Chapter 129

Dazqi, her eyes red, cried out:

"He is so despicable! Just last night he was teaching me sword practice so well, yet in an instant..."

Ain, a few years older than Dazqi and having seen more of the world,

seemed to have already somewhat understood Luo Xing's character.

She sighed softly and said:

"That man's kindness toward women is always marked with a price tag from the start."

The first half of the Grand Line.

A certain island near Alabasta.

Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach, who had already found four powerful crew members—Bajies, Lafitte, Fan Aoka, and Poison Q—was now letting out a boisterous, arrogant laugh.

"Zha ha ha ha! The era of Whitebeard is about to end; the future is the era of Blackbeard!"

"Ace, why not join my team as well?"

Standing opposite the Blackbeard Pirates, a sturdy young man wearing a hat with the Whitebeard flag pattern on his back was none other than Fire Fist Ace.

Ace was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division; Blackbeard had once been his subordinate.

But Blackbeard had killed Fourth Division Captain Sachi just for a mere Devil Fruit; how could Ace tolerate that?

Ignoring the pleas of the other Whitebeard captains, he insisted on pursuing Blackbeard alone.

Finally, in the first half of the Grand Line, he had caught up with Blackbeard.

Hearing that Blackbeard actually invited him to join their team, Ace couldn't help but sneer with disdain.

"Teach, you are truly arrogant enough."

"The future is your era? Hah, ridiculous; you will die here today!"

Crack!

A gunshot rang out; the sniper Fan Aoka had fired.

The bullet passed right through Ace's body, carrying with it wisps of flame.

"Fan Aoka, it's useless; don't waste your bullets."

Blackbeard sneered:

"Ace is a Logia-type Mera Mera no Mi user; even in my former Whitebeard Pirates, his strength ranked among the top."

Fire Fist Ace twisted his neck, loosening his muscles and bones.

"Teach, since you know my strength, then do not resist; I might even let you die quickly."

"Zha ha ha!"

Blackbeard let out a wild, arrogant laugh.

"Ace, your Mera Mera no Mi is indeed powerful, but the Devil Fruit I took from Sachi is the strongest Logia-type, the Yami Yami no Mi!"

"Your flames, before absolute darkness, are nothing but a tiny, insignificant flicker!"

"Do you understand, Ace!"

117. Blackbeard's Plan, Im's Concern for Luo Xing, the Location of Pluton

Cold killing intent radiated from Fire Fist Ace's eyes.

Blazing flames burned upon his body.

"Teach, you are truly an incorrigible bastard!"

"Fire Fist!"

Ace suddenly struck, throwing a punch.

Torrential flames erupted from his fist.

Blackbeard's eyes widened.

His crew members Lafitte, Bajies, and others were completely caught off guard.

The flames swept over them.

"Ah!"

Blackbeard let out a cry of agony, rolling on the ground.

His constitution was very special; he could eat two Devil Fruits, but the pain his body endured was twice that of an ordinary person.

It was common knowledge that the Mera Mera no Mi could not burn a person to death.

Blackbeard and his crew members quickly got up.

Aside from being a bit dusty, they were unharmed.

Blackbeard panted heavily, staring at Ace:

"Ace, you are still as impatient as ever. Whitebeard never told you, did he? With such a personality, you cannot accomplish great things!"

"Whitebeard even wanted to push you to the position of Pirate King; I think he is senile; you..."

Before Blackbeard could finish speaking, Ace let out a roar:

"A bastard like you is not worthy of mentioning Old Man 19's name!"

He threw another Fire Fist.

Lafitte, Bajies, and others hastily dodged aside.

Although these flames could not burn a person to death, they were still very painful.

Blackbeard did not dodge; instead, he extended a pitch-black palm.

"Ace, today I will teach you a lesson!"

"Dark Water!"

The pitch-black palm aimed at the flames, and shockingly absorbed the massive fire entirely.

Immediately after, Blackbeard aimed his other palm at Ace.

Ace's expression changed drastically.

He discovered that his body was out of his control, flying toward Blackbeard on its own.

Bang!

Blackbeard's fist slammed viciously into Ace's stomach.

Boom!

Ace was smashed into a wooden house over a dozen meters away, looking utterly wretched.

"Did you see clearly, Ace!"

Blackbeard held up his two pitch-black palms, his whole body billowing black smoke, cackling wildly:

"This is the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit—it nullifies the abilities of all Devil Fruit users. Your flames mean absolutely nothing before me!"

The Dark-Dark Fruit is called the most vicious Devil Fruit in history, extremely special.

It can nullify other Devil Fruit abilities, striking directly at the physical body of a Logia user.

In this respect, it's somewhat similar to Armament Haki.

Fire Fist Ace wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, his face turning ugly.

The Dark-Dark Fruit's eerie ability had truly exceeded his expectations.

"Boys, attack together! Capture Ace!"

Blackbeard is a man who completely disregards martial honor.

Although he alone might be able to take down Ace, it would cost him a great deal of effort—if he can gang up on someone, why wouldn't he?

Achieving his goals by any means necessary—this is Blackbeard's life creed!

With all five members of the Blackbeard Pirates attacking together, even though Ace was very strong, the Flame-Flame Fruit was countered by the Dark-Dark Fruit, and he was defeated very quickly.

He was cuffed by Blackbeard with Seastone handcuffs.

Burgess looked at the unconscious Fire Fist Ace and asked:

"Captain, aren't we going to kill this guy? If we keep him alive, Bai Huzi will definitely come to rescue him, and that'll be trouble."

Although the Blackbeard Pirates' ambition is to conquer the entire world, the crew is still newly founded and in its development stage.

Facing the fame of Bai Huzi, the world's strongest man, they are still extremely wary.

Blackbeard cackled:

"No, Bai Huzi won't come looking for us—he'll only go to the Marines. I'm going to hand Ace over to the Marines in exchange for a Warlord position!"

Laffitte said: