Turn old era upside down
"What are you talking about?"
Ace blinked. Confusion washed over his freckled face.
A moment later, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Lius had drawn his swords.
"You... you're a swordsman?"
Shock laced his voice.
A swordsman's true strength naturally lay in their Swordsmanship. Lius had fought bare-handed until now. Even with the element of a sneak attack, the sheer power he displayed had been enough to pressure Ace.
Now that he was armed with swords...
Lius flashed a wide grin. "I never said I wasn't a swordsman."
He moved without another word.
Gripping Yubashiri and the demonic blade Sandai Kitetsu, he brought both swords crashing down right between their feet.
Swoosh!
A blinding arc of sword light flashed through the air.
Even the marines hiding around the plaza could clearly see it. The brilliant gleam seemed to cleave through the darkness itself, slicing straight down the center of the towering platform.
The structure beneath Lius and Ace split in two. The massive halves of the execution platform groaned under their own weight before plummeting toward the plaza below.
"What the hell?"
Ace's face paled as the floor vanished from beneath him.
Crack!
He let out a startled yell, plummeting into the abyss alongside the crumbling wreckage. A deafening roar shook the earth.
Thick clouds of dust billowed into the sky, obscuring everything from sight. The impact was so massive that the tremors and noise echoed blocks away from the central plaza.
"It collapsed!"
"The very execution platform where the Pirate King Roger died!"
The marines hiding in the perimeter watched in absolute horror.
Screech!
Smoker skidded to a halt at the edge of the plaza on his heavy three-wheeled motorcycle. He stared at the ruined execution platform with a slack jaw. The color drained from his face, leaving him frozen in disbelief.
This was the site of Pirate King Roger's execution. To the marines, the towering structure had stood as a grim warning to criminals. Yet with the dawn of the Great Pirate Era, it had devolved into a sacred pilgrimage site for pirate scum looking to pay their respects.
"Did that swordsman do this?"
Smoker finally snapped out of his daze. He stepped off his bike and reached back, drawing his Seastone jitte. With his free hand, he signaled the surrounding perimeter.
It was the signal to attack.
Marines poured out from the shadows of the surrounding alleyways, raising their rifles in unison.
By now, the thick dust cloud had begun to settle. Two silhouettes slowly faded into view.
"Dammit! Why did you destroy the platform? If you're going to pull something like that, at least give me a heads-up!"
"It was to sever the influence of the old era!" Lius flashed a calm smile. "As for the warning, that was my oversight."
Step. Step.
The two men strolled out of the lingering dust and came to a halt.
They were completely surrounded. Countless marines stood ready, aiming a sea of rifle barrels directly at them.
"It's them!"
The marines stared at Ace and his companion Lius. Both the grunts and Smoker were caught completely off guard.
"The rookie from the East Blue! The one who got a first bounty of 73 million beli!"
A marine in the front row had recognized Lius and screamed in panic. Restless murmurs rippled through the surrounding ranks.
Smoker chewed on his cigars, his expression turning exceedingly grim.
He had anticipated that Lius might pass through Loguetown. He had never expected him to show up like this, let alone side by side with the other top rookie of the East Blue, Fire Fist Ace.
His heart sank.
It wasn't hard to piece together. The mysterious two-sword style swordsman from the reports was obviously Lius.
A swordsman with a 73 million beli bounty and a Logia type ability user made for a bizarre combination. Together, they posed a catastrophic threat to the local forces.
"Pirate Lius! Fire Fist Ace!"
But it didn't matter. They were in Loguetown now, and Smoker had no intention of standing idly by.
He raised his jitte, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "You two are the most notorious rookies in the East Blue. No, with your bounties, you're the most notorious rookies in all the four seas. So why does it look like you're working together?"
A heavy silence fell over the plaza. The marines stared in stunned disbelief.
Lius rested a hand on his sheathed sword hilt. He offered a carefree nod. "Yeah, Ace has already joined our crew!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Ace shouted indignantly. "You make it sound like you're the captain! Why can't it be you joining my crew?"
Lius simply smirked in silence, which only made Ace stomp his feet in frustration.
Listening to their bickering, it was painfully obvious that they were still fighting over leadership. They hadn't even decided who the captain was yet. Yet, despite arguing over something as important as the captaincy, they looked like two children squabbling over a toy.
However, their nonchalant attitude only made Smoker's dread deepen.
It was obvious. If a dispute over the captain's seat couldn't turn the two strongest rookies of the East Blue against each other, what could? Now that they had banded together, what force could possibly break their unity?
He couldn't even begin to imagine what had transpired between them over the past few days to forge such a bond.
"It doesn't look like you've been working together for long," Smoker said, his voice heavy. "But since you're here, I won't let you leave."
His gaze swept past Lius before locking onto Ace. "I swear on my justice, I will never let you enter the Grand Line!"
"Looks like there's no peaceful way out of this one," Lius said with a casual laugh.
"But you're not going to keep me here with just this!" Ace reached up and tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. A fiercely confident grin spread across his freckled face.
Searing heat radiated from his body as vibrant orange flames engulfed his skin.
"A Logia type Flame-Flame Fruit user. Fire Fist Ace." Smoker glared at him. "Do you think being a Logia type means you can do whatever you please?"
Even though Lius had a higher bounty, Smoker still viewed Ace as the far greater threat.
He threw his hand forward. "Open fire!"
The surrounding marines instantly pulled their triggers. A deafening volley of gunfire erupted across the plaza.
"Did you really think I'd let you shoot?"
Lius's calm voice cut through the chaos. He stared down Smoker and the marines. His pupils abruptly contracted.
Vooom!
A fully mastered Conqueror's Haki, dense enough to cause physical destruction, erupted outward in a frenzied shockwave. The invisible pressure blasted into the dim sky above, instantly shredding the dark clouds and allowing the golden light of the morning dawn to cascade down onto the plaza.