Starting in One Piece, I'll Build the Strongest Fairy Tail!

"Wait a minute."

"Why are we making this so complicated?!"

At that moment, Eden seemed to have a realization. He placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder and said, "Couldn't I just use Space Magic to separate Ace from Natsu's body?"

VWOOM!

As Eden's words fell, a powerful spatial fluctuation rippled through the air. With a soft thud, Ace finally reappeared before their eyes.

Simultaneously, Natsu's stomach, which had been swollen like a balloon, deflated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You had that ability all along?! Why didn't you use it sooner?!"

At this, everyone immediately swarmed Eden, roaring in fury.

"I forgot."

"I wasn't trying to mess with you, I swear. You have to believe me."

Eden turned his head away, tilting it to gaze up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, a perfect picture of "it wasn't my fault."

Heh, the real reason Eden didn't dare to look at Ace and the others was that he was afraid he'd burst out laughing if he made eye contact.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"You deliberately let us struggle just to watch the show, right?!" Ace gritted his teeth, glaring at Eden.

"And you."

"Our fight isn't over yet."

"If flames don't work on you, then I'll beat you with my fists!"

With that, Ace swung his fist, aiming a fierce blow right at Natsu's cheek.

He was confident in his close-quarters combat skills. He had once fought Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords, to a standstill in a brutal, fist-to-flesh battle.

Then, a scene that stunned everyone present unfolded.

Ace's fist passed right through Natsu's cheek, hitting nothing but air.

As for Natsu, his face was wreathed in flames, having unconsciously elementalized.

"HUH?!"

In that instant...

Everyone's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"Natsu can elementalize, too?" Nami asked, staring at Natsu's fiery form in confusion.

"He shouldn't be able to." Happy also scratched his head, perplexed. He had no memory of Natsu ever being able to use elementalization.

"When did you learn my ability?"

Ace stared at the now-elementalized Natsu, his entire being going numb.

Wait, aside from elementalization, there's literally no other difference between my Flame-Flame Fruit and Natsu's abilities anymore...

Oh, right~

Natsu can eat fire, and his flames are hotter than mine.

But now, even the one unique ability he possessed, elementalization, had been mastered by Natsu. What was so special about his Flame-Flame Fruit anymore?!

Bitterness and despair filled Ace's heart. He swung his fist and roared at Natsu, "Fire Fist!!"

Unfortunately, despite his roar, his arm did not transform into flames as he willed.

This left Ace bewildered. He muttered, "Is it because of the rain? Has my ability been temporarily nullified?"

"Fire Fist!"

But the next second...

Natsu's actions proved Ace's theory dead wrong!

With a mighty roar, Natsu's right arm transformed into a colossal fist of fire, obliterating a sand dune hundreds of meters away with a single punch.

"Ugh..."

Seeing this, Ace froze on the spot.

Good news: Eden had indeed used Space Magic to free him from Natsu's body.

Bad news: His Devil Fruit, the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit, was still inside Natsu.

Even worse news: Natsu seemed to have already mastered its abilities.

Besides, the Flame-Flame Fruit was trash! Even a dog wouldn't eat it! After losing it, maybe it was for the best. He could now focus on training his three types of Haki without distractions.

...As if.

"GIVE ME BACK MY DEVIL FRUIT, YOU THIEVES..."

Ace, seething with anger, lunged at Natsu and locked him in a chokehold.

Unfortunately, Natsu simply elementalized and slipped away.

"..."

Ace fell silent, feeling like his entire world was shattering.

For a moment, his father Whitebeard's words echoed in his ears. He really shouldn't have come out here... he really shouldn't have...

"Flame-Flame Fruit... have you truly left me just like that?" Ace said weakly.

Flame-Flame Fruit: "I'm sorry, Lord Ace. The moment I entered Lord Natsu's body, I knew I was home."

Yes, when a fire-based Devil Fruit entered the body of the ultimate Flame Demon, END (Natsu), it felt like it had returned to its own hearth, a place of incomparable warmth.

"Hehehe, I can elementalize now!"

"I can fly, too!"

"I'm not missing anything now!"

Natsu transformed into flames and soared freely through the sky, reveling in the joy the Flame-Flame Fruit brought him, a look of pure excitement on his face.

"Wait a second,"

"Isn't Natsu horribly seasick?"

