Confrontation in the Drum Kingdom: Two Fire Fists?

Drum Kingdom, castle hall.

Flames and ice collided fiercely.

"Huff... huff..." Ace knelt on one knee, the blood running down his forehead blurring his left eye. His orange shirt was in tatters, exposing lean muscles and countless scars.

Ahead of him, Wapol, the current king of the Drum Kingdom, was laughing arrogantly.

"Hahahaha! Fire Fist Ace? Is that all you've got?" Wapol's fat body was covered in metal armor, formed by using his Munch-Munch Fruit powers to fuse the castle's steel and weapons together. "Your flames are useless against my absolute defense!"

Behind Wapol stood twenty fully armed Kingdom Guards, along with... a doctor in a white coat, sitting in a corner and watching the show.

The doctor was very young and wore glasses, idly toying with a syringe. An eerie emblem was embroidered on the chest of his white coat: a skull pierced by three syringes.

The Blackbeard Pirates' doctor-Doc Q!

But at that moment, he was posing as Wapol's "medical adviser."

Ace gritted his teeth and stood up, flames igniting in his hands again. "Don't underestimate me... I still have a finishing move I haven't-"

"That's enough, Ace."

A calm voice came from the hall's entrance.

Everyone turned.

Wind and snow poured through the shattered doors, but the snowflakes instantly vaporized when they approached a certain radius. A black-haired young man in dark red armor stood in the doorway, his right hand hanging naturally at his side and his left resting on the sword hilt at his waist.

His eyes looked straight at Ace.

"Who are you?!" Wapol demanded warily. "Where are the guards? How did they let someone in?!"

Lin Yan ignored him and simply looked at Ace as he said:

"If you're hurt, get treated. Acting tough isn't what a real man should do."

Ace froze. Why did this guy who had suddenly appeared... feel strangely familiar?

"Who... are you?" Ace asked.

Lin Yan walked into the hall. With each step, a patch of ice beneath his feet melted, exposing the stone slabs underneath. The heat warped the air, and the temperature throughout the hall rose.

"I'm your older brother."

Those words struck like thunder.

Ace's eyes widened before he snapped, "Are you kidding me?! My only older brother is Sabo! Even though he's already..."

"Dead?" Lin Yan finished. "No, Sabo is still alive."

"What?!" Ace jolted.

In the corner, Doc Q adjusted his glasses, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.

Lin Yan continued, "During that Celestial Dragon inspection incident in the Goa Kingdom, Sabo was rescued by the Revolutionary Army. He's their chief of staff now, and he's doing well."

Ace staggered back a step. "Impossible... how do you know about Sabo... who the hell are you?!"

"I told you, I'm your older brother." Lin Yan sighed. "Your biological older brother, with the same father but a different mother. Our father is-"

"Shut up!!!" Ace suddenly flew into a rage, towering flames erupting from his entire body. "Don't say that name!!!"

The flames became a massive wave that surged toward Lin Yan.

But Lin Yan merely raised his left hand.

When the flames came within three meters of him, they grew docile like birds returning to their nest, swirling around him before finally gathering in his palm as a flickering fire lotus.

"Wha..." Ace stood stunned.

"That's not how you use the Flame-Flame Fruit's power." Lin Yan crushed the fire lotus out. "You rely too much on the fruit's natural combustion. The temperature, shape, and density of fire-you've developed less than thirty percent of them."

He looked at Ace, his gaze stern:

"How high can your maximum temperature go? Three thousand degrees? Five thousand? The sun's surface is five thousand five hundred degrees, but the Flame-Flame Fruit's theoretical limit... is the fifteen million degrees at the sun's core."

Ace's mouth hung open, unable to speak.

Beside them, Wapol became furious. "Hey! Are you pretending I don't exist?! Attack! Kill those two!"

The guards charged.

Lin Yan didn't even turn around. He simply snapped his fingers.

Snap.

