# Chapter 567: Ace vs. Doflamingo
Blazing white flames, like a meteor streaking across the sky, came flying with intense heat, heading straight for Moria's location.
"What!?" Moria was startled and quickly turned into a shadow, sinking into Little Oars Jr.'s shadow, barely avoiding this Fire Fist attack.
When Moria re-emerged, feeling the scorching air, he looked toward the direction the flames had come from with lingering fear.
At the edge of the Edd War reef cluster, a large number of figures appeared. Leading them was a bare-chested man whose entire body was covered in blazing flames.
Who else could it be but Fire Fist Ace?
Beside Ace were Marco, Vista, Jozu, and others—all Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. Behind them were a large number of Whitebeard Pirates members.
"Finally showing up, are they?" Doflamingo laughed wildly from his ship as he watched them appear. "That's right, if you're going to break through, you need to coordinate from inside and out! But... where's that old man Whitebeard?"
Sengoku was also observing through binoculars at this moment, but he indeed didn't see Whitebeard's figure, frowning slightly.
"Ace..." Garp watched Ace appear, arms crossed over his chest, muttering with a complex expression.
After temporarily forcing Moria back with a Fire Fist, Ace immediately ran toward Little Oars Jr.'s direction.
Ace was a Devil Fruit user but couldn't fly. With seawater everywhere, he could only use the ships on the surface as footholds.
Boom! Ace, covered in flames, leaped and landed on the deck of a Marine battleship!
"He's the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! Take him down!" The commander of this ship, a Marine Rear Admiral, shouted upon seeing Ace land on his vessel, then led the Marine soldiers charging at Ace with weapons raised.
However, Ace didn't bother to engage them. He leaped again, leaving the battleship and jumping to the nearest pirate ship nearby.
Others did the same as Ace—those who were Devil Fruit users but couldn't fly used ships as landing points. The pirates from Whitebeard's main fleet were all exceptionally skilled, naturally strong in physical combat as well.
"Oars! Hang in there! I'm coming to save you!" Ace shouted loudly at Little Oars Jr., who was lying in the seawater, as he rushed forward.
"Ace... Ace!?" Little Oars Jr. heard Ace's voice, tremblingly propped himself up from the sea, and turned his head toward Ace's direction.
"Damn it!" Moria was somewhat annoyed. Little Oars Jr.'s body was too tough; killing him in a short time would require considerable effort. So Moria had planned to first cut off Little Oars Jr.'s shadow, subdue him, and then kill him. Those whose shadows were cut would fall into a temporary coma, completely defenseless—attacking Little Oars Jr. at that point would save a lot of trouble. But he hadn't expected Ace to suddenly intervene and disrupt his plan.
"Fragment Bat!" Moria waved his hand, and countless black bats rushed toward Ace, while he shouted at Ace, "Don't interfere with me!"
However, Ace leaped into the air and, seeing the bats flying toward him, swung his hand sharply. A fan-shaped wave of flame spread out with his gesture, enveloping the bats.
"Squeak squeak squeak!" The bats screeched within the flames, their forms disappearing one by one—not burned to death by the fire, but vanishing directly.
"That's right, this kid is fire!" Moria suddenly realized. His Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability was countered by Ace's flames. When fire burned, it emitted light, and Moria's bats were created by his ability—not real creatures, but shadows. They naturally dissipated when encountering light.
At that moment, the pirates on the ship had also shaken off Moria's bat attacks from earlier and angrily swung their weapons at Moria.
"Tch, unlucky!" Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Moria had no choice but to retreat. He turned back into a shadow, disappeared from the deck, and reappeared on his own ship.
"Hmph, can't handle it anymore?" Doflamingo mocked him as soon as he appeared.
Meanwhile, Ace had reached a ship beside Little Oars Jr. Standing on the deck, he called out anxiously to Little Oars Jr.
Little Oars Jr. struggled to stand up again, then scratched his head with a silly grin and laughed at Ace, "Ace, are you guys okay?..."
Ace and Little Oars Jr. were close friends in the Whitebeard Pirates, which was why Ace rushed to check on Little Oars Jr.'s condition as soon as he appeared.
Although Little Oars Jr. wore a simple, honest smile, Ace's anger flared when he saw the wound pierced through his chest.
He turned his head and glared at the ship where Moria was. He remembered clearly that Little Oars Jr. had been injured by that short-legged, thick-bodied Warlord.
Ace was furious. His right hand blazed with intense white flames, and he thrust it toward the battleship where Moria was!
