There are still three weeks left before the date of the decisive battle with Whitebeard.

Since Ace came to this ice island, he has no intention of leaving, such a harsh environment in the ice and snow can be used to exercise his ability to burn fruits, but this is not enough to make up for the huge gap between him and Whitebeard.

But if you really want to compare Whitebeard and Ace, the biggest gap between them is not ability, nor domineering, but fighting instinct, after the almost one-sided battle with Whitebeard, Ace came to this cruel conclusion that is difficult for him to accept.

Ace asked himself if he was also a strong man who had fought against the three major admirals, if you count the battle record, he even slaughtered a dragon by himself! But these honors are indeed so ridiculous in front of Whitebeard.

Ace looked at his hands and muttered, his eyes full of sorrow, "What the hell is missing······ Kindness? ”

Ace suddenly stopped muttering, and seemed to look at the snow behind him with a feeling, and could vaguely see a gray figure passing quickly, the speed was amazing.

"Friend, since you're here, let's show up, it's not too cold to hide in the snow, I still have some hot coffee on the boat, if you don't mind, let's have a drink together?"

The owner of the gray figure didn't expect to hide from the other party so easily, but he was not in a hurry to appear, and with a quick dodge, he disappeared into the silver-white snow.

"Don't like to talk? Well, that's really annoying. Ace stood up and patted the snow on his shirt, "Since you don't want to come out, forget it, but today's study has to end early." ”

Although Ace seemed to be talking to himself, every word he said at the moment was listened to word by word by the figure hidden in a corner, and the gray-robed figure did not say a word, but secretly adjusted his breathing and blended into the surrounding ice and snow.

Ace's face was flat, and he sighed slightly, if it weren't for the fact that he was almost successful in seeing and hearing the domineering, it would be really difficult to find that there was another person here besides him, although the other party's intention was unknown, but the careful Ace did not feel a bit of malice from him, maybe the other party was also a traveler who came here unintentionally, thinking of this, Ace waved his hand back.

"Whatever you want, I'm going back to the ship now, if you want tea, whatever."

Ace was about to pull his legs and walk back, when he heard that the sense of crisis was approaching, Ace suddenly reached back with his right arm, only to hear a metallic tremble, and when he looked back, it was a huge triangular boomerang.

"Is this joke going too far?" Throwing the boomerang in his hand and stomping on it, Ace's eyes were already a little cold, and he slowly stretched out his arm, and the incessant incandescent flames danced in the palm of his hand, as if condensing the gradually viscous air around him, and the incandescent flames exuded an amazing majesty.

"Can I see it as a provocation?" Ace's left eye has quietly ignited a vast pale blue flame, calmly calculating the distance between the two sides, the other party may not be able to imagine that his every move is clearly seen by this eye.

A one-foot-three-inch arc scimitar, the terrifying knife aura exuded by the knife body was secretly suppressed by the owner of the knife, just waiting for the moment of the knife, there was a gray battle axe hanging from his left hand, if the previous triangular boomerang was added, then this person was wearing at least three weapons, and the most strange thing was that this person's face was covered by a gray strip of cloth, leaving only the position between the eyes and the nostrils exposed.

"Don't hide!" Ace roared angrily, and the rising flames on his right arm were like a dragon breaking free from the shackles, roaring and burning everything in front of him.

According to common sense, it should be like this, but Ace was surprised to find that the figure clearly visible in his left eye could not show his original posture on the snow, and the other party used a certain ability to cover his "shape"!

"The person with the ability of the transparent fruit should be Absalom, and that guy is not ······" Ace was silent, waiting for the other party's next move.

But he didn't want to meet an extremely patient person this time, the two of them had been standing in place for more than five minutes, and the other party was motionless, Ace naturally understood that he was waiting for the opportunity to reveal his flaws.

"Cunning, like a hunter?" Ace raised his eyebrows and gave the following evaluation, and he was not in a hurry, secretly paying attention to the opponent's fighting style, this is the valuable experience he has accumulated in the past two years of continuous fighting with the strong, some pirates who have taken the devil fruit have extremely strange abilities, even if they are strong and he is not careful, he will suffer, and usually at this time, it is extremely stupid to punch and rush.

If the enemy does not move, I will not move. What is needed in the battle is not only strength, but also to discover the enemy's combat rules, find out the dead ends, and finally start to counterattack, comprehensively suppress, and quickly kill, this classic combat mode is regarded as the golden rule by Ace, and it is the most valuable wealth left to him by his mentor Golden Lion.

But he didn't know that the other party was also amazed by Ace in his heart at this time, although he just stood there casually, but it gave him a feeling of no flaws, after many years of killing, his heart was already cold, but in the face of a pirate like Ace, he couldn't find a chance to start at all, he understood that this was because the strength of the two sides was too different.

"I lost." But it was the other party who showed his figure first, and threw a trace of respect to Ace, "It is worthy of being a young leader in the new generation of pirates, and it really deserves its name." ”

Seeing that the other party was so open-minded, Ace also put aside his previous prejudices and shook hands with the other party who put down his weapon, "Where, Your Excellency's means of concealing your breath are also quite clever······ By the way, introduce yourself, Portcas D. Ace. ”

"Well, I know, I'm here for you this time." The face under the gray cloth is cold as usual, but at the same time, the bottom of his heart is also slightly emotional for Ace's open-mindedness.

"My name is Gondor, and I'm a bounty hunter."

······

The Bounty Hunters' Guild is a relatively independent and special organization on the Great Voyage, which is different from the Navy, a legal military organization established by the government, and of course it is also different from the "Seven Martial Seas" recognized by the government.

On the great route, what really stands on its feet is always a team behind it, whether it is the navy or the pirates, this is no exception, just like the headquarters fortress, just like the four emperors, it is a large-scale armed organization that has gathered countless talents.

The Bounty Hunter Guild is different, if the three major forces on the Great Voyage are the Navy, the Seven Martial Seas and the Four Emperors, then any of these three forces can be easily wiped out, although the Bounty Hunters Guild also exists by force, but the members are not as organized as other forces, this is not to say that the bounty hunters do not interact with each other, on the contrary, they usually have to call several companions at the same time for the bounty amount of a pirate, and in terms of friendship, it is no worse than some pirates who support each other on the sea.

In the final analysis, it is up to its members.

Bounty hunters, as their name suggests, have a simple and consistent goal, which is to turn their guns on pirates and make money by capturing wanted pirates.

And the origin of this kind of people, one is that they are unemployed people who are not pirates or navy, and they want to make a living by their strength, and second, there are many retired navy people.

In this case, many soldiers in the navy retired due to injuries, and the retired navy was not willing to live in a nest, holding a grudge against the pirates, and privately engaged in the act of capturing pirates in exchange for bounties, which was the source of the earliest "bounty hunters".

And with the rise of bounty hunters, more and more people have joined this profession that also has iron and blood, and this move directly led to the birth of the bounty guild, and the mainstay is naturally those veterans who have retired and have rich combat experience, which is why the bounty hunter guild is obviously an organization, but it has always been weak.

To put it mildly, it's a gathering place for a group of miscellaneous soldiers.

"This time, I was entrusted by the guild leader to come to help." Gondor bowed slightly, introducing himself to the crowd.

"President?"

"It's the old man."

The man who walked in from outside the cave looked to be about forty or fifty years old, wearing a shabby old navy uniform, but no rank was recognizable, and he held a huge knife in his hand, and the surface of the knife was sparkling and cold.

"Asked by the old mad dog, to guide you group of pirate scum."