One iron fist, a head full of lumps!

He took a step forward.

Crack.

A fissure instantly split the ground beneath his feet.

Lorne vanished from the spot.

"Then I'll make you remember what a real gap in strength means."

Ace's pupils contracted sharply. He had already lost sight of Lorne.

Nothing remained in Ace's eyes but a blank.

The next instant, a palm was already pressed against his chest.

Bam!

The force of Lorne's palm erupted, sending Ace flying backward. His heels plowed two deep furrows through the ground before he slammed into a large tree and stopped.

The trunk split down the middle, showering his head with splinters.

Ace slid down to sit on the roots, his chest heaving violently as he coughed up a mouthful of bloody spit.

"So fast..." He bit his lip hard, his nails digging into his palms. "I couldn't even... see him move."

Lorne withdrew his hand and stood where he was, his animal ears drooping lazily.

"Feel the difference now?"

Ace braced himself against the roots and stood, his legs trembling.

"It's not... over yet!"

Ace roared and charged, throwing his right fist without hesitation.

Lorne reached out and caught his fist between two fingers.

Click.

Ace's fist stopped in midair, utterly motionless.

Those two fingers were like two iron mountains, blocking every ounce of his strength.

"Let go!" Ace followed with his left fist.

Two fingers on Lorne's other hand caught his left fist with the same precision.

Both fists were completely locked down.

Ace's face turned a dark, purplish red. Every muscle in his body strained to its limit, veins bulging all the way from his neck to his forehead.

He pushed forward with everything he had, his feet kicking dirt in every direction.

Lorne stood his ground, steady as a rock.

"You..." Ace forced the words through his teeth. "What kind of... monster are you?"

"Someone stronger than you." Lorne released his fingers.

Suddenly losing his support, Ace pitched forward and fell headfirst into the mud.

He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, his fingers clawing deep grooves into the muddy earth.

"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it!"

This was the first time Ace had felt such a gap in strength between people his own age. A guy about his age was toying with him like a plaything.

"Giving up?" Lorne crouched down to meet the eyes of Ace, who lay on the ground.

"I'd rather die than admit defeat!" Ace shouted. "And I'm never calling you big brother!"

"Hahahaha!" Garp rocked with laughter on his rock, spraying rice cracker crumbs all over the ground. "This brat's just like I was when I was young!"

"Grandpa, shut up!" Luffy stamped his feet anxiously beside him.

Lorne stared into Ace's bloodshot eyes, which still refused to lose their fire, and stood up.

"Fine." He turned his back on Ace. "Then don't. I never said you had to."

"What?" Ace froze for a moment.

"I said-" Lorne didn't look back. "Calling someone big brother only means something if you accept them wholeheartedly. Beating you into it would just be bullying a kid."

"Who are you calling a kid?!"

"You." Lorne glanced back at him. "You can't even take one punch from me. What are you if not a kid?"

Ace's face instantly contorted.

He planted both hands on the ground and climbed to his feet, trembling all over, then shakily straightened up.

"Just you wait."

"One day... I'll beat you into the ground."

"Talk when you can actually touch me."

"You-!"

Before Ace could recover from his shock, Lorne seized his collar in a tight grip.

The movement came so fast there was no warning.

Ace's feet left the ground.

"Wha..."

Lorne lifted Ace with one hand, his arm held straight, as though holding a chick fresh out of its nest.

Ace's feet dangled a full half meter above the ground.

"Let me go!" Ace struggled instinctively, kicking wildly as his fists rained down on Lorne's arm.

He put all his strength into every punch.

Every punch struck Lorne's forearm.

Clang, clang, clang-

Metallic impacts rang out one after another. Ace punched until his knuckles were red and swollen, but Lorne's arm didn't budge.

Even the contours of the muscles beneath his skin remained completely unchanged.

Ace kicked, drove his knees at him, and even opened his mouth to bite Lorne's fingers.

His teeth clacked against them as though he had bitten an iron plate, nearly chipping his front teeth.

"Ow, ow, ow-!" Tears nearly burst from Ace's eyes, but he kept talking tough. "Let me go! You bastard! Monster!"

Lorne held him up without any change in expression, simply watching him struggle in silence.

The gulf between their strength was like an unbridgeable chasm.

Every attack a ten-year-old child could muster didn't even count as a tickle to Lorne.

"Done struggling?" Lorne asked.

"No! Let-"

Lorne raised his other fist.

Ace's voice cut off abruptly.

That fist slowly rose and aimed at his forehead.

"Wait, what are you going to-"

Bam!

The fist came down.

An enormous lump swelled on top of his head at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lorne let go.

Ace landed on his backside with a thud, clutching his head with both hands as tears swirled frantically in his eyes.

"It hurts-!!!"

He clenched his teeth and forced back the sob on the tip of his tongue. He nearly bit his lip bloody, but the tears stubbornly kept circling the rims of his eyes.

"You... you copied that stinking old man!" Sitting on the ground and clutching his head, Ace bared his teeth at Lorne. "You're shameless!"

"Why would I need to fight fair to beat you?" Lorne shook out his hand and flexed his fingers.

"You-!"

Ace stayed sprawled where he was, pounding the ground with his fists, grinding his teeth but unable to do anything.

Garp watched from his rock in delight, slapping his thigh and roaring with laughter.

"Good! Good! Well hit!" Garp laughed until tears came out. "That brat actually learned my Fist of Love! Hahahaha!"

"Grandpa, you're still laughing!" Luffy shouted indignantly beside him. "You've beaten Ace to tears!"

"I'm not crying!" Ace bellowed, nearly flinging the tears out.

"But your eyes are all red-"

"Shut up, Luffy!"

Ace sat on the ground, breathing heavily. Three steps away, Lorne withdrew his fist, his animal ears drooping lazily.

Luffy stood between them, turning his head back and forth, looking at Ace one moment and Lorne the next.

The atmosphere was tense.

Just then-

Luffy's eyes suddenly lit up, and he spread his arms and lunged straight forward!