One Piece: The Strongest Trait System-Chapter 82: [] : Loading the Flare-Flare Fruit! Promotion to Yonko Commander Level!

Chapter 82 - [82] : Loading the Flare-Flare Fruit! Promotion to Yonko Commander Level!

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"Whoa! I didn't come here looking for a fight with you Marines," Ace said, adjusting his signature orange hat, looking exasperatedly at Gion.

'Ran into a troublesome one, huh.' Ace's eyes held a serious glint.

Against other Marine HQ Vice Admirals, he wouldn't be concerned—But this Pink Rabbit was different.

Admiral Candidates, though holding the Vice Admiral rank, possessed power on another level entirely.

"Our objective isn't you either. It's 'Sky Sovereign' Rowen of the Straw Hat Pirates," Gion stated, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly.

"However, as the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, your presence here cannot be ignored. If you choose to depart peacefully, I will not engage you."

Gion's expression was equally serious.

Fire Fist Ace was strong, but she wasn't afraid of him. The real problem was the man 'behind' Ace—one of the four individuals reigning like emperors over the New World!

One of the Four Emperors!

The World's Strongest Man!

Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!

Facing that man—forget her, an Admiral Candidate; even if all three current Marine Admirals arrived, they couldn't clash with him without explicit permission from the highest authorities.

Gion felt an urge to curse. She came here pursuing Sky Sovereign Rowen, but before even finding him, she ran into Fire Fist Ace!

After the Loguetown incident, Smoker, the original garrison commander, had returned to HQ. The news that Rowen had stolen his Smoke-Smoke Fruit caused a massive uproar within Marine Headquarters.

Smoker, due to his Logia ability, was considered a guaranteed future Vice Admiral, one of the key figures the Marines were grooming in the younger generation. Though the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was low-tier among Logias, it was still a Logia!

The current three Admirals were all Logia users, considered perhaps the strongest trio of Admirals in Marine history! Yet now, that fruit had been stolen by 'Sky Sovereign' Rowen.

'Sky Sovereign' Rowen possessed the ability to steal others' Devil Fruits!

Furthermore, Smoker's condition was strange—completely drained of strength.

After internal study, Marine HQ suspected this was a side effect of having a Devil Fruit stolen.

(This was precisely why Rowen had brazenly plundered Smoker's strength; the world had never seen an ability that stole everything. Lacking intel, even Marine HQ would misinterpret the situation based on existing knowledge, attributing the power loss solely to the fruit removal. Rowen letting this misconception persist actually helped obscure his true capabilities.)

Regardless, this alarming intelligence was immediately relayed to the Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha.

Upon learning the news, Sengoku felt an immense headache coming on.

Sky Sovereign Rowen possessing Conqueror's Haki was already problematic. Now, he also had a Logia Devil Fruit ability? This man posed a massive future threat to the Marines...

Sengoku was also puzzled.

Why would Sky Sovereign Rowen choose the Smoke-Smoke Fruit? With the power to hunt Devil Fruits, shouldn't he aim for stronger ones?

Based on intel from his clash with Mihawk, the man clearly understood the power dynamics of the sea. For someone like him, a mere Smoke-Smoke Fruit, even if Logia, should be beneath his notice.

Understanding the true nature of this potential major threat's abilities became paramount for Sengoku.

But the headache intensified: Sky Sovereign Rowen was part of the crew belonging to Garp's damn grandson, Monkey D. Luffy!

Though Garp wouldn't say it aloud, Sengoku couldn't just dispatch the 'Hawk' faction admirals to capture or kill Garp's grandson.

Sending 'Dove' faction admirals wasn't suitable either; he couldn't exactly order them to go easy on the crew.

After much deliberation, Sengoku finally dispatched Vice Admiral Gion.

Firstly, Gion's strength far surpassed normal Vice Admirals; she was more than capable. Secondly, Gion was the younger sister of Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer—a close friend of both Sengoku and Garp.

Sending Gion allowed investigation into Rowen's true strength while also showing face to that old bastard Garp.

Gion also brought along Captain Hina ('Black Cage'), another promising young female officer, and Tashigi, who had encountered Rowen in Loguetown.

After receiving intel that Rowen and the Straw Hats were heading towards Alabasta, Gion came here, only to unexpectedly run into Fire Fist Ace.

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"Sky Sovereign Rowen? Straw Hat Pirates?" Hearing these names, Ace's expression instantly changed.

"Originally, I didn't want to fight you. But if your target is Luffy..."

FWOOSH!

Flames erupted, engulfing Ace's entire body.

"Come on, Marines! Let me see the strength of a Marine Admiral Candidate!" Ace declared gravely.

