OP: My Aircraft Carrier Evolves#96+97: Ace's Shock, The Terrifying Grand Line, and the Purge of Loguetown!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A torrent of fire erupted outwards.

Ace exploded into action—a high-speed, flaming cyclone that left afterimages in the air. He drove his fist straight for Law’s head.

DOOOOOOOOOOM!

Law’s Armament-coated fist met Ace’s fist of fire. The collision was apocalyptic.

Two raw, devastating forces slammed into one another.

Sparks flew.

The immense shockwave blasted them both apart, sending them staggering back across the scorched ground.

"Hah... hah..."

Ace gasped for breath. Constantly using his Devil Fruit was a massive drain on his stamina, a heavy burden on his body.

But more than that, his opponent’s strength was far beyond anything he’d anticipated.

Relying on his flames, on his elemental form, he had been untouchable in the East Blue.

Yet this man—he could somehow bypass his elemental state, could meet his fist head-on. It was baffling, shocking.

But the thrill of a fierce, evenly matched fight sent a jolt of excitement through him, a tremor that seemed to shake his very soul.

Did he set out to sea to become the Pirate King?

No.

He wanted nothing to do with that man's title.

He was aiming for the pinnacle.

The strongest man in the world.

To surpass the Pirate King himself.

And how would he do that? By making a name for himself. By defeating the strong—and then the strongest.

Ace took a deep breath, his eyes blazing.

"You're strong," he said. "Are you the strongest on your crew?"

Law was also breathing heavily. The brief exchange had been enough to reveal the terrifying combat genius simmering within this fire-man. Even with Armament Haki to counter the Logia, the man's physical prowess was off the charts.

'To fight me to a standstill? Who is this guy?'

But Ace's question left Law utterly bewildered.

"Huh?"

"What did you say?"

"Me?"

"The strongest?!!"

A bead of sweat trickled down Law's temple. He could feel a tic forming. "I'm just the ship's doctor," he said flatly.

Ace froze. "The doctor?"

"Yeah." Law nodded. "And on the Grand Line, I'm still just a rookie."

A rookie?!

Ace couldn't believe it. "You're telling me there are people on your ship even stronger than you?"

"Of course."

Law thought for a moment. "Not counting the king himself, if we're just talking about the officers... I'm the weakest."

It was true.

Of the three current "officers" on the ship—the Cook, the Boatswain, and the Gunner—Law was, in fact, the weakest.

But to Ace, those words meant something entirely different.

The man who could fight him to a draw... was the weakest officer on their crew?

Did that mean the other officers could completely crush him?

Ace's shock was indescribable.

"Are you... one of the Four Emperors?" he blurted out.

"The Four Emperors?" Law replied. "No. Our captain is the king of the Winter Blossom Kingdom, in the first half of the Grand Line."

Just a power from the first half?!

Ace's mind reeled.

He’d heard from a man named Skull, who claimed to have traveled the world, that the Grand Line was divided into two halves. The first half was called Paradise.

Was it because it wasn't dangerous?

No.

It was because compared to the second half, ruled by the Four Emperors, the first half was like a children's playground.

And a single ship from this "Paradise" was strong enough to crush the best the East Blue had to offer?

Ace felt dizzy.

It was like a hero, fresh out of the starting village and feeling pretty good about himself, suddenly running into an S-rank demon lord at the village gate.

And then being told that there were SSS-rank demon lords just beyond.

Ace took another deep breath.

"Then tell me," he asked, "what's the gap between you and the strongest person on your ship?"

Law considered this.

"Heaven and earth," he said. "He could probably take me out with a single punch."

Ace's eyes widened in disbelief.

The gap... was that massive?!

His world was tilting.

"Hey! If you want to get to Ace, you'll have to go through me! Don't even think about interrupting our captain's fight!"

Suddenly, Ace heard Deuce's shout.

He whipped his head around.

Deuce, covered in blood, was standing in front of a Marine Captain, his wavering body held up by sheer willpower.

If the Spade Pirates' combat power was 100, Ace accounted for about 90 of it. The rest of the crew made up the difference.

Against Smoker, Deuce was completely outmatched. He was only holding him off through sheer tenacity.

He saw Smoker leap into the air, his ten-handed Jitte raised to deliver the final blow.

WHOOSH!

Ace became a blur of fire, streaking across the battlefield.

The flames seared the air, a wave of heat washing over the scene.

A fist appeared out of nowhere, aimed straight for Smoker's chest.

Smoker was forced to abandon his attack, bringing his Jitte up to block.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion.

Smoker blocked the flaming fist.

The flames around Ace dissipated, and a strange weakness washed over him, causing him to stagger.

'What was that?'

Ace wondered. He leaped back, landing beside Deuce. The strange feeling of weakness was gone.

Could it be...?

Ace glanced at Smoker's weapon. The tip of the Jitte was made of Seastone.

