Chapter 52: Wild Brawling Is the Real Fight
♂It seemed that mentioning Luffy, that single-celled idiot, had lifted Ace’s spirits a bit.
He turned his head, looking at the bustling crowds of tourists around them, watching as they gathered in small groups, using the execution platform as a backdrop for their photos. With a sarcastic tone, he said, “Look at that. If the Pirate King knew that the place where he was executed would become a tourist attraction years later, used by small-time merchants to make money, I wonder what he’d think?”
“Maybe he’d charge them protection fees,” Ian shrugged in reply, which made Ace burst into laughter.
Ian himself felt that his answer had a touch of dry humor, so he couldn’t help but laugh along.
Under the bewildered stares of the tourists, who looked at them as if they were fools, Ian and Ace laughed heartily right beneath the execution platform.
After a good while, Ian finally stopped laughing, coughed, and said, “Alright, we’ve seen it, we’ve laughed. No regrets now, right? Time to get down to business. Come quietly and meet Garp with me.”
“No,” Ace shook his head firmly. “I swore I’d live freely and without regrets in this life. I want to be a pirate, not a Marine. So I can’t go with you.”
With that, Ace clenched his fists, his right hand still dangling the Seastone Handcuffs, and assumed a fighting stance facing Ian. The message was clear: if you want to take me away, you’ll have to knock me down first.
Ian couldn’t help but shake his head. It seemed Sabo’s experience had left a deep mark on Ace. Even now, knowing that Sabo was alive, it hadn’t changed his mind. Despite hating his father, he was still willing to walk the same path.
“Looks like we’ll have to settle this with real steel,” Ian said, drawing the longsword from his back.
Ace had his convictions, and Ian had his. Since their convictions were now in conflict, the only way was for the weaker to yield to the stronger.
The atmosphere between them grew tense. Many tourists in the square began to notice the two men locked in a standoff. Seeing Ian’s sharp gaze and drawn weapon, some timid women let out screams.
They knew this was likely the start of another private brawl between pirates.
Sure enough, the next second, Ian and Ace both moved, exploding forward with immense force, charging at each other.
Ian swung his sword in a diagonal slash aimed at Ace. At this point, he didn’t care if he hurt Ace; he used the blade directly. Though Ace had no weapon, Ian, thanks to the passive effect of the Evil Eye Master, could see a faint yellow glow in Ace’s aura. This meant that in terms of pure Doriki value, Ace was on par with him. Facing such an opponent, using the flat of the blade out of mercy would be disrespectful to both of them.
Seeing Ian’s blade coming, Ace didn’t retreat. Instead, he swung his left arm in a punch, striking the broad side of Ian’s sword with force.
A tremendous impact traveled through the blade, and Ian’s slash veered off course, grazing past Ace. Seizing the moment, Ace’s right fist shot toward Ian’s face.
When his sword was knocked aside, Ian realized Ace’s punches were more powerful than he’d anticipated. Not wanting to take the hit, he activated Flash Slash at the last possible moment.
In an instant, he shifted to Ace’s right, swinging his sword upward in a rising slash. But something strange happened. Even with his incredible speed, Ace seemed to anticipate the move. He suddenly rolled sideways while kicking backward, striking Ian’s wrist.
Ian felt a faint energy fluctuation similar to Nen from Ace and immediately understood: this was Haki!
Ace had already grasped some basic Haki usage! And it was Observation Haki!
With the kick to his wrist, Ian’s Flash Slash was interrupted. A dull ache in his wrist reminded him that Ace’s physical combat skills were formidable.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Garp was a master of physical combat. As Ace and Luffy’s grandfather, he would have trained them in that area.
Losing the first exchange stoked Ian’s competitive spirit. He pushed his speed to the limit, vanishing from his spot. Even if Ace’s Observation Haki could sense his attacks, Ian wanted to see if he could react at this speed.