"What do you think you're doing?! Fire Fist Ace! Are you trying to start a war?!" Gion's expression turned grim as Ace activated his Flare-Flare Fruit.

Fighting Ace here would have repercussions far beyond Alabasta and her mission!

It could potentially draw the intervention of the man behind Ace—Whitebeard! She lacked the authority to engage Ace recklessly without approval.

But Gion couldn't understand why Ace, who just said he didn't want to fight, suddenly changed his mind.

The answer arrived moments later.

"ACE! It really is Ace!" An excited yell echoed nearby.

"Luffy!" Ace turned, his face breaking into a wide, joyous grin.

"Straw Hat!" Tashigi immediately recognized Luffy, then quickly scanned the area, searching for another figure.

She wasn't disappointed. A figure slowly walked towards them.

"Been a while, Tashigi," Rowen greeted her with a calm smile, then noticed the woman beside her. 'So it really is Vice Admiral Gion.'

Tashigi bit her lip upon hearing Rowen's voice.

"'Sky Sovereign' Rowen!" Gion's gaze locked onto her primary target, her expression hardening.

"Check Traits." Rowen commanded inwardly, scanning both Gion and Ace.

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Gion Traits: Great Swordsman (Deep Gold), Armament Haki (Deep Gold), Observation Haki (Deep Gold).

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Standard Admiral Candidate / Yonko Commander level combatant.

Rowen's own expression turned serious.

Although his ultimate technique could reach this level of power, a true life-or-death battle against Gion offered no guarantee of victory.

But when Rowen saw Ace's Traits, his pupils constricted sharply.

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Ace Traits: Flare-Flare Fruit (Pale Gold) (Unawakened), Conqueror's Haki (Self-Loathing), Observation Haki (Pale Gold), Armament Haki (Self-Loathing), Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor (Deep Gold).

Conqueror's Haki (Self-Loathing): Detests own Pirate King bloodline, consequently detests the Conqueror's Haki inherited from it. Self-loathing prevents its use.

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Seeing the 'Self-Loathing' tag on Conqueror's Haki, Rowen wasn't surprised.

Ace grew up under a relentless negative propaganda campaign by the Marines, branding the Pirate King's bloodline as evil, something that shouldn't exist.

This led to Ace's rebellious and violent early childhood, only softening after meeting Luffy and Makino. But such deep-seated childhood trauma couldn't simply fade with time; it festered.

Ace completely losing his composure when reminded of his Roger lineage and during his challenge against Whitebeard proved this.

Even during his execution, he utterly despised his own bloodline. Consequently, his Conqueror's Haki was suppressed by this self-loathing, rendering it unusable.

The same applied to his Armament Haki.

Self-loathing created a massive flaw in Ace's spiritual strength.

In the One Piece Haki system, physical ailments, even incurable diseases, could often be compensated for by Devil Fruits.

But spiritual flaws were different; if significant, they severely hindered or completely prevented Haki development and usage.

Observation Haki was slightly different.

After awakening, it primarily functioned as an extension of the user's five senses. Even with significant spiritual flaws, as long as the user's spirit wasn't completely broken, Observation Haki could still be used.

Ace demonstrated this in the original story when searching for the bounty hunter Scorpion, and also during his fight with Blackbeard (Blackbeard commented Ace hadn't been hit in a long time).

Ace operated in the New World where Armament Haki was common; avoiding hits relied on his decent Observation Haki, allowing him to predict attacks and elementize his body (Logia intangibility) just before impact, letting Haki-infused attacks pass through harmlessly.

Looking at the Flare-Flare Fruit Trait, Rowen's eyes lit up again.

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Flare-Flare Fruit (Pale Gold) (Unawakened): Flame Human. Can transform entire body into flames, using powerful flame attacks (Pale Gold). Upon Awakening, unleashes the full power of the Flare-Flare Fruit (Apex Gold)!

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Apex Gold!

A fully awakened Flare-Flare Fruit possessed power equivalent to an Apex Gold Trait!

At minimum, capable of contending with an Admiral-level 'gatekeeper' like Zephyr in his prime!

Just as Rowen suspected, this fruit, while perhaps less versatile than the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, absolutely belonged in the T1 (Tier 1) category of Devil Fruits.

Fire, since ancient times, alongside lightning, was regarded by humanity as a natural disaster, even worshipped as divine power.

Though the Flare-Flare Fruit was sometimes mocked in the New World because many powerful individuals could utilize fire-based attacks—that very fact highlighted fire's inherent power!

Both Big Mom (with Prometheus) and Kaido (using Flame Bagua as his strongest move) utilized fire extensively.

