Chapter 23

"Where's the armory?" Ace asked while lifting a marine by his collar.

"I won't tell you!" shouted the marine. He was trying to be brave.

"Where?" Ace pressed further. He leaked a bit of his Conqueror's Haki as intimidation.

"In the Basement Floor! It's all there!" the marine shouted.

Ace threw the marine to a far wall, leaving him there unconscious. He turned to the hundred pirates behind him and grinned.

"You heard him! Go to the basement and arm yourselves! Do that and get out of here!"

The pirates rushed forward like a tidal wave in search of the stairs to the basement. They picked up the weapons of the marines they defeated along the way. The marines were starting to mount a resistance towards the breakout of pirates, so Ace felt that the most important agenda was equipping his troops.

The Royal Aces stood behind to watch over the pirates under them. Despite numbering around a hundred, the pirates were still vastly outnumbered by the marines inside the base.

"Over here! The basement stairs is this way!" one of the pirates shouted. The other pirates rushed to where he was pointing at.

"Well then, I guess we better go ahead and deal with the high ranking ones," Terzo said as he rested a sword on his shoulder.

"That, we should," Ace used his Observation Haki to sense where the strong marines are. "Vash, there's two decent marines coming here. You can handle them."

"Will do, Captain," Vash readied his revolvers before looking at Ace. "Should I kill them?"

"I'll leave the decision to you," Ace said to Vash, knowing that he'd rather not kill the marines. "I guess it's time for me to light up the signal flare, huh? You guys run wild!"

Ace quickly waved a short goodbye to his crew before running up a set of stairs that he saw with his Observation Haki would lead him upstairs.

"Fire Lord's Fist!"

When marines came to stop him, Ace would use an improved version of the canon Fire Fist. Through numerous trial and errors in his free time, Ace found out that he could make his fire explode, generating a great outward force that still carried the heat of his flames much like a forceful heat wave.

Fire Lord's Fist sends out a dense column of fire forwards. At the end, before dissipating, the column of fire would explode and send whatever was close to it flying as it burned. Of course, Ace would be unaffected.

Even if marines managed to dodge the column of fire from Fire Lord's Fist, they couldn't escape the flame's explosion. Ace continued in his path unimpeded. He felt someone follow him, but he paid no mind to it and focused on his task.

The door to the rooftop of the base was locked, but Ace was a pirate. Locks serve no purpose other than saying that whatever is behind is something valuable or important.

Ace kicked the door down and stood in the middle of the rooftop. He raised his hand and reached it to the sky. Hot and powerful flames gathered in his outstretched arm. It condensed to his hand until Ace shot out two consecutive shots.

The first shot exploded high in the air, generating a loud sound that the whole town most likely heard. The second shot was like a permanent firework. The large jolly roger of the Royal Ace Pirates defiantly floated over the marine base, made entirely of Ace's flames.

It was a signal flare to Hepha and the Doubles. The pirates they freed from the prison in Loguetown's base will be hurrying towards the port to get back in their own ship. Hepha and the Doubles were there to make sure their promise of servitude remained true.

"You really took us for fools," an angry voice spat out from somewhere behind Ace.

With a playful grin, Ace turned around with his arms crossed. He stood face to face with Ensign Isuka.

"Not really. It's just we're too good at acting! Don't blame yourself."

In response, Isuka raised her rapier at Ace defiantly. It seems she was intent on bringing him to justice. Whatever justice meant for her.

"I really chose a good place to have a short vacation. To think I'd meet a devious pirate like you all the way out here. I'll bring you to justice before you pose a bigger threat!" Isuka shouted at Ace.

"Justice, huh? You wanna kill me?" Ace asked.

Isuka ignored Ace's question. She gripped her rapier tighter.

"Surrender now before it's too late! Rot in Impel Down or die? Choose!"

"What shitty choices those are!" Ace chuckled. "Well then, I choose… neither!"

"Then, let me choose for you!"

Isuka charged at Ace at a great speed. Ace guessed that she easily matched Kuro's speed when using Stealth Foot. To think it was just Isuka's normal speed…

"You're fast! You're definitely not from around here!" Ace chatted casually as he effortlessly dodged the stabs of Isuka's rapier. "You must be an Ensign from Marine Headquarters!"

"I don't need to answer that, pirate! Shave!"

Ace grinned at Isuka's technique. He felt her go behind him for a stab on the back of his stomach. Ace turned his body into fire before surging forward out of Isuka's reach.

"A Devil Fruit! Moreover, a Logia?" Isuka quickly recognized the type of Devil Fruit power Ace had. "You're a troublesome one!"

"What can I say? I got pretty lucky! It was a great find!" Ace taunted Isuka.

Their battle continued. Ace's flames against Isuka's swordsmanship. Despite not being able to use Haki, Isuka bravely charged forward to meet Ace head on. Ace used his flames to augment his hand to hand combat skills like firebenders did. The force and heat behind his flames parried Isuka's every stab. In their whole exchange, Ace used only his Devil Fruit. Despite that, he wasn't pushed back by Isuka at all. Instead, Ace slowly won over the tempo and rhythm of the battle.

Eventually, with a punch sending out a jet of fire, Ace sent Isuka flying. She crashed on the rooftop, teetering over the edge. Their battle destroyed the integrity of the place they were fighting on.

