The entrance to the Grand Line, in the waters around Reverse Mountain.
The Flame Emperor had been sailing for a week. With the precise nautical charts and Eternal Pose Garp had provided, Lin Yan had taken almost no detours, crossing straight through the Calm Belt-thanks to the small Seastone device installed beneath the hull, which could fool the Sea Kings' senses.
But today, things were a little different.
[Warning: Supermassive life signs detected ahead] [Number: 3] [Category: Island Whale-class Sea Kings (juvenile)] [Threat level: B (S for conventional vessels)]
Lin Yan stood at the bow, watching three enormous shadows approach beneath the sea. Each was five times the size of the Flame Emperor. Clearly, they had taken his "little toy" for a snack.
"Just the thing to test my current strength."
Lin Yan took off his coat, revealing his lean, muscular upper body. Dark red Flame Emperor Armor covered his chest, shoulders, and key parts of his arms, gleaming like metal in the sunlight.
He walked to the rail and leaped-
Not down toward the sea, but into a walk through the air!
Geppo!
An aerial walking technique from the Six Powers, which Garp had trained him in since childhood. Though it could not compare to Kizaru's light-speed movement, it was more than enough for staying airborne briefly and dodging.
Lin Yan took ten consecutive steps through the air, arriving directly above the three Sea Kings.
Just then, the sea erupted!
Three enormous heads burst from the water, each comparable to a small castle. Their mouths opened, lined with sharp teeth, and a foul wind rushed into his face.
"Roar!!!"
The sound whipped up waves, and the Flame Emperor rocked violently behind him.
Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged. He clenched his right fist, and Armament Haki instantly coated his entire arm, turning it pitch-black.
"Let's try pure martial arts first."
He dove, aiming at the tip of the middle Sea King's nose:
"Iron Fist: Meteor!"
Boom!!!
The instant his fist struck its target, the air compressed to its limit, then exploded! A shockwave spread in a ring, hammering a hundred-meter-wide depression into the sea!
The Sea King let out an agonized shriek. Its nasal bones shattered, and its massive body toppled backward from the blow, throwing up waves dozens of meters high.
[Combat data detected...] [Iron Fist template completion +5%. Current: 25%] [New skill acquired: Shockwave Transmission (allows punching force to pass through the surface and directly attack internal organs)]
"It works."
Lin Yan turned in midair. The other two Sea Kings had already lunged at him in fury. They had learned their lesson: instead of using their vulnerable noses, they rammed at him with the tops of their heads, covered in thick scales.
"Then let's try fire."
Lin Yan spread his hands and focused his will.
"Flame Emperor Body: Flame Limbs-"
His arms instantly transformed into crimson flames, rapidly swelling and extending! From normal arms, they became giant flaming limbs ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters long!
But that was not all.
"Armament Haki coating!"
Pitch-black Haki spread along the flames, turning both flaming arms dark red and giving their surfaces a metallic sheen.
"Take this."
Lin Yan clasped his fists together, raised them above his head, then slammed them down!
"Flame Fist: Twin Dragon Fall!"
Two giant flaming fists, each fifty meters long, plunged like meteors, striking the two Sea Kings squarely on the crowns of their heads.
Thoom!!!!
The impact was crushingly deep, like two mountains colliding. The sea erupted again. This time, waves shot hundreds of meters into the sky before falling as torrential rain.
When the mist cleared, the two Sea Kings floated on the surface with their eyes rolled back. Each bore a charred fist print on its head, deep enough to expose bone.
[Battle concluded] [Acquired: Sea King life energy (large amount)] [Flame-Flame Fruit template completion +10%. Current: 30%] [Flame Emperor Body proficiency increased. Flame extension limit increased to 500%]
Lin Yan retracted his flaming arms and landed steadily on the Flame Emperor's deck. The ship did not so much as sway-he had used Geppo to shed all the impact.
"Three Island Whale-class Sea Kings, and it only took a minute."
Lin Yan formed an initial assessment of his strength. "My normal combat strength is roughly equal to an elite Navy Vice Admiral. Going all out, I should be able to hold my own against an Admiral for a short time."
"But it's still not enough..."
He looked at the Vivre Card. Ace was still somewhere ahead.
"Ace should have reached the Drum Kingdom by now. According to the original timeline, he'll encounter Blackbeard there, but they won't fight..."
Lin Yan's gaze turned cold. "I absolutely cannot let Teach get close to Ace."
He entered the wheelhouse and adjusted his course. The Eternal Pose shifted slightly, pointing toward a more precise location.
Just then, the system chimed again:
[Ding-] [Combat fluctuations from a nearby 'Template Holder' detected] [Coordinates: 15 nautical miles southeast] [Identification: Mr. 5 (Bomb-Bomb Fruit user) is attacking a merchant ship] [Recommendation: Defeat him to obtain template fragments]
Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.
A small fry from Baroque Works? And the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, at that.
"I remember the Bomb-Bomb Fruit can have a chemical reaction with the Flame-Flame Fruit..."
He turned the ship around, and the Flame Emperor cut through the waves.
Fifteen nautical miles away, a merchant ship was burning.
A man with an afro, wearing a spotted suit and sunglasses, stood at its bow, laughing brazenly:
"Hahahaha! Hand over all your treasure! Or my next Booger Bomb will blow your captain away!"
It was none other than Mr. 5, a high-ranking agent of Baroque Works.