A ring of crimson-gold fire spread outward from him. As it swept over the guards, their weapons and armor instantly melted into molten iron, yet their bodies remained completely unharmed-the precision of his temperature control was terrifying.

The guards screamed as they threw off the scorching remnants of their armor and retreated in horror.

Wapol was frightened too, but he still forced himself to look composed. "I-I'm the king! I have the Munch-Munch Fruit! I can eat anything-"

"Shut up, you fat pig."

Lin Yan finally gave him a glance. Just a glance.

Conqueror's Haki erupted like a tsunami!

Vwoom-!!!

Invisible pressure engulfed the entire hall. Wapol's eyes rolled back, foam spilled from his mouth, and he collapsed unconscious with a thud. The guards fell one after another too. In the end, the only ones still standing were Ace, Lin Yan, and Doc Q in the corner.

Doc Q applauded. "Brilliant. Conqueror's Haki, absolute control over fire, and that fine temperature manipulation just now... who exactly are you?"

Lin Yan looked at Doc Q. "You don't deserve to know."

Doc Q's smile stiffened.

Ace came to his senses then and stared at Lin Yan. "You said... Sabo is still alive? Where's your proof?"

"Here's the proof." Lin Yan pulled a photograph from inside his clothes and tossed it to Ace. "This was secretly taken last year while he was operating in the East Blue. He's grown up, but you should still recognize him."

Ace caught the photograph. It showed a young man in a top hat and suit, giving a speech in some town. That face... though much more mature, it really was Sabo!

Ace's hands trembled.

"Sabo... really is still alive..."

"So now," Lin Yan said, walking toward Ace, "can you believe I'm your older brother?"

Ace jerked his head up, doubt still in his eyes. "Even if Sabo is alive, that doesn't prove you're my older brother! My mother only had me!"

"Rouge wasn't your biological mother."

Another heavy blow.

Ace looked as though he had been struck by lightning. "W-what did you say...?"

"Portgas D. Rouge was your adoptive mother." Lin Yan's voice softened. "Our biological mother... disappeared shortly after giving birth to us. Aunt Rouge was her close friend. She willingly adopted us and concealed the fact that we were twins from the World Government to protect us."

"She kept you by her side and entrusted me to Garp."

"Of us brothers, one inherited our father's 'sinful bloodline,' and the other inherited our mother's 'guardian bloodline.' That's why we don't look alike, and our abilities are different."

Ace could barely stand anymore. He braced himself against the wall, his mind in complete turmoil.

Just then, Doc Q suddenly spoke:

"What a touching reunion between brothers. However..."

He stood up, his white coat fluttering without any wind:

"The captain said that if I ran into 'another Fire Fist,' I should test his strength."

An enormous scythe appeared in Doc Q's hand, purple liquid flowing along its blade:

"Let me see whether an 'older brother' like you is qualified to protect little brother Ace~"

His figure flickered, appearing behind Lin Yan like a phantom as his scythe slashed toward his neck!

"Watch out!" Ace shouted instinctively.

Lin Yan didn't move.

Clang-!!!

The scythe struck Lin Yan's neck, but the sound was that of metal clashing. A layer of dark red flame armor automatically appeared, stopping the scythe head-on!

Doc Q's pupils contracted. "A Logia coated in Armament Haki?! That's impossible-"

"Nothing is impossible."

Lin Yan finally turned, his right hand seizing Doc Q's face as fast as lightning:

"Your Plague-Plague Fruit is useless against me."

"Because my fire... can purify every virus."

Crimson-gold flames erupted from Lin Yan's palm, instantly engulfing Doc Q's entire body!

"Aaaaaah-!!!"

Doc Q screamed in agony. The flames didn't burn him directly, but burrowed into his pores like countless fine needles, scorching the "source of disease" inside him-the very essence of the Plague-Plague Fruit!

[Target contacted: Doc Q (Plague-Plague Fruit user)]

[Beginning template extraction...]

