"Yo, Luffy! Nice to see you again!"
A familiar voice suddenly called out from the harbor.
"Ace!" Luffy's face lit up with a massive grin as he spotted his brother jumping down from one of the Baroque Works ships.
They'd met before? Marcus was surprised by this development.
Soon enough, he learned what had happened earlier in the day.
Luffy and Ace had run into each other at a restaurant and spent hours catching up. But their reunion had been interrupted when some Baroque Works agents started causing trouble, harassing other customers and making threats.
Ace had decided to handle the troublemakers first, telling Luffy he'd come find him afterward.
Luffy had asked if he needed help.
Naturally, Ace had refused, he never wanted Luffy getting mixed up in his fights. So Luffy had just kept eating while Ace went off to deal with business.
And that had led to the current situation.
"So you're Luffy's brother," Marcus said, sizing up the famous Fire Fist.
"He must have caused you all kinds of headaches," Ace said with a smile, fully aware of Luffy's chaotic personality.
Luffy puffed out his chest proudly. "You bet I have!"
"That's not something to be proud of!" Usopp immediately protested. "What's wrong with you?!"
"Huh? It's not?" Luffy looked confused.
Everyone sighed.
"Haha, Luffy, you really are—"
BANG!
A gunshot cracked through the air.
The bullet went straight through Ace's head, passing clean through as if he were made of smoke.
The sight shocked everyone, except Luffy and Marcus, who both knew what they were dealing with.
"You're okay?" Nami stared in disbelief at Ace, who looked completely unfazed by having his head blown apart.
"Don't worry about it. I ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, a Logia-type Devil Fruit. Normal bullets can't hurt me." Ace waved dismissively, though he sighed in annoyance. "But can't a guy have a peaceful conversation with his brother?"
"Need us to lend a hand?" Zoro drew one of his swords, eyeing the Baroque Works agents who were gradually surrounding them.
"It's Fire Fist Ace! We found him! Requesting immediate backup! Bring the seastone bullets!"
One of the agents was shouting into a Den Den Mushi, calling for reinforcements.
Ace shook his head. "Looks like they've gathered quite a crowd. Guess it's time for me to go."
"What? You're leaving already?" Luffy's face fell, after all, he'd just been reunited with him.
At that moment, Ace tossed a small piece of paper into Luffy's hands.
"Use this when you want to see me. It'll guide you right to me."
"That's... just paper?"
"It's a Vivre Card. When you open it, you'll see it slowly move in my direction. We'll meet again when the time is right," Ace explained casually before turning to leave.
Just then, Marcus pulled out a full set of diamond gear.
"This might come in handy for you."
"What is it?" Ace asked curiously, examining the equipment.
"Diamond gear set, think of it as invisible protection." Without waiting for permission, Marcus pressed the armor pieces directly against Ace's body.
Ace was startled to suddenly feel the snug sensation of the diamond armor conforming to his form, becoming completely invisible.
"That's incredible. You're a Devil Fruit user too?"
"Yeah. This stuff will make your body as hard as diamond. But it has durability limits, when you stop feeling that strange sensation, it means the armor's broken and you'll need new gear. If you want to take it off, just grab at it like you're removing a helmet."
Ace experimented with the sensation, testing how the invisible armor felt.
"Not bad at all. When you guys reach the New World, I'll introduce you to someone I know. You might have a lot in common."
Marcus smiled and nodded, though internally he was hoping to see experience points pop out of Ace's body. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
It seemed the diamond armor couldn't change Ace's ultimate fate. The story would play out as it was meant to.
As for netherite armor? He still hadn't found the smithing template for that, so he couldn't forge it yet. But he did have netherite scraps stored away, each one valued at 4,390 EMC, ridiculously expensive even by his standards.
To craft a single netherite ingot required 19,288 EMC, roughly 20,000 EMC per ingot.
"Alright, enough chatting. Time to deal with some troublemakers." Ace grinned and leaped down from the ship.