Ace stood over Isuka with a foot on her chest and gloated at her. It was a rather easy battle, but she proved to be a good practice companion. Ace felt that he wasn't really using his Devil Fruit much, so he resolved himself to using it alone when dealing with weaker opponents.

"Damn you," Isuka groaned out. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gol D. Ace. The man who'll be Emperor of the Seas," Ace declared as he looked out at Loguetown spreading out below him. The rooftop gave him a scenic view.

"How ambitious," Isuka spat. "I know many others stronger than you. You'll pay for your crimes, Gol D. Ace!"

"I'm sure there are." Ace chuckled. He was excited to test himself against formidable adversaries. "You know, you could have just tried killing me if you wanted me to pay."

Isuka glared at Ace, but he wasn't bothered. He was only telling her what he observed.

"You never aimed at any of my vital spots. It was rather insulting, honestly. It would've been a more enjoyable fight if you did."

"Don't think everyone is like you, pirate! Marines don't fight to kill. We fight to protect people from scum like you!"

"Do you really think so?" Ace sneered at Isuka. "You're an Ensign from Marine Headquarters. Soon, I believe you'll see that there isn't much difference between Pirates and Marines. The only difference is, one is more organized than the other."

"Cut the crap! That obviously isn't true!" Isuka bit back.

"It's the Great Age of Pirates!" Ace spread out his arms and declared, ignoring Isuka. "And yet, dogs rule the seas. Biting, retreating, and barking at their owner's command. Brave and respectable men made to become obedient pets! All this 'justice will prevail' crap really irritates me. Of course justice will prevail! Whoever the winner is becomes justice!"

Ace's ideology that resulted in the combination of two souls from different worlds made him see things in a wider perspective. He remembered how Doflamingo uttered the same words. Words that he agrees to.

"You're insane," Isuka simply stated.

"No, Isuka. You just don't understand yet," Ace replied before picking her up by the neck.

Ace lifted Isuka over the edge of the rooftop as he choked her. Her feet dangled above the distant ground. Falling from a great height would definitely hurt, if not kill her. Isuka struggled in Ace's grip, trying to make him let go of her.

"I swear. In one way or another, I'll arrest you," Isuka declared through gritted teeth.

"You know, you're better than the average marine I know. You're a great example of what a marine should be, so let me give you some advice." A grin etched itself on Ace's face. "War is brewing. You may not feel it yet, but me being here is a sure sign of it coming. Don't be ashamed of losing a fight. Your life is important. If you live through today, survive until you see the new era."

Ace threw Isuka. The promising Ensign fell from a great height on the rear section of the marine base. Ace turned his attention elsewhere and saw Isuka's rapier on the ground. He kicked it in the direction Isuka fell and didn't look back.

From the rooftop, Ace went to see the front part of the base below. Pirates were surging out of the marine base, longing to be free men once again. His crew was the one in the lead. It seems Vash and the others have dealt with the strong high ranking marines.

With his Observation Haki, Ace noticed that there were no more pirates in the base. Instead, it was filled with marines picking themselves up to go and chase after the pirates. Despite outnumbering them, the marines couldn't contain the pirates.

Ace watched the marines move out of their base in droves, no doubt attempting to subjugate the pirates be it on land or at sea. Most of those who were able-bodied went out and ran in the direction of the port. Those who stayed behind in the marine base were the dead, dying, and the healers.

'I guess it's time! The others should've made their name known by now. I wonder who fought the Base Commander. Ahh, whatever. Doesn't matter. Time to test a new move!'

Ace's hands and feet caught fire. The flames turned stronger and hotter like a jet's propulsion. With the combination of his jet-like flames as well as his Air Jump, Ace flew. He soared higher and higher until it seemed that Loguetown was something he could just step on. Higher and higher, as much height as he could get.

When he was high enough to see the whole island in one view, Ace fell headfirst. The flames on his feet got stronger, propelling him downwards even faster. Ace spun around as he fell, gaining as much friction as fast as he could. His flames that acted as his propulsion helped him gain spinning speed.

Eventually, Ace caught on fire. But it wasn't from his Devil Fruit. It was from the friction he gathered from being so high up plus his fast spinning speed. Ace gathered as much flames as he could as he fell straight down, aiming at the marine base.

If anyone was watching the sky above the marine base, they would see what looked like a human on fire falling down. Ace gathered, focused, and compressed the flames as much as he could to prepare it for one big blast.

Ace's new move that he thought of a few days ago was a suicide move… if he wasn't a Logia user. Logias have the advantage of having a naturally intangible body. They can survive much more than a human body could. So, Ace thought that an attack where the Logia user wants to die would be a deadly one.

"Meteor Impact!"

While aflame and falling from a great height, Ace crashed down in the middle of the big marine base that occupied around five blocks if it wasn't there. From the rooftop down to the basement, Ace was an unstoppable human fireball. He crashed down to the basement and let his flames roar. His flames exploded outwards with a burning force.

What followed was a series of great explosions. The armory of the marines was in the basement. Gunpowder and other explosives were stored there. Even after being looted, there was still a large amount of explosive materials in the basement. Ace's raging flames lit them all up and made them explode.