"In terms of destructive power and range, Ace still has the upper hand!"
"But the attribute matchup... that's a mountain he just can't overcome~"
Eden stood not far away, watching the great sun slowly rise from the desert sands, and couldn't help but sigh.
This single attack from Ace had already reached the level of 'island-buster' tier...
Even among the high-ranking officers of an Emperor's crew, where experts were a dime a dozen, this was top-tier combat strength.
But unfortunately, Ace's luck was just terrible. In the original timeline, he ran into his natural counter, the user of the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit, 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach. And now, here, he had run into the fire-immune Natsu.
"It's huge!"
Natsu stared at the great sun Ace had unleashed, equally impressed.
"I'm not done yet!"
"This next move is my real trump card, one that even Pops has never seen."
"Originally, I developed this technique to fulfill a promise I made to a certain girl back in the New World. It's an ultimate art I created through demonic training to defeat a certain someone."
"Since you call yourself a 'Fire Dragon,' and the man I have to defeat just so happens to be a dragon... I might as well test its power on you first!"
As Ace spoke, he hurled the sun behind him straight up into the sky...
But he wasn't finished. Ace pointed both hands to the heavens, continuously feeding flames into the sun above.
In an instant, perhaps because the fireball above Ace's head was so blindingly bright, the surroundings seemed to dim considerably!
Beneath that dazzling, radiant fireball, one, two, three... countless dragons, their bodies formed entirely of scorching hot flames, coiled in the sky, baring their fangs and roaring down at the people on the ground!
"Ultimate Great Flame Commandment: Flame Dragon!!"
As he spoke, Ace's body had already begun to turn into fire, gradually merging with the flame dragons in the sky.
This move was a brand-new ultimate art Ace had developed by fusing his signature killer moves, the Great Flame Commandment: Ghost Fire and the Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor, which he used when he challenged his old man, Whitebeard.
Ace's ultimate goal in developing this move was to travel to Wano Country, fulfill his promise to a certain young girl, and challenge the 'Strongest Creature' in the world, the 'Emperor of the Sea' who ruled over the New World, Kaido of the Beasts.
And now.
Before challenging Kaido, Ace would let Natsu experience the power of his ultimate art first.
"NATSU!!"
From the sky, Ace roared Natsu's name, commanding the countless flame dragons to plummet toward the ground.
"ACE!!"
On the ground, Natsu answered Ace's call. He was clearly prepared to eat every last one of the flame dragons in the sky.
BOOM!
In an instant, the flame dragons descended from the heavens, poised to destroy everything in their path.
"Sluuurp~"
As for Natsu, he completely lived up to Ace's expectations. He opened his mouth wide and swallowed the infinite flames from the sky.
"So hot! So hot!"
"This is gonna kill us..."
Not far away, the spectating Marines, along with Nami and Happy, who had flown back after seeing things go south, were all hit by the endless heatwave...
Even though they were hundreds of meters away from the two, they still felt an unbearable heat, as if all the moisture in their bodies was about to be evaporated by the terrifying flames in the next second. Even their bones felt like they were about to melt.
BOOM!
"We absolutely cannot let these flames reach the town!"
As for Smoker, he stared at the approaching flames, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. Before the crisis fully arrived, Smoker had already transformed into a swirling white plume of smoke. He was going to use his own body to form a giant wall to block the flames.
Unfortunately, Smoker was powerless. His development of his Devil Fruit was far inferior to Ace's, and he was completely incapable of handling a disaster of this magnitude.
"Wall of Atlantis!"
Seeing this, Eden didn't hesitate. He clapped his hands together, and with a wave, a massive magic circle lit up beneath everyone's feet!
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, a massive wall of water, a full kilometer long, a hundred meters high, and ten meters wide, materialized before them.
The wall of water blocked the intense heat while constantly clashing with the distant heatwave, transforming into billowing steam that rose into the sky.
"We're saved!"
"But what is this thing?"
"A... A canal falling from the sky?"
"Whatever it is, this is insane!"
"I feel like if we had a few more of these rivers, Alabasta wouldn't have a water shortage anymore."
