Chapter 91: Cut It Off!
Calling Ace up to try was like forcing a duck onto a perch—pure desperation, treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.
But Ace didn’t refuse. He reached up to adjust his hat, stepped forward, and stopped only when he was very close to the burning warehouse.
All around, people were frantically trying to put out the fire, so no one noticed him for the moment. Ace stretched out his right hand, pointing it from a distance at the blazing flames.
Ian stood behind him, watching Ace’s movements closely while also observing the fire’s behavior.
However, after a long pause, nothing happened. Ace lowered his hand and turned back to Ian, shaking his head.
This left Ian deeply disappointed. So it really wasn’t possible?
In Ian’s memory, it seemed that a Devil Fruit user needed to reach the stage of Awakening before they could control and absorb external natural elements of the same type. Watching this now, it was clearly too much to ask of Ace, who had only just eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit.
What now? Ace’s flames could only be released, not withdrawn. How could he help put out the fire?
Just as Ian was pondering this, Ace looked up at the burning warehouse. Something seemed to occur to him, and suddenly he leaped up, grabbing the outer wall of the warehouse and climbing upward along the blazing structure.
This sight naturally caught the attention of the people fighting the fire, and a chorus of gasps erupted.
“Get down! Do you have a death wish!?”
Some people shouted urgently at Ace.
But they didn’t know that Ace was now completely immune to fire. He climbed along the outer wall all the way to the third floor, then crouched by the only window there, peering inside the warehouse.
The raging flames surrounded him, but he was completely unharmed, leaving the people below staring in stunned disbelief.
After observing for a moment, Ace suddenly turned his head, looked down at Ian’s direction, and flashed a smile. At the same time, he shouted, “Ian! It’s empty inside, no one’s there! Cut it off!”
Ian was taken aback. At first, he didn’t understand what Ace meant by “cut it off,” but then he saw Ace, still perched on the windowsill, raise his hand and make a slanted gesture.
Ian then looked again at the location of the fire on the warehouse and suddenly understood.
Viewed from the front, the warehouse building was a rectangle. The fire was concentrated roughly in the upper right section. Since Ace had confirmed from the window that the inside was hollow, the solution was simple: if the flames couldn’t be extinguished quickly, why not just cut off the burning part?
That was a clever idea. Who would have thought Ace was this smart?
Ian nodded at Ace to show he understood, and Ace jumped down from the building.
The people fighting the fire stared dumbly at Ace, only to find that he was completely fine.
Meanwhile, Ian drew the Enma sword, held his breath, and began to gauge the angle for his strike.
Earlier, Ian hadn’t considered using his skills to solve the warehouse fire. After all, his current abilities included the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword, which also used fire, and Yasuo’s Wind Style swordsmanship wasn’t suitable either. Using a tornado to blow out the fire seemed unlikely—the saying “wind fuels fire” wasn’t a joke, and making the blaze worse would be disastrous.
But now, Ace had given him an idea: separate the burning part from the warehouse.
Ian had cut many things so far—the execution platform in Loguetown, ship cabins—but cutting a building this large was a first.
With his powerful Psychic Power backing him, Ian could now cut through steel, as he had with Krieg’s metal armor. But armor and a building were two completely different things. The former, though steel, was thin, while the latter, though stone, was incredibly thick. Even Ian wasn’t sure he could do it. He wondered where Ace got so much confidence in him.
Still, Ian decided to give it a try.
He checked the system in his mind, intending to see how much Psychic Power he had left, but instead discovered that he had reached level 10!
He immediately realized why—it was the experience from killing the porcupine Pix and some of the pirates earlier.
Level 10. The timing was perfect. Not only had a new card slot opened up, but all his cards could undergo their first breakthrough.
Ian quickly equipped the Akechi Mitsuhide card, then used experience books to level up the Flying Shadow, Yasuo, and Akechi Mitsuhide cards to level 10. After that, he used the breakthrough stones he had saved from his previous ten-draw to break through all three cards.
Breaking through from +0 to +1 didn’t require many stones—only 100. After the breakthrough, each card gained different attributes. The Akechi Mitsuhide card gained +10 to all stats and +100 HP. The Flying Shadow card gained +20 Speed and +100 Psychic Power. The Yasuo card gained +5% destructive power. It seemed different cards gained different attributes upon breakthrough.
Regardless, equipping all three cards at once gave Ian a small leap in his stats.
