One Piece: The Cryo Doctor on the Straw Hat Ship

The center of the vortex seemed to connect to a bottomless abyss, where even light was completely swallowed up.

Ace's Flame Dragon Fist, imbued with Armament Haki, slammed into the dark vortex.

boom--!!!

This collision did not trigger a violent explosion; instead, it produced a dull, teeth-grinding sound, like fabric being torn apart.

The flames at the front of the Fiery Dragon surged wildly into the darkness, but were devoured and decomposed the moment they made contact, leaving only pure Armament Haki that slammed into the surface of the vortex.

The dark vortex trembled violently, its surface rippling like water.

Blackbeard grunted, his feet sinking deep into the ground, his arm muscles bulging to their limit, veins popping out like earthworms.

"Zehahaha... Is that all you've got, Captain Ace!?" Blood trickled from the corner of Blackbeard's mouth, but his eyes gleamed with madness.

He kept saying "captain" as if he were deliberately provoking him.

Seeing that his attack was blocked by Blackbeard once again, a barely perceptible look of shock flashed deep in Ace's eyes.

It's true... V was right.

If it were my former self, I probably wouldn't have been able to overcome Blackbeard's attack at all.

In the long run, he will only end up defeated.

but……

"Oh."

Ace suddenly chuckled.

He is completely different now compared to a month ago!

"Huh?" Blackbeard didn't understand why Ace could still laugh at a time like this.

The next second, his eyes widened in horror.

Suddenly, Ace raised his other arm high, and thick white liquid gushed out of his palm.

"Flaming Wax - Demon-Sealing Molten Prison!!!"

The molten white wax, as hot as lava, gushed wildly from the palm of the hand, solidified and reformed in mid-air, transforming into a sky full of burning wax chains!

With Ace's angry roar, the wax chains wrapped around Blackbeard like living things. The flames and wax mingled, scorching his flesh and sealing off his movements with their flowing solidity, completely blocking the Dark-Dark Fruit's devouring gap!

"what--"

Blackbeard let out a shrill scream, the sound seemingly piercing the air above the burning ruins.

Chapter 114 You Must Die Here Today (Seeking Monthly Tickets~)

The wax chains instantly wrapped around Blackbeard's limbs and neck, flames leaping on the wax surface, scorching his skin with a sizzling sound.

Blackbeard howled in agony, his dark energy surging wildly as he tried to break free, but the wax chains were actually a flowing solid.

It solidified instantly at the edge of being swallowed by darkness, then flowed and condensed again outside the range of the engulfment, locking his joints and points of force firmly.

"This...this can't be the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit!?" Blackbeard's one eye widened in disbelief, genuine shock appearing in it for the first time. "How is this possible! How could you possibly possess two Devil Fruit powers at the same time!?"

Blackbeard was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, even ignoring his pain.

You see... he chose the Dark-Dark Fruit because he valued its ability to absorb the powers of other people's fruits, and to give himself a second power.

However, after enduring hardship and being someone else's son for decades, he finally saw a glimmer of hope, and now this long-awaited phenomenon has actually appeared in Ace's life.

"Times have changed, Teach."

Ace's voice was as cold as ice. He maintained the posture of pushing his arms forward and continued to spray wax to reinforce the seal, as if he wanted to trap Blackbeard inside the wax figure.

"Now... prepare for your judgment!"

"Zeiha, ha, ha...!"

Blackbeard suddenly laughed again, but the laughter was more unpleasant than crying, a mixture of pain and madness.

"What a lucky guy!"

"but……"

"...You think you can trap me like this, Captain Ace!?"

Blackbeard's laughter suddenly turned fierce, and dark energy burst forth from every pore of his body like boiling water!

The wax chains that had been wrapped around him crumbled inch by inch under the impact of the shadows, and the flames and molten wax were forcibly dispersed, turning into countless burning white dots.

The moment Blackbeard shattered the molten wax prison, a massive surge of dark energy erupted, forming a dark armor around his body to prevent Ace from repeating the same trick.

He was panting heavily, and the burn marks from the wax on his face were clearly visible, but his small eyes gleamed with an even more ferocious light.

"Hahaha... Two Devil Fruit abilities... that really surprised me."

Blackbeard wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, darkness writhing around him like a living thing. "But you think you can defeat me like this? You're being far too naive!"

"The gap between us cannot be bridged by a mere Devil Fruit ability."

"Watch closely... Ace!"

He raised his arms, and an even thicker darkness spread from beneath his feet, as if to engulf the entire battlefield.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit is the most vicious ability in the history of Devil Fruits... Your flames or wax will be completely absorbed in the face of darkness!"

Before he could finish speaking, Blackbeard had already launched an attack.