Its destructive potential was undeniable.

The Flare-Flare Fruit's power was easily comparable to Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit, perhaps even surpassing it in raw destructive force.

A truly powerful Devil Fruit!

Its main weakness was being inherently inferior to Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit.

But that was because Magma-Magma was a T0 (Tier 0) fruit—stated in texts to possess the highest offensive power among all Devil Fruits.

Akainu's combat record demonstrated its terrifying might; even without Infused Conqueror's, its destructive force seemed to exceed even that, maiming or killing anyone hit by it.

Rowen now fully understood why Magma countered Flare.

The Flare-Flare Fruit was based on natural fire (like forest fires, temp 800-1300°C), not chemical combustion.

Magma temperature exceeded 1400°C. Combined with magma's properties, it completely smothered natural flames, making it the superior fruit.

Currently, Ace's entire combat strength relied on this fruit. Pushed to its limit, using Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor, Ace could exert Yonko Commander level power (Deep Gold).

But what truly made Rowen's pupils constrict wasn't Ace's own Traits.

It was—

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—[Detected target linked by life-and-death bond to Crew Captain, Monkey D. Luffy.]—

—[Can load target's Traits via Monkey D. Luffy connection.]—

—[Loadable Traits: Observation Haki (Pale Gold), Flare-Flare Fruit (Pale Gold), Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor (Deep Gold). Due to life-and-death bond, equipping will be instantaneous upon selection.]—

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He could load Ace's Traits?!

Life-and-death bond... Even without joining the Straw Hat crew, if someone shared such a bond with a crew member, their Traits could be loaded—instantly!

Just like Rowen instantly equipped Nami's Traits!

Luffy's life-and-death bonds naturally extended to Ace and Sabo.

Rowen didn't hesitate. He immediately selected 'Load'.

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—[Observation Haki (Pale Gold) loaded!]—

—[Observation Haki tier advanced! Upgraded to Observation Haki (Pale Gold)!]—

—[Flare-Flare Fruit (Pale Gold) loaded!]—

—[Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor (Deep Gold) loaded!]—

—[Physique energy contained within Flare-Flare Fruit (Pale Gold) automatically digested.]—

—[Superhuman Demonic Physique (Pale Gold) Enhanced!]—

—[Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) activated. Armament Haki (Pale Gold) Enhanced!]—

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A cascade of notifications flooded Rowen's vision, making it impossible for him to suppress his grin.

The Flare-Flare Fruit Trait, being Strength-type, naturally included Ace's physical energy.

Ace's physique was considerable, yielding five Pale Gold Upgrade Materials for Rowen!

(Physique energy, at Pale Gold tier and above, related more to stamina reserves—fuel for Haki/Devil Fruits—than raw strength. Though giants like Dorry/Brogy possessed immense raw strength due to their race, their overdrafted state meant their actual physique energy contribution was less than Ace's.)

After absorbing Ace's physical energy, Rowen's Superhuman Demonic Physique and Armament Haki were now only 'one' Pale Gold material away from reaching the Deep Gold tier!

Plus, he gained the T1 Flare-Flare Fruit!

Rowen's strength increased massively!

And—Rowen already possessed abilities that synergized perfectly with the Flare-Flare Fruit!

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New Fusion Technique Trait: Flame Burst (Deep Gold): Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability detonates flames! Unleashing terrifyingly amplified explosive power!

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Another Ultimate Technique Trait appeared!

The Bomb-Bomb Fruit could detonate the Flare-Flare Fruit's flames, maximizing their explosive potential! And this was a standard ability, not requiring immense concentration!

Meaning, even relying solely on Devil Fruit powers in his base state, Rowen now possessed Yonko Commander level combat strength!

Furthermore, another ability synergized with fire:

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New Fusion Technique Trait: Flame Haze (Deep Gold): Combines Smoke-Smoke and Flare-Flare Fruit abilities. Enhances flame power while simultaneously causing suffocation to enemies caught within the attack.

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Also a standard-use ability!

And one final ultimate technique:

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New Ultimate Technique Trait: Great Flame Commandment - Flame Emperor (Explosion, Smoke) (Deep Gold): Infuses Bomb-Bomb and Smoke-Smoke Fruit powers into Flame Emperor, unleashing the combined might of all three Devil Fruits.

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This was now Rowen's Strongest Devil Fruit based ultimate attack.

Its power absolutely surpassed Ace's standard Flame Emperor by a significant margin.

And this was just his Devil Fruit abilities! Rowen still possessed Haki.

Rowen had officially ascended to the Yonko Commander combat tier! And not just barely scraping by.

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