The nearby Marines stared, dumbfounded, at the colossal wall of water Eden had summoned, which looked like a massive canal descending from the heavens. Their expressions were unnatural as they spoke.
After all, this miraculous, god-like feat was the handiwork of their enemy, a great pirate with a bounty over 100 million.
"The first time I heard there was a Devil Fruit user in the East Blue who could freely control water, I didn't believe it."
Beside Eden, Smoker awkwardly reverted from his elemental form. He stared at the water screen, which looked like a man-made canal, and his eye twitched. With this river here, there was no need for him.
After hesitating several times, Smoker finally turned to Eden and spoke in a polite, low voice, "Regardless, on behalf of the Marines and the people of the town, I thank you for your help."
Although Eden had acted to protect his own people, he had indeed contained the fire, preventing it from reaching the Marines and the distant town. These were all facts.
And from that moment on...
Smoker suddenly felt that what Eden had told him before—that he had come to Alabasta to challenge Crocodile and save the country on the side—might not have been a lie.
"Hmm?!"
Not far away, Eden didn't respond to Smoker. His eyes were fixed on the battlefield, his brow slightly furrowed.
"What's wrong?"
Nami, who had been standing nearby, noticed the change in Eden's expression and couldn't help but ask.
"No, it's nothing..."
"I just have a bad feeling."
"I feel like that kid Natsu is about to cause some kind of major incident."
Eden explained to Nami.
"Is that so?"
Nami paused, noncommittal about Eden's words, but she was still curious about just how big of an incident Natsu could possibly cause.
The flames in the sky didn't last long.
About half an hour later, the ground was covered in a thick, white mist that was gathering towards the sky. The clouds grew dark and heavy, looking as if they were about to unleash a torrential downpour on this long-arid land at any moment.
"Is the fight over?"
"Who won?"
"Was it the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace?"
"Or the rookie from the East Blue, 'Fire Dragon' Natsu?!"
Just as the Marines were peering through the mist, trying to get a clear look at the final winner of the battle...
Eden had already led Nami and Happy into the mist and found Natsu, who was lying on the ground with a huge, bulging stomach.
"Natsu... where did the guy you were fighting go?" Happy asked, looking at Natsu, who looked like he'd overeaten and was now paralyzed on the ground.
"I accidentally ate him," Natsu replied without a second thought.
"EH?!"
As Natsu's words fell, both Nami and Happy showed expressions of utter disbelief. They stared at Natsu with wide eyes and said, "Huh? Natsu, you ate a living person?!"
"I did not!"
"It's because he turned his whole body into fire."
"I only ate the flames," Natsu immediately retorted.
"I knew something like this would happen."
Eden slapped his forehead in exasperation.
However, Eden wasn't panicking. He patted Natsu's stomach, which was swollen like a balloon, and said, "Alright, Natsu! Hurry up and spit Ace out~"
"Okay!"
Natsu nodded vigorously. He then opened his mouth and strained several times, as if trying to spit something out, but nothing came.
"Natsu, what are you hesitating for?!"
"If you hesitate any longer, Ace is going to be digested!"
Eden's eye twitched as he watched Natsu struggle to spit Ace out.
"I... I can't spit him out."
After thinking for a long while, Natsu finally looked up at Eden with a blank expression and said, "I've actually been trying for a while, but I can't spit him out at all!!"
"EH?!"
As Natsu's words fell...
This time, it wasn't just Nami and Happy who were frozen in place. Even Eden was stunned by Natsu's words.
"Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean you can't spit him out?!"
In an instant, everyone surrounded Natsu, questioning him loudly.
"I just can't spit him out."
Natsu tried to get up from the ground, but his stomach was too big, like a well-fed Luffy. After a failed carp-flip, he fell back to the ground.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
Just then, a voice seemed to come from within Natsu's body.
"Natsu, did you say something?" Happy asked.
"Nope!"
Natsu shook his head, indicating that he hadn't spoken.
"Then who was that?"
"Weird, I could have sworn the voice came from Natsu's direction!"
Happy looked confused, as if he'd seen a ghost.
"No, the person who spoke is probably inside Natsu's stomach."
At this moment, Nami, who had been silent, walked over to Natsu. She bent down and pressed her ear against his stomach before speaking.