User, Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace? Why have you come to cause trouble for our Beasts Pirates?"
Seeing Portgas D. Ace appear, the minor leader of the Beasts Pirates, that silverback gorilla, showed a look of apprehension on his face and asked.
Although in the New World, Haki experts are as numerous as ox hairs, and Logia-type Devil Fruit Users have lost their early dominance, this does not mean that Logia-type Devil Fruit Users are weak; it is just that they are not as invincible as they used to be.
Any ordinary Logia-type user can become a mid-level officer in a Four Emperors Pirate Crew. If other conditions are equal during a fight, a Logia-type user can still hold an absolute advantage.
Not to mention such a powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit User like the flame user; even if an ordinary person ate this Devil Fruit, they could leap to become a core officer in a Four Emperors crew, which is not something a minor leader like himself can mess with.
As the silverback gorilla spoke, he also signaled his subordinates to quickly go for reinforcements. Although he possessed a weak level of Haki cultivation, it would at most give him a slight ability to fight back against Portgas D. Ace; he could never be the opponent's match.
However, this was the headquarters of the Beasts Pirates. As long as he could stall for some time, other powerhouses would naturally come to teach Portgas D. Ace a lesson.
"The Beasts Pirates? I am looking for the Beasts Pirates! I shall be the one to take Kaido's head!"
"Pfft! Hahahaha!"
The silverback gorilla was slightly stunned, then clutched his stomach and laughed wildly. The ordinary pirates behind him also looked as if they were laughing until they rolled on the ground, which immediately made Portgas D. Ace's expression darken.
"To actually... actually want our Captain's head! Kid, you've successfully made me laugh!"
"It seems that eating a good Devil Fruit has made you so arrogant that you can't see yourself clearly! This is the New World, and the number of Logia-types who have died here is no less than that of ordinary small fry! Only by possessing unparalleled Haki can one truly become a king in the New World!"
With a boom, a fist mixed with Haki and flames smashed into the silverback gorilla's face, sending him flying with a single punch. After knocking away the small-fry pirates behind him, he drifted across the ground like a skipping stone, and with another boom, slammed into the final cliff wall.
"What you said makes a lot of sense,"
Looking at the few teeth falling from the sky, Portgas D. Ace smiled and adjusted the cowboy hat on his head:
"However, in terms of Haki, you seem to be completely inferior to me! I really don't know what you are so proud of?"
Portgas D. Ace's talent was even above Monkey D. Luffy's. One must know that before eating a Devil Fruit, he had suppressed Monkey D. Luffy for over a decade. Although he was two years older than Monkey D. Luffy at the time, Monkey D. Luffy had also eaten the Nika Fruit, which provided a physical enhancement from the Mythical Zoan Type fruit.
All things considered, Portgas D. Ace might have even been at a slight disadvantage. Under such circumstances, the fact that Portgas D. Ace could suppress Monkey D. Luffy was entirely the result of his talent.
Although Portgas D. Ace did not go through two years of training before heading to the New World like Monkey D. Luffy, having eaten the Mera Mera no Mi and tempered himself on the sea for nearly a year, his Haki level was already quite good.
"Damn it... today's kids are really strong!"
Holding his mouth, the silverback gorilla stood up again, which also surprised Portgas D. Ace.
As a Zoan-type Devil Fruit User, even though this silverback gorilla only ate an Artificial Devil Fruit, the tenacious physique and super recovery characteristic of the Zoan-type, coupled with his own Haki, allowed him to withstand Portgas D. Ace's attack.
"Gorilla, you are truly shameful! Gahahahaha!"
Following the harsh laughter from the sky, Portgas D. Ace looked up in surprise and saw a man with a shiny head, wings on his back, and a beak-like mouth descending from the sky.
"Be careful, Vulture, this guy is not to be trifled with! He is not one of those ignorant kids who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
The gorilla rubbed his face; in such a short time, his originally swollen face had subsided a bit, and even his broken teeth were starting to grow back.
"I know, he's one of this year's Supernovas! Based on just us few, we really aren't his match!"
"But fortunately... it's not just us few dealing with him!"
As the vulture in the sky spoke, it could be seen that among the pirates who were originally screaming from the fire, the flames had gradually extinguished, and instead, faint cold air and frost were covering the area.
"So painful, that damn flame brat! He almost burned me to death!"
The three remaining pirates on the dock walked out, grimacing in pain; without a doubt, they were also Zoan-type Devil Fruit Users.
"Huh, that's strange. Aren't Devil Fruits supposed to be unique? Why are you three guys so similar?"
Portgas D. Ace turned his head to look, speaking with some surprise. When he first started, he used a large-scale fire attack that directly covered the entire dock. At that time, the three Devil Fruit Users were caught off guard and hadn't even started their transformations.
But now, looking closely, although these three were burned pitch black or patchy by the flames, they all displayed a werewolf-like posture. Clearly, all three must be users of some kind of Wolf-Wolf Fruit.
Although it wasn't impossible for animals to be similar, being similar to this degree still made Portgas D. Ace feel somewhat surprised.
"Kid, have you never even heard of Artificial Devil Fruits?"
An indifferent voice rang out. Portgas D. Ace's expression instantly turned serious, and he looked with sharp eyes toward the center of the original fire at the port.
Frost gradually covered the entire dock. A winged Monster dressed in black leather from head to toe, with raging flames burning on his back but releasing ice and cold air from his feet, walked out. His tall body cast a shadow that enveloped Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace.
"Kid, before we fight, let me ask one thing: have you been the one monitoring Lord Kaido all this time?"
"Monitoring Kaido?"
Portgas D. Ace scratched his head, a look of confusion on his face:
"Although I have wanted to take the head of one of the Four Emperors for a long time, I only learned that Kaido was here a few days ago!"
A few days ago, Portgas D. Ace's Spade Pirates were stranded in Amigasa Village in Wano Country due to storms and other reasons. After learning about the oppression in Wano Country, at Tama's request, Portgas D. Ace charged toward Onigashima without hesitation.
Before that, apart from on wanted posters, Portgas D. Ace had never seen Kaido before!
Hearing this, the tall winged Monster in black, the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates, King, also nodded:
"Indeed, with the abilities of a brat like you, it would be impossible to make Lord Kaido feel a sense of crisis!"
"Hey, what do you mean by that?! Are you looking down on me?"
Portgas D. Ace frowned, his face showing displeasure. Young people of eighteen or nineteen are at the age where they fear nothing and hold themselves in the highest regard; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to shout about taking the head of one of the Four Emperors.
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