Ace II

Ace looked at Smoker, a playful smirk on his face. "Do you want to fight, Smoker?" he asked, feeling the air around him change as he ignited his flames.

"You see, I just met Luffy, so I would rather not cause a scene fighting you here," Ace said, his hands engulfed in flames. "Even my flames are better than your smoke. Do you want to try me?"

Smoker narrowed his eyes, a smirk creeping onto his face as he glared at Ace. "Of course, I am Marine, after all," he replied, his body beginning to transform into smoke, showcasing his Smoke-Smok fruit powers against Ace's Flame-Flame fruit abilities.

"Really..."

Both Ace and Smoker paused, feeling an ominous aura suddenly engulf them. They turned their heads to see Luffy, surrounded by a black and white aura, his eyes shining dangerously.

"Let me eat," Luffy said nonchalantly as he began to munch on a piece of food from the table.

'Conqueror's Haki?' Ace and Smoker thought in unison as they stared at him.

'Hah, Luffy, you've changed. I was wrong to underestimate you,' Ace thought, watching Luffy intently as he felt a shiver run down his spine. Smoker, on the other hand, was mentally breaking down at the sight of Luffy's newfound power, realizing just how much stronger he had become in such a short amount of time.

Unknown to both of them it was no short amount of time ad Luffy has fought a lot in other world where is was close to dying many times.

'He is dangerous. I can't let him escape, or he'll be a disaster for the Marines,' Smoker thought as he prepared for a fight. Just then, he felt a gentle tap on his back.

Turning around, he saw a beautiful blue-haired girl with a winged lizard perched on her head. "You are not welcome here, Marine," she said coldly.

"Huh? Who the hell are you to say that to me?" Smoker retorted, glaring at Vivi.

"I am the princess of this kingdom. We, Alabasta, no longer need the Marines in our affairs. Take your men and leave," Vivi declared firmly.

"Huh? I'll leave, but you should know that pirates are here too," Smoker said, pointing at Luffy and Vivi.

"Vivi, you are here too," Luffy said suddenly, causing Smoker to glare at her dangerously.

"So, you are dismissing us while working with pirates?" Smoker accused, looking at Vivi. "Better than the Celestial Dragon's Dogs," Vivi shot back, her voice full of mockery as Smoker clenched his fists in frustration.

"And take your Shichibukai or I will kill him," Vivi threatened, activating her Conqueror's Haki, causing Smoker to feel a sudden heaviness in his chest.

Ace eyes widend as he look at Vivi. "You're making Smoker kneel on the ground," he remarked, his own Haki emanating powerfully, as he negated her haki on him.

Vivi didn't look at him as she stared down Smoker. "Your Marines are the reason my kingdom is suffering so much. Leave, or I will kill you all," she declared. Smoker raised his head and met Vivi's cold gaze, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he questioned who she could be to possess such determination.

He nodded, and with a wave of his hand, began to retreat with his men. Smoker cast one last lingering look at Vivi before they departed, leaving her with the weight of her words.

What did she mean by her kingdom suffering? Smoker pondered, shaking his head as they moved away.

**

I looked at Vivi in awe, never having realized how determined she could be. This newfound confidence sparked an idea in my mind. In the original timeline, the Marines took credit for defeating Crocodile, but now that I'm here, how could I let that happen again?

'This time Morgans will directly tell the world about the Crcodile schemes' I thought to myself as I began to find any guy working for the Morgans Newpaper.

***

"She is your partner, Luffy?" Ace asked, looking at Vivi. He could easily tell she was strong enough to defeat him, especially with the little guy perched on her shoulder, giving her an even more formidable vibe.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Vivi, and I am the princess of the Alabasta Kingdom. I've just joined the Straw Hat Pirates," Vivi said with a bow.

Ace turned to her and said, "Thank you for taking care of my little brother all this time."

"Hey?" Luffy interjected, but Ace and Vivi just laughed.

As they prepared to leave for the ship, Vivi glanced back at Luffy, she came here because Luffy was late while everyone was already back at ship, so, she came to fetch him.

***

After some time, everyone was back on the ship, and Luffy excitedly introduced Ace to the crew. Ace was taking in the scene, observing his brother and the others as he noted their various powers.

'What the hell is this??' he questioned himself, his Observation Haki revealing the strength radiating from each of them, especially from the green-haired guy and the curly-haired one, both of whom exuded powerful auras.

"Your crew is something else," Ace said, looking at Luffy with newfound respect.

"Ah, it's nothing you haven't seen yet! This is my vice-captain!" Luffy said proudly, waving his hand in a casual manner. "Huh? Where's Ash?" he asked, noticing the absence of one of his crew members.

"He said he would come by, and that we should wait and let Vivi handle Crocodile," Zoro replied, as he was left to guard the ship as everyone is fully aware that he had no sense of direction and could easily get lost, even when it was right in front of him.

"huh? He really said that?" Vivi asked looking at Zoro.

Zoro nodded and said, "Yeah, he mentioned that he fully believes you can do that on your own now. You no longer need our help. He also said that if Luffy came with his brother, we should ask him for his Haki training methods too."

Zoro glanced at Ace, who looked a bit puzzled, wondering how Ash knew he was coming.

"Maybe he saw us and then told you to do that," Ace suggested, as everyone nodded in agreement.

***

Check out my other books while waiting for this one, My new Original : Absolute Cheater & Final Life Online.

These two Novels are in same universe, and much later the ML of my both will face each other.

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