Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

The fireball exploded, and a huge heat wave swept over them. Marco and the others retreated a distance to avoid the aftershocks of the fireball explosion.

But when the smoke cleared, Ace sat down on the ground with a thud, next to Vista, who was holding two swords.

"Ace, let's go together from here!" Vista, who had blocked Reina's attack, said to Ace beside him with a smile.

"As expected of the first mate, he actually dodged my attack!" Ace said somewhat dejectedly.

His attack hadn't caused Reina any trouble at all. Not only that, Reina had also taken the opportunity to ambush him. If it weren't for Vista's help, he would have already been hit.

"Clang clang clang..."

Before Ace could react, Reina and Vista had already clashed. Both of them were known for their speed in swordplay, making their exchanges dazzling to watch.

For a moment, Ace found himself unable to get involved.

However, they had been partners for many years and knew each other very well, so when Ace saw that Vista was about to give up, he found an opening and launched a sneak attack on Reina from behind.

While Ace launched his sneak attack, Vista took a moment to catch his breath before stepping forward again to join Ace in attacking Reina.

After the two of them, Reina's pressure increased significantly, especially since he no longer had the Sharingan. Vista's dazzling moves left him somewhat overwhelmed.

Vista and Ace also noticed that after the two teamed up on offense, Reina's defense increased, which made them more relaxed.

"It seems that not being able to use the Sharingan is still having a significant impact on Reina!" Marco, who was watching the match, said with a slightly grim expression.

Although Ace and Vista are not weak, they would never have been able to push Reina to this point in the past, especially after Reina used Hyōrinmaru.

Ice-type attacks are somewhat effective against Ace.

However, Marco also understood that this was just a friendly sparring match, and Reina couldn't use many of his techniques. If it were a real life-or-death battle, Vista and Ace would probably not come out on top.

"Hehe... That's good too. Maybe the pressure is too great, and Reina's Sharingan can be used again!" Lakyo said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Why don't you go up and add some more pressure?" Joz, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up to Lakyo.

Lakyo glanced at Joz and replied, "When did you become like this? Even if it were up to me, it wouldn't be my turn!"

He understood perfectly well that if Reina was under too much pressure, he would have to go all out. Going up at that time would just be asking for a beating.

Sure enough, the situation on the field suddenly changed. Reina jumped out of the battle circle and distanced himself from Ace and Vista.

"Oh no, Ace, don't let him create distance!" Vista's expression changed, and he unleashed a slash towards Reina.

Without saying a word, Ace transformed into a flame and charged towards Reina.

Seeing Ace charging towards him, Reina's lips curled into a slight smile.

Upon witnessing this scene, Ace's heart suddenly tightened; he felt as if he had been tricked.

"Idiot!" Marco, who was watching the battle, cursed under his breath when he saw Ace charging towards Reina alone.

Vista reacted quickly and rushed towards Reina, but he was too late.

"Oh!"

Ace was sent flying by Reina's attack at an even faster speed than before.

It turned out that he had deliberately jumped out of the battle to create the illusion of creating distance, and the two who knew Reina well were indeed fooled.

As a swordsman, Vista's first reaction would naturally be to use a flying slash, while Ace would definitely choose to charge in alone to ensure that someone is holding Reina back.

This way, Reina could temporarily separate the two of them, making it much easier for him to deal with Ace alone.

Sure enough, after knocking Ace away, Vista immediately stopped advancing and wanted to retreat until Ace came over.

However, Reina didn't give him a chance. After knocking Ace away, Reina launched a surprise attack and headed straight for Vista.

"when!"

Vista's two rapiers blocked Reina's Hyōrinmaru, but the icy aura emanating from Hyōrinmaru was transmitted directly through his rapiers.

He now faces two choices: either give up his weapon or be frozen by Reina's icy aura.

Vista glanced at Ace, who was rushing towards them at high speed, and gritted his teeth, determined to take the hit.

