Shinra Tensei! The repulsive force instantly cleared all the sand and dust in the surrounding area.
However, the three people were nowhere to be seen.
Just then, Rosen felt his legs being pulled, and he sank into the ground, with only his head remaining outside.
Amazing! As expected of Crocodile, he actually used his Heart Severing Technique on me.
Immediately after, Rosen felt his body, which had been pulled into the ground, being attacked.
At the same time, Daz and Pola both burst out of the ground, attacking Rosen from both sides.
But as soon as they rushed in front of Rosen, their feet sank, and they too were pulled into the ground.
Rosen then emerged from the ground, holding a coma Crocodile in his hand.
Rosen shook Crocodile, who slowly regained consciousness, his mind still a bit fuzzy: "What is this...? Why did I suddenly faint when I attacked you just now?"
"When I released Shinra Tensei, I guessed you would hide underground, and after hiding underground, you would most likely use your Heart Severing Technique on me, and then attack me from underground, so I had already hidden two Ground Tremor Thunderbolts underground beforehand."
Crocodile was speechless. He had originally thought that his strength had visibly improved over the past month, and even if he wasn't Rosen's opponent, he could at least make Rosen suffer a big loss.
After all, Rosen had indeed taught him many things this past month, and Armament Haki and Observation Haki were also awakened with Rosen's help.
There were also three Ninjutsu: Earth Release, Wind Release, and Lightning Release, as well as the method for Cultivating Chakra.
"Alright, I've pretty much understood your strength, and it's already reached my estimation, so that's enough." Rosen waved his hand.
"What do you need me to do?" Crocodile asked.
He didn't believe there was such a thing as unprovoked love in this World.
"Nothing." Rosen shook his head: "Just don't embarrass me."
Crocodile looked at Rosen's departing figure, feeling inexplicably moved.
But this feeling of emotion vanished completely when he recalled the Hellish life of the past month.
"Boss." Just then, Nico Robin came before Crocodile.
"You've worked hard this month."
"According to the intelligence we left in Nanohana, Princess Vivi has returned."
"Then send someone to invite our Princess over."
...
Nanohana —
Luffy jumped up excitedly as soon as he got ashore: "Haha... Is this Vivi's hometown?"
The houses in Nanohana were all built with Kitsuchi stones, completely different from the architectural styles of other places, and Luffy found the architecture here very novel.
Luffy began to run wildly through the streets and alleys, and everyone else dispersed to purchase supplies.
Nanohana was still some distance from the Alabasta capital, so they were only replenishing supplies here, and also planned to continue sailing around the coastline, heading to the Alabasta capital from another direction.
At the same time, in a restaurant in Nanohana, a young man wearing a red cowboy hat, shirtless, with a string of prayer beads around his neck, and freckles on his face, was at the counter, holding Luffy's bounty poster.
"Um, have you seen this person?" Ace asked.
"This is a pirate, right? This is a restaurant, did you ask the wrong person?"
"Alright, then give me ten plates of fried rice."
After Ace finished ten plates of fried rice, he ordered ten more.
These twenty plates of fried rice only slightly filled his stomach.
"Hey..." Just then, Ace heard a heavy voice from behind: "Why is Whitebeard's second division Captain here?"
The person who arrived was Marine Captain Smoker, who had pursued Luffy all the way here.
He hadn't expected to encounter a member of the legendary Four Emperors Pirate Crew here.
"None of your business." Ace didn't even turn his head, still devouring the plates.
Smoker's hand was already gripping the hilt of his Jitte behind his back, ready to attack Ace.
"This is a bustling downtown area, are you planning to fight me here?" Ace's words directly dispelled Smoker's intention to act.
Indeed, if they were to fight here, it would cause extremely severe consequences.
Suddenly, a figure rushed into the restaurant without warning, directly colliding with Smoker's back. Smoker was sent flying by this immense force, then slammed into Ace, and the two of them crashed through the wall.
Luffy didn't even realize he had hit anyone, but instead sat directly at a table in the restaurant.
"Serve the food, serve the food, serve the food! I want to eat delicious food, hurry up and serve it!"
Smoker and Ace were both dizzy. Ace got up and walked through the hole in the wall.
Seeing Luffy sitting at the dining table, he was about to speak, but Smoker pressed the back of his head, pushing him to the ground.
"Straw Hat, I found you!"
Smoker rushed to Luffy's front. Luffy stared at Smoker, thinking for a long time.
"You are... that Smoker?"
"You are now being..."
Luffy suddenly got up and ran outside, with Smoker close behind.
Smoker pursued him relentlessly.
"Hey, everyone... hurry up and go, Smoker is chasing us." Luffy kept encountering his companions along the way.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately followed Luffy and fled.
Smoker relentlessly pursued them, about to catch the Straw Hat.
Suddenly, Ace's voice came: "Heat Haze!"