The merchant ship's crew trembled. An old man knelt and pleaded, "Sir, we're only a charity ship transporting medicine. We really don't have any treasure..."
"Charity?" Mr. 5 picked his nose and flicked out a black sphere. "Then go do your charity work in hell!"
The Booger Bomb flew toward the old man.
The old man closed his eyes in despair.
But when the bomb was three meters away from him, a flaming hand suddenly reached in from the side and caught it.
The hand was made entirely of orange-red flames, its five fingers long and slender, the bomb resting in its palm.
"Huh?" Mr. 5 froze.
The flaming hand closed gently.
Boom!
The bomb exploded in its palm, but the flaming hand did not budge. Not even a ripple passed through it. The blast and flames were completely absorbed.
"What?!" Mr. 5's eyes widened.
Lin Yan slowly descended from the air and stood atop the merchant ship's mast. He looked down at Mr. 5 as though looking at an ant.
"The Bomb-Bomb Fruit... A trash ability, but it has some use."
Mr. 5 was so furious that he laughed. "Another one with a death wish! Do you know who I am? Baroque Works-"
Before he could finish, Lin Yan was already in front of him.
It was not teleportation, but Soru-one of the Six Powers-pushed to its limit and combined with flame propulsion. He moved too fast for Mr. 5's vision to follow.
"Too slow."
Lin Yan drove a fist into Mr. 5's abdomen.
No Haki. Pure strength.
Thwack!
Mr. 5's eyes bulged, saliva spraying from his mouth. His body doubled over like a shrimp as he flew backward, smashed through the railing, and fell into the sea.
"Gurgle..." He struggled to surface, but Lin Yan had already stepped through the air with Geppo and arrived above him.
"For an ability user, falling into the sea means death," Lin Yan said calmly. "But you don't have to die, as long as you agree to do one thing for me."
Mr. 5 nodded frantically.
Lin Yan reached out and grabbed. Flames formed a rope that hauled him out of the sea and tossed him back onto the deck.
"Go back and tell Crocodile." Lin Yan crouched, staring straight into Mr. 5's terrified eyes. "I'm taking Pluton in Alabasta. Tell him to wash his neck and wait for me."
"A-and what else...?"
"And," Lin Yan pressed his hand against Mr. 5's forehead, "I'll be taking your ability."
[Target contacted: Mr. 5 (Bomb-Bomb Fruit user)] [Beginning template extraction...] [Acquired: Bomb-Bomb Fruit template (fragment)] [Quality: Inferior (original fruit development extremely low)] [Available fusion options:] [1. Fuse with the Flame-Flame Fruit → Explosive Flame (adds explosive properties to flames)] [2. Fuse with Flame Emperor Body → Cell Bomb (body cells can be converted into bombs)] [3. Store temporarily]
"Option one."
[Fusion beginning...] [Flame-Flame Fruit template + Bomb-Bomb Fruit fragment] [Fusion successful!] [New trait acquired: Explosive Flame] [Effect: Flame temperature remains unchanged, but a secondary explosion can be triggered upon contact with a target. Explosive power increases with the amount of flame infused] [Current maximum explosive yield: Equivalent to 100 kilograms of TNT]
Mr. 5 felt something being stripped from his body. His Devil Fruit ability was still there, but it seemed... a little weaker?
"Get lost."
Lin Yan turned away. Scrambling and stumbling, Mr. 5 jumped into a small boat and rowed away frantically.
The old man from the merchant ship approached shakily. "Our savior, thank you for saving our lives..."
Lin Yan waved a hand. "No need to thank me. Can your ship still sail?"
"Y-yes. It's just on fire..."
Lin Yan snapped his fingers. Every flame on the ship detached itself from the objects it was burning and gathered in his palm, forming a fireball before dissipating.
"All done."
The old man and the crew gaped.
Lin Yan returned to the Flame Emperor and raised its sails, preparing to leave. The old man suddenly called out:
"Our savior! May we ask your name?!"
Lin Yan looked back and pointed at the projection of the Double D Flag that had just lit up on the figurehead:
"Monkey D. Yan."
"Remember that name. Soon, it will resound throughout the world."
The Flame Emperor set sail once more.
The old man aboard the merchant ship murmured to himself, "D... That forbidden letter..."
A day later, Lin Yan reached the vicinity of the coordinates marked by the system.
It was a winter island. Through the snow filling the sky, he could see the towering Drum Mountain Peak and the castle-like buildings upon it.
He had reached the Drum Kingdom.
Lin Yan put away the Vivre Card. It could sense that Ace was on this island.
But the system suddenly displayed a warning:
[Multiple powerful presences detected] [1. Portgas D. Ace (Flame-Flame Fruit, status: engaged in fierce combat)] [2. Wapol (Munch-Munch Fruit, status: enraged)] [3. ??? (presence concealed, threat level: A+)]
The third, unknown presence made Lin Yan's pupils contract.
"Could it be... Blackbeard is already here?"
He leaped off the ship and charged toward the summit of Drum Mountain using Geppo.
Wind and snow lashed toward his face, but as soon as they came within three meters of Lin Yan, invisible waves of heat evaporated them.
From the direction of the mountaintop castle came violent explosions and a familiar roar:
"Fire Fist!!!"
It was Ace's voice.
Lin Yan accelerated again, streaking a crimson trail through the air.
"Wait for me, Ace."
"Your big brother's coming."
Before you continue