“Not good!” Ace’s heart skipped a beat when Ian disappeared. Though he could sense Ian’s movement, he realized Ian was unleashing seven slashes in an instant—his hand speed was even faster than his foot speed.
Ace knew he couldn’t dodge. He tensed every muscle in his body, bracing himself to take Ian’s sevenfold slash.
Shing, shing, shing! Ian’s blade cut into Ace’s body, but it met strong resistance. Six shallow wounds appeared on Ace’s body, but they weren’t deep. As Ian finished his attack, Ace ignored his injuries, grabbed Ian, and slammed him to the ground, driving an elbow into Ian’s face.
Ian’s nose started bleeding. He struggled to get up, but Ace pinned him down and punched him again.
Ian got angry. He realized Ace was using a method like a bratty kid’s brawl, but it was oddly effective. Pinned like this, his swordsmanship was useless.
So Ian tossed his longsword aside and punched Ace in the face, this time using the Evil King Flame Slayer Fist, his hand wreathed in blazing flames.
Ace was startled by the fiery punch. He quickly leaned back to dodge, letting Ian’s fist graze under his chin, nearly setting him on fire.
Seizing the chance, Ian twisted his body, flipping Ace over and pinning him down.
“You’re cheating!” Ace shouted while pinned, trying to kick Ian’s back with his knee.
“Bullshit! I can beat you without flames!” Ian punched Ace in the face, getting revenge for earlier, but this time without the flame fist.
Taking the hit, Ace retaliated, punching Ian in the side. As Ian winced in pain, Ace flipped him over again.
And so it went, each flipping the other, rolling on the ground in a scuffle. Between blows, they yelled, “You’re cheating!” “Bullshit!”
The tourists watched from a safe distance, initially terrified but now finding it amusing.
What started as a serious duel had devolved into a wild brawl of flailing fists.
After who knows how many rolls, both were bruised and bloodied, but neither would admit defeat. Though the fighting style had changed, in their eyes, it was still a way to determine who was stronger. They didn’t want to kill each other, so this kind of fighting was acceptable.
But just then, during their tussle, they heard a faint click.
They both froze and looked down. The click came from the Seastone Handcuffs on Ace’s wrist. But they hadn’t come undone—instead, they had locked onto Ian’s left wrist!
It must have been from the intense struggle. The handcuffs, somehow jostled, had their open end snap onto Ian’s wrist and lock shut.
How… how did this happen!? They stared dumbfounded at their linked arms, momentarily unable to process it.
Now their hands were bound together. How could they keep fighting?
“How about… we pause? Let me unlock the cuffs, then we continue?” Ian asked Ace.
Ace nodded. “Fine, let’s do that.”
They got up, enduring the pain, and picked up their fallen hats, putting them back on.
“That hat of yours is stupid,” Ace couldn’t resist mocking.
Ian shot him a look. “Yours isn’t any better.”
Then Ian started searching his pants pocket for the key. When Garp gave him the handcuffs, he’d also given him the key, which Ian kept in his pocket. But as he fumbled, he realized the key was gone!
“Oh… oh no!” Ian panicked, patting his pocket again. It really wasn’t there.
“You’re kidding!” Ace panicked too. He didn’t want to be stuck with Ian like this. “The key’s missing? Did it fall out during the fight?”
“Probably,” Ian slapped his forehead. “We need to find it.”
In their haste, they tried to search separately, forgetting their hands were cuffed. When they pulled apart, they were yanked back.
“Let’s check this side first,” Ian said.
“No, this side first,” Ace disagreed. “We rolled over from this direction.”
After a brief argument, they decided to search together in one direction. Because of their fight, the area was mostly empty—people had moved away. If the key had fallen out, it should be easy to spot on the open ground.
But they didn’t realize that during their scuffle, they’d rolled quite far. The spot where they started was now occupied by tourists watching the show.
In the crowd, a small, pirate-looking man quietly stepped on a key on the ground. Feigning nonchalance, he bent down, picked it up, and after making sure no one noticed, slipped out of the crowd and disappeared in a flash.