His Psychic Power value increased significantly. Seizing this opportunity, Ian activated the Evil Eye Master’s active skill again!
On his forehead, the illusion of a third eye appeared, and Ian’s Psychic Power instantly doubled. This time, his Psychic Power broke through the 300-point mark!
Back in Loguetown, activating the Evil Eye Master skill for the first time had caused Ian to lose control of his immense Psychic Power. But now, with mental preparation, he managed to avoid losing control. He first suppressed the surging Psychic Power with all his might, then found the right angle. As he swung his sword, he finally released his full control over the Psychic Power.
This slashing attack was even more powerful than the one in Loguetown. Moreover, Ian didn’t use the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword to release it. Instead, he combined it with Yasuo’s Wind Style swordsmanship!
Just like Ace with his newly eaten Flame-Flame Fruit, Ian also needed time to adapt to his new card skills. But after days of practice and experimentation, he had grasped some of the tricks of Wind Style swordsmanship.
By using a special sword-swinging technique to create enough pressure on the air in front of him, he could make it shoot forward. The principle was similar to forming a Wind Wall and wasn’t hard to master.
So, this time, Ian unleashed a flying wind blade slash!
The wind blade was invisible, but as the one who released it, Ian could sense it. With enough Psychic Power backing it, the blade extended several meters in length. After being slashed out, it flew at an angle and instantly crossed the upper right section of the warehouse building.
Ian was stunned. What was going on? Had the wind blade slash been ineffective?
No, that couldn’t be. If it were ineffective, it would have hit the front of the building. How could it have just flown straight through?
Just as Ian was thinking this, a creaking sound came from the building. The wall where Ian’s wind blade had struck began to loosen, and the entire upper right section started to slide diagonally.
Where it slid, a clean, smooth cut mark was revealed!
Only then did Ian realize that the slash hadn’t been ineffective. The wind blade was so sharp that it had cut through the building like a hot knife through butter, encountering no resistance at all. That was why it had seemed to fly straight through.
The burning half of the roof slid faster and faster, finally crashing down with a loud rumble. The people below, who had already sensed something was wrong, scrambled out of the way just in time, letting the burning roof fall to the ground.
Once the burning part fell off, the remaining building looked like a cut aluminum pipe—hollow inside, with clean cut marks all around.
The members of the Spade Pirates stared at the scene, their jaws dropping to the ground.
The people fighting the fire were the same. They stood dumbfounded, staring at the neatly sliced warehouse, unsure how to react.
With a clatter, a bucket fell from someone’s hands...
Ace held his hat and laughed heartily, saying to Ian, “I knew you could do it!”
Ian, feeling somewhat drained, managed a weak smile. He knew that the surge in Psychic Power from the Evil Eye Master skill had also boosted his Doriki value. This flying slash was essentially similar to the Six Powers’ Rankyaku technique, so cutting through a building wasn’t too surprising.
A cheer erupted. The people fighting the fire finally understood what had happened!
The fire was out!
Someone had helped by cutting off the burning part. Although the warehouse was damaged, the food stored inside was saved.
Some people rushed inside to assess the damage, while others began searching the crowd for their helpers.
Ace and Ian were the most conspicuous. Ace had climbed to the roof earlier, and many below had heard his shout. Seeing Ian still holding his sword, they immediately pieced together what had happened!
So, a group of people quickly charged toward Ian and the others.
Among them were several chefs in uniforms. For some reason, as soon as Ace saw them, he instinctively turned and ran, even grabbing Ian to drag him along.
“Hey, hey, we were helping! Why are we running!?” Ian, still in a weakened state, couldn’t resist being pulled and shouted at Ace.
Ace ran as he replied, “Those chefs chased me before. It’ll be bad if they recognize me!”
Ian was speechless. Was this the aftermath of eating without paying? How many restaurants had you stiffed on this island? Why do you think every chef you see can recognize you!?
“Don’t go, benefactors!” The crowd chasing after them shouted, “You saved Bebeco Island! Let us show our gratitude!”
The Spade Pirates members were also running with Ace. Hearing the shouts, one said to Ace, “Captain, they want to thank us!”
Ace laughed and said, “Don’t forget, we’re pirates! And I started the fire. This kind of thanks isn’t something we deserve.”
Hearing this, even Ian, who was being dragged along, couldn’t argue...