Chapter 24

This was Ace, who had disappeared for a while under the wanted order of the Magic Council.

Because Lin Cheng felt that the time was almost up, he let Ace bubble up again to show off his presence.

"So lively."

"I didn't expect everyone to have rebuilt the house so quickly."

"Everyone's complexion seems to have recovered well."

Ace looked at the people of Fairy Tail with a sense of familiarity and greeted them with a smile.

After greeting them, he walked carelessly to Erza's side, sat down, and smiled at Mirajane behind the bar: "Miss Mirajane, I'm a bit hungry, do you have fried noodles here?"

As he spoke, Ace rubbed his stomach.

Like his brother Luffy, Ace was also a foodie.

"No fried noodles, but we do have steaks and such."

Mirajane looked at Ace, who was now a wanted criminal of the Magic Council, and there was no obvious emotional fluctuation on her face; she showed a sweet smile and said: "How well-done does Mr. Ace usually like his steak?"

He was called a wanted criminal.

However, apart from the time Ace killed Jose, neither the Magic Council nor the intelligence organization on Fairy Tail's side had found any criminal record for Ace.

Even let alone a criminal record, there were no clues about Ace's movements.

Without evidence, there was no way to convict Ace by claiming to be a pirate, and the time he killed Jose was also because Jose made the first move, and Ace just fought back.

At most, it was just excessive self-defense.

Because Ace's strength far exceeded Jose's, he completely had the possibility of defeating the other party without killing them.

Therefore, if it was just excessive self-defense, with Fairy Tail's relationship with the Magic Council, letting Yajima, who was a councilor, put in a good word, it could still be glossed over.

Hearing Mirajane's inquiry, Ace thought about it very seriously and said: "Medium-well steak, I guess."

"I like to eat meat that is a bit charred and crispy."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

"Aha!"

"Ace, let's have a duel!"

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu, who was staring at Gray not far away, jumped up excitedly after seeing Ace, threw Gray aside, and rushed toward Ace's location.

Scorching flames condensed on Natsu's arm.

Because he already knew Ace's specific strength when fighting Phantom Lord earlier, Natsu didn't hold back and swung his fist at Ace with all his might.

Bang!

Without any surprise.

In the eyes of everyone around, Natsu was pressed directly to the floor by Ace in a nonchalant manner.

But this was also something that couldn't be helped.

Natsu's fighting style was extremely reckless; in front of Ace, who possessed mastery of Observation Haki, there were flaws everywhere, and he didn't even need to spend any effort.

He could directly find the most suitable angle and use one part of his strength to exert ten parts of effect, instantly suppressing Natsu.

He didn't even need to use Observation Haki; just in terms of basic attributes, Ace completely crushed Natsu at the current stage; for Ace, striking first by striking later was simply too easy.

"Hahaha, Natsu, you are still so energetic!"

"Honestly, seeing you makes me feel a bit close; I have a younger brother."

Ace looked at Natsu, who was struggling frantically under him on the floor, and a somewhat gentle smile appeared on his face: "He is also like you, Natsu, hairy and restless all day, with no proper form."

"Thinking about challenging me all day, but he never succeeded once; I think he should have gone to sea by now."

The character setting and background story, of course, the more complete the better.

Only when these things are complete can the cause and effect of the script have logic and credibility.

Only in this way can Lin Cheng's script influence the emotions of everyone around him to the greatest extent.

"Mr. Ace's younger brother?"

Erza also smiled and said from the side: "Mr. Ace's younger brother must also be a powerful Class Mage like Mr. Ace."

"Hahaha, that guy is still far behind."

"However, I believe that my brother will definitely be able to successfully complete his ideal."

Hearing Erza's words, Ace also laughed loudly.

Everyone present could feel Ace's concern for his brother.

"Also, the purpose of Mr. Ace coming here this time should be for the mission commission last time, right?"

Looking at the laughing Ace, Erza didn't pause, and then her expression became somewhat serious: "Regarding the mission commission to find 'Blackbeard', we have already started."

"It is being executed by three B-rank mages: Levy, Droy, and Jet."

"Levy's specialty magic is Solid Script, and she can also quickly read text for intelligence gathering."

