Chapter 83: Smoke and Fire
"Sag!"
Just as Sag looked up, a figure flashed like lightning, rushing to his side.
Lily's right hand gripped the sword hilt at her waist, her face solemn. "Saw Marines on the way, and heard the commotion. Did a battle break out here?"
She had been buying perfume at a perfume shop when she heard the booms, and looking ahead, saw a completely unnatural dense fog had arisen.
And the rain had stopped.
She immediately handed the items to a subordinate and came over alone first.
But as soon as she arrived, she saw Smoker gasping stubbornly in the crater. After a moment's pause, she similarly turned her head to look at the man on the rooftop who seemed to be watching the show.
"Who are you?" Lily's gaze turned cold.
"An impolite fellow."
Sag walked to the edge of the crater, kicked Smoker into a supine position, picked up a cigar from his chest pocket, and subconsciously said, "Pearl, bring me that..."
Saying this, he paused again, surprised. That kid seemed to have gone with Gin to take the injured to see a doctor. Now, beside him was only Miote, and the newly arrived Lily.
"No fire?"
Sag tutted. He was just about to search Smoker for some kind of lighting device when a red glow flashed in his eyes. He subconsciously looked up at the person above.
Fwoosh!
Flame ignited from the tip of the cigar, lighting it.
"Sorry, I was a bit curious, so I got absorbed watching."
The man in the orange cowboy hat extended a finger, smiled at Sag, then leaped fiercely from the rooftop. After landing lightly on the ground, he adjusted the brim of his cowboy hat and smiled:
"Norton Sag, I've seen your wanted poster. The newspapers say you destroyed four kingdoms. Looking at you now, you're surely strong. And you must be Bientetta Lily, right? Even better looking in person."
While focusing on Luffy, he had also seen these two from the same period…
Especially Sag, whose recent bounty had soared to two hundred and seventy million. Regardless of the amount or the degree of Haki, he didn't seem like someone who had just arrived in the Grand Line.
Lily's eyes turned cold. "Bounty hunter?"
"No, my name is Ace. I'm also a pirate," he smiled. "We're in the same line of work."
Sag paused, narrowing his eyes. "Ace?"
Flames appearing out of nowhere, and called Ace…
Sag took a drag from his cigar, slowly exhaling smoke. "Oh… it's you. Whitebeard's Second Division Commander."
Then, he lost interest and turned to walk away.
Having lived for over twenty years, he had forgotten most of the original story's plot. Towards the so-called Luffy and Ace, he could only remember them upon seeing them. Now, in his eyes, they were like passersby.
Protagonist?
What did that have to do with him?
They weren't his relatives.
Especially this guy, watching the show while he was fighting, made Sag feel like a monkey.
If it weren't for the apology and lighting his smoke, he wouldn't have been so easygoing.
Seeing Sag walk away, Ace shrugged, glanced at Smoker in the crater, and smiled. "Looks like your luck isn't too good today. You can't stop me."
Although he was curious about Norton Sag, and even thought about inviting him to Pops' crew when he recognized him, after observing, he abandoned the idea.
That wasn't someone who would submit to others.
Ace turned his back to Sag and the others, preparing to chase after Luffy.
"Whitebeard?" Lily asked, puzzled, following behind Sag.
Whitebeard's great name was, of course, known to the public. As long as one wasn't completely ignorant of the news, they would know.
His reputation resounded throughout the Four Seas. In the songs sung by children everywhere, he appeared as the incarnation of monsters and evil. He was also often used by adults to scare children, with things like 'If you don't behave, Whitebeard will come get you.'
He was a living legend.
But there were always those who didn't know. Lily, who had never left the royal palace and had no contact with outside news, didn't know.
"One of the Four Emperors of the Sea, also one of my long-term targets. A monster on the sea. However…"
Sag thought for a moment. "Now he's just a sickly old man beyond cure, who will be replaced sooner or later."
Fwoosh!
A flame shot past between Sag and Lily's heads, exploding in a shower of sparks.
Sag stopped, turned his head to look at the man behind him, whose head was slightly lowered, brim covering his eyes, one arm now wreathed in flames. Sag said gravely:
"Haven't watched enough? Preparing to enter the stage yourself? Portgas D. Ace."
Ace tugged the orange cowboy hat on his head and grinned. "I can't pretend I didn't hear that. Whitebeard is the greatest man in the world, not some rotten old man! Shouldn't you apologize?"
Sag turned around, faced Ace, biting his cigar, head held high, and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Isn't what I said the truth?"
Everyone here was a pirate, people who roamed the seas licking the blades of their knives, each with their own dreams and ambitions. Who cared about whose status was high or noble, special or not?
In his eyes, Whitebeard might be powerful, but that had nothing to do with him. Instead, he might even be an enemy on the path ahead.
After all, the territories occupied by the Four Emperors were the largest…
"I can't stand hearing anyone slander Pops, especially a guy like you. Seems like you've also heard about Pops' age, so you're one of those aiming for Pops' head."
Ace grinned fiercely. "No need to wait until the New World for Pops to teach you a lesson. As the commander of Whitebeard's Second Division, I'll let you know the breadth of the world right now, and teach you some manners along the way."
The flames on his arm burned even more intensely. Ace stared at Sag. "You dealt with smoke just now. Now, try my fire!"
Smoke and fire, as natural elements, couldn't determine a winner between themselves. But towards others, their power was completely different.
Fire could burn everything.
Haki, he wasn't afraid of it. Compared to Haki, Logia's power was greater and more convenient.
"An impulsive guy."
Sag clenched his fist, a fierce grin gradually appearing on his lips. "Just right. I was still considering if the intensity of smoke wasn't enough. Let's test it on you!"
"Kagerō!" (Heat Haze!)
The arm transformed into flames pushed forward fiercely, launching a rapid pillar of fire that instantly arrived in front of Sag, directly exploding and spreading, igniting a wall of flames on the ground.
This kind of flame couldn't possibly form a wall, unless…
It was blocked.
Behind the flames, some distance away from the others, a gust of wind blew from the side, fluttering the tips of Lily's hair and her slightly astonished eyes.
Blown along with it were the burning flames, and the fur cloak of the man behind.
Sag, biting his cigar, looked down at the fire ignited on the ground, his eyes gradually moving upwards, looking towards Ace on the other side of the flames. He slowly said, "Not bad power."
It was pure flame, without a substantial body, but its power was much higher than smoke.
Haki couldn't grab these things, but it could attack, knocking the flames away.
As for who ultimately had the upper hand, that depended on whether the flames' power was greater, or the Haki strength was greater.
Logia types indeed didn't need Busoshoku Haki; Haki couldn't cover elements. But their power was already completely sufficient.
"Worth testing my hand against."
Sag opened his right hand, five fingers spread, resting it against the side of his head. "Let's start with a greeting!"
Whoosh!
The hand resting against the side of his head swung forward fiercely. The burning flames were abruptly blown out in that instant, as if struck by extremely strong air pressure.
Boom!!
The ground where Ace stood issued a huge sound, as if plowed open by something hard and huge. The ground revealed a rectangular, deep ditch.
And above that ditch, a cluster of flames diffused open, then quickly condensed into a beam, leaping upwards onto the rooftop, revealing Ace's body still carrying flames.
He looked at Sag's hand, his expression becoming serious.
Was that emission? Shouldn't it be an impact?
Why did it destroy the ground like that?
And that amount of Haki… Just an ordinary wave of the hand used such strong Haki. How much Haki did he himself possess?
As someone who had just arrived in the Grand Line, wasn't this a bit too excessive?
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