"It was only to be expected of one of the Five Emperors, Qin Yu. You stopped my attack so easily. But I'm not the same person I was half a year ago!"
Ace descended amid the sea of flames. The instant he steadied himself, a fierce glint flashed deep within his eyes, and the Devil Fruit power dormant within him erupted.
"Flame Vortex!"
Bang!
The flames surging through the sky suddenly stalled. In the next moment, it was as though an invisible pair of giant hands were pulling at them.
The flames filling the heavens were devoured and absorbed directly into Ace's body.
In the blink of an eye, they gathered into a small vortex above Ace's head, radiating a terrifying aura.
"Rayleigh, little Ace seems to have gotten smarter. He knows how to reuse the flames and reduce his stamina consumption. I suppose that's thanks to your training, isn't it?" Shakky said in surprise, a cigarette dangling from her lips.
"Heh, Shakky, you're giving me too much credit. Ace is Captain Roger's son. I merely gave him a simple explanation and a few ideas. As for how to do it, he had to carve out his own path," Rayleigh said with a dry laugh. Light flickered in his eyes beneath his glasses. "Unfortunately, he's different from Roger. He's far too stubborn and persistent, and he chose the wrong opponent."
As the Pirate King's right-hand man, and one of the earliest crewmen Roger had invited aboard.
Rayleigh naturally understood the differences between Ace and Roger.
If Ace embodied persistence and stubbornness.
Then Roger had been easygoing by nature, pursuing freedom, somewhat like Luffy.
Ace, on the other hand, leaned more toward Whitebeard's ambition.
It was precisely because of this that Ace had ultimately been drawn to Whitebeard and willingly become