"laugh!"
The flames burned, and Ace ran with all his strength. Almost instantly, he was in front of Xia Le. He jumped high, opened his hands, and pounced down.
"Sacred Fire Shiranui!"
With a loud roar, his hands turned into flame spears and stabbed fiercely towards the figure in front.
However, what shocked him was that after launching this move, the opponent avoided it with subtle precision.
Moreover, when he looked again, the figure standing there had disappeared.
"It's not a good thing to rely too much on the power of Devil Fruit!"
"Ace!"
Faint words came from behind.
This caused Ace's pupils to shrink and a chill to rise from his back.
When exactly?
He turned around suddenly, kicked off the deck with both feet, and stepped back to distance himself from the opponent.
To his surprise, Xia Le did not pursue him, but just looked at him calmly.
"You are scorning me!"
Ace said angrily.
"You haven't shown enough strength to make me face it!"
Xia Le smiled lightly.
Then, he raised his right hand and extended his index finger.
"What's the meaning?"
Ace shouted.
"Just use this finger!"
"Your current strength is only worthy of one finger from me!"
Xia Le smiled.
There was no mockery in his expression, but contempt was clearly expressed in his words.
Ace is even more angry!
In all his debut, he has never seen a man who looked down on him so much.
"asshole!"
"Even dad would never look down on me like this!"
Ace roared angrily, and his hands turned into pistols.
"Musket!"
Flame bullets shot towards Xia Le instantly.
The latter stood there, not even bothering to hide using such childish skills.
The flames hit him, and his tall body didn't even sway.
"asshole!!"
Ace's eyes were blazing with fire, and he ran in front of Xia Le, waving his fists continuously, raising balls of flames.
"Anger will only make you lose your mind!"
Xia Le said lightly.
He only used one finger, but he accurately received every attack from the opponent.
In fact, the impact caused by the sudden stabbing of his fingers made Ace's body tremble and a look of pain appeared on his face.
"Elementalization, you can't avoid being injured!"
"This man!?"
Ace was shocked.
But it is impossible for him to admit defeat like this!
"It seems that Whitebeard didn't teach you much."
"With your poor foundation, you are not even as good as my disciple."
Xia Le shook his head and said disappointedly.
"You talk too much!"
"Firefly, Fire Bodhidharma!!"
Ace yelled, his expression extremely ugly.
He tried almost all his tricks, but there was nothing he could do to defeat the opponent. In fact, this man didn't even make a few decent attacks, but just kept dodging his attacks.
Xia Le flicked a finger slightly, and huge ripples appeared in the empty space in front of him, and a blue electric arc flashed out, clearing away all the fire Bodhidharma.
"The natural system cannot give you the power to reach the top!"
"If you want to be the strongest, all you can rely on is your body and your instinct!"
He sighed softly.
There is no doubt that Ace's development of the Shashao Fruit is much higher than his Haki. Although his physical strength is considered strong, it is entirely the foundation laid by Garp.
Compared with the strong people who truly go from nothing to something and hone their domineering power, those who rely on fruit abilities have great shortcomings.
"Does it count as strength just to avoid it?"
"If you have the ability, show me your strength!"
Ace yelled.
His eyes were red, and the flames burned to the extreme at this moment, spiraling around his body and condensing into a huge fireball above his head in an instant.
"Show it to you?"
Xia Le narrowed his eyes slightly, then nodded.
"Then let you see it!"
The next second, his eyes suddenly stared.
"Buzz!"
Vast, majestic, terrifying, domineering, and powerful aura suddenly rushed out, sweeping in all directions.
Ace's whole body froze there, and the flames that were burning a second ago were like trembling quails, losing their burning power at this moment.
"Tick tock!"
Unknowingly, the sweat from his forehead flowed down his chin and dripped on the deck.
He stared blankly at the man in front of him, and saw that the sky with him as the background turned black and red.
Everything around him was shrouded in its terrifying pressure.
"Are you trembling with fear? Ace!"
"You are no match for Marshall Teach."
Xia Le said lightly.
"shut up!!!"
Ace growled.
He gritted his teeth, condensed all the flames, and was about to release the fireball above his head.
"Great Flame Ring: Emperor Yan!"
However, just the next second.
Ahead, Xia Le's figure suddenly disappeared, and then, a finger suddenly appeared between his eyebrows, and black and red lightning flashed.
The terrifying power seems to be enough to penetrate everything.
At this moment, he even smelled death.
Before he could react, the finger had already touched his forehead, and violent power exploded in an instant.
His body rose off the ground and was blown away by the terrifying force. The fireball that had just condensed above his head dissipated in an instant.
"You are too weak!"
