In the Land of Wano, in one of the prison mines controlled by the Beast Pirates, prisoners were forced to transport massive blocks of stone. A familiar figure was seen carrying one without difficulty, his body covered in wounds—it was Portgas D. Ace, the second commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and now a prisoner of the Beast Pirates.
He had become a prisoner after being defeated by King, the right-hand man of Kaido of the Beast Pirates. Their battle was one of the most talked-about fights among prisoners and jailers, as it was said that Ace had managed to burn part of King's face during their clash.
"I'll just need to heal my wounds, then I'll think of a way to escape," Ace thought as he continued lifting the massive stone on his back. He pushed his physical limits, as the system in the prison mines required prisoners to transport five stones in exchange for a meal ticket, which could be traded for a single kibi dango—and Ace needed to eat a lot to recover.
While doing his chores, Ace noticed an old man with a colored tattoo on his body. He was the jailers' primary target, receiving deep gashes and lashes while still being forced to carry stones. After a particularly hard slash from a whip, the old man dropped to his knees. The jailers laughed and mocked him, and one of them attempted to kick him again—but was stopped by Ace, who dropped his own stone block to intervene.
"Oi, are you such a coward that you need to target an old man? Why not try me?" Ace declared, prompting the jailers to back off slightly, knowing his reputation for matching up against the Three Disasters.
"Don't be arrogant, prisoner. Your captain isn't here. And even if he was, Kaido would kill him easily—just like he would that old fool who failed to become the King of the Pirates," one of the jailers sneered.
Without hesitation, Ace slammed both of his hands—still bound in seastone cuffs—into the face of the jailer who had insulted Whitebeard. After the first blow landed, Ace continued, fueled by the fire of anger in his heart. He repeatedly smashed the cuffs into the jailer's face, hammering down again and again. The jailer's face slowly became crushed, bit by bit, until only half of it remained. Ace had killed him.
The other jailers were horrified by the scene. When Ace turned to look at them, they froze. They were terrified by the expression on his face.
Then, the entire prison had a commotion, as the jailers alerted every single authority in the prison mine, and they all started attacking Ace without hesitation. They hoped the crowd could defeat Ace, but with his anger burning, he kept beating everyone who attacked. Even the officers of the prison were defeated by Ace. But even though Ace beat everyone, his wounds from the fight against the Plagues made his movements sluggish. He was soon surrounded by enemies, while the other prisoners just watched, unwilling to get involved.
Ace swung his arms with the seastone and struck one of the jailers, but was then attacked from behind by another. This made Ace stumble, allowing three more jailers to take the opportunity to strike him multiple times. The situation reversed—he was now getting beaten by the crowd. But Ace's spirit did not waver. He was fighting for Whitebeard's reputation now, becoming more and more determined to defeat them. All of this culminated as Ace released an intense burst of Conqueror's Haki, which made the ground shake and the skies grow dark.
The jailers attacking him began falling one by one, fainting from the intensity of Ace's Conqueror's Haki. Even the prisoners started fainting, with only a handful remaining conscious. The old man Ace had helped was one of them, staring at Ace with a shocked expression. Then Ace, severely injured and exhausted, fainted.
Ace then woke up after a full day of sleep, his stomach growling from going an entire day without food. He realized he was now inside a jail cell, directly overlooking the mine. When the jailers regained consciousness, they immediately reported Ace's actions to King, who in turn informed Kaido. Kaido only laughed, saying Ace was a direct commander of Whitebeard and wouldn't be defeated so easily. So, Kaido ordered that Ace be imprisoned without performing any mining, and only provided with basic food.
When Ace tried to stand, he noticed that his entire body was chained to the ground, restricting his movement to merely sitting up. He also felt that the seastone cuffs he now wore were purer than before, draining his strength even more severely.
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Meanwhile, on the shores of Green City of Elumalu, the Strawhats had arrived, returning to retrieve the Going Merry, which had been diligently guarded by the Kung-Fu Dugongs ever since. Strangely, there was also another ship docked nearby, one that had secretly kept watch over the Going Merry. It was part of a deal Douglas had made—his end of the bargain was to train the Kung-Fu Dugongs in new martial arts techniques, ones he had learned during his own rigorous training.
What he taught them weren't just flashy moves, but intricate gripping techniques—moves reminiscent of the style John Wick used, precise and brutal. To demonstrate, Douglas enlisted Zoro's help in front of the Dugongs.
When Douglas began his demonstration, the Dugongs' eyes lit up with awe and excitement. Usopp and Luffy, too, were wide-eyed, their faces practically glued to the scene.
Douglas stood calmly in front of Zoro. "Throw a full-powered punch at me," he said.
Zoro smirked. "You sure?"
Douglas nodded.
Zoro lunged, launching a powerful punch straight at Douglas. In an instant, Douglas sidestepped, grabbed Zoro's punching arm, and in one fluid motion, wrapped his legs around Zoro's neck, twisting his body mid-air. Using his full body weight, he flipped Zoro over and brought him crashing down to the ground.
Before Zoro could react, Douglas had already locked him in a tight headlock, pinning him with perfect control.
Gasps echoed from the Dugongs, and they all burst into synchronized clapping and excited martial-arts poses. Luffy and Usopp were losing their minds.
"DOUGLASSSSS! THAT WAS SO COOL!!!" Luffy shouted, jumping around with sparkles in his eyes.
"You taught them that?!" Usopp yelled, already imagining Dugongs grappling enemies like assassins.
Zoro grumbled from the ground, face down in the sand. "You could've warned me first, damn it…"
Douglas grinned, loosening the lock. "Wasn't the point. The Dugongs would learn better when they're impressed."
And impressed they were. The Dugongs immediately began mimicking the move, grappling each other in clumsy but enthusiastic attempts at recreating the takedown. One even managed a surprisingly solid headlock, earning nods from Douglas.