But before the icy aura could freeze him, Vista suddenly felt a pain in his stomach and was then sent flying.

"Are you two... idiots?" After knocking Vista away, Reina did not choose to continue the pursuit. Firstly, Ace did not choose to go forward but chose to join Vista. Secondly, this was not a life-or-death battle. He wanted the opponent to put pressure on him and see if he could break through the blockade and use the Sharingan when he was at his limit.

After reuniting with Vista, Ace touched the spot where Reina had kicked him and looked at Vista with a wry smile.

“What a troublesome guy. Even without the Sharingan, his combat experience and awareness are still formidable!” Vista said as he slowly stood up.

"What should we do?" Ace asked Vista.

"What else can we do? Let's go for it!" Vista stepped forward and charged at Reina again.

Ace followed closely behind, and the two launched another attack on Reina.

This time, the two were even more careful and cautious, not giving Reina the slightest chance. Sometimes Reina would deliberately give them opportunities, but they wouldn't fall for it. Instead, they chose to proceed steadily and press forward step by step.

Faced with the two men's encirclement, Reina couldn't think of a good solution for a while. Apart from using force to break through, he didn't have any other good options.

However, doing so would also expose his weaknesses, giving the other party an opportunity to exploit them.

If he had the Sharingan, he could easily see through their moves and break their combined attack.

"Open up!" After being cornered by the two again, Reina had no choice but to take a direct hit from Ace's attack. After absorbing the power of the Black Emperor, he swung his sword directly at Vista.

However, Vista seemed to have anticipated this, and instead of directly confronting Reina's attack, he chose to dodge.

"Trying to trap me?" Reina immediately understood their intentions, but instead of retreating, he planted Hyōrinmaru directly into the ground and shouted, "Ice Heaven - Hundred Flower Burial!"

Chapter 1042 Reina vs. Ace, Vista

As Reina attacked, a layer of ice quickly froze around him. Ace, who was trying to sneak up from the other side, immediately retreated after discovering Reina's AOE skill, and did not choose to fight head-on.

Vista did not choose to launch a direct attack on Reina. They had already made plans. Although they would give Reina some breathing room, as long as they played steadily, there would be no problem.

After dodging the two, Reina didn't take the opportunity to rest and catch his breath. Instead, he took a step and shot towards Vista.

Vista, as a swordsman, has extremely strong attack power, but his defense is not as good as Ace's, a Logia-type swordsman.

If it were just the Ace from the original story who hadn't put in the effort to improve his physical skills, then Reina would definitely have chosen to ambush him. But the current Ace is not the Ace from the original story who only relied on his abilities; he has regained his physical skills through Reina's training.

As a child, Ace was quite skilled in physical combat under Garp's guidance. However, after he went to sea and obtained the Flame-Flame Fruit, he discovered that Logia-type Devil Fruits were somewhat overpowered and incredibly convenient for dealing with those who didn't possess Haki. Therefore, he abandoned his physical combat skills.

Later, under Reina's pressure, he trained his physical skills rigorously. With Reina's help in developing his Devil Fruit ability, he is now more proficient in using his Devil Fruit ability than in the original story. While he may not be on par with Admirals like Aokiji and Akainu, he is not far behind.

In this situation, choosing Bista is the best option for Reina.

Seeing Reina charging towards him, Vista advanced instead of retreating, his rapier flashing like countless flower petals, dazzling the eye.

As Vista attacked, Ace, who was not far from Vista, suddenly burst into flames and transformed into a fireball, rushing towards Reina.

"That's really good!" The spectators nodded in approval upon seeing Vista and Ace's teamwork. It was the right and best choice. As long as the two stayed together, even Reina couldn't possibly accidentally injure or defeat them.

Upon realizing this, Reina did not abandon his plan to attack Vista. He swung the Hyōrinmaru in his hand, and countless streams of cold air burst forth. However, it was not aimed at Vista, but at Ace, who was rushing over from the other side. He wanted to use the Hyōrinmaru's ability to delay Ace and forcibly turn the two-on-one fight into a one-on-one fight.

