"That's good! Let's get out of here quickly!"
Whitebeard smiled with relief upon hearing Ace's affirmative words, then urged Ace to leave, knowing he really couldn't hold on much longer!
"Do you really think you can escape? How naive!"
After bidding farewell to Whitebeard, Ace and Luffy ran towards the beach, but were blocked by Akainu, who had been watching them. Akainu threw a punch, and the scalding lava cleared a space in front of the Marines and Luffy, leaving Ace and Luffy facing Marine Admiral Akainu directly.
" Luffy! You stay away from me for a bit, I'll take care of this guy!"
"Oh!"
Seeing Akainu blocking his way, Ace said seriously to Luffy beside him, then accelerated forward, his fist turning into fire as he punched Akainu.
Undeterred, Akainu transformed his fist into magma and met the attack head-on. The two fists collided instantly, and the powerful shockwave overturned the surrounding marines and pirates, turning the entire area into a sea of lava and flames.
Neither of them gained the upper hand in their initial clash. This Ace is not the Ace from the original story; this Ace has thoroughly trained in Haki, so he was unharmed in his fight with Akainu.
There is no distinction between superior and inferior fruits. If one had to say, the Flame-Flame Fruit -Magma-Magma Fruit would be superior, as it is the original state of the elemental fire, the purest elemental ability, rather than a product of a branch of the elemental. The Magma-Magma Fruit, on the other hand, is more like an ability hybridized from earth and fire elements.
In the original work, Ace's failure to defeat Ace was due to insufficient development of his Devil Fruit abilities and weak Haki. His body was burned when his Haki was shattered by the magma, not because a superior Akainu Fruit suppressed a lower-level one, as Akainu claimed.
Even though many people could use fire later on, and there was a saying that " Flame-Flame Fruit," that was just a joke. There are differences and levels between different types of fire. Just because you can set fire doesn't mean you can claim to have the Flame-Flame Fruit.
The potential of the Five Elements Fire is enormous. The Law of Fire ranks among the top of the three thousand high-level Laws. Ordinary flames can burn people, but the Five Elements Fire can incinerate everything! Upon final mastery, it can even incinerate the Power of Law!
The two quickly clashed again, and after more than a dozen moves, neither had gained the upper hand. Akainu knew that he couldn't defeat his opponent in a short time, and if Fire Fist Ace wanted to leave, he couldn't stop him. So he had no choice but to use the method he had thought of before!
" Meteor Volcano!"
This time, Akainu didn't rush towards Ace. Instead, he stood at a distance and unleashed hundreds of Magma Fist at Ace. As Ace took the hits, Akainu immediately Luffy towards Luffy, who was still watching the spectacle and waiting for Ace. Whether it was Ace or Luffy, he was determined to kill one of them today, not even Garp's grandson.
" Luffy!"
Akainu's speed is still very fast, and coupled with Luffy's continuous fighting over the past two days, his body has long been at its limit. Even though Ivankov gave him hormones and provided some rough treatment, Luffy still reached his limit, and his body was becoming somewhat out of his control.
Even though he noticed Akainu rushing towards him, he couldn't react effectively. By the time Ace caught Meteor Volcano, Akainu was already very close to Luffy. Actually, this was because Akainu controlled his speed; he just wanted to ambush Ace!
In Akainu's mind, Ace was a much greater threat than Luffy. He could already put up a long battle with Ace, and being Logia user, his future achievements were definitely greater. Such a pirate could not be allowed to live.
Straw Hat Boy's performance was rather average, and his Devil Fruit ability was also ordinary. Killing him would really offend Garp. He had seen Garp at his peak and knew how terrifying he was. Even though he didn't think Garp was weaker than Garp at over seventy years old, it was still best to avoid conflict if possible.
Therefore, his best outcome would be to severely injure or kill Ace while he was rushing to rescue Straw Hat Boy Ace and before he could use his Haki to defend himself.
Ace truly cared for his sworn brother, just as Akainu cared for his sworn brother, and was willing to risk his life for Luffy!
Seeing Akainu charge towards Luffy, Ace immediately transformed into flames and rushed forward at his fastest speed. After reverting to human form, he stood between Akainu and Luffy, leaving his back to Akainu, who was smirking and throwing a punch.
Feeling the heat coming from his back, Ace, who had just transformed into human form, didn't have time to use Armament Haki to defend himself, nor could he use his elemental form to dodge the punch, otherwise it would hit Luffy.
Ace was tricked. This was Akainu's open scheme, a choice Akainu left for Ace to make—to decide who would survive!
Both Ace and Luffy possess the spirit and awareness to sacrifice themselves for others. Ace decided to sacrifice himself, since Luffy had saved his life anyway. He himself seemed to have little attachment to the mortal world, ever since he learned that his father was the king of villains, the Pirate King Gol D. Roger!