The moment his feet hit the dock, flames erupted around his body. His entire form transformed into living fire, becoming a man-shaped inferno.
The Baroque Works bounty hunters who had been surrounding them screamed and tried to back away.
Unfortunately for them, none escaped their burning fate.
"Luffy, your brother's incredibly strong," Alvida couldn't help but marvel at the display of raw power.
At that moment, Ace launched a massive Fire Fist attack that completely obliterated all the Baroque Works ships docked along the shore. The vessels didn't just catch fire, they were reduced to ash and cinders in seconds.
Everyone at the port stood in silence, watching the destruction.
Mr. 11, who had just arrived with a gun loaded with seastone bullets, witnessed their entire fleet burning away to nothing on the water.
"Damn it all to hell!"
He was furious beyond words. They'd gathered over a thousand men after receiving intel that Fire Fist Ace was in the area, but now their ships were gone and countless elite agents were either dead or severely injured.
If the organization held him responsible for this disaster, losing his rank would be the least of his worries. Most likely, he'd have to personally compensate for all the losses.
In that case, dying might actually be preferable to living. If he survived, life would be worse than death itself.
The thought alone made his eyes bloodshot.
At that moment, one of his surviving subordinates pointed toward the Straw Hats' ship.
"Mr. 11! Fire Fist Ace was on that ship earlier, I heard him! He called that straw-hat kid his brother! They mentioned it back at the restaurant too!"
"Haha! Looks like luck is on their side! After them! Capture those pirates!"
Mr. 11 was suddenly overjoyed. After all, this was just a rookie pirate crew without even bounties on their heads. Now he had leverage against Ace.
If he could capture Ace's brother, then what did the earlier losses matter? He could ransom Luffy back to Ace, maybe even force the notorious pirate to work for Baroque Works.
He imagined himself climbing step by step to the very peak of the organization.
But reality slapped him hard across the face, dreams were one thing, but the real world was brutal and unforgiving.
His men who charged at the Straw Hat crew were sent flying backward one after another, crashing into buildings and stalls around the port.
"Open fire! Even if you kill them, just do it!"
Gunfire erupted in a storm of bullets, but not a single Straw Hat was hurt. Instead, many of the shooters were injured by ricochets bouncing off their targets' skin and armor.
"What a bunch of rude bastards," Alvida muttered, hefting her iron mace as she walked forward step by step toward the cowering agents.
"Don't come any closer!"
But the only answer was the crushing blow of her weapon, sending him and the bounty hunters behind him flying through the air.
"She's a Devil Fruit user! Mr. 11, use the seastone bullets!"
There was no need for reminders, Mr. 11 was already taking aim. His target, naturally, was Luffy.
After all, this was Ace's brother. The others didn't matter as much. As long as he captured the right person, it would be enough for his purposes.
BANG!
The gunshot rang out across the harbor.
A crisp metallic sound followed immediately after.
Luffy just scratched his belly in mild confusion. "Hm? Something bit me?"
He'd only felt a tiny sting, like a mosquito landing on his skin.
"Seriously... Ace says I'm unreliable, but he's still the same as always, getting into trouble." He pressed down the brim of his straw hat. His expression grew serious for once.
Then, his fists blurred into a storm of rapid punches.
The bounty hunters surrounding them were all knocked away.
"What should we do now? Wait... where's Mr. 11?" One of Mr. 11's men turned around, only to find their leader had completely vanished.
At that moment, Mr. 11 was squatting in a corner of the port, eyes blank and staring into nothing.
"Monsters... they're all monsters. I can't fight them... But the losses... No, I have to escape! Before the organization finds out what happened, I need to—"
"Before what?"
He froze at the unexpected voice.
"Before they figure out you screwed up this badly? Smart thinking, but a little too late."
The man turned his head stiffly and saw the man grinning down at him, recognizing him as one of the Straw Hat crew members who'd just demolished his entire operation.
"That's a nice gun you've got there. Want to hand it over?"