I'm an Honest Man, I'll Confess Everything

Deep within Thunder Valley, Laxus sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes to recover his magic power. Wisps of lightning from within the valley swirled around his body, disappearing into his body with the rise and fall of his chest.

Hughes lay diagonally in a hollow of a boulder not far from him, his hands crossed behind his head as a pillow, a blade of grass he had picked up dangling from his mouth.

His long legs, seemingly without a place to rest, were casually draped over the other. His gaze was vacant, but his mind was preoccupied with developing the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit.

After the Flame- Devil Fruit Awakening level reached 58%, Hughes had a strange feeling that he was a ball of flame.

The flames, which originally required deliberate control, could now be directed eastward at will.

The flames released by the Flame-Flame Fruit seemed to become an extension of his body, as if he were wielding an arm.

Hughes estimated that he should be able to develop other techniques from Ace now.

As a seasoned One Piece fan, Hughes certainly knew all of Ace's moves, but he only knew the general principles behind each move; whether he could develop them himself depended on him.

Hughes was also aware that not all of the techniques Ace developed based on the Flame-Flame Fruit were suitable for him.

Techniques like Cross Fire and Flame Commandment are probably not as powerful as his bare hands, so there's no need to waste time figuring them out.

Based on his current combat strength, only Ace's Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor is probably a match for him.

To master the Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor, you must thoroughly understand the most basic Flame Ring: Fire Pillar.

The Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor is essentially an upgraded version of the Flame Ring - Fire Pillar.

"Bear!"

Hughes remained reclining in the hollow of the boulder, but suddenly a deep red flame erupted from his raised index finger.

Under Hughes's control, the flame at his fingertip began to spin. As it spun, the flame gradually condensed into a ring, compressing inward. Finally, with a boom, a small but powerful pillar of fire shot straight into the sky from within the ring of flames.

"That's not difficult. Why don't we try a bigger one?" Hughes muttered, glancing at his index finger.

Struggling to his feet, Hughes blew on his index finger.

"Call!"

The flame at the tip of his index finger went out instantly, leaving behind wisps of black smoke.

Hughes jumped off the boulder, glanced at Laxus, and seeing that he was still recovering his magic with his eyes closed, he walked forward five or six hundred meters.

Developing new techniques is fine, but disturbing others is not good.

Reaching the designated location, Hughes exhaled.

"Bear!"

In an instant, Hughes was engulfed in scorching flames. Not only that, but flames also erupted from the ground within a 10-meter radius around him, crackling and popping.

Hughes's expression hardened, and the surrounding flames immediately burst into a crackling sound. He suddenly spread his arms wide, and his hands, which were surrounded by flames, spun around once.

"Huff, huff..."

The flames on the ground and all the flames on Hughes' body also rotated, slowly forming a huge fire ring with a radius of 10 meters centered on him.

Hughes could sense a strange power surging within the ring of flames centered on him.

It compresses all the flames within the flame ring, determined not to stop until it reaches its maximum compression limit, but the flames seem unwilling to give up, and even when compressed to the extreme, they still try their best to fight back.

The two remained locked in a stalemate, for a breath, two breaths...

Suddenly, a deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth. The flames, compressed to their limit within the ring of fire, broke free and burst forth with terrifying force, forming a burning pillar of fire 20 meters in diameter that connected heaven and earth, hurtling straight into the sky.

"Tsk, I really am a genius! I succeeded with the Flame Ring - Pillar of Fire on my first try!"

Hughes smiled, clapped his hands, and all the flames vanished instantly, as if nothing had happened.

Of course, this is in contrast to the more fractured Thunder Valley and the scorching heat in the air.

Not far away, Laxus stood up, his eyes serious. How could he not have sensed such a big movement from Hughes?

As flames appeared on the ground, he opened his eyes and stared at Hughes, witnessing firsthand the 20-meter-wide pillar of fire blasting across the heavens and earth.

Laxus stretched out his hand, sensing the heat in the air. That bastard Hughes's flames have become much more powerful!

"Hey, Laxus, your magic is back to normal?" Hughes greeted him, raising his hand.

Laxus suppressed his shock and nodded somewhat coldly. With the help of Thunder Valley, his magic power recovered quickly. At this moment, his magic power had recovered to more than 90%, which was enough.

Seeing that Hughes continued to lie back in the hollow of the boulder like a salted fish, Laxus also sat down cross-legged.

There's no rush to break through the bottleneck by absorbing the thunder from Thunder Valley; he has something to ask Hughes.

He needed to find out what had happened to Hughes while he was away from Thunder Valley, who the imposter Jose was, and what his purpose was.

"Where did you go before?" Laxus asked.

Hughes knew what Laxus wanted to ask, and he didn't intend to hide it from him. They were brothers, and it would be too tiring to keep it a secret. It wasn't like they had any special hobbies!

Well, the main reason he dared to do this is because Laxus couldn't beat him.

Hughes lay on the boulder and explained why he had impersonated Jose Bora and tricked the Dojigiri Ezel.

"You mean the person impersonating Jose Bora was you!"

"Are you crazy?!"

Laxus appeared beside Hughes in a fit of rage, grabbing Hughes's collar and gritting his teeth.

Does that bastard even know how worried he was? Jose Bora is no good man; he genuinely thought something had happened to Hughes.

And that bastard beat him up again!!

Hughes patted Laxus's fist. "Put me down first, then let me explain!"

Laxus gritted his teeth and released his grip, causing Hughes, whom he had lifted, to slump back onto the boulder with a thud.

Facing Laxus's furious glare, Hughes calmly said, "I'm doing this for your own good. After my actions, in a couple of days you'll be famous throughout the entire Ishgar Continent. Then you'll marry a beautiful and wealthy woman and easily reach the pinnacle of life!"

... He shouldn't have listened to that bastard's explanation. Endure it, endure it my ass!

Laxus clenched his fist tightly and suddenly struck, punching Hughes in the face.

"Tsk tsk, don't be angry. A whole bunch of powerful individuals might come looking for you to challenge. After your breakthrough, you can use them to solidify your strength."

Hughes used his Elementalization to evade Laxus's attack, then appeared beside him, put his arm around Laxus's shoulder, and explained.

This explanation was something he had just come up with on the spur of the moment... Hughes admitted that he initially impersonated Jose Bora to beat up Laxus purely for fun.

Laxus didn't believe a word Hughes said; he knew perfectly well who Hughes was.

Laxus forcefully slapped away Hughes's arm from his shoulder and snarled at Hughes, "You better not give me a chance, or you'll see how I torment you to death!"

Watching Laxus's departing figure, Hughes opened his mouth, his face filled with sorrow, and looked down at the boulder beneath him.

"Since that's the case, then I have no choice but to atone with my death!"

"Bang!"

Hughes' forehead slammed violently against the boulder.

"You bastard, if you have the guts, undo that weird physical technique!" Laxus roared.

"That won't do! If the Tekkai is removed, your forehead will really hit the rock!"