Uchiha's personal opinion

"I am willing to fight for my lord!"

Without further hesitation, he immediately rose and bowed respectfully.

Chapter 551 The Plan is Complete!

"traitor!"

Upon witnessing Marshall D. Teach slaughtering his comrades, Ace disregarded the fact that the warship could easily be ignited by his ability and immediately charged forward, transforming his fists into flames.

"A bunch of opportunists!"

Enemies meeting are bound to be furious. In Marshall D. Teach's view, the reason he has ended up in this embarrassing situation is all Ace's fault!

"If you hadn't come running over here all of a sudden, I wouldn't have had to kill Sachi!"

Marshall D. Teach imbued his longsword with Armament Haki and slashed at Ace, still yelling, "Do you know that?! You're the one who killed Thatch!"

"You have completely betrayed your father, both in thought and action!"

Ace first shattered the long sword into pieces with his right fist, then used his left hand to fire fire bullets at Marshall D. Teach, which struck the Haki defense layer around Marshall D. Teach.

Marshall D. Teach was jolted back several steps by the close-range 'musket' attack.

Finger gun!

"Storm Leg!"

However, several more naval officers rushed over and thwarted Ace's attack.

Marshall D. Teach was able to regain his composure, picked up a pirate scimitar, and charged at Ace, who was parrying left and right.

Because Marshall D. Teach has always longed for a Logia-type Devil Fruit, he has yet to acquire its power. After killing Thatch, although he managed to steal the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was immediately forced to dive into the sea by Ace and subsequently had his "treasure" taken away by the Marines. Therefore, in terms of individual strength, he is still somewhat inferior to Ace, who possesses both Haki and a Devil Fruit ability.

Moreover, the reason he was willing to bow down to Admiral Sakazuki was to obtain the 'reward' he so desperately wanted. Therefore, during the battle, Marshall D. Teach's behavior was somewhat fearful of death, and he did not show the 'daring and courageous' attitude he had when he was with the Whitebeard Pirates.

Although Ace, who was surrounded, found it somewhat troublesome, he still attacked from both sides and fought Marshall D. Teach and a group of naval officers.

However, his subordinates were not so lucky.

Skal and Ganryu, who had followed Ace since the time of the Spade Pirates, were captured one after another. Vores, a scorpionfish fishman, was forced to jump into the sea, while Mascud Deus awkwardly held off the Navy's attack.

As for Marco and Vista, whose flight path was blocked by artillery fire, they had no choice but to avoid Kizaru's advance.

After all, directly engaging in battle with a naval admiral would undoubtedly be sending one's subordinates to their deaths!

However, this meant that Ace, who was already surrounded and attacked by boarding ships, would have no one to rescue him.

Moreover, Sakazuki's fleet was merely maintaining artillery barrage to block the attack; it hadn't even joined the fray yet!

"Take your men and evacuate the Den Den Mushi signal-blocking area, then contact Dad directly!"

With no other option, Marco had to send someone with his Den Den Mushi to evacuate first.

……

"Your Mightiness……"

On the naval flagship, a naval officer on observation noticed the unusual movement of the Whitebeard Pirates' reinforcement fleet and said to Sakazuki, who was watching Marshall fight Ace with great interest through his binoculars, "One of Marco's pirate ships has voluntarily withdrawn; it's probably leaving the signal jamming zone..."

"Finally realized it..."

Sakazuki immediately turned his binoculars and looked over. "As expected, they're stupid and wicked pirates. They've been dawdling for so long before they remembered to call Whitebeard!"

"Then...should we send a signal to Admiral Kizaru using flag signals?"

The naval officer asked, "Otherwise, I don't think these pirates will be able to hold out until Whitebeard arrives..."

"Forget it, let's just stop the signal interference from the horned Den Den Mushi."

Sakazuki put away his binoculars and said slowly, "Besides, I need to stretch my muscles too!"

"...Yes, sir!"

Although Sakazuki's actions at this moment differed somewhat from the overall plan initially laid out by Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the naval officers dared not say much, lest they become the punching bag.

Moreover, it is indeed somewhat unexpected that Sakazuki, who has always been known for his violence, has been able to follow the plan for so long.

……

"Bru bru~"

Marco's men had barely boarded the speedboat when his Den Den Mushi (snail phone) rang.

"Mishimishi!"

He immediately connected to the Den Den Mushi.

"What are you doing?! Why can't I get through to the Den Den Mushi?!"

The white-bearded man's rough voice came through the Den Den Mushi.

"...Let me explain!"

Marco's men immediately reported the current situation to Whitebeard.

This scene was also witnessed by naval officers using high-definition binoculars.

