End

King watched Queen, who had already slipped away, from the sky and cursed under his breath.

However, Ace was already fired up. It had been a long time since he had encountered an opponent he could fight to the death with. Moreover, after entering the New World, the Four Emperors, Yota, and Yamato had all put considerable pressure on him. Thus, he was eager to achieve a breakthrough in battle.

Sacred Fire - Unknown Fire.

Blazing flames erupted in an instant. King frowned. As a member of a special race that possessed flame powers, his resistance to fire was not weak. But no matter how strong that resistance was, it could not withstand the Flame-Flame Fruit's fire-specialized power.

Moreover, with Yota's help, Ace had used the force of erupting flames to develop true flight. His flying speed even surpassed King's, who flew with wings. Thus, even in aerial combat, King found it difficult to evade Ace's attacks.

When Yota had first met Ace, Ace could already shoot flames from beneath his feet and cross a great distance from a ship to an island. But that mode of flame propulsion only allowed him to charge straight ahead or fly directly upward. If he tried to fly level, he would easily fall.

Yota's suggestion had been for him to imitate Iron Man and turn his palms into flame jets as well, allowing him to keep his body balanced.

With a boom, a streak of fire flashed past. The flames on King's back blazed fiercely, and Ace's attack appeared to have had no effect on him.

Then, the flames behind him dimmed slightly, and King's speed immediately surged. His wings, coated in Armament Haki, struck Ace and sent him flying.

The flame damage carried by King's attacks was practically meaningless to Ace. He could only rely entirely on Armament Haki to deal with Ace, which weakened him to some extent.

Even so, as one of the foremost figures in the second tier, someone who could even fight the Four Emperors for a while, King still surpassed Ace by quite a bit in both Haki and physical prowess.

But if Ace's Devil Fruit abilities were included, it was hard to say who would win this battle.

The two continued their aerial clash for several more hours. King had already determined that it would be difficult to settle the outcome with Ace in a short time. On top of that, his two teammates had already slipped away. If they continued, then regardless of victory or defeat, he would likely be in trouble once his stamina ran out. The fighting spirit in his heart faded considerably.

At that moment, Ace had discovered the secret of the flames behind King's back. "So that's how it is... When the flames burn fiercely, his defense increases. When the flames weaken or even go out, his speed increases."

"Could this guy have eaten some kind of Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit?"

Ace's guess was naturally completely wrong. The flames on King's back were a racial ability, not a Devil Fruit ability. But that did not stop Ace from adjusting his fighting style based on King's flames.

With the urge to retreat rising in him and his abilities exposed, King finally could not hold on after taking several heavy hits in a row. This guy seems to have figured out my fighting pattern. And Young Master Yamato, along with that little thief who took care of Maria, have both completely freed up their hands. There's no way we can win this battle, and there's no point in continuing. I should retreat!

With that thought, the flames on King's back suddenly went out. Just as Ace became alert, he saw King turn into an afterimage in an instant, becoming a black dot on the horizon.

"This guy... just ran away like that." Ace watched King fly off, an unsatisfied expression on his face. "Seriously, I was planning to fight him for days and nights."

Descending from the sky, Ace looked around. Although the battle had taken place in the air, the various ultimate moves they had unleashed had still reduced the entire town to a mess.

"Damn it, I'm going bankrupt again!" Ace's face immediately fell. Though he liked to dine and dash, sneaking away after eating without paying, if his battles caused any major losses, he would still compensate the local residents.

However, the Spade Pirates were not the sort of Pirate Crew that survived by plundering. Most of their money came from black-market dealings, taken from foolish pirate challengers, so their finances were not exactly abundant.

Combined with the fact that Ace, as a Logia Devil Fruit user, always made his battles spectacular, he truly did not know whether they had enough money to pay for the damages.

"Don't worry, I've already paid for everything." A voice came from the distance as Yamato and Yota walked over. "Did you forget that I got quite a bit from Kaido's treasury? Half of it was the entire Pirate Crew's funds."

Pirate Crews generally had quite a few rules, such as crew members handing over half the treasure they obtained. But the Spade Pirates were less a proper Pirate Crew than an adventuring group. Thus, those rules were not enforced very strictly.

The treasure Yota had obtained from the Beasts Pirates was his own. Whether he handed it over was ultimately his own business. However, Yota naturally did not want to create a rift with the Spade Pirates over such a matter. Besides, if not for the battle between Ace and Yamato, he would not have entered the Beasts Pirates' treasury so easily.

After hearing Yota's words, Ace's expression finally improved a little. He was not a stingy person, but it was better if he could hear fewer complaints from his first mate.

After all, with a personality like Ace's, managing the operations of a Pirate Crew—even one with only around twenty members—was enough to make his head spin. Therefore, all the crew's trivial matters, from food to daily expenses, were handled by Deuce.

Deuce, meanwhile, was very sensible and reliable. Yet precisely because of that, when faced with Ace's careless way of thinking, he could never stop himself from nagging like Tang Sanzang. Every time, Ace's head would swell from all the lecturing.

After this battle, the Spade Pirates did not remain on the island. The residents had been frightened out of their wits by them. Whenever Ace and the others went out for a stroll, everyone on the streets would scatter and run away.

"So, are we going to find the Red Hair Pirates next?"

At that moment, Ace, Deuce, Yamato, and Yota were discussing matters on the deck of the Spade Pirates' ship.

Yota stroked his chin and said, "Going to find the Red Hair Pirates first is indeed a good idea... Perhaps you could also learn Conqueror's Haki Infusion from Shanks."

"Conqueror's Haki Infusion? Conqueror's Haki can be used like Armament Haki?" Ace asked in surprise.

"You can ask Yamato about that." Yota raised his chin toward Yamato. "His father, Kaido, is an expert in Conqueror's Haki Infusion."

Yamato nodded as well. "That's right. That bastard father's Conqueror's Haki Infusion could be called his strongest technique, and its destructive power far surpasses Armament Haki."