WebNovels

Chapter 179 - Chapter 179

"That fat, dark-skinned guy has already been captured by us. If you want to see him, you'll have to defeat me first!"

"Sixty Million Volts: Thunder Net!"

Enel grinned, spreading his fingers wide. A massive web of lightning crackled into existence and descended toward the blazing inferno that Ace had transformed into.

Logia abilities could only neutralize physical attacks—they couldn't cancel out stronger elemental powers.

"Fire Fist!!"

Ace's upper body reverted back to human form as he unleashed his signature technique. A colossal flaming fist erupted forward, colliding head-on with the thunder net and blasting it apart.

"Teach is in your hands?!"

Landing on the ground, Ace's expression hardened as he glared at Enel. It was clear now that this battle was unavoidable.

"Then I'll just defeat you!"

Cracking his knuckles with a sharp pop, Ace loosened his stance, eyes blazing with determination.

"It's this god who's going to crush you!"

Enel's dead-fish eyes gleamed coldly. The idea that he might lose to some brat was laughable.

"Then come at me!"

"Fire Gun!"

Ace struck first. His fingers morphed into gun barrels, spitting blazing bullets of fire in rapid succession, like a living machine gun.

"Child's play!"

"Too slow!"

Enel didn't even bother dodging. He simply raised his hand, armament haki coating it in an instant, and swatted the barrage aside with ease.

"So fast! A Logia user with armament that strong?!"

Ace was briefly shaken. With the overwhelming power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel still had the discipline to train his armament haki.

"I hear on Whitebeard's ship it's all banquets—small feasts every day, big ones every three. Looks like he's spoiled you brats so much you've forgotten what real battle feels like."

Enel surged forward, golden staff in hand. Today, he wanted to test the fruits of his training in haki and martial combat.

The sweat he had shed under the tutelage of Bartholomew Kuma—today would be the proof.

In an instant, Enel closed the gap, his staff striking in a relentless flurry. Ace was forced onto the defensive, narrowly evading as the storm of blows rained down.

But Enel's observation haki was sharper, predicting Ace's movements with frightening precision. Blow after blow drove Ace into hard counters against Enel's armament-hardened strikes.

Luckily, Ace too had awakened armament haki. Without it, he would have been utterly overwhelmed in close combat.

Even before this, Enel's combination of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and his mantra was enough to match Ace. Now, with armament and martial skill layered on top, his strength truly surpassed Ace's.

A bounty didn't always tell the whole story, but Enel's billion-berry price was well-earned.

···

As the thunder-fire battle raged, Lafitte and Kuma were nearby, erasing any suspicious scouts who might expose the fight too soon.

The Arlong crew and others watched, captivated by the clash of elemental titans.

The destructive power was staggering. Even Gecko Moria was weighing his own strength—could he stand against Fire Fist Ace?

"So this is the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates… strong, just as expected!"

Bonney's eyes sparkled with yearning as she watched the devastating exchange. How she wished she had that kind of destructive might.

"He carries that aura!"

The Pirate Empress narrowed her gaze at Ace, who was being steadily pushed back by Enel. "I didn't expect it… but he has the qualities of a king."

"It's only natural," Dragon said with interest. "Fire Fist Ace's identity is far from ordinary. He's inherited the Conqueror's Haki."

Indeed, Ace had once awakened it—back when Luffy's life was in danger during childhood. But after losing to Whitebeard, after losing to Teach, after being dragged to execution—he had never unleashed it again.

Perhaps Roger's shadow, and the bond he formed with Whitebeard, had made him less pure and unwavering than Luffy. Ace carried a cursed bloodline he could not accept, and a deep hunger for love he could never fill.

Even with a king's spirit, growth was difficult for someone like him.

And now? Ace's only desire was to see Whitebeard crowned Pirate King—not himself. All he truly wanted was to bask in Whitebeard's fatherly love.

Yet Whitebeard had no desire for the throne either. All he wanted was to protect his sons and enjoy the warmth of family.

···

"He has Conqueror's Haki too?"

Bonney and Law both spoke in disbelief. They longed for that power themselves, but it was not something one could acquire without the innate gift.

Hearing their envious voices, Dragon's gaze lingered on them in silence.

By rights, Bonney, as a descendant of the Celestial Dragons, carried that potential. But the shame of that heritage was something Kuma had hidden, a truth only Dragon and Ivankov had ever guessed at.

Dragon would never expose it. Better for Bonney to live freely.

As for Law, a child of the D lineage—he too had the seed of potential. But his trauma, his personality, his obsession with revenge against Doflamingo—these weighed heavily on his spirit.

"Bonney. Last time you burned the World Government's flag. Next time, kill a few more Celestial Dragons. Do that, and perhaps you'll awaken your Conqueror's Haki."

Dragon's words made her blink. Her reckless boldness was already growing. With enough ambition and desperation, she just might awaken.

Perhaps only by killing those so-called world nobles—or witnessing Kuma's death before her eyes—would her spirit truly ignite.

"Really? Dragon-papa, I really have the potential of a king? Conqueror's Haki is something you're born with! If I don't have it, no matter what, I can't awaken it!"

Bonney shrank back into her child form and clung to Dragon's leg, eyes wide with hope. Even Kuma didn't have Conqueror's Haki—how could she?

"I can see the potential in you," Dragon said seriously. "Don't you want to become like Rayleigh, a master of all three colors of haki?"

For now, Bonney had little in the way of ambition or conviction. Dragon and Kuma had sheltered her too well. Only something like slaying the Celestial Dragons—or losing Kuma—might push her spirit to awaken.

"I really have a king's spirit? Then I'll awaken it, no matter what!!"

Bonney's eyes burned with determination.

"Good. Keep at it."

Dragon ruffled her hair, then looked at Law.

"The D clan holds limitless potential. Don't you agree, Law?"

Law stiffened. He had hidden his D name ever since his family and Corazon had died. Yet Dragon's casual words pierced through that secrecy.

"I understand, Dragon-sama."

His voice trembled, but hope flickered in his heart. Did he too have the potential for Conqueror's Haki? If even a demon like Doflamingo could awaken it—why not him?

···

While they spoke, the thunder-fire clash only grew fiercer. Both combatants were bloodied now.

But Ace bore the heavier toll—his body blackened and scorched, his breathing ragged.

Why was this fight with Enel so much harsher than the battle with Jinbe?

Damn it! Jinbe must have held back!

At this pace, lasting five days and nights was impossible. He wouldn't last even one.

···

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