You Looking for a Fight, Kid?
Ace glared at him and backhanded the giant tiger flying toward him. With a bang, he sent it flying off at a right angle. When he looked ahead again, the man had almost vanished from sight.
Someone that strong was going to kill Luffy?!
Ruidio leaped over a mountain ravine eight or nine meters wide. Suddenly, he saw a human leg dozens of meters long, its foot clad in a flip-flop, shoot into the sky ahead. He could faintly hear a boy shouting something about "Gum-Gum."
He smiled faintly and rushed over.
Whoosh!
Ruidio sprinted and leaped, sprinted and leaped, passing through the dense forest. In the distance ahead, he saw a black-haired boy with a straw hat hanging behind his neck, practicing punches and kicks that stretched and contracted like rubber.
Bang!
On the way, Ruidio spun into a kick, snapping a tree several meters thick by the roadside.
"Huh?"
Luffy, drenched in sweat, heard the noise and turned curiously. He saw a stranger holding a thick tree trunk and swinging it at him with a rush of wind—
"Whoa!"
Luffy cried out in alarm and raised both hands as he dodged. Behind him, he heard Ruidio shout:
"Tree-Ringing Bagua!"
Bang!
The thick trunk swept into Luffy and slammed him into the mountainside, spreading a spiderweb of cracks through the rock.
"I told you to stop...!!"
Ace's furious voice rapidly approached from behind. A powerful, invisible pressure, almost tangible in its intensity, burst from him and swept irresistibly outward in all directions!
The forest animals of all sizes that had gathered to watch were swept by the pressure. Their eyes rolled back, and they foamed at the mouth and fainted.
"Hey!"
Ruidio looked back and grinned. "Don't get my hopes up too high, okay?"
Was this Conqueror's Haki?
Ruidio strode toward Ace, clenching his fists as his arm muscles bulged and veins stood out.
Ace's face was cold, his eyes blazing. He charged even faster and hurled a punch like a meteor.
Bang!
Their fists met in midair, and the powerful impact sent them bouncing apart.
Chapter 48: You Looking for a Fight, Kid?
"Whoa!"
Luffy shifted the thick trunk off himself and pulled himself out of the human-shaped crater in the rock wall. He was a Rubber Man, so an impact attack like that didn't hurt; he had just felt uncomfortable being pinned inside.
Bang, bang, bang...
He heard the sounds of a furious exchange of punches and kicks. Looking up, he saw that the guy who had inexplicably swung a tree at him was actually fighting Ace!
"Hey!" Luffy charged over, swinging his fists. "He's my brother!"
"Stay out of this."
Ruidio dodged Ace's flying kick and flicked a hand at Luffy as he came charging over. A heavy Three-Section Staff appeared out of thin air and swung around Luffy's arm, wrapping around it once.
"Ace! I'll... help..."
Luffy went limp, his eyelids drooped, and he collapsed in a heap.
"Luffy?!"
Ace was shocked. He blocked a punch from Ruidio with both palms, the impact leaving them numb, and demanded angrily, "What did you do to him?!"
"I don't know... Maybe he got stone poisoning... and died..."
Using Silent Soru, Ruidio flickered around Ace, suddenly circling behind him and sending him flying with an elbow.
Ace caught himself on both palms and flipped forward. He was just about to check on the motionless Luffy when Ruidio came after him, raising a foot to stomp on his head.
Again and again, Ace tried to wake Luffy, and Ruidio pursued him with Silent Soru. Unable to take it any longer, Ace picked up the thick tree trunk from the ground, swung it over Luffy's head, and sent Ruidio flying with a bang.
Ace leaped high, dragging the great trunk with him, and brought it down on Ruidio like a colossal pillar.
Boom...
The trunk cracked the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.
Ruidio planted a foot on the tip of the trunk and kicked hard. Like a battering ram, the trunk shot toward Ace at the other end—but missed him completely.
Bang! Crack!
An impact rang out nearby, and another great tree snapped. Ace was wedged between the broken sections, cursing through cries of pain. "What the hell kind of footwork is that? It's way too hard to control!"
Ruidio walked out of the swirling dust and smiled at him. "So you did catch on. You're a quick learner!"
Ace glared at him, clambered out, and raised a fist to attack.
"That's enough fighting."
Ruidio turned to leave. "Your brother's fine. Let's sit down and talk."