"Droy's specialty magic is Plant Magic, possessing the ability to collect some intelligence on a large scale through plants."

"Jet's specialty magic is High-Speed, possessing high-speed movement ability, and can transmit intelligence at the fastest speed."

Erza seriously introduced the execution status of Ace's mission commission to Ace one by one.

It could be said that for Ace's needs, Fairy Tail had made the greatest response.

They used the team most skilled in this area to specifically search for Blackbeard.

If Blackbeard wasn't a character Lin Cheng had fabricated out of thin air, perhaps Fairy Tail would have already had some feedback by now.

"Hahaha, to be able to be helped by everyone like this."

Listening to Erza reporting the mission situation to him, Ace used his index finger to push up his slightly tilted cowboy hat, revealing a brilliant smile: "Very grateful."

"However, if I remember correctly."

"Mr. Ace, you seem to be a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, right?"

At this time, Lucy, who was sitting beside Erza, leaned over curiously and asked: "Whitebeard and Blackbeard seem to have some connection; is that Blackbeard an enemy of Whitebeard?"

After various hints and guidance from Lin Cheng, Lucy finally took the initiative to reveal the curiosity in her heart.

And as Lucy's words fell, everyone else around also quietly pricked up their ears.

Everyone was still very interested in Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates behind him.

However, after Lucy asked this, everyone present could also feel that Ace's mood suddenly became somewhat wrong.

"Mr. Ace, sorry."

"Should I not have..."

Lucy looked at Ace, whose mood had suddenly become somewhat low, and an apologetic expression appeared on her face.

She felt she had asked something she shouldn't have; after all, Ace had such a 'my face is full of stories' expression.

"Sorry, actually it's no big deal."

"Blackbeard is just his title; his name is Marshall D. Teach."

Ace looked at Lucy and smiled slightly, his tone somewhat low: "Teach was once one of the friends I had the best relationship with in the Whitebeard Pirates; we talked about everything."

With Ace's narration, everyone around showed an even more concerned expression.

After all, how did a good friend who once talked about everything develop to the point of becoming an enemy now?

At this moment, even Natsu, who had been somewhat restless on the floor, became somewhat quiet, listening quietly to Ace's narration; Natsu was the one who cherished partners the most.

'He was actually Mr. Ace's friend...'

'Revealing such sharp murderous intent to a former friend...'

Erza frowned slightly.

Compared to others, Erza's observation of Ace was more detailed.

Just a moment ago when Ace mentioned Blackbeard, a flash of murderous intent suddenly appeared in his eyes.

In other words, Ace had murderous intent toward this former best friend, a friend he talked about everything with.

"Yes, Teach was once really a very good friend of mine."

"Even the position of the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates should have been Teach's."

"In the Whitebeard Pirates, everyone's relationship was very good, just like their own brothers."

Ace looked at Erza and the surrounding members of the Fairy Tail guild: "Similar to the atmosphere here."

"So, I also like Fairy Tail very much."

"And there is also Natsu here, a guy who is as reckless as my brother."

As he spoke, Ace touched Natsu's head.

Facing Ace's gentleness, Natsu's expression suddenly became somewhat at a loss, but compared to these, Natsu was more concerned about the matter between Ace and Blackbeard.

"Since you are like brothers."

Natsu raised his head, looked at Ace's face, and asked with some concern: "Then why did Blackbeard Teach become your enemy, Ace?"

"Everyone in the guild will absolutely never become enemies!"

Natsu's eyes were exceptionally serious.

Natsu believed what Ace said, so Natsu believed that everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates in Ace's mouth must also be the most reliable partners, just like everyone in Fairy Tail.

Similarly, Natsu absolutely could not tolerate the day when partners became enemies.

"Hahaha, yes, I once thought so too."

"In our Whitebeard Pirates, even if someone left the Whitebeard Pirates because of their own reasons, I and others would still treat the other party as their own brother."

"No matter what, for whatever reason, even if they betrayed to other pirate groups, they would not become enemies."

Ace looked at Natsu's firm eyes and said word by word: "However, there is a premise here."

"That is, absolutely never kill each other or harm a partner."

BOOM!

As Ace's words fell, Natsu felt his brain being hit hard by something.

And then came unprecedented anger.