Ace wanted to know what was going on, too!
They had finally picked up a lead. There was no evidence linking this place to a Poneglyph, but driven by a vengeful hunch, they had dived down to investigate.
Ace was a Devil Fruit User. Though he had once been good at climbing trees and catching fish, he was now a terrible swimmer. So when an undersea current swept them up, Ace—the worst swimmer of the lot—was carried straight into the secret chamber they had found earlier. There, he discovered what they had spent days searching for: a Road Poneglyph.
It was like watching Zoro get lost, stumble onto Laugh Tale, and become the King of the Pirates.
But Ace barely had time to celebrate. The moment he laid a hand on the Road Poneglyph, a force yanked him into the Darkness Veil along with it.
Then he appeared here and saw his sworn enemy: "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach!
Wait!
Teach?
"Teach!" Ace sprang up from the ground, his clothes blazing. "I'll kill you!"
Whoosh!
A line of fire raced around his feet, forming a circle. Patterns of flame coiled over his body as though alive. Ace raised a finger, and the patterns suddenly contracted, gathering at its tip. Scorching heat washed over everyone. Even Jot retreated a few steps. The ordinary pirates fared worse: some felt their eyes dry out and burned to death before they could even cry out.
Flame Emperor: Great Flame Commandment!
The fire swelled rapidly. In a single breath, a dazzling orange fireball appeared above the Blackbeard Pirates.
After his brush with death, Ace had pushed his mastery of the Flame-Flame Fruit even further. If he clashed with Blackbeard's Dark Hole again, there was no telling who would win!
Teach went from bewilderment to shock, then