[Warning: Target is resisting desperately]

[Recommendation: Increase flame output]

Lin Yan's gaze turned cold, and the flames' temperature shot from three thousand degrees to five thousand!

Doc Q's screams abruptly stopped-he had passed out. His white coat burned to ashes, exposing his skeletal body, while a healthy flush appeared on his skin after being "purified."

[Extraction successful!]

[Obtained: Plague-Plague Fruit Template (fragment)]

[Quality: Common]

[Effect: Can create and control germs, viruses, and toxins]

[Available fusion option: Fuse with the Flame-Flame Fruit → "Plague Fire" (flames gain the ability to spread viruses)]

[Fuse?]

Lin Yan hesitated. The plague ability was powerful, but too evil.

"Store it for now."

He released his hand, and Doc Q slumped to the floor.

Ace had watched the entire thing and was already speechless.

This man claiming to be his older brother... had instantly defeated the doctor who had made him feel such immense pressure?

Lin Yan walked up to Ace and held out a hand:

"Let me formally introduce myself: Monkey D. Yan, twenty-two years old, Gol D. Roger's eldest son, and your older twin brother."

"Ace, come with me."

"Together, we brothers will change this fucked-up world."

Ace looked at that hand, then at Lin Yan's serious face.

Their bloodlines resonated, and their flames answered each other.

After a long while, Ace gritted his teeth and said:

"I... I won't accept you as my older brother that easily! Unless-"

Before he could finish, Lin Yan knocked him on the head with a fist.

Thump!

"Ow! What are you doing?!"

"When a little brother misbehaves, his older brother has a duty to discipline him." Lin Yan lowered his fist. "Now, call me your brother."

"No!"

Thump! Another punch.

"Will you say it or not?"

"N-wait! Stop hitting me! I'll say it! I'll say it, all right?!"

Ace clutched his head, his eyes actually a little red-not from crying, but from pain.

He struggled for a long time before finally saying quietly:

"...Big brother."

Lin Yan smiled and ruffled Ace's hair:

"Yeah. I'll have your back from now on."

Wind and snow blew through the broken doors, but the air around the brothers was as warm as spring.

In the corner, the unconscious Doc Q's fingers twitched, quietly pressing the Den Den Mushi inside his clothes.

Somewhere in the New World, aboard an enormous raft.

A fat man dressed in black, with several missing teeth, picked up the ringing Den Den Mushi.

"Hello? Doc Q? Is the mission complete?"

The Den Den Mushi mimicked Doc Q's weak voice. "C-Captain... the mission failed. An 'older brother' appeared by Ace's side. His strength is terrifying... he countered my ability..."

"An older brother?" Blackbeard narrowed his eyes. "Interesting... zehahahaha! Retreat for now, then! We'll deal with Ace later!"

After hanging up, Blackbeard looked at the wanted poster in his hand-at Ace's face.

"An older brother, huh... looks like the plan needs to change."

Drum Castle.

Lin Yan suddenly turned toward where Doc Q had been, but Doc Q had already vanished-escaping through some kind of spatial transfer ability.

"Teach's doctor... sure enough, he's not that simple."

But it didn't matter. The priority now was-

"Ace, get ready. We should go."

Ace wiped the blood from his face and asked, "Where?"

"We'll pick up your crew first, then..." Lin Yan looked at the sea beyond the window. "Head to the East Blue."

"Why the East Blue?"

"Because our other little brother is there."

Ace froze. "Another... little brother?"

Lin Yan nodded. "Monkey D. Luffy, Garp's biological grandson, the little idiot who ate the Gum-Gum Fruit."

"He's seventeen this year, with three years left before he sets sail."

"But before that, we need to meet him."

"And while we're at it... clean up the East Blue."

Flames ignited in Lin Yan's eyes:

"Let the World Government know-"

"The will of D. has never gone out."