A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Outside the bar, the empty ground was a mess.

Because of the laser attack Kizaru just fired, a large area here has become pitted and uneven, with rubble everywhere. Some places have even turned into scorched earth due to the heat effect of the laser, constantly emitting black smoke with a faint smell of grass and ash.

One of them, over three meters tall, was wearing a yellow suit and a navy-style cloak that everyone on the high seas would recognize—a pure white cloak with the word 'Justice' written on it in large characters.

"This...this...this person is...Admiral Kizaru of the Marine Headquarters?!" The moment Buggy saw this person, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, his eyes, nose, and tongue popping out.

"So strong!! They took out dozens of us in one move and left this place like this..."

"What do we do? This kind of person is completely beyond our capabilities!!"

Just then, Kizaru's gaze fell on Buggy behind them, and Ace, Gildarts, and the others following closely behind: "1500 million Berries bounty, 'Clown' Buggy, you're the one who beat up a Celestial Dragon in the street, right? But it's strange, why is 'Fire Fist' Ace here too?"

Kizaru was quite clever. The moment he saw Ace, he immediately knew that something was wrong, so he simply asked him why he was there, without questioning whether he had participated in the 'beating of the Celestial Dragons' incident.

Because Whitebeard was standing behind Ace, his actions, whether he liked it or not, would be seen as Whitebeard's stance. And if the situation developed into 'the Whitebeard Pirates beating up a Celestial Dragon' or 'the Whitebeard Pirates declaring war on the World Government,' then things would be in serious trouble!

Their navy doesn't have enough power right now to fight against three Yonko (Four Emperors) plus the Irene Crew, who are no weaker than the Yonko!

Ace had no idea about Kizaru's deeper concerns, so he simply answered every question: "You ask me why I'm here? Of course, it's because I'm currently using Buggy's ship to return to the New World!"

These two brats really know how to give this old man something to do...

"How strange~ The captain of the second ship of the Whitebeard Pirates needs to borrow someone else's ship? Could it be that 'Clown' Buggy has joined the Whitebeard Pirates?"

Here's a way out for you, Ace, so be smart and take it!

The matter is very simple. As long as you immediately deny that the Buggy Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates are related, I can choose to turn a blind eye and let you go!

Ultimately, it was 'Clown' Buggy who did the beating. The Navy, the Celestial Dragons, and the World Government only wanted to capture him. You, 'Fire Fist' Ace, never appeared in the public eye from beginning to end, so I can pretend I didn't see you during this operation!

But if you continue to intervene, the nature of the matter will change!

The fact that Buggy the Clown attacked a Celestial Dragon will immediately be interpreted as Whitebeard instructing his pirate crew to assault a Celestial Dragon, which is tantamount to Whitebeard declaring war on the World Government. This event will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the balance of power in the New World!

At that time, neither the Navy nor the World Government will continue to let the Whitebeard Pirates go, and I certainly won't let you off the hook!

If you've figured it out, then hurry up and leave, 'Fire Fist' Ace!

"Buggy didn't join the Whitebeard Pirates, but he's my friend!!"

Damn it! What a bunch of greenhorns!!

Kizaru felt like he almost couldn't catch his breath. After a two-second silence, he spoke again to confirm, "So, you weren't involved in the 'beating up the Celestial Dragon' incident, right? 'Fire Fist' Ace??"

"No, but I don't think Bucky did anything wrong!"

Kizaru finally breathed a sigh of relief, completely ignoring the second half of his sentence: "Well then, could you please step aside? To give the World Government an explanation, I must arrest 'The Clown' Buggy! If you interfere, things will get very complicated~"

Kana nudged Gildas and whispered, "He's so polite!"

Gildarts nodded: "This is probably the demeanor of a naval admiral... So elegant! So very elegant!!"

Kizaru glanced at Gildarts and Cana, confirming that they were not wanted pirates, and decided to ignore them to avoid trouble.

"I'm sorry! I'm not the kind of person who would stand by and watch a friend get arrested..."

"You'd better think this through! If you choose to get involved, you'll be seen as Buggy's accomplice, which would be the Whitebeard Pirates declaring war on the Navy and the World Government!"

Kizaru spoke up again to remind him, already doing his best to avoid giving himself too much work.

However, Ace was not intimidated at all, and even laughed heartily at him, while scorching flames ignited all over his body: "Even so, what can you do to us?"

"That's the strongest warrior on the high seas, Whitebeard!!!"

After listening, Kizaru remained silent for a long time before reluctantly saying, "That's...terrifying~"

The next moment, Kizaru swiftly raised his right hand, and a golden laser beam shot out from his fingertips, pointing directly at Buggy.

call out--!!

"Sunfire!!" Ace shouted, immediately unleashing a large amount of flames in an attempt to shield Buggy from the attack.

But how could flames possibly outrun light? Before the flames could even reach him, the laser beam had already pierced Bucky's shoulder and exploded in the open ground a dozen meters behind him!

"Bucky!!"

"Ok??"

Just as everyone gasped in surprise, Kizaru also realized something was wrong: "I definitely hit the target..."

Although Bucky's body was pierced by the laser, he didn't bleed or even get injured! In that instant, his body unleashed unprecedented potential, reaching a pseudo-Logia-level 'shattering' split!

"He foresaw it and dodged it? No, it seems to be just the use of his Devil Fruit? They can actually do that? These pirates these days are really terrifying!"

Kizaru spoke again, but this time, his gaze toward Buggy was noticeably more serious.

"This...this is what I just did??" Bucky was dumbfounded. He looked at his shoulder in disbelief, a clear snot hanging down from his red nose.

"Great!! Bucky, I knew you could do it!!"

Gildas exclaimed, immensely proud of his teaching achievements: 'Could Bucky really be a genius? No, no, no…maybe I'm the genius?'

