One Piece: The Cryo Doctor on the Straw Hat Ship

"what--!!"

Blackbeard's screams, like the howls of a dying beast, echoed above the burning ruins.

Tormented by both the wax chains and the flames, his massive body writhed wildly, and dark energy spilled out uncontrollably, corroding the surrounding ground into charred pits.

The white wax not only sealed his internal organs, but also melted and seeped under the high temperature of the flames, eroding his joints and the pores of his skin.

With each breath, he felt his lungs being burned by scalding wax vapor.

With each struggle, the wax chains became even stickier in the high temperature, almost sealing his entire body into a burning wax statue!

"Damn it...damn it—!"

Blackbeard's single eye was bloodshot as he stared intently at Ace, who was maintaining his offensive.

In the firelight, that young yet resolute face resembled that of a judge, his eyes showing no sign of wavering.

"Captain Ace...you really did prepare a...great gift for me!"

Blackbeard clenched his teeth, his broken teeth chattering, and blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

He tried to activate the power of the Dark Fruit again, but the wax that had seeped into his body had turned into wax vapor and began to solidify slowly, blocking his blood vessels and compressing his internal organs.

Blackbeard could clearly feel his power and life force slowly draining away as the wax solidified.

But at this critical moment of life and death, he suddenly grinned, revealing his blood-stained mouth, and let out a series of intermittent laughs that sounded like a broken bellows.

"Hahaha..."

He raised his thick arms, tightly bound by wax chains, and with his last strength roared at the figure watching the spectacle at the edge of the ruins:

"Enel—!!!"

"What are you... still watching?!"

"Get the hell over here...to help me—!!!"

His voice was hoarse as if tearing silk, yet it contained an unquestionable command and a near-desperate madness.

The edge of the ruins.

Enel remained aloof as he watched the battle, his pale face etched with arrogance and disdain.

Hearing Blackbeard's roar, Enel raised an eyebrow, his crimson pupils sweeping over the disheveled Blackbeard on the battlefield before turning to Ace, who was wreathed in flames, on the opposite side.

"Ha... barbarians of Qinghai, is this the power you spoke of that will lead me to rule Qinghai?"

"Don't make sarcastic remarks to me!"

"Help me!!!"

Blackbeard, without any hesitation, called for help from Enel, whom he had just tricked onto the ship.

Although Enel expressed his disdain, having already agreed to conspire with Blackbeard for a great cause, he still chose to take direct action.

He suddenly extended his finger, and tiny arcs of electricity danced and converged between his fingers, making a soft "crackling" sound.

Ace looked alert, flames swirling around him, and wax reforming in his palms.

He was already prepared when he saw Blackbeard leave Enel alone.

He was just focused on fighting Blackbeard and had no time to spare.

He turned slightly to the side, turning some of his attention to Enel, his flames and wax gathering power simultaneously, and said in a deep voice, "I won't let you rescue him so easily!"

"Rescue them?" Enel scoffed, his indifferent eyes filled with disdain. "What a joke."

"Am I, a god, one who would flee in disarray?"

He slowly raised his arms, and lightning surged wildly around him, transforming into twisted lightning snakes that coiled around his body, while the air was filled with the pungent smell of ozone.

"Look closely, people from Qinghai..."

Enel's voice suddenly rose, carrying a godlike arrogance and declaration:

"This is power from God!"

Sizzle—!!!

A terrifying surge of electricity suddenly tore through the air, and a deafening thunderclap nearly ripped eardrums apart.

A bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket shot out from Enel's fingertip, but it wasn't aimed at Ace—

Instead, it pierced straight into Blackbeard's body!

"Ughh ...

The intense electric current caused Blackbeard to scream in pain, and his body convulsed violently.

Lightning exploded into countless tiny sparks on his body, and the wax chains softened and melted rapidly under the high temperature. Blackbeard was electrocuted, his whole body convulsed, and he foamed at the mouth.

"........."

Seeing this, Ace was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

His carefully prepared offensive froze in mid-air, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He initially thought Enel was coming to fight him, but his first attack was aimed directly at Blackbeard.

Could he be an ally?

