"They're really going to keep fighting like this?"
Nami, sixteen years old this year, clutched her hands tightly to her chest, watching Ace—who was going toe-to-toe with Whitebeard without showing any sign of weakness—with both worry and bewilderment.
How had Ace suddenly become so strong? Just a few days ago, Whitebeard had defeated him in two or three moves!
This was also the question weighing on the minds of many members of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Bang!
Haki is a part of one's will—a power forged through the union of body and spirit.
The stronger the will, the harder the Armament Haki; conversely, the weaker the will, the weaker the Armament Haki, until it fades away entirely.
Shrouded in Armament Haki, Ace's right fist was harder than steel.
He drove his fist into Whitebeard's abdomen, mottled with purple-black bruises, and Edward Newgate's massive abdominal muscles caved in visibly under the blow.
At the same time, traces of blood seeped from Whitebeard's mouth.
It was a sign that his internal organs had been damaged.
As for Ace—
Whitebeard's iron fist, larger than Ace's own head, came crashing down, carrying a whistling wind and a tremor-force capable of crushing even Akainu's skull in a single blow. It struck Ace's pitch-black head, yet rang out with a metallic clang like colliding steel.
Ace merely tilted his head, his expression unchanged. Only the flames behind his arms erupted with even greater intensity.
In this bloodiest, most brutal war of attrition, Whitebeard was visibly losing ground.
Slowly, to the anguished but helpless gazes of the Whitebeard Pirates' members, his body was driven upward by Ace's rising punches, forcing him to lift his right foot and take a step back to steady himself.
Then his left foot retreated another step.
Then his right foot again.
As their four fists clashed, Whitebeard was pushed back again and again, driven several meters away by Ace's onslaught.
So, regarding the outcome of this battle, though many refused to believe it in their hearts, it was already beginning to take shape.
As one of the two combatants, Ace could feel it even more keenly—compared to the start, Whitebeard's punch speed and power had both declined. Even the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's force covering his fists was gradually fading.
That's about enough. If they kept going, even with the old man's already-healed body, he'd be left with wounds that could never fully recover.
That was Ace's thought.
Then, he suddenly leaped into the air.
Caught off guard by Ace's move, Whitebeard threw his right fist out of habit, only to find it striking empty air.
"Old man! Now—this is my era!!"
Midair, Ace erupted with blinding flames from his waist, legs, back, and the elbow of his right arm simultaneously.
Using the centrifugal force and thrust generated by those flames, he spun half a turn in place, his right fist swelling like a balloon as it shot toward Whitebeard's chest.
With Whitebeard's decades of battle experience, he almost instinctively drew his arms together, intending to block Ace's punch.
But the numbness brought on by his body's searing pain caused him to hesitate, his movements slowing by just a fraction.
That tiny gap in time was all it took to decide the match.
"Gwaaah!!"
Slipping past Whitebeard's arms, Ace's fist slammed heavily into his chest.
Struck by that immense force, Whitebeard's seven-meter-tall frame was sent flying far away by Ace, crashing hard into a small mountain hundreds of meters off.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the crowd stared in stunned disbelief, the entire small mountain let out a thunderous roar.
Then large chunks of falling rocks and dirt cascaded down the small hill, causing it to collapse in an instant.
"Pops!"
"Pops!"
Seeing this, Diamond Jozu and Marco the Phoenix rushed anxiously toward the hill.
But the next moment, with a loud bang, an old yet powerful fist punched through the covering of rocks and debris.
Then, a dust-covered Whitebeard crawled out from beneath the rubble.
"Gurarararara, so this old man really has gotten old, has he?"
He wiped the blood and dust from his face and sat down on the ruins of the collapsed hill.
Then, he lowered his head and rummaged through the debris, finding his headband.
"Pops, are you alright?"
"Combat! Go bring Combat here!"
Combat was the ship's doctor of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew.
Looking around at his sons, who were all watching him with tense expressions, Whitebeard let out his signature booming laugh once more.
"Gurarararara. I've made a fool of myself in front of my sons. This old man has lost."
"Pops!"
"Pops!"
Marco and Jozu opened their mouths to speak, but they didn't know what to say.
After all, Ace was also a member of their Whitebeard Pirate Crew, and he had defeated Whitebeard fair and square.
If it had been them, they never could have done it.
"Pops."
Finally, Ace also made his way through the crowd and slowly came before Whitebeard.
Having taken so many hits from Whitebeard, he wasn't entirely unscathed either. Not only was his face swollen and bruised, but two streams of blood were slowly trickling from his nose.
Pushing aside the hands that others extended toward him, Whitebeard stood up from the ground.
"Marco, Jozu, Thatch, Vista, Blamenco, Rakyo, Namur, Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdo, Halta, Atmos, Speedo, Fossa, Izo…"
He looked around, calling out the names of his sons one by one.
This calling went on for several minutes.
When everyone had a sense of what was coming, he patted Ace on the shoulder and pulled him to his side.
