Chapter 39

Ace immediately tested out his idea, albeit not without hesitation. He was made of fire, but he still felt the heat of the fireball on his finger. It was much hotter than the fire he could instantly create.

'Whatever! Here goes nothing!'

Ace popped the fireball on his finger to his mouth. He didn't chew it, just directly swallowed the fireball. He felt its heat clearly, but it was a good thing that he wasn't burnt.

When the fireball got to his stomach, Ace felt it… dissipate. Then, he began to steam. Steam came out of Ace from all over him. His skin also turned slightly pink. Then, it all slowly receded. He went back to normal.

'That… wasn't so bad!'

Ace didn't taste the fireball. It had no taste. It was just hot. Next, he checked his flames. He made fire on his palm and was surprised to see it slightly changed. His fire wasn't as yellowish as it was before. It had an orange tint to it. His fire actually got stronger.

"HAHAHAHA! This is amazing! I can just eat fire and get stronger?"

Ace tested it out. He ate the flame he created… only to feel sick after doing it. His face got green as he felt nauseous. This time, the fire had taste. It was disgusting.

'Note to self, never eat fire you directly created from your power. Here I was thinking I got a hack.'

Ace shook off the nauseous feeling and tried again. He picked up a plank of wood, lit it up on fire with his power, and watched it burn for a few moments. After that, he called the flames to him and ate it. It didn't taste bad. It had no taste, similar to the first fireball he ate.

'Fires that resulted from my power burning something has no taste, but has a slight strengthening effect. I wonder what would happen if I ate fire from other sources beside me?'

Ace put the question to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand. The commander, along with all his closest subordinates, were now just charred corpses. They would have to find other ways to open the safe back at the Ashen Dragon.

The oil painting that was hiding the mini vault was burnt by Ace's flames earlier. Now, the commander's personal vault was there for anyone to see. Ace walked to it and took it out. He was strong enough to carry it on his shoulder without any worries.

"Alright, mission accomplished! Let's see how Vash is doing!"

Ace walked to the window on one side of the office. It overlooked the whole garrison. Ace peeked out of it to see where Vash was. It wasn't difficult to find him. Just follow the noise.

Vash was running on walls as he reloaded. The soldiers tried to shoot him, but of course, they were missing badly. Vash moved at a speed they could barely keep up with.

After reloading while wallrunning, Vash would jump. He would then shoot at his targets below while he was in midair. Ace noticed how Vash would shoot the guns first to break them. That should be the reason why there were a lot of soldiers who were using their swords instead.

Ace was amused at Vash keeping to his promise of not needlessly killing. It made for more interesting gunfights. After shooting and breaking guns, Vash would shoot at the soldiers who were using their swords.

When Vash shoots people, it is always on the thigh, feet, or knee. Anywhere that would make them stop fighting or chasing him. It was rather effective. There were a lot of soldiers bleeding out on the ground.

For someone who promised not to kill needlessly, it instead looked like he was killing mercilessly. Those that Vash chose were not worth directly killing, he would leave their fate to chance.

Ace then jumped out of the window with the mini vault on his shoulder. He landed on the ground five floors below on his two feet. His landing made a small crater from the weight of what he was carrying, but Ace was strong enough to not suffer from it.

The sudden heavy landing caught the attention of a few soldiers who were trying to deal with Vash. They looked at Ace then chose him as a target instead. Ace watched them charge at him. He wasn't in the mood, so he quickly incapacitated them with his Conqueror's Haki.

"Oi, Vash!" Ace called out to Vash who looked like he was having fun with his new toy. "Let's wrap this up! We got gold to plunder!"

"Got it!" Vash leaped out of the soldiers' way and landed beside Ace. "I'm guessing you meant I should leave them to you?"

"Right you are!"

The remaining soldiers charged at Ace and Vash. With his Observation Haki, Ace could tell that this was their last charge. All the other soldiers were either dead or not in any condition to fight.

Seeing all the soldiers group up to charge in front of them, Ace suddenly remembered a scene he saw. A man against an army. He imitated what that man did.

"Nevermind. I think I want to have some more fun. Guard this." Ace put down the mini vault from his shoulder for Vash to guard before charging at the army in front of him.

Ace didn't use his Devil Fruit, Haki, or even his weapons. He fought with his body. With his sheer strength, Ace barrelled through the first few rows of soldiers. Then, he initiated a hand to hand combat against swords and gun users.

Ace flowed like water - or in his case, fire - to avoid gunshots and sword swings. He was taking out two soldiers for every attack that he avoided. It was easy at first since the soldiers attacked one by one. Ace didn't know what was wrong with his brains, but didn't mind it. When your enemy is making a mistake, don't stop them.

After taking down dozens of soldiers with well placed punches, the soldiers finally realized they could just jump at Ace all at once. Before they could do that, however, Ace jumped out of the way first. He then took out his cutlass.

Parry. Counter. Dodge. Parry. Counter. Dodge. Feint. Slash. Parry. Counter.

Ace was surrounded by soldiers using swords, so he had fun showing them who's a better swordsman. In reality, Ace never really practiced with a sword. He was using his sword as if it was the metal pipe him, Sabo, and Luffy used when they were children. It was effective, so he didn't really find it an issue.

