"Sage!"
Just as Sage looked up, a figure like lightning shot quickly to his side.
Lily gripped the sword hilt at her waist, her face solemn, "I saw the Navy on the way and heard noises. Is there a battle breaking out here?"
She was buying perfume at the perfume shop when she heard the boom, and then saw completely abnormal thick fog ahead.
And the rain had stopped.
She immediately handed the items to her subordinates and came over by herself.
Only when she arrived, she saw Smoker, panting stubbornly in the pit, and was stunned for a moment before turning her head to look at the man watching the spectacle above.
"And who might you be?" Lily's gaze turned cold.
"An impolite fellow."
Sage walked to the pit, kicked Smoker into a supine position, took a cigar from the chest of his shirt, and instinctively said, "Pearl, give me that..."
Saying that, he was taken aback. That kid seemed to have gone with Gin to bring the wounded to see a doctor. Now there was only Mute and the recently arrived Lily by his side.
"No fire?"
Sage clicked his tongue, ready to look for a lighting device on Smoker, but at that moment, a red light flashed in his eyes, instinctively glancing upwards at the man.
Kuma!
A flame rose from the cigar tip, lighting it.
"Sorry, got a bit curious and was entranced."
The man in the orange cowboy hat extended a finger, smiled at Sage, then jumped down from the rooftop, landing on the ground, adjusting the brim of his cowboy hat, laughing:
"Norton Sage, I've seen your wanted order. The newspaper said you destroyed four kingdoms. Looking at you now, indeed you're strong. And you must be Bienta Lily, even prettier in person."
While focusing on Luffy, he noticed these two contemporaries...
Especially Sage, his recent bounty soared to 270 million; whether from the perspective of money or Haki, it doesn't seem like someone new to the Grand Line.
Lily's eyes went cold, "A bounty hunter?"
"No, I am Ace, also a pirate," he laughed. "We're in the same profession."
Sage was puzzled for a moment, narrowing his eyes, "Ace?"
Suddenly appearing flames, and called Ace...
Sage took a puff from the cigar, slowly exhaling the smoke, "Oh... it's you, Captain of Whitebeard's Second Division."
Then he lost interest and turned away.
Having lived over twenty years, he had forgotten most of the original plot. Whatever Luffy or Ace, seeing them only reminded him, they were like strangers.
Protagonists?
What does that have to do with him?
Not like they're his family.
Especially this guy, watching the fight like an audience, making Sage feel like a monkey.
If not for the apology and lighting the cigar, he wouldn't be so amiable.
Seeing Sage walk away, Ace shrugged, glanced at Smoker in the pit, and smiled, "Seems today's luck isn't on your side, can't stop me."
Though curious about Norton Sage, recognizing him, and thinking of recruiting him to his father's ship, after observing, he relinquished the idea.
This isn't someone who'd dwell under anyone.
Ace turned around, facing away from Sage and Lily, ready to pursue Luffy.
"Whitebeard?" Lily, following Sage, questioned.
Whitebeard's reputation is universally known; unless someone is entirely unaware, they'd be informed.
His name resounded across the Four Seas, depicted as a monster and evil reincarnate in children's songs, frequently used by adults to frighten kids, with tales like "If you misbehave, Whitebeard will come to capture you."
A living legend.
Yet some, like Lily, who had never left the Royal Palace or accessed external news, remain uninformed.
"One of the Four Sea Emperors, also my long-term target, a monster of the sea, but..."
Sage mused, "Now just a dying old man, soon to be replaced."
Kuma!
A flame shot between Sage and Lily's heads, bursting into a spray of sparks.
Sage halted, turned to look at the man with a lowered head, hat brim covering his eyes, arm engulfed in flames, and said gravely:
"Not satisfied with watching, ready to step in personally, Portgas D. Ace..."
Ace tugged at the brim of his orange cowboy hat, grinned, "I can't pretend I didn't hear that... Whitebeard is the greatest man in the world, not some old geezer. Shouldn't you apologize?"
Sage turned to face Ace, biting his cigar, tilting his head back, and exhaling a puff of smoke, "Wasn't that the truth I said?"
Everyone's a pirate, venturing seas knife in hand, pursuing dreams and ambitions, who cares about high or noble statuses.
Whitebeard might seem formidable to him, but irrelevant, possibly even a future opponent.
After all, the territories occupied by the Four Emperors are the vastest...
"I can't stand anyone defaming my father, especially by someone like you who seems to have heard of my father's age, ready to target his head among those seeking..."
Ace's grin grew fierce, "No need to wait for the New World for my father to teach you, as Captain of Whitebeard's Second Division, I'll show you the world's breadth, and teach you manners now."
The flames on his arm burned brighter, Ace stared at Sage, "You dealt with the smoke earlier, now taste my fire!"
Smoke and fire, as Logia-types, cannot decide victory, but to others, their power is entirely different.
Flames can scorch everything.
Not afraid of Haki, compared to Haki, Logia's power is greater and more convenient.
"Such an impulsive fellow..."
Sage clenched his fist, a feral smile gradually appearing, "Just right, I was wondering if the smoke's strength isn't enough, I'll test it on you!"
"Scorch!"
The fire-transformed arm thrust forward, launching a swift column of fire, erupting and spreading near Sage, igniting a wall of flames on the ground.
Such flames cannot form a wall unless...
Blocked.
Behind the flames, a bit away from those people, a gust blew from the side, stirring Lily's hair and slightly astonished gaze.
Also blowing was the burning flames, and the fur cloak of the man behind.
Sage bit his cigar, looking down at the flames igniting on the ground, his eyes gradually raising, gazing toward Ace in the flames, and slowly said, "Impressive power."
Pure flames, without a physical base, but surpassing smoke in potency.
Haki cannot catch these things, but can attack and disperse the flames.
Who prevails depends on whether the flame's power exceeds Haki's strength.
Logia doesn't require Armament Haki; Haki can't envelop elements, but its power... is fully sufficient.
"Worth a try."
Sage spread open his right hand's fingers, leaned his head to the left, "Let's greet first!"
Whoa!
The leaned hand swung fiercely forward, abruptly extinguishing the flames, seemingly struck by intense air pressure.
Boom!!
The ground beneath Ace emitted a massive sound, as if plowed by some hard and colossal force, revealing a deep, rectangular trench.
And above the trench, the flames spread and quickly congregated, leapt toward the rooftops, revealing Ace's flaming body.
He gazed at Sage's hand, his expression turning serious.
Was that an external force?
Shouldn't it be impact?
Why destroy the ground like this?
And that amount of Haki...
Just a casual hand swing yielded such strong Haki, how much Haki does he have?
For someone newly arrived on the Grand Line, isn't this overly excessive?