"boom!"

The first to come into contact were not Vista and Reina, but Hyōrinmaru's cold air and Ace's flames. An explosion occurred immediately after they made contact. The flames were neither suppressed nor suppressed by the cold air, and it seemed that they fought to a draw.

But that's exactly the result Reina needs. As long as he delays Ace's move, he'll be facing Vista one-on-one at this moment.

"Rose Dance!" Seeing Ace being blocked, Vista did not retreat, but launched an attack directly.

Reina's lips curled up slightly; as long as the other party didn't choose to back down, that was fine.

"Charge Up and Double Strike!"

Reina charged directly into Vista's attack range, using Black Emperor's power to absorb all of the opponent's slashing power, and then unleashed a charged attack. This attack contained Reina's own energy as well as the energy absorbed from Vista. If Vista were hit, he would definitely lose the ability to move.

However, at this critical moment, a flame suddenly appeared in front of Reina, blocking part of his attack and giving Vista time to react.

"Well done!" Marco and the others watching the battle couldn't help but shout when they saw that Ace had come to the rescue so promptly.

With Ace's help, Vista narrowly escaped Reina's attack.

Looking at the cleaved ground beside him, Vista couldn't help but gasp. If he had been hit by that, he probably wouldn't have fared well.

"Tch~ I really underestimated you guys!" Reina was slightly disappointed that Ace had interrupted him and ruined his plans.

As for Ace, after managing to withstand Reina's attack, he was also unable to retaliate and had no choice but to retreat along with Vista.

They hadn't made a single mistake, yet Reina still found an opportunity and almost gradually defeated them, which made both of them somewhat discouraged.

"What should we do?" Ace asked Vista in a low voice as he backed away, putting some distance between himself and Reina.

“What else can we do? We have no choice but to go for it! I’ll draw his attention from the front, and you find an opportunity to launch a sneak attack!” Vista said while observing.

Reina did not pursue the two. Although his series of attacks looked easy, they were not so easy at all. His internal energy was circulating rapidly, and he had no time to rest.

So now he has to stop and catch his breath.

The three people on both sides stood facing each other, and none of them made the first move.

Both Vista and Ace are attackers, lacking someone to directly confront Reina. Reina, on the other hand, is somewhat wary of their combined attack. Vista and Ace are both offensively skilled, and their combined attack puts considerable pressure on Reina. Only by separating them can Reina find an opportunity to defeat them one by one.

"Let's go!" Without waiting long, Vista signaled to Ace with a quick step.

Ace immediately followed, but instead of attacking in sync with Vista, he subtly followed behind Vista, so that he could keep up with either the attack or the harassment.

Meanwhile, Reina, facing the two's renewed attack, did not retreat. Instead, he threw Hyōrinmaru out while rapidly forming hand seals.

"when!"

"Oh!"

As Vista knocked Hyōrinmaru away, a cloud of smoke rose from Reina's side, and three Reinas appeared in front of the two at the same time.

"It's a clone technique. As long as you attack them, the clones will automatically dissipate!" Like Reina, Vista and Ace were also quite familiar with Reina's moves, knowing their strengths and weaknesses in detail.

"I'll go! Blazing Firearm!"

"Puff puff puff puff..."

Flames rose from Ace's limbs, and then, like a machine gun, fired countless fireballs from various parts of his body toward Reina.

This move was based on Reina's knowledge and evolved from his original musket.

The original musket had a finger that shot out flames like bullets, but after the modification, the bullets could be fired simultaneously from various parts of the body, and the speed and range of the firing were much greater, just like changing from a pistol to a machine gun.

Faced with Ace's attacks, the three Reinas simultaneously dodged in different directions, not giving the opponent a chance to find their true forms.

"Firefly - Fire Daruma!"