In the original story, Luffy's adventure had nearly ended at the end of that very weapon, before his father had intervened with a flash of lightning and a gust of wind.

Ace didn't know about Seastone yet, but his instincts were sharp. He knew, in that instant, that there was something strange about that weapon.

THUD!

Deuce collapsed.

"Hey! Deuce! Are you okay?" Ace rushed to his side and helped him up. He saw that he was unconscious. "Deuce!"

Smoker's face was grim. He stood, shrouded in smoke. "Fire Fist Ace! You're not getting away!"

He charged forward.

"I don't have time to fight you right now."

Ace threw up a massive wall of fire.

He scooped up Deuce and ran.

The flames forced Smoker back.

But he didn't get far.

Tashigi appeared with a squad of Marines, blocking his path.

"Get them!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Marines opened fire.

Bullets filled the air.

Ace made a gun with his hand and fired a series of fire bullets, scattering the Marines' formation.

Tashigi charged.

Ace didn't have time for this. He leaped onto a rooftop and fled into the distance.

<><><><><><><><>

"Show's over?"

Jin spat out a sunflower seed shell. He watched Smoker and the Marines chase after Ace, then brushed the debris from his clothes.

Ace would be back. Deuce's injuries were severe. He needed a doctor. And Law had just introduced himself as a doctor.

And as a member of a crew with even stronger fighters.

Jin was certain.

Whether it was to get treatment for Deuce, or to challenge a stronger opponent...

Ace would be back.

The hearts of young men were not so hard to read.

—————————

The earthen walls were slowly receding, the street returning to its normal level, though the paving stones were now a shattered mess.

Jin vanished from the rooftop.

He appeared beside Robin, lightly tapping her on the shoulder and gesturing for her to release Bartolomeo.

The arms that had sprouted from Bartolomeo's body dissolved into flower petals.

He collapsed to the ground, a twisted wreck, gasping for breath.

"Hey! Is that all you've got?!" Bartolomeo shouted, his voice defiant. "My barrier is unbreakable! You killed my friends, my brothers! I swear, when I get stronger, I'll come back and get my revenge!"

He grit his teeth. Many of the men who had died had grown up with him on these streets. He couldn't just let it go.

Jin sighed. "You're right. A blood debt has been incurred. And with your personality, it's not one that can be easily resolved. So, there's only one thing to do... cut the weed out by the root."

A red light flared in Jin's eyes. He unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, a wave of pure willpower that crushed and suppressed.

Although Conqueror's Haki couldn't be trained in the traditional sense, Jin had been practicing his control over it—focusing it on a single person, for example.

And he had been studying the more advanced techniques, like Conqueror's Infusion, the physical application of Haki.

Jin and Bartolomeo locked eyes, separated by the barrier.

In the next instant, Bartolomeo's defiant glare went blank. His head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. His consciousness shattered. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.

Not just him.

Everyone inside the barrier was knocked unconscious.

Without Bartolomeo to sustain it, the barrier vanished.

"Take them all," Jin ordered.

"Sir!" The Germa 66 soldiers moved in.

"Is that Bartolomeo?" Tashigi, who had been left behind by Smoker to secure the scene, rushed over. "He's the leader of all the gangs on this island! If you take him, there will be trouble!"

"Trouble?" Jin said, looking at her. "Is that so, Miss Tashigi? In that case, let's just get rid of all the trouble at once."

He raised a hand and, from a pocket of space, produced a Den Den Mushi. It was time to pull some strings.

He contacted the CP0 agent.

"Is there a problem?" the agent's voice came through. He was standing outside a room, glancing in at several Celestial Dragons who were wreathed in smoke, their faces blissful. Dream had become Saint Jalmack's go-to for entertaining guests.

"I'm in Loguetown, recovering from an illness," Jin said, his voice laced with anger. "I've just been attacked by pirates and local gangs. I am extremely displeased."

"And?" the CP0 agent said.

"I've heard that Loguetown, a town under the jurisdiction of the Marines, is home to a criminal organization that controls 150 city blocks. My god, is this really a territory of the World Government? Are the Marines this incompetent? Even I was attacked. Are we going to let what happened in the Sorbet Kingdom happen again, here in the East Blue?"

"What do you want to do?" the CP0 agent asked.

"I want to commandeer the Marines in Loguetown," Jin said. "To wipe out the pirates and the local gangs. A full-scale purge. I want to restore order to this town."

"Wait one moment," the CP0 agent said. "I'll report this to my superiors."

He hung up. He certainly wasn't going to disturb the blissed-out Celestial Dragons. He reported to his own superior, who then confirmed the details with his contacts in Cipher Pol.

The report was then passed on to the Five Elders.

"The incident in the Sorbet Kingdom has just happened," one of them said. "Another attack on the king of a member nation... it's not a good look. We need a positive story to reassure the other kings. This is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power and resolve of the World Government. 'A full-scale purge'... I like the sound of that."

