Chapter 214

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"Haah… haah… haah…"

Her blood, mixed with sweat, was coming out of her body endlessly. She was half-dead.

This was unbelievable. How can a person be so strong...?

Though thinking again – he wasn't just any person, he was the Strongest Man Alive.

"Is Kaido as strong as him…?" Yamato asked herself, laying on her back.

Maybe he was. He was called the Strongest Creature, after all. He should be at the same level as Whitebeard, right…?

"I can't accept it… that man is a monster. If Kaido is as strong as him… then all of this is hopeless."

Recently, she had attacked the ship of the Whitebeard pirates, in search of Portgas D. Ace. 

Her father had let her know about Ace's current position on Whitebeard pirates before he dropped her in the outside world. From there, after she learned to fly using her Devil fruit, she managed to find the ship of Whitebeard Pirated after a few weeks of searching.

Being hot-headed, she jumped for a fight outright... But… But… the battle was finished even before she got a chance to use her Advanced Conqueror's Haki to its fullest. 

Edward Newgate, his name was. The strongest opponent she ever faced. She was able to injure him… but it only took 3 direct hits from his Tremor-Coated blows to take her down.

"So that's the strongest Paramecia..." 

She lost so miserably… a sigh escaped her lips.

After a moment of thought, she ignored her loss for now – there was something more important.

Surprisingly, when she explained she's after Ace, that Ace had stolen her diary – they had let her go. They just dropped her at a nearby island, all bloody and injured.

Her broken bones were healing as of now, and she believed she'd be good to go soon. 

She recalled something Whitebeard had said — "If you want to find him, go and look for Blackbeard. I am sure, by being around him, you'd come across Ace." 

She was truly confused why Whitebeard would help her find Ace. More so, when he recognised her identity after she used <Thunder Bagura> on him. She couldn't understand why he didn't care that the 'son' of another Emperor was after his own.

Truthfully, Whitebeard really didn't care. He saw the thing that Ace, according to the girl, stole – seemed to be very important to her. While as a pirate he can't say stealing is bad, as it would make him a hypocrite, the least he can do is give the victim a chance to retrieve the item back. So that's what he did.

Yamato got up from the ground with a trembling body. 

Crack~

Some of her bones cracked, but she didn't seem to react at all. Pain was her friend at this point after training with Kaido for 2 years. 

She crouched down and picked up her spiky club. "Blackbeard, right? Wait for me, I am comin-" she stopped midway. "Though who's Blackbeard?"

Yes. Yamato, the girl who's been locked in Onigashima for years, had no idea about the outside world.

«—(★)—»

It's been a month since then. 

Yamato kept looking for information on Blackbeard, also known as Marshal D. Teach. While the man in question was currently in a life-and-death fight.

"Gaah!"

A punch coated in armament Haki thrust into his stomach, causing him to almost puke. 

With a pained groan, Blackbeard slid back. He removed his enemy's other fist from his darkness-coated palm and jumped back.

"Haah… you're stronger than I expected, 'Commander' Ace." He growled while rubbing his huge stomach with his hands.

His attacker, Ace, didn't answer, he just stood there with a serious look on his face.

"Oh, you're not talking? Haha, am I so low that you can't even spare some of your words?" Teach crackled up. "Or are you just that angry?"

"Shut it, Teach!" Ace interrupted. "I am not here to chit-chat. We can talk all day after I break your limbs and bring you back to Pops, he will ask you the questions you need to answer."

Blackbeard huffed at him. He intercepted wrong. Ace was stronger than him even with the Yami-Yami no Mi. Unlike him, Ace didn't rely on his devil fruit that much – and in fact, had great Haki. 

That's why he was losing this fight. He's been cancelling his fruit with his own, but he is just too strong even without his fruit.

Yes, Teach had his crew around, too. But… Without Haki, fighting a logia user is just asking for death, more so when the logia user is a strong one like Ace. 

More so, most of his crew didn't know Haki, at all. In fact, if only his sniper had known Armament, not just Observation, Ace would have been taken out by now. 

This fight… Blackbeard was losing.

Well, 

"Everyone! Attack!"

At least they had some weapons made of Sea-stone that he stole before leaving the Whitebeard pirates.

"Aaaaaa!" Men hidden on the corners of the island revealed themselves and rushed towards Ace, who narrowed his eyes.

"Zehahahahahaha! Luckily, I didn't get any seastone bullets, or you'd have been dead by now – ACE!!" With a cry, along with his crew, Blackbeard rushed towards Ace. 

He grabbed Ace's shoulder – thus rendering his logia body to stop working – and slashed his stomach after taking out the blade from his belt.

Cling!

But Ace's skin turned ink black, creating the sound of metal clashing while the blade's head went dull.

Fortunately, that wasn't the only attack. The other three members of his crew attacked Ace at once, Ace tried dodging, jumping back – but Blackbeard's gravitational pull didn't allow him to move.

The attacks came hitting Ace, though he just covered his whole body in Armament. None of the attacks did any significant damage. 

Just then, the sound of a banging sniper rifle entered their ears. The last member of Blackbeard Pirates, the Sniper Van Augur, had fired a bullet. 

Bang!

Ace's logia body wasn't working, so this was a sure hit – and hit it did.

Clink!

But just like before, the bullet just clashed with his skin and bounced off with a dented head!

Armement at Ace's level can't be damaged by any normal sniper bullet – even if the person shooting is Sniper King. As long as the said person doesn't imbue his own haki into the bullet, there is no way for the bullet to actually damage Ace.

Though it did create a momentary daze. Ace's head vibrated slightly, his eyes going blurry – Blackbeard, noticing it, went to attack him again with his crew. 

The large man named Jesus grabbed Ace and suplexed him, while Blackbeard and the others punched and kicked him.

This… didn't look like a proper fight, it was as if a bunch of kids were fighting an adult. Blackbeard was desperate for survival.

Unfortunately, 

Vho-Oo-m~

A BURST of conquerors Haki clouded the whole place, causing Teach to trip and almost fall unconscious, but he managed to hold on. He might have the strength of an small fry, but based on will only, he was someone on the same level, if not above, Ace.

But while Blackbeard survived, the people around him were knocked unconscious, mostly civilians, as his crew was still standing, even if on their knees.

Sweat dripped down from Blackbeard's head as he revealed a stiff smile. 

"Haha… Commander Ace keeps shattering my expectations. Now, it seems I am really about to-"

Before he could finish his words, Ace moved. He got up from the ground where he was suplexed and dashed towards Blackbeard.

His armament covered fist caught fire because of the friction of the air and the heat only increased after he infused steam into it. With a burning light of rage flashing by his eyes, Ace cried, 

"<FIRE FIST>"

Portgas D. Ace first went closer to Teach's face while Teach stared at it with a shocked expression. But just before the moment of contact, someone came interrupting them.

A club, a spiky club, came in between them, going towards Ace's face instead.

A female with long white hair came into view, wielding a club that had black lightning dancing around it – it clashed with Ace's fist, causing the wind to stir around that pace,

"<THUNDER BAGURA>"

Apparently… The world hates Portgas D. Ace.

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