As for Sakazuki, he was already aboard his flagship, about to join the battle to capture Ace.

"Absolutely certain!"

The naval officer pulled out his Den Den Mushi with satisfaction, intending to report to Fleet Admiral Sengoku about the show that was about to come to a perfect end.

Next, we just wait for Whitebeard to arrive, and then Marshall D. Teach will personally hang Ace on the Navy's mast!

……

As he saw another naval warship slowly approaching and about to board, Ace knew he could no longer escape.

The person standing at the bow of the naval warship was none other than Admiral Sakazuki, the "Red Dog" of the Navy Headquarters!

But he just couldn't understand it. Although he was somewhat famous, there was no need for two admirals to come up and chase him down!

And even if the arrest was fine, why go to such lengths?

"Yan Shangzhang!"

After unleashing a barrier of flames to force Marshall and the others back, Ace stopped and stood still, looking at Sakazuki who had leaped onto the deck.

"Fire Fist Ace truly lives up to his reputation..."

Sakazuki watched the flame barrier in front of Ace gradually dissipate and nodded in appreciation, saying, "Actually, if you had accepted the government's invitation to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea back then, you wouldn't be in this situation now."

"Ha ha……"

Ace smiled inexplicably, inwardly finding it hilarious.

Before joining the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace's Spade Pirates were already a renowned crew in the New World. The World Government had even extended an offer to recruit him as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but Ace refused.

Moreover, in Ace's view, the World Government's invitation was inherently ill-intentioned.

Putting aside the fact that the Seven Warlords of the Sea are widely regarded by pirates as 'lackeys of the Navy', Ace's identity is also very special - he is the posthumous son of the former 'Pirate King' Gol D. Roger, who was executed by the Navy!

Although Ace didn't like his biological father whom he had never met, his identity and bloodline were undeniable facts, and sometimes he couldn't help but consider them. The World Government's invitation was naturally seen as a 'sweet poison bait' in his eyes.

"Sakazuki Akainu, who possesses the Magma-Magma Fruit ability..."

Ace glanced at the miserable state of his men on his ship and decided to put aside all his concerns and go all out.

"I wonder, compared to my Flame-Flame Fruit, how does your ability compare?"

Flames surged and rolled around Ace's limbs, the extreme heat even causing the air to seem to distort, while the deck beneath him was only slightly charred and not burned or destroyed, demonstrating the high level of control Ace had over his abilities.

"That's indeed a pretty good ability..."

Sakazuki nodded approvingly: "No wonder that piece of trash Blackie couldn't handle you!"

"...Blackie?"

The aggressive Ace was somewhat confused.

"It's down!"

Marshall D. Teach, unashamed, immediately spoke out loudly.

"You're not..."

Estun was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha! So that's how it is! It really was you who became the Navy's dog!"

"I……"

Marshall D. Teach blushed, muttering incomprehensible phrases like "abandon darkness for light," "pirates who have been redeemed are now marines," and "being a pirate has no future." Even the officers and soldiers who were already marines couldn't help but cover their mouths to avoid laughing out loud.

The air was instantly filled with a joyful and cheerful atmosphere.

"Your ability to discover and apply itself is quite good, it's just a pity that you met me..."

Sakazuki slowly raised his hand, pointing at the half-elemental Ace, and said leisurely, "Do you know? The Flame-Flame Fruit is actually just a lower-grade Magma-Magma Fruit, which means that no matter how much you tap into the fruit's potential, it's all insignificant in front of me..."

"As expected of a Marine Admiral, his tone is far more arrogant than that of an ordinary person!"

Ace chuckled, his fighting spirit growing even stronger.

"Hmm... it should be about time. After all, we're not far from Whitebeard's port, so you should go where you're supposed to be..."

Sakazuki's smile grew even wider, but the murderous intent in his eyes could no longer be suppressed.

"fire punch!"

Ace launched the first attack, extending his arm to form a fiery fist and striking Sakazuki!

"Netherhound!"

Sakazuki immediately retaliated with a near-technique, extending his lava-like arm and blasting it towards Ace's fiery fist!

"Boom boom boom!"

With the passionate collision of the two fire-type Devil Fruit abilities, countless streams of flame and magma splashed out in all directions.

After the two men began to fight, the naval officers immediately leaped to the warships behind them to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Marshall D. Teach was also carried away.

During their exchange of blows, Ace was clearly at a disadvantage and was sent flying by Sakazuki's Lava Fist.

But that's not all—

Sakazuki never intended to mentor his juniors, and in his sense of justice, he always viewed pirates as maggots to be killed. So, once he gained power, he immediately launched an even more ferocious attack: "Great Fire Breath!"