"White Dragon!!"
A fire dragon formed from white flames emerged from Ace's arm, roaring as it charged toward Moria.
"!!!"
Doflamingo, who was on the same ship as Moria, was startled when he saw Ace's attack.
This... this move was so similar to Ian's Black Dragon Wave! The only difference was that Ian's flames were black, while Fire Fist Ace's were white!
Watching the white fire dragon fly toward him, Doflamingo couldn't help licking his lips. The white fire dragon brought back unpleasant memories and stirred up anger within him.
He leaped into the air, and the next second, the dancing white fire dragon crashed into the battleship.
"Boom!" As the white flames erupted, the entire ship began to burn fiercely. Marine soldiers on board, their bodies engulfed in flames, screamed and jumped into the seawater.
Moria had also escaped the moment the fire dragon struck. He reappeared on another battleship, glaring furiously at the ship he had just been on, now burning so intensely it was shocking.
At that moment, Doflamingo, still in midair, finally made his move. Ace's fire dragon made him feel an itching hatred. He extended his hand, and countless threads emerged from his palm. These threads twisted together, quickly forming a thick whip-line that shot straight toward Ace like a cannonball.
"Overheat!"
The whistling whip-line made Ace sense danger. He could see the black tinge on the threads, knowing it was Armament Haki-infused attack. He shouted "Dodge!" to the people on the pirate ship and quickly leaped up himself.
"Thud!" A loud crash. Doflamingo's Overheat struck the pirate ship. The immense impact force shattered the ship's bow into countless pieces!
This single blow nearly destroyed half the ship's hull. Seawater rushed in massively, and the ship immediately began to tilt and sink. The surviving pirates on board had no choice but to jump into the water, swimming desperately away to avoid being sucked into the whirlpool created by the sinking vessel.
With the pirate ship gone, Ace lost his foothold. Fortunately, Little Oars Jr. was behind him. He extended his enormous hand and caught Ace.
Ace breathed a sigh of relief and was about to thank Little Oars Jr., but the next second, Little Oars Jr. grabbed Ace, pulled him close to his chest, and twisted his body!
Rip! As Little Oars Jr. turned, several long wounds suddenly burst open on his back. The wounds were so deep that he instantly became drenched in blood.
It turned out that Doflamingo had just thrown a Five-Color String toward Ace's direction. The threads on his five spread fingers, as hard as steel wires, slashed through Little Oars Jr.'s muscles with fierce force.
Ace hadn't noticed Doflamingo's attack, but Little Oars Jr. had. To protect Ace, he used his own body to take the blow.
"Oars!!?" Ace saw Little Oars Jr. injured and shouted again.
He certainly remembered that bastard Doflamingo. Back when Ian fought Doflamingo in Dressrosa, Ace had been there too. However, he and Sabo had been searching for weapons at the time, so he didn't have much understanding of Doflamingo's strength. Carelessly, he had caused Little Oars Jr. to get hurt, and Ace was extremely furious.
Just then, a mass of blue flames flew through the sky, charging toward Doflamingo in midair. The blue flames spun and, upon reaching Doflamingo, suddenly transformed into Marco's figure. He clasped his hands together and slammed them down hard on Doflamingo!
Doflamingo raised his right arm, using Armament Haki to defend, but he hadn't expected Marco's strike to be so powerful, also coated with Armament Haki. His right arm was struck and sank heavily, causing his entire body to uncontrollably crash toward the sea below.
Boom! Doflamingo fell into the water, creating a huge splash.
"Hmph, well struck!" Boa Hancock watched from afar, a smile spreading across her face. Back in Dressrosa, she had fought Doflamingo herself, so she felt no sympathy for him falling into the sea.
Sengoku, however, saw Doflamingo fall and quickly picked up a Den Den Mushi, ordering nearby Marines to dive in and rescue him.
"As expected, the Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates are all as strong as monsters!" Kizaru sat on a battleship, chin resting on his hand, speaking to Akainu Sakazuki beside him. "With strength like that, how exactly did you manage to trap them on the island back then?"
Akainu wore his Marine cap, his eyes hidden beneath the brim. He sat motionless in his chair, arms crossed. Hearing Kizaru's words, he snorted coldly and said, "I only attacked the ships, not the people."
Aokiji was also nearby, legs crossed, speaking lazily, "Doflamingo has fallen into the sea. While the sea surface limits the enemy's Devil Fruit users, it also restricts ours. Should I change the battlefield?"