The decision was made.

The Five Elders contacted Sengoku.

"Order the Marines in Loguetown to give their full cooperation to the king of the Winter Blossom Kingdom in his anti-crime operation. If they meet any resistance, they are authorized to mobilize all branch bases in the East Blue."

Sengoku hung up, frowning. "The commander in Loguetown... that's the one called Smoker, isn't it?"

He glanced at the other officers in the room—Akainu, Kizaru, Tsuru, Garp... the top brass of the Marines were all assembled, trying to come up with a plan to capture Kuma. Kuzan had been searching the South Blue for over two weeks and hadn't even caught a whiff of him. It was as if Kuma had vanished from the face of the earth. The Five Elders, the kings of the member nations... they were all watching. The pressure was on.

"Yes," Vice Admiral Tsuru nodded. Loguetown was a special case among the branch bases, so she remembered the name.

"Contact him," Sengoku ordered. "Relay the World Government's orders. And find out what's going on over there."

—————————

"For a massive criminal organization to take root in Loguetown, there's only one possibility: a complete failure of the local government. Smoker, you have failed in your duty. As a commanding officer, you can't even control your own town?"

It wasn't just Jin's opinion. If you looked at Bartolomeo's age and the timeline of his rise to power, it corresponded exactly with Smoker's time in Loguetown.

During his tenure, he had focused exclusively on capturing pirates, neglecting the civil and economic issues of the town. The local merchants were all complaining.

Ever since Roger's execution, Loguetown had been a special zone, essentially under the direct administration of the Marines.

And when Smoker had failed to govern, someone else had naturally stepped in to fill the void.

Smoker was a good Marine, but he was a terrible administrator.

—————————

At the entrance to the Marine base.

Jin was sitting on Smoker's back.

Smoker was a maverick, a man who didn't follow orders. He was obsessed with capturing Ace and the Spade Pirates and had ignored the orders from Sengoku and the Five Elders.

So Jin had knocked him out.

And temporarily taken command of the Loguetown Marines.

In the dead of night, gunshots occasionally rang out.

Thanks to Tashigi's warning, and to prevent a future terrible scenario, Jin had ordered the Sanji brothers to conduct a full-scale purge of Bartolomeo and his gang.

Innocent? They were criminals. What was there to talk about?

And for this kind of dirty work, there was no one better suited than the emotionless Sanji brothers.

As for the soldiers in the base, Jin trusted that most of them were righteous. But there were always a few bad apples. To prevent any leaks, he had them all return to the base, then used his Conqueror's Haki to knock them all unconscious.

The purge was just the beginning.

Jin contacted Crocodile. "Send Mr. 3 to Loguetown, in the East Blue. This will be the first branch of the Bounty Hunters' Guild."

A power vacuum had to be filled. Jin was confident that Galdino was up to the task.

Smoker was a useless administrator, and the Barto Club had just been wiped out. It was the perfect time for a new power to rise.

"Guhahaha! As expected of you! Loguetown, you say? A place of great influence, indeed. Baroque Works has operatives in the East Blue. I'll have them get things ready for his arrival."

Crocodile was a master organizer. Jin remembered Zoro saying that he had once been scouted by Baroque Works.

—————————

Before dawn, the purge was complete.

Smoker awoke with a throbbing headache. He saw the unconscious bodies of his men scattered around him and thought they had all been killed.

He exploded in a rage. "You bastard...!"

Jin tossed a file at his feet. "Evidence of collusion between your officers and the gangs. Are you awake now?"

Smoker froze.

"How you deal with it is your problem," Jin said. "And I'll be borrowing your assistant, Tashigi. I need her to help me verify something."

"You...!" Smoker grit his teeth.

WHAM!

Jin's fist slammed into Smoker's head, smashing it into the ground and creating a spiderweb of cracks. Blood trickled from his forehead.

"There. Now you can rest."

Jin stood up, grabbed the unconscious Tashigi, tucked her under his arm, and left the base.

After a while, Smoker came to, clutching the back of his head. He could feel two large lumps, like horns.

"Damn... he doesn't hold back. Hina said he defeated the Warlord Hanafuda. Looks like she was telling the truth."

He sat up and picked up the file. It contained a massive amount of evidence, not just against his own men, but against the Barto Club as well.

Smoker's face turned black.

Extortion, kidnapping, smuggling... it had all been happening right under his nose.

Anyone involved in that kind of business was bound to be dirty.

—————————

Jin carried Tashigi back to the demonic carrier.

From a distance, he could see Ace and two of his crewmates, waiting anxiously.

Just as he had predicted. After escaping, Ace had realized how badly injured Deuce was and had no choice but to find a doctor.

What about the Spade Pirates' own doctor?

Unfortunately, that was Deuce.