The circular opening that Ace was standing in slowly got smaller. So, Ace swung his sword in a circle around him. His sword was covered in Advanced Armament Haki, so the soldiers were flung away.

Ace jumped up, used a combination of Flicker and Air Jump, and landed outside the army's encirclement. It didn't take long for the army to spot Ace. Like mindless animals, they still charged at him.

'This is it! This is the moment!' Ace sheathed his cutlass and inhaled deeply.

"Fire Lord's Breath!"

A sea of fire surged out of Ace's mouth. It covered a wide area in front of him. All the remaining soldiers were engulfed by the sudden sea of flames. Screams sounded out from within. Despite the loud roaring of fire, the scream of a hundred soldiers as they died by fire was clearly audible. Like an accompaniment to the main instrument.

Ace observed how his flames really have changed. It was closer to orange than yellow now.

When the screams died out, Ace stopped his fire breath technique. He already stopped the technique, but there was still a sea of fire in front of him. It only kept spreading. Buildings and tents started catching fire.

"Oi, Ace! Did you forget about me?" Vash screamed at Ace from atop a safe building as he heaved. The mini vault was beside him.

"Ahh! Vash! Sorry, my bad!" Ace then felt a familiar presence.

"Ahh! Ace! I should've known it was you!" Doppol shouted as he soared through the air. He landed near Ace.

"Yo, Doppol! What brings you here?" Ace asked. "I thought you were working on your formula?"

"I was! Then, I tried my luck on the trees on this island," Doppol said before sighing in disappointment. "Of course, it shouldn't be that easy to find."

Something crashed near Ace and Doppol. It was the mini vault that Ace carried out of the commander's office. Vash followed soon after.

"What're you looking for?" Vash asked after landing near Ace and Doppol.

"The perfect wood for my formula! Of course, I can use any wood. But, I prefer light wood."

"I'm sure we'll find a tree with that kind of wood someday," Ace said before asking Doppol for help. "Say, Doppol! You really came here at the perfect time!"

"I'm guessing you need me for something?"

"I do. There's a gold mine northeast of this garrison where those Espa guys got the locals working." Ace grinned at the thought of getting their hands on that gold. "Let's steal it!"

"I'll get at it right away!"

Ace called out to the flames the moment Doppol started running in the direction he said. The burning buildings were instantly put out as the fire eating away at them went to Ace. He gathered the fire into a small fireball.

The fireball Ace was condensing was much hotter than the one he used in the main building. It was much more difficult to shape as well. But, Ace did it. Again, he was sweating at the effort of keeping the flames condensed into a small fireball the size of his fingertip.

Ace picked up the mini vault he asked Vash to look out for. Then they followed Doppol. It wasn't difficult to find the gold mine. It was a literal gigantic hole. It didn't run straight down. It was more like a slow descent that ran horizontally underground. Next to the hole was what looked like a warehouse.

Doppol kicked down the warehouse door. They were greeted by piles upon piles of gold ore. They whistled at the sight.

"I don't suppose Hepha can refine gold?" Ace asked.

"I'd be surprised if she can't." Doppol chuckled.

"Can you carry all this, Doppol?" Vash asked.

To answer Vash's question, Doppol created Doubles. There were dozens of them. They looked at Vash and simultaneously grinned.

"Leave it to me!"

The Doubles quickly got to work. Luckily, there were sacks available for use in one corner of the warehouse. The Doubles quickly distributed it between themselves and started filling the sacks with piles of gold ore.

Ace and Vash watched the Doubles work with precise teamwork. In a matter of minutes, the warehouse was swept clean. Somehow, the Doubles managed to fit all the gold in their sacks.

"Great job, Doppol!" Ace commended his shipwright for the wonderful work. "Let's go!"

"You need help with that?" Vash asked a Double that was carrying more than the other Doubles.

"Thanks!" The Double said before handing him two of the six sacks he was carrying. Vash took it and they followed Ace.

They ran and went to the big gate that was the entrance to the garrison. No one stopped them since all the soldiers were either dead or incapacitated. Ace let the Vash, Doppol, and the Doubles exit first.

"You guys go on ahead! I wanna test out a new move," Ace said before eating the fireball on his fingertip, much to the surprise of Vash, Doppol, and the Doubles.

"Did you really just-?"

Ace started letting out steam from all over his body. His skin turned reddish as well. He only lasted a few seconds in that state before going back to normal.

"Go!" Ace said again and they obeyed.

Once Vash, Doppol, and the Doubles were out of the garrison gate, Ace walked closer to the center of the garrison. He eventually reached a rather open area. Ace decided it was the best place to do his next move. He crouched low and summoned flames all around him.

The flames spiraled around Ace. He summoned a great amount of flames. If he let the flames he summoned run wild, it would undoubtedly burn the garrison eventually. Ace gathered the flames into one big fireball above him.

'In the canon, Ace called this move Flame Emperor. Honestly, this move isn't very impressive for a name like that. Let's use that name in another technique or something. Hell, maybe I would use it as my title instead when I eventually reach my goal.'

Ace pondered a new name for the familiar move. He looked at the great fireball above him. It looked like a miniature sun. Then, a suitable name clicked for him. It wasn't a flashy name. Then again, this move was just hurling a gigantic fireball.

"Sunny Day!"

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A/N: To those who would comment that he should've named it Cruel Sun, rest assured. Cruel Sun will be a different move.