"My sons! You all witnessed that battle just now. So, in accordance with the agreement made from the very beginning: from today onward, your younger brother Ace will be the second-generation captain of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew!"
Instantly, everyone around involuntarily held their breath.
Among them, some did have objections—for instance, Ace was still very young, not even eighteen yet; or that Ace had only joined the Whitebeard Pirate Crew a few months ago, and while everyone was familiar with him, they weren't deeply acquainted; or that Ace was Roger's son and not suited to inherit Whitebeard's pirate crew.
But this was the decision of their captain, of Whitebeard, of their Pops.
So, at that moment, no one spoke.
And Ace knew that this was the time for him to step forward.
"My brothers!"
He looked around, meeting the eyes of every silent member of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew, and spoke with sincere conviction.
"I know that I still have many shortcomings. Compared to Pops, there's a gap in both experience and skill, and I still have much to learn from many of you."
But midway through his speech, his tone shifted, and a natural aura of a powerful warrior emanated from him.
"However, in the world of pirates, might makes right, and strength commands respect! Any brother who thinks they can defeat me, who wants to challenge me, come right ahead! If you can defeat me, then I'll gladly hand over my position as second-generation captain of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew!"
As he spoke, blazing flames erupted from his body, causing the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly.
Ace's gaze grew sharp as he looked at everyone once more.
Though the title of "Second Generation Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates" was tempting, this time, very few dared to meet his gaze.
They had all clearly witnessed how Ace, with his monstrous physique and finely honed Armament Haki, had defeated Whitebeard while appearing to suffer only minor injuries.
If it were them, there was no way they could accomplish such a feat.
Standing at the center of the crowd, Ace spread his arms wide with bold pride, revealing his muscular chest.
"Any brothers who want to challenge me, come on! This is a one-time offer—miss it and it's gone!"
Yet, despite his words, a full minute passed with no one stepping forward to challenge Ace.
Even Marco and Jozu did not step out.
Seeing Ace take control of the situation through sheer strength, Whitebeard sighed inwardly, then withdrew his smile and hardened his expression.
"So, my sons, what are you still waiting for?!"
With Whitebeard's cue, Marco and Jozu were the first to bow their heads.
"Second Generation Captain!"
"Second Generation Captain!"
Following them, the others acknowledged Ace's position one after another, their voices growing louder and louder.
"Captain Ace!"
"Second Generation Ace!"
"Captain Ace!"
In the end, everyone—including Blackbeard Teach—called him captain.
"Excellent. Then next, I shall announce my first order as the Second Generation Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ace smiled and waved his hand grandly, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Everyone, let's head back and throw a super, super huge banquet!"
Instantly, joyful laughter erupted from all present.
"Yeah!!"
"Ohhh!!"
"Banquet! Banquet!"
"This time I'm drinking my fill!"
"Hahahaha!!"
"Gurarararara!"
Seeing that his family remained harmonious and joyful, Whitebeard stroked his crescent-shaped mustache and burst into laughter once more.
However, the laughter pulled at his wounds, sending a jolt of pain through his abdomen.
As Whitebeard quietly sucked in a sharp breath, he couldn't help but marvel: That kid Ace sure packs a mean punch!
Meanwhile, Blackbeard, who had witnessed the entire spectacle of Ace defeating Whitebeard head-on and becoming the Second Generation Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, stood there utterly dumbfounded.
If Whitebeard had been old and frail, coughing up blood midway through the fight and being worn down in endurance by a young man like Ace, he could have accepted that.
But the current situation clearly showed Ace defeating Whitebeard head-on while the old man was at his peak condition.
He felt that even if he obtained the fruit he had been coveting all along, and by some stroke of luck also acquired Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he still wouldn't stand a chance against Ace, who was twenty years his junior!
Was his dream of becoming the Pirate King truly about to be shattered?!
…
At the banquet aboard the Moby Dick, people kept coming up to toast Ace: "Even if our strength might not match yours, our drinking capacity can't possibly lose to this young whippersnapper, right?"
It was a roundabout way of trying to put him in his place.
Aware of this, Ace accepted every toast without refusal.
Speaking of which, he had Chef Su Yue to thank for this.
Because some fine wines require drinking a great deal to truly appreciate their flavor, the Strongest Chef of All Time System had granted Chef Su Yue the ability to hold a thousand cups without getting drunk and eat a thousand meals without feeling full.
Thus, the members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew watched as Ace drank cup after cup, round after round.
In the end, those who had been toasting him all collapsed themselves, while Ace remained calm and composed, his face not even flushing, as if nothing had happened—he hadn't even gone to the bathroom once!
Moreover, the matter of Ace becoming the second-generation captain of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew was not widely publicized. It was only conveyed by the Whitebeard Pirate Crew in their own way to the pirate crews under their command.
However, the news eventually leaked out nonetheless, and it immediately shook the world.