A flash of fire from the side blasted Smoker's hands apart.
Luffy and the others all stopped, looking at this scene in astonishment.
"He... who is he?" Usopp looked at Ace, who had stopped Smoker.
"Ace? Why are you here?" Luffy also looked at Ace in surprise.
"Luffy, you really haven't changed at all." Ace adjusted his cowboy hat, glancing at Luffy from the corner of his eye.
"Ace, did you eat a Devil Fruit?"
"Mm, a Logia-type, the Flare-Flare Fruit."
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, Logia-type!
"You guys go first, I'll block the Marine."
"Oh, okay, thank you for your trouble." Luffy pulled everyone and ran.
"Luffy, is it really okay?" Nami asked.
"It's fine, Ace is very strong." Luffy waved his hand and said.
After everyone returned to the Going Merry, they immediately set sail and left the port.
"Do you know him?"
"Mm, he's my brother."
"Brother!?" Everyone exclaimed in unison.
At the same time, above Nanohana, flames and smoke intertwined, and the two sides fought to a standstill.
Smoke and flames, it was almost an unsolvable battle; neither could do anything to the other.
On the sea, the Going Merry had already sailed out, but several pirate ships appeared in front of them. They were all pirates under Baroque Works.
"Oh no... it's pirate crews, coming for us." Nami's expression was grim.
"Mondai nai." Just then, a voice came from Nami's side.
Nami heard the voice, turned her head in surprise, and pounced forward.
"Old man, this is great, it's so good that you're okay."
Sanji pouted, his face full of envy and Envy.
Meanwhile, Vivi and Chopper on the ship looked at Rosen curiously.
They didn't know Rosen, but judging by everyone's reactions, they obviously knew he wasn't an enemy.
"Nami-chan, who is he?" Chopper tugged at Nami's sleeve, looking up at Rosen curiously.
"This is our Vice Captain." Nami said with a bright smile.
Rosen squatted down, looking at Chopper: "You're a tanuki, right?"
"Hey, that's rude! I'm not a tanuki!"
"Ahaha... just kidding with you. Of course I know you're not a tanuki. You're our emergency food supply, right?"
Chopper immediately squatted in the corner, drawing circles, feeling depressed.
"Old man, we're surrounded by pirates, what do we do now?" Nami asked.
"Someone will solve the problem for us soon."
Just then, a figure appeared on the sea from the other side.
The person who arrived was Ace, who was riding a flaming jet ski.
Ace arrived in front of the first pirate ship, and his right fist turned into flames.
Shiranui! The next moment, the flames turned into raging inferno, crashing through and piercing four pirate ships.
The Straw Hat Crew were all surprised, looking at Ace on the sea, then at Luffy.
"So strong."
"Luffy's brother is surprisingly reliable."
Compared to Luffy's unreliability, Ace was clearly both strong and very dependable.
Ace returned to the Going Merry and immediately noticed Rosen sitting on the ship's railing.
"Is that old man also one of your crew members?"
Rosen turned his head to look at Ace, and Ace's expression couldn't help but change: "White-Haired Ghost!?"
"Haha... Ace, he's our Vice Captain. How about that? Our Vice Captain has a bounty of three hundred million Berries."
"Only three hundred million Berries? I have five hundred and fifty million Berries."
"Young man, the amount of a bounty doesn't necessarily represent strength."
"If you're not convinced, we can have a match."
"Oh, wow... The old man is going to fight Ace! I'm betting on the old man winning!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
"I'm betting on the old man winning too."
"Me too..."
Everyone except Vivi and Chopper bet on Rosen winning.
"Do you see? This is the will of the people." Rosen said with a chuckle, looking at Ace.
Ace was quite unconvinced: "Luffy, do you doubt my strength?"
"No, it's just that the old man has a super powerful move, even you can't defeat it."
"Alright, alright... Then I'll show you how I defeat your Vice Captain."
Rosen's eyes immediately transformed into the Mangekyo pattern.
"Here it comes, here it comes! The old man's eyes are about to activate!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
Ace watched Rosen's eyes warily. These eyes gave him a very ominous feeling, as if some great terror was hidden within them.
Mangekyo Tsukuyomi Space.
The next moment, Ace stood still, his gaze blank.
One second later, Ace painfully curled up on the ground.
"Haha... as expected, even Ace can't resist the old man's power."
Everyone was accustomed to this.
More than ten minutes later, Ace finally recovered.
"What kind of ability is that?"
"I'm an Eye-Eye Devil Fruit user. My eyes possess many, many abilities."
"Eye-Eye Fruit? There's such a strange ability?"
"Actually, you just need to avoid my eyes to avoid my genjutsu. Want to try again?"
Ace narrowed his eyes, looking at Rosen. The other party voluntarily revealed a weakness, did he have other trump cards?
Well, this was a good opportunity to test this guy again.
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