The island ahead was just as Koala described—it was engulfed in towering flames. Even several kilometers out, the Spade Pirates could clearly see a blazing inferno devouring the landmass.
The scene was surreal: a frozen sea with a flaming island sitting in the middle, like someone had dropped fire into a field of ice.
"That's Burning Island? It's literally on fire!" one of the crew gasped.
"Can anyone actually live in a place like that?"
"What's the problem? Captain Ace is fire. Just sail in!"
Ace narrowed his eyes at the island. "It's really burning…" he muttered, intrigued.
As the Spade Pirates' ship approached, the crew quickly realized this was no ordinary volcanic island. There were no molten rivers, no smoke-choked skies—just ceaseless, pure flame. The fire wasn't coming from the ground—it hung in the air like an illusion, unrooted and unquenchable.
The Spade couldn't dock due to the intense heat, so they anchored at a safe distance.
"You all stay aboard," Ace ordered. "I'll check it out."
With a leap, he soared from the ship and landed directly onto the burning shoreline.
A startling sight greeted him—the flames pulled back, clearing space for him like a throne room parting for a king.
Beneath the vanished flames, the earth wasn't blackened or scarred—it was vibrant, damp, and untouched by fire. Even green shoots peeked out here and there. It looked... normal.
Ace crouched and dug into the soil. It felt moist, almost oily, as if the fire had burned it but somehow left no damage.
"Rootless fire?" he muttered. "This is... unusual."
He extended a hand into the lingering flames. "Definitely hotter than normal. But why doesn't anything burn?"
Suddenly, Ace stomped lightly on the ground. The flames around him surged toward him, pulled by his will, and vanished into his body as if consumed.
Within minutes, Ace absorbed all the flames within a kilometer radius. What lay exposed was lush and green, nothing like a burned ruin.
"Fascinating," he mused. "Is this soil immune to fire? Or do these flames just refuse to ignite anything?"
"What's sustaining these flames anyway? No fuel, no ash…"
Ace shook his head and chuckled. "This is the Grand Line. Anything goes."
He walked back toward the coast and absorbed more flames to reveal a landing zone. Then he waved toward the ship.
"Vosse! Bring the ship in!"
With the coast cleared, the Spade Pirates docked. Gomby and the others disembarked, looking around in awe.
"Captain Ace… this really is Burning Island?" Cornelia asked, confused by the fertile terrain around her.
"Beats me," Ace shrugged. "But I didn't expect a place like this under all the fire. Honestly, it might be perfect for our base."
He extended a hand. Flames ignited the air around them, and a living inferno rose like a wall of fire circling the coast. The Spade Pirates and the ship were completely unharmed—his flames didn't touch what he didn't allow.
"These flames burn endlessly without fuel, but I can still control them like ordinary fire," Ace said, watching the fire swirl at his fingertips. "It's like this island was made for me."
Gomby nodded. "If we're going to settle down, I doubt we'll find a place more suitable than this."
"Still," he added, "the island's huge. We'll need to scout the whole thing. Make sure nothing dangerous's lurking in there."
"Right. We're not building a base on a mystery," Ace said. "Set up camp. I'll sweep the interior—and clear more flames while I'm at it."
He burst into flames and took off in a blaze, his Flame-Flame Fruit power igniting the sky.
First, he flew a wide circle along the island's coastline, absorbing the outer fire while leaving behind a ten-meter-thick ring of living flame—an impenetrable firewall, serving as a natural defense. Most intruders wouldn't make it past.
Then, Ace turned his attention inland.
As he traveled deeper, the flames grew hotter. Just a few kilometers in, he sensed the heat spike past 1,000 degrees Celsius—an extreme temperature, even for him.
That alone convinced him.
"There's definitely something at the center of this island…"
With that thought, Ace stopped absorbing flames and launched himself toward the heart of the Burning Island—knowing that the mystery waiting for him might change everything.
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