The Heavenly Tribute Robbery Case

Steel Country, Central Highlands.

A massive fortress built from thick Starfall Black Steel and boulders crouched upon the cliffside like a beast of iron. The towering walls were densely packed with heavy artillery, and thousands of fully armed elite soldiers patrolled the ramparts. This was an absolute restricted zone jointly funded by the Warlord Alliance, housing the Heavenly Tribute destined for the Celestial Dragons.

On the only path leading to the fortress, six figures were marching forward.

"The fortress housing the Starfall Black Steel is just ahead."

Jeno carried his heavy Hydraulic Power Hammer, a plume of scorching steam venting from the gaps in his exoskeleton. "The walls are cast from a mixture of high-density alloy and rock; ordinary cannonballs wouldn't even leave a white mark on them."

"Is that so? Then this great man shall see just how hard it really is!"

Buggy walked at the front, a red glass-sphere bomb already clutched in his hand. Although he knew that robbing the Heavenly Tribute would invite massive trouble, the temptation of absolute wealth combined with the overbearing pressure from Ace had fully ignited the pirate nature deep within his bones.

"Consider this a greeting gift!"

Buggy let out a roar, putting his full strength into hurling the bomb toward the fortress's massive, pure-steel gate.

"Special Buggy Ball!"

The moment the fingernail-sized bomb made contact with the gate, it detonated with a thunderous boom.

"BOOM--!!!"

A massive fireball surged into the sky, the deafening explosion echoing across the entire highland. The violent shockwave forcibly twisted and deformed the dozens-of-tons-heavy steel gate, causing large sections of the surrounding wall to flake away; the dozens of guards behind the gate were blown into mid-air by the blast before they even understood what had happened.

"Enemy attack! Pirates are assaulting the fortress! Open fire!"

The guards on the walls recovered from the shock of the explosion, frantically sounding the alarm as rows of heavy cannons quickly swiveled their muzzles.

Before they could even light the fuses, a deep blue figure leaped high into the air, stepping through the smoke to close in on the wall.

Sabo adjusted the top hat on his head, his right arm transforming into rolling, orange-red flames mid-air.

"Fire Fist!"

A thick, violent pillar of fire roared out like an enraged dragon, sweeping across the fortress ramparts with unstoppable force.

The high-temperature flames instantly swallowed the rows of heavy cannons, causing them and the surrounding ammunition crates to detonate in a chain reaction. The wall was instantly transformed into a sea of fire, screams and explosions intertwining as the outer defensive line crumbled in an instant.

Jeno watched the exaggerated destructive power before him and couldn't help but whistle: "You guys really don't even bother with a warm-up when you start a fight."

"The gate hasn't been completely breached yet."

Ace stepped forward, looking at the steel gate—which, though twisted, remained firmly jammed in its hinges—and the thick alloy inner wall behind it.

He did not draw his blade, but instead slowly clenched his right fist.

In his mind, he recalled the terrifying, unadorned striking technique that old man Garp used to beat him with in the forest—the kind that could pierce through an entire mountain.

"Armament Haki emission."

Ace whispered, and a deep, black Haki instantly coiled around his right fist. Following that, the Haki did not remain on the surface of his skin; instead, guided by Ace's will, it condensed into a mass of high-density airflow in front of his fist, as if it were tangible.

Ace lowered his stance and threw a punch toward the twisted steel gate and the thick inner wall.

"Fist Bone Impact!"

There was no physical contact.

Several meters away from the gate, the mass of highly compressed, flowing Haki struck the steel like an invisible cannonball fired from a barrel!

"CRACK—BOOM!"

A hair-raising sound of metal shattering exploded through the air.

The gate, capable of withstanding heavy artillery fire, along with the several-meter-thick alloy inner wall behind it, crumbled like fragile biscuits under the destructive force of that single punch!

Countless fragments of steel and stone sprayed into the interior of the fortress in a fan shape, forcibly blasting a massive, dozen-meter-wide passage through the front of the supposedly impregnable fortress.

"Monster! The wall was punched through..."

The garrison inside the fortress watched the black-haired youth slowly retract his fist, their hands trembling so hard they couldn't even hold their guns steady.

"Let's go, time to get our things."

Ace shook his wrist and strode into the fortress, stepping over the ruins and twisted wreckage. Sabo, Jeno, and the others followed closely behind.

In the central plaza of the fortress, large numbers of elite soldiers were retreating step by step.

On the high platform of the plaza, a middle-aged man in a flamboyant uniform with a handlebar mustache stared, sweating profusely, at the madmen who had forced their way in. He was the neutral commander elected by the various warlords, specifically tasked with guarding this batch of Heavenly Tribute.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing?!"

The commander's hand, gripping his command sword, trembled violently as he shrieked: "This is the Heavenly Tribute for the Celestial Dragons! If you dare touch even a fraction of this, the Warlord Alliance and the Marine Headquarters will tear you into a thousand pieces!"

Ace didn't even glance at him, walking straight toward the vault door behind the high platform.

Leona brandished her two Bone-Cleaving Blades, cleanly cutting down the dozens of guards rushing toward them and clearing an unobstructed path.

Seeing that these pirates didn't take his warnings seriously at all, the commander fell into total despair. He scrambled toward the communication console in the corner of the platform, frantically dialing several Den Den Mushi.

"Send reinforcements! The Heavenly Tribute fortress is under pirate attack! Notify all Admirals immediately! Call for support from the Marine fleet stationed in the nearby waters! Hurry!!!"

The communication console erupted with the furious roars of the various warlords and the piercing, shrill alarms from the Marine side.

A few minutes later.

"Found it!"

Carina's excited scream echoed from the vault.

Jeno smashed open the heavy alloy door with a hydraulic hammer, revealing mountains of gold coins and jewels that gleamed enticingly in the dim space.

Carina unceremoniously produced a custom-made sack and began frantically stuffing it with cash and jewels. In an exquisite safe at the vault's deepest point, she successfully unearthed a Devil Fruit covered in spiral patterns, quickly tucking it into her personal pocket.

"Starfall Black Steel! Hahaha! My top-tier material is indeed here!"

Amidst a pile of weapons and supplies, Jeno found a large piece of black metal emitting a faint starlight. He caressed the black steel as if it were a peerless treasure, his mechanical exoskeleton arm hoisting it onto his shoulder as he roared with fanatical laughter.

"Captain, we've got everything."

Sabo glanced at the plundered vault and turned to Ace in the main hall. "The commander just requested reinforcements from all the warlords and the Navy on the island. If we don't leave now, we could be facing an encirclement of tens of thousands."

"Who said we're leaving?"

Ace sat on a chest of gold coins that Carina hadn't had time to collect, idly playing with a golden goblet.

"Captain?!" Buggy, who was holding two bags of treasure and preparing to flee, nearly dropped his jaw upon hearing this. "We got the loot, are we staying here to die? That's an allied force of several warlords, maybe even a Marine Headquarters general!"

Carina and Leona also looked at Ace with some confusion.

"For the past half month, you've all been sweating it out on deck every day."

Ace sat on the gold coin chest, his gaze sweeping over his crew members, a confident fighting spirit rising at the corners of his mouth. "But just training on deck won't push you to your true potential."

Ace pointed outside the door.

In the distance, the island's alarms were blaring frantically, and the faint sounds of a large army gathering and armored vehicles rumbling could be heard.

"No need to go searching for opponents, isn't this a ready-made touchstone?"

Ace stood up, looking at Buggy, Leona, and Carina, his tone carrying a tough, tempering edge.

"We'll wait for them here. Use the bodies and weapons you've honed during this time to feel the pressure of life and death. As long as you're not killed on the spot and push your bodies' potential to the limit, it will greatly help in comprehending Haki."

Hearing this insane decision, Jeno, carrying the Starfall Black Steel, let out a rough laugh.

"Using the entire island's warlord army as sparring partners? You truly are an unreasonable lunatic! But, my hydraulic hammer is also getting thirsty!"

Buggy looked at the money bags in his hands with a tearful expression, then at the dark, approaching army outside. Gritting his teeth, he silently put on the Seastone Knuckle set.

Ace drew the greatsword at his waist and casually swung it, the blade carving a deep gash in the ground.

"Time to get to work, everyone on the Eclipse."