Instead, he used the darkness as a defense, combined with his already formidable physical skills and domineering aura, and transformed into a black shadow, rushing straight at Ace.

Each punch carried a heavy gravitational pull, as if even space itself was being stretched and distorted.

The darkness of darkness is also the darkness of a black hole!

"What a troublesome bastard!"

Ace's gaze was fixed, his arms crossed, flames and molten wax surging forth simultaneously.

He condensed fire into a spear with his left fist and turned wax into a shield with his right palm, combining offense and defense, and engaged in a fierce battle with Blackbeard.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The collisions between the two caused repeated explosions, flames and darkness intertwined, and the wax vaporized and solidified under the high temperature, leaving the battlefield unrecognizable.

Blackbeard grew increasingly ferocious in battle, and the suppressive power of the Dark-Dark Fruit on its users gradually became apparent.

Ace's flames were repeatedly swallowed by darkness, and his wax sculptures were often torn apart by gravity.

Despite Ace's repeated counterattacks thanks to the flexible combination of his two Devil Fruits and his superb Haki, Blackbeard's combat experience and the unpredictable nature of the Dark-Dark Fruit gradually gave him the upper hand.

"Zehahaha! Did you see that, Captain Ace!" Blackbeard punched Ace back and laughed wildly, "So what if you have two abilities? Before the power of darkness, everything is in vain!"

He clasped his hands together, and a massive dark sphere condensed in his palms, its gravity rising sharply, drawing in all the surrounding rubble and remnants of flame.

"It's over... Dark Emperor Annihilation!"

The dark sphere suddenly expanded, transforming into a vortex that devoured everything and shot towards Ace.

This attack contained all of Blackbeard's Haki and Devil Fruit power, and even the light disappeared in its path.

Ace seemed powerless to dodge, and could only cross his arms, pushing the flames and wax to their limits to create a red and white barrier in front of him.

boom--! ! !

The dark vortex slammed into the barrier, and the violent shockwave completely ripped up the ground within a radius of 100 meters.

Ace grunted, the barrier shattered inch by inch, and he was blasted away, crashing heavily into the ruins, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Cough...cough cough..." Ace struggled to get up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his breathing clearly disordered.

Blackbeard approached step by step, darkness flowing beneath his feet.

"Hahaha... Looks like victory is still mine, Captain Ace." He raised his right hand, darkness gathering in his palm to form a sharp spear. "Don't worry, I won't kill you... You're a very good 'bargaining chip'."

Just when Blackbeard thought victory was assured and was preparing to deliver the final blow—

Ace suddenly raised his head amidst the ruins, a familiar, maniacal smile spreading across his blood-stained lips.

“Teach…” Ace’s voice was a little hoarse, but it carried a strange calmness. “You’ve been fighting for so long, haven’t you figured out the problem yet?”

Blackbeard paused, his one eye narrowing: "Trying to bluff when you're about to die?"

Ace didn't answer, but simply snapped his fingers lightly.

Snapped.

In an instant, Blackbeard's expression changed drastically.

He suddenly felt a strong dizziness, a burning pain in his lungs, and the strength in his limbs seemed to be eroded and blocked by some invisible substance.

He looked down at his hands, where a very faint, almost invisible white oily film had appeared on his skin.

"This is... wax!?" Blackbeard suddenly realized. "When did you—"

“From the very beginning of the battle.” Ace slowly straightened up, wiping away the blood. “The Wax-Wax Fruit isn’t just about solidifying into a shape…”

"Gaseous wax vapor is colorless and odorless. When mixed with the high temperature of the flames and the dust of the battle, it is not so easy to detect."

He spread his five fingers, palms facing upwards, as if supporting the entire battlefield: "While you were focused on devouring my flames and breaking my wax chains... these wax vapors had already seeped into your internal organs, blood, and bone marrow with every breath you took."

Blackbeard tried to use dark energy to dispel the abnormality in his body, but felt a blockage.

The wax vapor had slightly combined with his organ tissues.

The inability to transform the Dark-Dark Fruit's power into an elemental form makes it difficult for its devouring ability to operate precisely within its body.

“Now, they’re starting to solidify.” Ace’s eyes sharpened. “Flame Wax – Internal Combustion Prison!”

boom--!

A sudden burst of intense heat erupted from Blackbeard's body, and the accumulated wax vapor ignited instantly under Ace's control, burning wildly from the inside out!

Blackbeard let out a shrill scream, tiny flames bursting from his body as dark energy spread out of control.

"Aaaaaah—!!!" He collapsed to his knees, scratching his chest in agony, as if trying to dig out the flames burning inside him.

Ace walked up to him, flames reforming in his palm: "I told you, Teach... you must die here today."

Chapter 115 Location Sharing (Seeking monthly votes~)