"What an idiot!"
Just as Akainu's Magma Fist struck Ace's back, Vic arrived with Inazuma and kicked Akainu away!
Ace's back was only burned by the lava, meaning Ace Whitebeard symbol on his back was destroyed. Ace didn't have this tattoo when he first joined the Whitebeard Pirates, but he got it later after spending more time with Whitebeard and developing a deeper bond with him.
Vic could have arrived much faster to rescue Ace and prevent him from getting hurt, but he wanted the symbol on Ace's back destroyed. Whitebeard would definitely not be able to return this time, and the Whitebeard Pirates would cease to exist. He didn't want Ace to continue hanging out with Marco and the others. He needed Ace to train with all his might for a final sprint so that he could help him in the near future.
" Mr. Vic! Thank you!"
"Uncle Vic! Thank you so much!"
Ace and Luffy hugged each other and expressed their gratitude to Vic. Just now, when Luffy saw Akainu's fist hitting Ace, his heart was in his throat and his mind went blank!
Ace thought he was going to die. He even closed his eyes. Without Armament Haki to protect himself, it would be really hard to survive if his chest was burned through by magma. This was no ordinary penetrating wound; his internal organs would be burned away!
However, in the end, he only suffered burns on his back and that was the end of it. Ace turned around and saw Vic's reliable back, and then he and Luffy hugged each other in relief that they had survived the ordeal.
"Enough with the small talk, protect yourselves, and don't stray too far from me!"
" Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to. If you're interested, let's fight again another time!"
Vic had been fighting Sengoku, because Sengoku didn't just stand there after being put down on the Execution Platform like in the original story; he wanted to continue chasing Fire Fist Ace and recapture him, but Vic stopped him.
With Vic's current strength, stopping Sengoku would be quite easy. Although he was blocking Sengoku, his attention was always on Ace and Luffy, which is why he was able to use his Speed Domain to arrive and rescue them instantly when their lives were in danger.
"You bastard! You betrayed the contract of the Shichibukai, do you really want to be hunted down again?"
Golden Buddha Sengoku was furious, feeling like he'd been played by Vic without being paid. He'd treated Vic with great courtesy because of Vic's naval background, but what had Vic given him in return? Vic had sided with Whitebeard and even helped criminals storm the execution ground!
"I am a pirate now, a title doesn't change anything. Come and capture me if you want, but one Marine Admiral might not be enough, and I won't show any mercy anymore!"
Vic didn't react to Sengoku's words at all. He only agreed to become Shichibukai Saturn he wanted to use his time for training, not to spend a lot of time dealing with pursuit. Now that he has completed his training, he can go anywhere. He can even seize a piece of land in the New World and become emperor.
" Hancock! Remember! You still have your people, don't fight against them."
Hancock, seeing Vic's rebellion from afar, wanted to join forces with Vic and Luffy, but Vic's Observation Haki foresaw her move and he immediately sent a telepathic message to Hancock, telling her not to act rashly.
Although the Seven Warlords of the Sea system will still be abolished in two years, it's good to delay it for two years, which will give us time to think of other solutions.
Sengoku didn't say anything more. What Vic said was right. Even without the title of Shichibukai, the Navy really had to be cautious about Vic now, given his strength. Back then, when Kizaru returned covered in injuries, he knew that Vic had already become a force to be reckoned with.
Now, more than a decade has passed, and Vic is still in his prime, probably around the same age as Whitebeard at his peak. Therefore, Sengoku doesn't want to be Vic's enemy anymore. His target this time is Whitebeard, Whitebeard is almost finished. Giving Vic face and letting Fire Fist Ace go isn't a big deal!
"Is the kid from back then only capable of sneak attacks now?"
Sengoku didn't care, but Akainu did. With Vic's protection, he couldn't take down either Fire Fist Ace or Straw Hat Boy, which made him very unhappy. He turned his arms into magma and walked towards Vic step by step. The magma dripping from his arms burned small holes in the ground, emitting a lot of black smoke.
To conceal his true strength, Vic hadn't used much power in that kick, so Akainu thought Vic was nothing special and wanted to fight Vic.
"Yo! Isn't this Sakazuki who bullied me back when I was young and had only recently joined the Navy? If Sengoku had sent you to chase after me when I killed the Celestial Dragons, that would have been perfect."
Vic strongly disapproves of Akainu's behavior, which includes bullying the elderly and the young, plotting and killing his own people, forming cliques to suppress dissent, and distorting the Navy's justice by even targeting civilians.
Now that Akainu has jumped out, Vic also wants to get revenge for what happened back then and teach Akainu a lesson. Even though the old man has already taken action before, it doesn't matter. It's more relatable to have the old man take revenge himself. He might have let it go before, but now that he has, he might as well take care of him.