Ace froze with his fist raised and bared his pointed teeth. "You looking for a fight, kid?!"
Ruidio unwound the seastone Three-Section Staff from Luffy's arm.
Luffy, who had been listless a moment ago, suddenly perked up and rolled into a sitting position. "What is that thing?!" he demanded angrily. "Why did all my strength disappear?!"
Ruidio said, "That staff contains an ore called seastone. You can think of it as solid seawater. When a Devil Fruit User touches it, what just happened to you happens to them."
Luffy laughed. "Oh, what an incredible stone!"
Ace was still angry as he glared at Ruidio. "I think you need to explain what you meant when you said you were coming to kill my brother Luffy."
"What?" Luffy glared at Ruidio angrily. "You're a bad guy!"
Ruidio said, "I heard this kid wants to be Pirate King, so I came to give him a hand."
"Oh, so you're a good guy!" Luffy grinned.
"You call killing someone helping?" Ace asked sternly.
Ruidio smiled. "If the Devil Fruit Luffy ate could awaken, it would be a great help to him in becoming Pirate King. That's why I wanted to give it a try. You never know, right?"
Luffy and Ace tilted their heads in confusion. "Awaken?"
"To put it simply, when a Devil Fruit's power is trained to its strongest, it gains a state something like a 'transformation.'"
"Transformation?!" Luffy's eyes lit up. "I want it, I want it, I want it! Hurry up and help me transform!"
"But in the example I heard about, the fruit you ate suddenly 'awakened' when its user was beaten nearly to death with a club by someone..."
"No way!"
Ace held Luffy back and glared at Ruidio. "Are you looking for a fight?!"
Ruidio simply smiled, then looked at Luffy and asked, "Hey, do you want me to help you become Pirate King?"
Luffy was delighted. He grinned and said, "Sure! You're as strong as Ace!"
[Monkey D. Luffy has entrusted you with a mission: I'm the man who will become the Pirate King] [Mission requirement: Become Luffy's crewmate and help him reach Laugh Tale and become the new Pirate King.] [Client: Monkey D. Luffy] [Distance: Near] [Estimated difficulty: ★★★★★★] [Mission accepted]
Ruidio quickly accepted the mission, then read it carefully. A question mark slowly appeared over his head.
What do you mean, "become Luffy's crewmate"?
Funny.
[Mission abandoned]
"You don't seem to understand,"
Ruidio said earnestly to Luffy. "I mean that I'll give you some important help on your way to becoming Pirate King. I never said I'd become your crewmate."
Luffy grinned. "Becoming my crewmate would be the biggest help of all!"
[Monkey D. Luffy has entrusted you with a mission: I'm the man who will become the Pirate King] [Mission requirement: Become Luffy's crewmate and help him... [Mission abandoned]
"I know a crucial clue to reaching Laugh Tale and finding the One Piece."
Ruidio coaxed him. "That would be much more help than becoming a crewmate! Ask me for help in a different way, and I can tell you right now, okay?"
"I don't want to hear it!"
Luffy plugged his ears and stuck out his tongue. "I want you to be my crewmate! And I don't want to know how to find the One Piece! Be my crewmate, and we'll go looking for it together in three years!"
[Monkey D. Luffy has entrusted you with a mission: I'm the man who will become the Pirate King] [Mission requirement: Become Luffy's... [Mission abandoned]
Are you looking for a fight, kid?
Ruidio gave up.
Ace laughed.
I can't have come all this way for nothing, can I?
Ruidio turned to Ace, who was watching the show, and smiled faintly. "What about you? You're in such a hurry to get yourself killed. Don't you have a dream you want to fulfill? I can help you."
I'm in a hurry to get myself killed?
Ace's gaze sharpened. He was angry, but smiled instead. "Of course I have a dream. You'd be helping me by becoming my crewmate. Luffy was right, you really are strong! Just a little bit weaker than me!"
Ruidio held out his hand to him.
Ace was puzzled, but he was a polite person, so he shook it. When he found Ruidio steadily increasing his grip, he smiled and did the same. Gradually, veins bulged on the backs of their hands and at their temples.
[Name: Portgas D. Ace] [Overall strength: ★★★] [Mastered: Running (expert), Swimming (expert), Basic Physical Techniques (proficient), Conqueror's Haki (beginner)]