Just as Ace was bewildered, Blackbeard, who was convulsing, suddenly coughed violently, coughing up a clump of charred substance mixed with wax and blood.

Immediately afterward, disregarding the power of lightning still coursing through his body, a ruthless glint flashed in his single eye as he forcefully activated the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit!

"Dark Water... Absorb!!!"

A dark vortex emerged from his chest, and a powerful suction force burst forth, forcibly drawing out the wax that had seeped into his internal organs and solidified in his blood vessels!

The wax mixed with blood turned into murky streams, which were forcibly pulled out of the black-bearded man's mouth, nose, and skin pores by the darkness and disappeared into the black hole in his chest.

"Ha...ha..." Blackbeard knelt on the ground, panting heavily. The wax chains on his body were all broken. Although he had been electrocuted and his skin was torn open, the wax poison had been removed.

He looked up at Enel, grinning to reveal his bloodstained teeth: "Zehahaha... Well done, Enel!"

Enel hovered in the air, his fingertips still crackling with electricity, looking down at Blackbeard with a mocking smile.

“Foolish Qinghai people, you can’t possibly not know…”

"Besides fire, lightning can also generate heat, right?"

He gently raised his hand, and a thin bolt of lightning struck the half-melted stone pillar beside him. The surface of the pillar instantly turned red-hot, and the remaining wax vaporized and disappeared with a "sizzle".

"Using high temperatures to melt solids for combat?" Enel's voice carried a godlike disdain.

"You're still a long way from trying to play this game in front of me, the God!"

"What!?"

Ace's pupils contracted sharply as he looked at Enel in shock.

He had considered a million possibilities, but he never expected that Enel would be a Logia-type user like himself.

and……

The opponent's abilities are perfectly countered by my new moves.

“I see…” Ace slowly straightened up, flames and wax rising again, his fighting spirit rekindled in his eyes. “Is this your confidence, Teach!?”

He inexplicably gained a partner with lightning abilities, and the partner could unleash impressive bursts of lightning.

Could it be that Teach, that bastard, is really, as V said, a chosen one favored by fate?

Ace assumed a fighting stance again, but his body swayed involuntarily for a moment.

Although his battle with Blackbeard didn't seem to last long, every move he made was actually all-out effort—from the initial probing with flames, to the burst of power from both Devil Fruits, to the covert infiltration of wax vapor, and finally the all-out output to maintain the internal combustion prison...

Every second consumes a huge amount of physical and mental energy.

At this moment, Blackbeard, though disheveled from having his wax poison forcibly removed by lightning, had regained his footing.

Enel hovered in mid-air, surrounded by wildly dancing lightning bolts, his crimson pupils filled with contempt for the "Qinghai Barbarians".

"Hahaha... Captain Ace, it seems your luck has run out!"

Blackbeard wiped the blood from his face, and dark energy flowed across his body once more.

Despite being corroded by wax poison and burned by lightning, the strange properties of the Dark-Dark Fruit still allow him to retain considerable combat power.

more importantly--

Now, it's two against one.

Ace could clearly feel the exhaustion emanating from his body.

Muscles trembled, breathing became heavy, and the consumption of maintaining the dual forms of flame and wax was far beyond imagination.

"My stamina... is less than 30% left."

"His domineering aura has been largely depleted..."

He glanced at Enel, who was hovering in the air, then looked at Blackbeard, who was approaching step by step, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"Looks like... I'm going to be defeated here."

Ace muttered to himself, the flames flickering in his palm.

V was right.

But the next second, a resolute glint flashed in Ace's eyes.

Being cowardly before even engaging in battle is not in his nature.

Even if it takes his last ounce of strength, he is determined to make Blackbeard suffer as much as possible.

As for what happened after the battle...

hum.

A faint tremor, perceptible only to Ace, emanated from the depths of his brain.

That's the feedback that the miniature brain-computer interface implanted in the brain has been activated.

The next second, a simple dialog box unfolded in his mind's field of vision.

In the contact list, the name "V" is highlighted at the top.

Feeling ashamed, Ace didn't choose to type. Instead, he went directly into the chat window and brought up the lowest-level function options.