"Ace!"
Immediately afterwards, consciousness fell into a blank.
Until he fell into coma, Ace still couldn't believe that he, the leader of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, was defeated so easily.
Lost to a finger? ——
When Ace opened his eyes again, what came into his eyes was Xia Le, who was wearing a white navy uniform and sitting cross-legged directly opposite him.
"With such a weak strength, he is half-assed."
"Who do you want to assist? Who do you want to protect?"
"Ace!"
The faint words reached his ears, making Ace grit his teeth and clenched his fists.
But the battle just now was still vivid in his mind, and the opponent's strength made him feel desperate. This kind of despair is even greater than when facing my father.
Could it be that this guy in front of me is more powerful than dad?
How can this be? !
"You rely too much on your fruit abilities!"
"The teacher has said more than once that the most powerful thing in a person is his will, his body!"
"And the power that gives the most direct feedback to these two is domineering!"
Kuina said calmly.
"Domineering?"
Ace was slightly startled.
At this time, Xia Le said again: "Follow me, Ace!"
"I will teach you greater power!"
"Only with power can you better guard and protect everything you want to have!"
Ace's face darkened: "You want me to be a marine?"
"This was your childhood dream, wasn't it?"
Xia Le smiled.
"You want to do something truly kind and help everyone who needs help."
"Are you going to play that kind of pirate house game that you deceive yourself into, and pursue the so-called illusory freedom?"
"Changing the world or becoming a pirate, which one do you choose?"
Ace was silent.
Once upon a time, he fantasized about being like the man in front of him, wearing a cloak of justice, being respected by thousands of people, and then doing what he thought was just and right.
He once deeply admired the other person, and listened to his mother telling stories about the other person countless times.
But time passed and everything changed.
"Navy dream?"
"It has already been broken!"
Ace shook his head and said with a smile.
"Dad is very good to me."
"Marco, Jozi, Bista, they are all my good brothers too!"
"If you think it's a boring game of house, so be it!"
After a pause, he said seriously.
“But for me, this is exactly the kind of home I’m looking for!”
Hearing this, Xia Le was startled at first, and then he actually laughed.
"The most rare thing for people is to know what they really want."
Standing up slowly, he turned around and looked at the sea ahead.
"Ace!"
“Always remember that anger makes people stupid.”
"Anyone who mocks or curses, you have to find out the meaning behind what he does!"
These words left Ace stunned.
In a daze, the man who once held him, lifted him up into the sky, and felt that he was standing high was standing in front of him again.
At that time, the other party was just like now, teaching him the principles of life and telling him what he could do and what he couldn't do.
For a moment, Ace's face softened a bit.
"If there is anyone in this world who has made mistakes, I can tolerate them."
"It's just you, Ace!"
The sound of a sigh made Ace's heart tremble and he raised his head suddenly.
"Even if you are a pirate, even if you still resent me, let me catch you myself."
"I can't do this kind of thing!"
By the end of the words, there was a touch of gentleness.
"But you have to be careful, Marshall Teach is a man with deep knowledge!"
"His power may be beyond your imagination!"
"If you insist on catching him, the result may be beyond your expectation!"
Xia Le turned around, his expression a little serious.
He knew very well that if the other party still insisted on capturing Marshall Teach, the final result would be that he would be used as a weight in negotiations and handed over to the Navy, which would eventually trigger a battle for the top.
"Tikki!!"
Hearing the name, Ace gritted his teeth again and clenched his fists.
Seeing this scene, Xia Le sighed and shook his head.
Obviously, a person's character cannot be changed in an instant.
The future may have been determined.
"Also, there is one more thing."
When the voice came, Ace raised his head and looked at the man in front of him.
Compared with his memory, the other party had almost no changes and was still as young as before, which also made him doubtful.
"Remember something!"
"No matter when, no matter how long it takes!"
"I will always be your Uncle Xia Le!"
Xia Le said with a smile on his face.
The freckled-faced man in front of him also merged with the child in his arms at this moment.
Ace's body trembled, and his nose felt sore for no reason.
The next second, he took a few steps forward and hugged the man in front of him tightly.
"thank you!"
Xia Le was startled, then smiled and patted the other person on the back.
"Now, there is no way I can lift you higher!"
Upon hearing this, Ace couldn't help but laugh.
"Then I, the mighty Fire Fist Ace, would be so embarrassed!"
Xia Le chuckled and suddenly said something again.
"If you were in the Navy."
"I can tell you something that may be important to you."
Ace was a little curious and asked with a smile: "What's the matter? You can actually let me join you as a navy?"
"A man named Sabo!"
Xia Le smiled.
"What?!"
(End of chapter)
