Feel the Love of Mother Sea!

The Darkness Power of the Dark-Dark Fruit possessed an irresistibly powerful pull on other Devil Fruit users.

Bane was unleashing that pull now, dragging Ace through the air toward him.

Seeing Bane take over the fight with Ace, Garp did not hesitate in the slightest. A fierce glint flashed through his eyes as he leaped into the abyss in the ground, intending to take down Teach in one go.

Meanwhile, although Ace was being dragged toward Bane by the powerful force of attraction, there was still some distance between them. Unable to break free in midair, Ace changed his plan. Blaze ignited around both arms, and he continuously hurled the flames at Bane in the distance.

"Divine Fire: Shiranui!" Ace roared.

Several flames transformed into spears and pierced down at Bane from the sky.

At that moment, Smoker stopped worrying about his Marine base. His body turned into white smoke as he shot into the air, shouting, "White Smoke: White Fist!"

The smoke-forged fist struck Ace's flaming spears with precision, blocking the attack for Bane. At the same time, smoke burst from Smoker's lower body as he rammed toward Ace in midair.

Drawing his Seastone jitte, Smoker did not care whether Ace was Garp's beloved grandson. He swung it at him without hesitation.

Dragged by the force of attraction, Ace could not evade. He coated his arms in Haki, crossed them before himself, and forcibly withstood Smoker's blow.

"White Smoke: White Vine!" The instant Smoker passed Ace, he activated his ability again. His entire body turned into vine-like white smoke that rapidly wrapped around Ace. With both hands exerting force, he locked Ace's arms behind his back.

"Damn it." Flames erupted from Ace's body as he tried to force Smoker away.

But Ace's flames and Smoker's white smoke naturally countered one another. Neither could do much to the other.

At that very moment, Ace finally crashed into Bane's grasp. The instant he came into contact with Bane's palm, the surging flames within him abruptly died out, as though his power had been sealed away!

He had never experienced such a sensation before. Even when restrained by Seastone, he had never been completely unable to sense his own power!

The sudden turn of events left Ace panicked.

Bane gripped Ace's neck with one hand, a vicious smile spreading across his face. "It's over, Fire Fist!"

Before Ace could say anything, monstrous strength erupted from Bane's hand. With one savage strike, he smashed Ace and Smoker together into the ground.

Ace had lost his power and naturally could not turn into fire, but Smoker could still become smoke. The next second, the ground exploded with a bang, white smoke scattering in all directions as Smoker elementalized. Ace, meanwhile, landed back-first and was driven brutally into the cracks in the ground.

Ace had already taken one of Garp's heavy attacks the moment he appeared, leaving him seriously injured with several broken ribs. Now Bane had seized him, sealed his power, and slammed him viciously into the ground. Both sets of injuries erupted at once. With a cough, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his presence growing even weaker.

Though Bane had no intention of killing Ace in front of Garp, he was not about to hold back. At the very least, he had to beat Ace until he could no longer resist. One hand clamped around Ace's throat to seal his flame power, while Bane's other hand clenched tightly. Haki wrapped around his fist as he delivered a rapid barrage of heavy blows to Ace's head.

After several heavy punches, Ace's nose was crooked, and his eyes rolled back as if his consciousness were about to leave his body.

At the same time, Smoker put on gloves and swiftly snapped a pair of Seastone shackles around Ace's wrists, completely subduing him.

"That went surprisingly smoothly. Your Dark-Dark Fruit power is downright unfair to other ability users," Smoker remarked after cuffing Ace.

Bane did not respond to that at all. Instead, he asked, "Does this guy's bounty count toward my reward?"

If he remembered correctly, Ace had a bounty of 550 million Belly!

Smoker froze for a moment, looking at Bane without knowing what to say.

"Hahahaha, just kidding. Keep an eye on him. I'm going to help Vice Admiral Garp take down Teach!" Bane laughed, releasing Ace.

After using Soru several times to reach the edge of the abyss, Bane leaned over and looked down. It was pitch-black and bottomless, but intense commotion echoed from within. Haki clashed below, and every collision of fists sent Haki spilling through the abyss in flickers of lightning.

At the bottom of the pit, Teach gritted his teeth as he traded blows with Garp. With the cramped terrain, it was like fighting inside an octagon; there was barely any room to dodge, so every strike landed solidly.

You punched me in the body, I punched you in the head. Neither gave an inch.

Garp's fighting spirit was unwavering, but Teach had no intention of fighting Garp to the death here. He felt that he needed to find a chance to run as soon as possible. Ace had gone quiet; for all he knew, the guy had already been taken down. If he kept fighting Garp here, the outcome was obvious!

Garp, on the other hand, was having a wonderful time. It had been a long while since he had found a suitable opponent to trade merciless blows with in a situation like this. Every punch he threw felt exhilarating, and even getting hit was thrilling.

By then, Garp was covered in quite a few wounds as well. Blood ran from his brow, and a claw mark had torn open his chest, exposing flesh and faintly revealing bone. Teach's strength was undeniably formidable.

Just as Teach knocked aside Garp's fist and prepared to slash Garp with the claws of his other hand, an inexplicable pulling force suddenly yanked him upward.

Teach lost his balance for an instant. The claws that should have struck Garp's chest instead tore into Garp's shoulder, splashing blood.

At the same time, Garp drove a heavy punch into Teach's face, nearly knocking out several more of his teeth.

Garp was somewhat baffled by what had just happened, but Teach knew exactly what it was—the Dark-Dark Fruit had affected him!

That was right. Teach had not used his power so far only because there had been no opportunity to use it. In truth, back in Drum Kingdom, he had already become a Munch-Munch Fruit user!

So the Dark-Dark Fruit could affect him!

At the edge of the abyss, Bane sensed his power and a wicked smile curled across his lips.

"There was a reaction, which means there's an ability user down there. And everyone knows Garp isn't an ability user, so the one below can only be Teach. Hehehe." Bane's smile was utterly sinister.

An ability user was now tied up by Garp and trapped in a deep pit. That meant Bane could deal with him however he wanted!

Bane took a deep breath, then reached his hand into the abyss and said softly, "Feel the love of Mother Sea, Teach."

As Bane's words fell, a Darkness Gate opened before his palm. It rapidly expanded, enveloping the entire abyss. Then, surging seawater poured forth and flooded into the chasm.

Teach was still trying to outfight Garp when he suddenly heard the roar of rushing water above him. Looking up, he saw a massive torrent of seawater crashing down, instantly drenching him. The helpless weakness brought by the sea immediately enveloped his body.

"Fuck—" Teach had barely opened his mouth to curse the person above for fighting dirty when Garp knocked him down with a punch. The seawater instantly submerged him, and Teach could no longer get back up.

"What's going on?" Garp looked at the rising water, which was gradually flooding the place, utterly confused.

Though puzzled, he did not dwell on it. He plunged into the water, grabbed the limp and powerless Teach, who had already swallowed his fill of seawater, and swam upward.