(Confused face) Is that so? I'm a genius at teaching Devil Fruit ability development?

(Confident face) Oh, is that so? I'm a genius at teaching how to develop Devil Fruit abilities!

"Hahaha!!!"

Cana stared at Gildas, who was grinning like an idiot, and was speechless. "What are you laughing at, you old man...?"

Missing his first attack, Kizaru raised both hands together, golden light flashing continuously in his palms, and with each breath, countless points of light shot forward: "Yasakani no Magatama!!"

shhhhhh...

Boom boom boom!!!

Under Kizaru's control, countless points of light were stretched in the air, instantly transforming into countless lasers that continuously swept towards Buggy's location. Instantly, there were continuous roars, air explosions, earth-shaking tremors, smoke billowing, and high temperatures and flames engulfing an area of ​​hundreds of meters.

"Wow...what terrifying power..."

"Is this the strength of a Marine Admiral? We are no match for them at all!"

"No! We didn't need to confront him in the first place. The key is Captain Bucky!!"

"Don't worry! Captain Bucky's luck is beyond what ordinary people can predict!!"

After a long while, the explosions stopped, but the high temperature in the area had not yet dissipated.

"Wait! Something seems off? That's..."

Everyone looked over at the sound and saw that a wall of fire had risen at the center of the explosion. The bright and scorching energy isolated the metal from the explosive force. It was the defensive technique of the Flame-Flame Fruit, Flame-Up!

"It's Ace! He saved Captain Buggy!!"

At this moment, the flames gently receded like a veil, revealing two figures inside: Ace, full of fighting spirit and with a slight smile, and Buggy, lying on the ground, still with a look of fear on his face.

"I'm...I'm saved..."

Bucky swallowed hard to calm himself down, and it took him a while to come to his senses. In that instant, he suddenly felt grateful that he had been so hospitable to Ace during this time.

Chapter 913 Capturing Bucky = Becoming an enemy of all forces in the New World?!

"Are you alright, Bucky?"

At that moment, Bucky suddenly felt that Ace was both gentle and powerful.

The way Roger stood up to protect him was exactly the same as Roger had protected him back then. In a daze, he seemed to really see Roger's shadow behind Ace, his smile so confident and so heroic!

"Captain Roger... Captain Roger..."

Ace's body stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

Ever since he learned that Bucky was an apprentice crew member on Roger's ship, he had vaguely noticed that Bucky's attitude towards him was strange, especially since he had specifically brought him to see Rayleigh before. He was basically certain that Bucky had some doubts about his identity.

Fortunately, the other party seemed to respect Roger a lot, and his attitude towards him became much more cautious. However, he no longer treated him like a like-minded sea buddy as he had when they first met, putting his arm around him and calling him brother.

"Is this the strength of a Marine Admiral? This is the first time I've faced an enemy of this caliber..."

Ace's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Since he set sail from Windmill Village three years ago until he met Whitebeard, the strongest opponent he had ever truly fought was Jinbe, a Shichibukai-level fighter. As for the challenge he launched against Whitebeard, he was completely crushed, and Whitebeard held back quite a bit when he attacked, so it couldn't really be considered a fight.

During his three years with the Whitebeard Pirates, thanks to the powerful backing of the crew and the abundance of talented subordinates, he rarely encountered pirates who surpassed or reached the level of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He even encountered few Vice Admirals, let alone Admirals.

Therefore, this was the first time in three years that Ace had faced one of the world's top fighters.

"This is troublesome... Now I'll have no choice but to arrest you as well..."

"Bring it on!!"

Kizaru's eyelids darkened, his expression one of utter helplessness: "That's why I hate you young pirates, all you do is add to my workload!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kizaru transformed into a golden light, moving at the speed of light to Ace's side. He raised his right leg and kicked at Ace: "Speed ​​is power. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

In a split second, Ace's eyes widened suddenly, his Observation Haki was passively activated, his brain captured the trajectory of Kizaru's kick, and his body reacted instinctively, bending his legs and squatting down quickly!

Whoosh—!

The wind whistled past his head, and if Ace hadn't been holding his hat tightly, it would have been blown away by the fierce attack.

"No!" Ace chuckled lightly, seemingly pleased with himself for dodging the attack.

But his smile vanished the next moment, as a crisp 'snap' sound came from his head. He looked up and saw that the airflow from that high-speed kick had cracked the lenses of his goggles.

"My glasses?!"

"He dodged it... Was that Observation Haki? As expected of Captain Number 2, he's really terrifying~"

Taking advantage of Kizaru's momentary daze, Buggy immediately scrambled to his feet and rushed behind Gildarts with unprecedented speed: "Please, please save me!!"

"Sigh... alright." Gildas was somewhat speechless at Bucky's behavior, but after all, he had been eating and drinking on Bucky's ship for so many days, he certainly couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

Kizaru noticed the commotion and decided to let Ace go, turning his attention to Gildarts and Cana instead: "Hmm?? Who are you two? Buggy's accomplices?"

He has figured it out now. Since 'Fire Fist' Ace can't beat him anyway, all he needs to do is capture Buggy and weaken 'Fire Fist' Ace's presence when he returns, which will prevent the Navy from clashing with the Whitebeard Pirates.

As for concealing Ace's existence, that's impossible!

No matter what, he was a Marine Admiral. Letting Ace go could be considered out of consideration for the situation. Even if it was reported to the Five Elders, he would have an explanation. Moreover, Sengoku would definitely understand his thoughts. But if he simply concealed it, he would be suspected of colluding with the enemy!

"I'm Gildarts, a mage from Fairy Tail. You could say I'm Buggy's friend!" Gildarts chuckled and scratched his head, his stance quite clear in his words.

"A mage..."