"If he's eaten a Devil Fruit and now has a weakness to seawater, isn't he completely screwed?!" Nami suddenly realized, pouring cold water on Natsu's excitement.

"You're right!"

In an instant, Natsu flew down from the sky, a dazed look on his face. "What am I going to do now?!"

"Ace! Get your Devil Fruit out of my body, now!" Natsu turned to Ace and shouted.

"You think I don't want to?!" Ace trembled with rage, truly wanting to slap Natsu across the face.

"No."

"This guy Natsu isn't afraid of water."

At this, Eden, who had been silently observing Natsu, suddenly shook his head.

In the world of ONE PIECE, there was a component called Pyrobroin that specifically affected Devil Fruit users... This component was mainly found in the sea and in Seastone, but due to its solubility, it was present wherever there was water. Rainwater, natural hot springs, you name it.

However, despite being drenched in rain, Natsu showed no signs of weakness. He could even elementalize and fly freely, seemingly unaffected by the curse of the sea. This sent Eden into deep thought.

Could it be that the curse of the sea gods in the One Piece world has little effect on people from our world of Fairy Tail?! Is it because of our different nature? Or something else?

Eden didn't dare jump to a conclusion.

In reality, after the Flame-Flame Fruit entered Natsu's body, it was completely assimilated by his Flame Demon physique. A mere Devil Fruit was refined in an instant!

"Is it Natsu's unique constitution, or are all of us from Fairy Tail immune to the sea's influence?"

"How curious..."

"In that case, it seems I'll have to get a Devil Fruit for myself to play with! I'll use Gajeel as a test subject first."

Eden plotted in his mind.

'Iron Dragon' Gajeel: "Oh, thanks a lot! You're a real pal, our great big brother."

"By the way,"

"Natsu, now that you've eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit, haven't your flames been downgraded from Dragon Flames to ordinary fire?" Ace tried his best to salvage some pride, looking for any silver lining for himself.

"Nope!"

Natsu shook his head. "When I elementalize, the flames my body turns into aren't ordinary flames! They're Dragon Flames."

"Which means..."

"Calling it the Flame-Flame Fruit isn't accurate anymore."

Natsu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "It should be called the 'Dragon-Flame' Fruit now."

"I'm done."

"I'm leaving."

Ace was so angry he laughed.

Oh, so when HE ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, it was the most ordinary, dog-wouldn't-eat-it fruit. But when NATSU ate it, it became the Dragon-Flame Fruit that could incinerate all other flames?! Was this a cheat code? Was this even playable?! WAS THIS FAIR? TELL ME, IS THIS FAIR?!

Ace felt the world's malice directed squarely at him.

In a fit of pique, Ace decided to leave this troublesome place. He had to continue his mission: to hunt down 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach.

"Ace, where are you going?" Eden couldn't help but ask, looking at Ace's lonely back.

"Don't ask."

"It has nothing to do with you."

Ace shook his head, unwilling to say more.

"Ace, let's fight again the next time we meet!"

"I hope that next time..."

"You'll have eaten an even stronger fire-type fruit."

"Then we can really see who's stronger!"

Natsu waved enthusiastically at Ace's retreating figure, grinning from ear to ear.

"Could you please not rub salt in the wound?" Ace replied, feeling completely numb.

"Anyway, if we ever have the chance to meet again..."

With that, Ace turned and marched resolutely towards his goal.

"Ace, are we friends now?" Natsu yelled at his retreating back.

"Heh~"

A soft chuckle escaped Ace. He didn't turn around, simply continuing his march into the storm. But beside him, he raised a single thumb.

"Blackbeard, huh~"

Eden didn't try to stop Ace from going after Blackbeard. He knew he couldn't. The old geezer Whitebeard knew better than anyone just how stubborn Ace could be.

"Alright, we have only one goal now. We're heading to Rain-Dinners to take down Crocodile."

As he spoke, Eden led Natsu, Nami, and Happy in the opposite direction from Ace, striding forward with purpose.

Each of them had their own path to follow.

Meanwhile.

After Smoker sent a request for support to Marine HQ, he was shocked to find that, contrary to his message being lost in the bureaucracy, he received an unusually fast response.

And the one responding?

"I'll go see for myself."

The youngest Rear Admiral in Marine HQ, who, after just a few days of training with Garp, had already preliminarily mastered Armament and Observation Haki... Erza Scarlet.

~# Every 20 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter