A sudden voice drew everyone's attention.
A man emerged from the dust cloud, wearing a cowboy hat, his face dotted with light freckles, and a string of red beads hanging around his neck.
Under the scorching sun, he was shirtless, showing no concern about the possibility of sunburn.
Or perhaps, to this man—
Exposing the "pride" emblazoned on his back at all times was far more important than any potential harm from the harsh environment.
"Ace!!!"
The moment Luffy saw the man stepping out of the dust, he instantly recognized him. He started wriggling excitedly in Maude's grasp like a silkworm in its cocoon.
"That man is Luffy's brother!?"
The Straw Hats stared at the approaching Ace with a mix of surprise and familiarity, feeling like they had seen him somewhere before.
"Fire Fist Ace."
Maude gazed at Ace with a calm expression, slightly surprised.
Before Ace spoke, Maude had already sensed his presence swiftly closing in from within the dust cloud.
He had expected it to be someone from the Donquixote Family but hadn't anticipated it would be Fire Fist Ace instead.
He vaguely remembered that Ace had indeed appeared during the Alabasta arc.
His presence here at this exact moment confirmed that any potential butterfly effect hadn't altered Ace's course.
Maude contemplated this silently.
"Yo, Luffy."
Ace finally stopped, looking past Maude at Luffy, who was wrapped tightly in shadow chains like a ridiculous-looking rice dumpling.
After greeting his brother, Ace shifted his gaze to Maude, locking eyes with him.
"Would you mind letting go of my little brother, Warlord of the Sea… Maude?"
"And if I don't?"
With a smile, Maude suppressed Luffy's frantic movements and then casually tossed him up like a ball, catching him repeatedly.
Hearing Maude's response, the Straw Hats tensed up. Only Usopp looked completely flustered, unable to decide whether to advance or retreat, visibly uncomfortable.
"If you refuse… then I'll have no choice but to—"
Ace's shoulders ignited with blazing flames, his eyes filled with battle intent as he said, "—knock you down."
"Try it."
Maude freed his left hand and curled his index finger, beckoning Ace toward him.
"Heh."
Ace grinned, casually tossing aside his travel bag. "I've been wanting to meet you."
The moment he finished speaking, flames surged across his entire body, his Devil Fruit abilities manifesting instantly.
Zoro and the others, eyes sharp, watched Ace's fiery form and realized something in their minds:
A Logia user…!
At that moment, they finally recalled Ace's identity.
A pirate who frequently made headlines two years ago.
The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, one of the Four Emperors, with a bounty exceeding 500 million—
Fire Fist Ace!
However, what shocked them most was that such a renowned pirate turned out to be Luffy's brother.
Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and the others looked stunned for a moment before quickly regaining their composure. With a peculiar understanding, they all glanced at Usopp.
After all, their ship already had someone trained by a Warlord of the Sea with a bounty surpassing 500 million.
So, it wasn't all that surprising that Luffy had a brother like Ace.
"What?"
Usopp, feeling uneasy, noticed their glances and asked in confusion.
Zoro and the others quickly looked away, refocusing on the tension between Maude and Ace.
"???"
Seeing his crew's strange behavior, Usopp felt as if he had just been randomly targeted by the void itself.
Meanwhile, in the field—
Sensing Ace's blazing battle intent, Maude smirked.
With a slight mental command, the shadow chains binding Luffy flowed back into his body, returning to their normal shadow form.
Freed from his restraints, Luffy, who was restless by nature, immediately tensed up, glaring at Maude.
"Gumo Gumo… Uh… If there's a next life, I'd like to be a seashell."
One second, Luffy was gritting his teeth and swinging his arms.
The next, his entire body went limp, shrouded in a gloomy aura of despair.
It was Perona—she had summoned a Negative Hollow that instantly extinguished Luffy's fighting spirit.
"Perona."
Maude glanced at her.
"Got it."
Without needing further instruction, Perona floated backward, distancing herself from the battlefield as much as possible.
Watching Perona drift toward the Straw Hats, Maude flashed a few steps away, landing atop a sand dune. From this elevated position, he looked down at Ace, who was engulfed in flames.
Luffy was still in Maude's grasp, but thanks to the Negative Hollow's effects, he had lost all will to resist.
At a glance, it almost looked like Maude was holding Luffy hostage.
However, Ace showed no hesitation. His right arm instantly transformed into an inferno of high-temperature flames.
"Fire Fist!"
With a punch, a roaring blaze erupted from his fist, soaring through the air straight at Maude.
If Maude couldn't even block a Fire Fist—
Then he would be nothing more than an empty title.
But Ace naturally expected Maude to handle this attack with ease.
Calmly, Maude watched the fiery projectile hurtling toward him. He bent his elbow slightly, preparing his own counterattack.
The difference was—
Ace's arm was wreathed in red-hot flames.
While Maude's was enveloped in rippling, jet-black shadows.
"Shadow Fist."
Maude threw a punch.
The undulating shadows on his arm surged forth from his fist, instantly taking the shape of flames, colliding head-on with Ace's Fire Fist.
After absorbing the experiences of Pica's Devil Fruit, Maude had become far more adept at manipulating his shadows.
Creating a replicated Fire Fist with his shadow powers was effortless, almost giving the illusion of a Paramecia Fruit mimicking a Logia.
After all, one of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's greatest strengths was its ability to freely alter its form.
Though Maude's fruit had yet to awaken, meaning the size of his shadow expansion had limits—
It was more than enough to replicate Fire Fist.
"This is…"
Ace furrowed his brow, visibly surprised as he watched Maude unleash a punch infused with shadow.
A fist of fire and a fist of darkness clashed in midair, colliding in a violent burst.
Boom!
Flames and shadows intertwined, neither yielding to the other. Their struggle compressed into a massive tornado, churning fiercely and sweeping up vast amounts of sand.
"Now this is interesting."
Ace's expression relaxed as he gazed at Maude, who stood atop a sand dune, composed and unfazed.
Beyond the battlefield—
The Straw Hat Pirates stood frozen, staring in shock at the towering black-and-red whirlwind.
What kind of monsters are these…?
Already battered and utterly outclassed, their confidence had long since crumbled. Now, despair began creeping in.
"Guys like Maude and Ace… there can't be too many of them in the Grand Line, right? Right?! They've got to be rare!"
They could only comfort themselves with such thoughts.
Perona, looking up at Maude standing on the dune, murmured to herself, "He's this strong… yet he always says there are at least a hundred people in the New World stronger than him. He's got to be joking, right? Maude?"
Her words reached the Straw Hats.
And with that, the last thread of hope snapped.
They didn't need another blow. They were already drowning in despair.
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