Chapter 159: We thought it was just a play, but the clowns turned out to be us...
Nami also wanted to try, raising her Clima-Tact: "Thunderbolt Tempo – Thunder Dragon!"
Violent lightning struck the material, electric snakes hissing with an ear-splitting crackle. When the lightning dissipated, the charred black surface automatically peeled away, revealing a brand new golden luster underneath, like a snake shedding its skin.
"How amazing, it's not affected by lightning at all!"
"SUPER—Invincible!" Franky maniacally raised his arms, "Automatic repair! Energy absorption! Shape memory! This is the material for an undefeated battleship worthy of the Pluton!"
Robin mused, "It's as if the awakened properties of a Devil Fruit have been fused into the metal… Is this what divine modification means? It's overwhelmingly powerful."
Sanji, a cigarette dangling from his lips, murmured to himself, "If kitchenware were made from this… I'd be the most extravagant chef in the world!"
...
That evening,
The Moby Dick's deck was brightly lit, with oak wine barrels scattered everywhere.
Whitebeard sat in his giant captain's chair, Ace beside him, a small mountain of empty bottles piled between them.
Marco leaned against the mast, holding a wine glass; Jozu's diamond arm was busy opening new barrels; Vista precisely sliced ham with his twin swords.
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard's boisterous laughter made the wine glasses hum. He clapped Ace hard on the back, causing him to cough violently: "You little brat, your acting wasn't half bad!"
Ace grinned, showing a missing tooth, a pale flame dancing on his fingertip and forming a clown shape: "Pops, your performance was the real deal! That tomato juice looked more realistic than real blood—Oscar-worthy!"
Marco helplessly adjusted his glasses: "I was genuinely worried Pops would get too into character and punch you straight into the sea to feed the fish. Especially when you shouted 'Great Flame Emperor'…"
"Even I almost believed you two were serious!"
Jozu *crunched* a wine bottle, his diamond face flushed red from suppressed laughter: "The best part was when Pops took the hit!"
He mimicked Pops's exaggerated chest-clutching from earlier, "'Ah! What a terrifying Flame Emperor!' — My diamonds nearly cracked from laughing!"
Vista elegantly sipped his red wine, his twin swords trembling with mirth: "Those Marine fools actually bought it! Did you see Sengoku's face?"
With a flick of his wrist, ham slices flew precisely into everyone's mouths. "His Golden Buddha form was shaking!"
Ace also chugged the wine from his bottle: "Akainu was the funniest! We were clearly acting, but he actually thought I could beat Pops!"
Whitebeard suddenly set down his wine bowl seriously, and the entire deck instantly fell silent.
Under everyone's tense gazes, he slowly spoke: "Actually…" His white crescent mustache trembled slightly, "That 'Great Flame Emperor' move was indeed a bit hot on the back."
After three seconds of dead silence, the deck erupted in thunderous laughter.
Jozu was rolling on the floor laughing; Marco and the others roared with laughter, tears streaming down their faces; even the whale figurehead at the bow seemed to be grinning.
"However…" Whitebeard suddenly slung an arm around Ace's shoulder, the scent of alcohol and sea breeze washing over him, "Next time you dare make your Pops use tomato juice for fake blood, I'll make you cough up the real thing for fun!"
Ace laughed heartily, raising his glass: "Hahaha, it's a deal, Pops! Next time, just watch me perform 'Flame Emperor Brutally Beats Red-Hair'!"
Moonlight spilled over the laughing crowd, casting long shadows.
Amid the clamor, Marco quietly said to Jozu: "Actually, when Pops was retreating… his leg injury really flared up, didn't it?"
Jozu was silent for a moment, his wine glass reflecting a brilliant light: "Yeah… that's why the performance felt so real."
The boisterous noise on the Moby Dick suddenly quieted.
Whitebeard slowly set down his wine bowl, the wooden bottom thudding dully against the deck. His gaze swept over the division commanders, who were looking at each other.
"Gurararara…" His laughter carried a rare solemnity, "You brats, stop fussing over my condition. Haven't you noticed? Ace has truly gotten stronger."
The air on the deck instantly solidified.
Marco's wine glass hung in mid-air; Jozu's diamond arm stopped pouring; Vista's twin swords hovered over the ham; all the commanders stared at Ace in shock.
To be personally certified as "stronger" by Whitebeard himself carried more weight than a billion-berry bounty increase!
Ace scratched his head sheepishly: "It's all thanks to Pops's great cooperation… If you'd been serious, I'd have been pounded into fish food long ago."
"Enough of that!" Whitebeard's large hand clapped heavily on Ace's shoulder, making the wine glasses jump, "I was indeed holding back at first…" His eyes flashed with scenes from the battle, "But from the third punch onward, I used fifty percent of my strength!"
Marco suddenly stood up: "Wait! Ace, you're saying that on the third punch…" He recalled the Haki clash during the impact, "Those Haki collisions weren't staged?"
"Staged?" Whitebeard took a big swig of wine, "The next hundred-plus exchanges were genuine sparring!"
He pointed to the bandage on Ace's chest, "When this kid blocked Murakumogiri with Armament Haki, it made my hand go numb!"
Jozu's face was also full of shock: "So, those shockwaves from the collisions, the cracks in the ice, the Marine warships capsizing…"
Amid the commanders' clamor, Whitebeard suddenly pulled off Ace's bandage, revealing deep purple bruises left by Haki on his skin!
"Look closely!" Whitebeard's voice boomed like thunder, "These are marks from a top-tier Armament Haki clash! Without twenty years of arduous training, no one could withstand the power of my Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"
Ace hurriedly pulled his bandage back up to cover the marks, then rubbed the back of his head and looked at everyone: "Actually… I'm also very curious about how strong I am now."
Then, Ace's right hand was once again shrouded in top-tier Armament Haki: "How about… we spar another round?"
Sensing the aura of Ace's top-tier Armament Haki, the entire Moby Dick fell silent.
*We thought it was all an act, but it turns out we were the clowns…*
The commanders looked at the Haki, so dense it seemed solid, and finally realized that this always-troublesome little brother had already grown into a powerhouse they needed to look up to.
Whitebeard suddenly burst into thunderous laughter, his bisento slamming heavily on the deck: "Gurararara! Good! Let me see… just how much of my strength you can take!"
Ace recoiled his right hand as if burned, the jet-black Armament Haki instantly dissipating.
"No, no, no!" He waved his hands frantically, "Pops, let's not! I've had too much to drink today, I'm not in good form!"
Marco pushed up his slipping glasses, recalling Ace's earlier transformation:
"Wait! Ace, when you used your ability before, you didn't have black hair and black eyes like now, but pale flames! White hair and white eyes! Those aren't traits of the Mera Mera no Mi, are they?"
Jozu also remembered: "Could it really be the awakening of his Devil Fruit?"
Vista crossed his twin swords, his mind full of questions: "But doesn't a Logia awakening change the environment?"