Ace panted, a little confused: "No, something's wrong here, my stamina shouldn't be depleting this fast."
Blackbeard, now calm, looked at the wary Ace and said:
"Although you cut off one of my arms, if you surrender now and join us, you can still be the Vice-Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. What do you say?"
Ace gritted his teeth and said, "Shut up! Even pirates have loyalty!"
Blackbeard shook his head and said, "That's a pity then, Van Auger, what are you waiting for?"
A bullet imbued with Armament Haki shot from Van Auger's gun. For Blackbeard, since fighting alone posed a certain danger, he wouldn't stubbornly push through.
Ace elementalized to dodge the shot, his lower body erupting in flames, intending to take out the sniper first.
Van Auger's figure flickered, and he left the spot where he had just fired, hiding behind Burgess.
Ace's arms transformed into flaming 'Fire Fists', striking towards Burgess.
Burgess said, "Hey, hey, don't bring the fight over to me! I don't want to take his attacks head-on."
The flaming arms were diverted by the suction of 'Dark Water' in mid-air, failing to hit Burgess.
Seeing Ace's wide-open guard, Burgess charged his fist, ready to help Captain Blackbeard defeat Ace.
Burgess's fist rushed towards Ace. Just as it was about to hit the unsuspecting Ace, Ace moved.
Flames erupted from Ace's entire body, turning the battlefield into a sea of fire, 'Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor'. As Burgess charged, Ace created a massive vortex of flames.
With Ace's full power, Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit couldn't instantly absorb all the flames, and Burgess's fate was unknown after being engulfed by the flame vortex.
Ace, who had unleashed too many flames at once, panted heavily, as a suction force came from behind him.
Blackbeard looked at the exhausted Ace, a look of certainty on his face: "Hahaha, you coming after me alone, that's your biggest mistake. No matter how strong someone is, their stamina will run out."
Ace looked at the vortex formed by the Dark-Dark Fruit in his hand, and Blackbeard, who intended to knock him out. He didn't panic, but instead took out a silver-white bullet.
Ace pressed the bullet against himself, and a silver-white light covered his entire body. The life force brought by 'Aquarius Bullet' gradually healed Ace, restoring his vitality.
Ace then picked up his beloved sword, 'Ace', and the red-black light gathered once more. Ace roared, "Teach, arrogance and recklessness are your weaknesses, 'Gods Punishment'!"
Van Auger's Observation Haki sensed something amiss. Although he didn't know where Ace got the strength, if he didn't do something now, Blackbeard might die from this strike.
Van Auger immediately grabbed Burgess, whose fate was unknown, and with a flash of light, Burgess's massive body appeared between Ace and Blackbeard.
'Gods Punishment' tore Burgess in half, but after Burgess's obstruction, Ace's attack still failed to kill Blackbeard, instead leaving a huge wound on his body.
After unleashing that attack, Ace knelt on one knee, panting and collapsing to the ground: "This shouldn't be happening, why is my stamina disappearing so quickly?"
Suddenly, Ace seemed to discover something and looked at Doc Q, who hadn't moved. Some tiny dust particles were released from his hand, blending into the environment.
"It was you."
Doc Q slowly walked out and said, "That's right, I'm a Paramecia-type Sickness-Sickness Fruit user. From the very beginning, I've been releasing viruses upwind."
He placed his hands on Blackbeard and Van Auger, absorbing the toxins from their bodies.
"Ace, you are indeed strong, but you chose to come after me alone, without your comrades. This is your fatal weakness. In this regard, you were also arrogant."
Ace gradually lost consciousness. Before falling unconscious, he remembered Hera's earlier dissuasion and her earliest prophecy: "Old Man, please don't let anything happen to you."
Hera, who was fishing on the argo, noticed a slight anomaly. As the power of the Mad Emperor deepened, she gained a certain connection with the starry sky, acquiring some special insights.
Hera looked up at the starry sky, a strange sense of loss in her heart. She then looked down at Ace's life card, which had weakened, as if she understood something.
"So Blackbeard still caught him, huh? Well, that's fine. Whitebeard deserves a grand battlefield to be his burial ground," Hera murmured to herself.
Hera wasn't overly insistent on preventing Ace from being captured by Blackbeard. She also had her own goals, and to achieve them, a great war was inevitable.
"The curtain call of the old era should end with a great war, and then the new era will begin."
"However, who can enter the new era as a pirate, that's for me to decide."
Hera stood on the argo, her aura gradually changing. Her already powerful Conqueror's Haki became even more refined.
Kuina felt the change in Hera's aura, which made her seem more mature than a child. She curiously asked Hera:
"What happened? I felt a change in your Conqueror's Haki."
Hera retracted her Haki into her body and said seriously, "The legends of the sea are about to get angry. After this Sabaody Archipelago incident, Marineford might suffer an attack from a Four Emperors crew."
Kuina also became serious upon hearing this: "How could that be? How could any pirate be foolish enough to attack Marineford?"
Hera said with some emotion, "In the end, two of the three legendary pirates attacked Marineford. They truly are the powerhouses of the older generation."
The Blackbeard Pirates' ship drifted to Marineford. Under the gaze of Sengoku and Garp, Blackbeard Teach held up Ace, who was bound by Sea Stone.
At this time, he was missing an arm, and a huge scar ran across his chest, extending all the way to his stomach. Just by looking at this scar, one could tell the intensity of the battle.
Blackbeard's crewmates raised their hands. Garp looked at the severely injured Ace, his emotions very complex.
Blackbeard smiled and said, "We mean no harm. We are here to hand over this person, the son of Pirate King Roger, Ace, to the Marines."
Then, Blackbeard raised his beloved sword: "This is proof of the Pirate King's son. This is Roger's beloved sword, 'Ace'."
"I wonder if he can earn me a Shichibukai position in the Marines."
Garp's hands trembled. At this moment, he wished he could kill Blackbeard directly, but he couldn't act; too many Marines were watching Blackbeard.
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