Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Whilst the meeting of four of the seven superpowers was going on, as predicted by General Marnur, Ace had just arrived at the Baruch Duchies capital looking to find Linley.

Though he was there, it hadn't been his idea. As soon as he told Cirulus what happened, Cirulus was the one who told Ace that if they were serious about fighting for ownership of the mine, they should speak to the Baruch Clan about a partnership.

Like General Marnur, Grand Marshal Cirulus was able to take a step back and predict what the O'Brien Empire would do based on the information they had access to.

Ace grumbled about it as he didn't want to look weak in front of the man he had chosen to acknowledge as his rival, but it couldn't be helped. He'd rather ask for Linley's support than lose to the O'Brien Empire and Cult of Darkness.

"Ace?" Lina voiced in surprise as he noticed the arrival of the dark-haired youth in the skies above their residence.

She had just been calmly watching her husband and youngest son train when she looked up and saw Ace seem to teleport above them.

Hearing her voice, both Hogg and Wharton looked up to find Ace lazily looking down at them.

Wharton's body subconsciously tensed when he saw that all too familiar figure. Even though he had been able to suppress the demon Ace had left in his heart to help his brother revitalise their clan, seeing Ace brought it all back.

He had sparred with his brother a few times, so he was very much aware of how powerful Linley had become. When Linley really tried, he wasn't able to withstand even one strike.

As far as he was concerned, there was virtually no one in their generation who was a match for his older brother. Even in the generation above, Linley would struggle to find an opponent, with the only one he could think of being Olivier, and even then, he doubted it.

Still, there was one person Wharton believed was still stronger than Linley, and that was Ace. The shadow he had cast over Wharton's heart was seemingly indestructible. The invincible might he had shown to defeat Olivier, who had just broken through to the saint realm at the time, was simply peerless.

A sigh escaped Hogg's mouth when he saw Wharton's reaction to Ace's presence. The difference between his two sons was like night and day, not just in talent but also in temperament. Whilst Linley was able to acknowledge Ace's ability and turn it into a source of motivation, Wharton went the complete opposite direction, struggling to function with any sort of normalcy.

Still, he didn't say anything to his son. Before leaving the O'Brien Empire, he and Linley went to the residence of Haydson, the Monolithic Sword Saint, not just to thank him for taking care of his son and wife but also to see if, as unlikely as it was, there was any way they would be able to convince him to join them.

Unfortunately, Haydson had no intention of leaving the O'Brien Empire; it was his home, and like most others there, be they mortal or saint, they were extremely loyal.

Before leaving, Haydson explained in great detail the extent of Wharton's heart demon before saying that this heart demon was something that Wharton had to overcome on his own.

And as hard as it was to accept, both Linley and Hogg understood that Haydson was telling the truth.

"Ace," Hogg called out, ignoring his son. "Are you looking for Linley? Would you like me to take you to him?"

"No need," Ace said as his afterimage suddenly disappeared. "I've found him."

Hogg could only shake his head helplessly at that. Still, he didn't mind that Ace was treating territory as his own back garden. Without Ace, it wasn't a stretch to say that the Baruch Clan wouldn't be anywhere near as far along as it currently was.

"He didn't even acknowledge us," Lina sighed remorsefully. "I didn't get the chance to apologise."

"It's fine; I'm confident he doesn't hold it against you," Hogg took his wife's hand in his. "And I'm sure you'll have other chances to apologise in the future."

At the same time, Linley was currently sat in a meeting with Zassler talking about the future plans of their Baruch Duchy when he sensed someone rapidly approaching. "Is that…"

"There you are, Linley," Ace said as he blew a hole in the window to their hall before casually stepping through.

Zassler's eyes constricted when he heard the window shatter. Subconsciously he summoned his magi staff and began chanting, thinking they were under attack, when he heard his boss' calm voice.

"Must you destroy my property when you visit, Ace?" Linley sighed, not even bothering to get up.

"No," Ace grinned. "But I couldn't be bothered to walk around the long way."

"Why are you here?" Linley said, changing the subject, not bothering to bicker with this rival of his, a mocking glint flickering in his eyes as he continued. "Don't tell me you need our help."

"Who needs your help?" Ace snorted. "I came here to offer your little lizard clan an opportunity."

"An opportunity?" Linley asked back, his interest clearly piqued. "What sort of opportunity?"

"My clan found a high-level magicite mine…" Ace began explaining the situation to Linley.

"It sounds like he does need our help after all, boss." Bebe chortled from Linley's shoulder.

Even though he couldn't understand Bebe's words, with his [Observation], Ace was able to sense the intent behind Bebe's squeaks.

It had to be understood that Haki user's ability to 'foresee the future' in battle didn't actually come from the ability to peer into the future. In reality, it was an extension of their ability to sense the emotions of their targets.

Above sensing one's emotions, was sensing their intent, or intention in full. With that, they could sense what their target was intending to do next, or in this case, sense the intent of a magical beast's words, despite not understanding their 'screeching'.

"Are you deaf, little rodent?" Ace snapped back. "I said this is an opportunity for you guys. You're free not to take it; it just means I'll have to give up the mine, essentially strengthening both of our enemies."

As shocked as he was by Ace's ability to understand Bebe, Linley didn't have time to pay it a second thought; he was too focused on the second half of Ace's sentence.

Like Ace, he too was focused mainly on getting stronger, leaving Zassler to handle the day-to-day operations of their duchy. Still, he was no idiot. He was smart enough to grasp the big picture and how it could negatively impact his duchy's future operations when targeting the Radiant Church here in the Anarchic Lands.

"Zassler," Linley called out, turning to the frail, elderly-looking man sitting quietly beside him. "What do you think?"

"I think Young Master Ace is correct," Zassler nodded, still thinking about the situation. "Because they don't know the full extent of your relationship, the O'Brien Empire is likely to enter an alliance with the Yulan Empire, the church, and the cult for fear of our interference.

And if the church were to get their hands on such a windfall, it would only help strengthen its position here in the region, making our futures here all the more difficult.

I think it would be in our best interest to ally ourselves with the Gol Clan and send a portion of our force to participate in this battle."

"My thoughts exactly," Linley nodded in agreement. "But how many of our troops should we send?"

"Not many," Zassler answered. "Compared to all the other forces in the region, our Baruch Duchy's greatest strength is our top-level experts.

Aside from yourself, Bebe, and Barker, who all have the power of a saint-level expert, we have seven experts who have the power of peak mortals. As such, I think sending five of our seven generals should suffice."

Linley nodded in agreement. Of those seven, six were descendants of the supreme warriors, whilst the last was Zassler himself, a necromancer who could effectively be considered a one-man army.

"Will that suffice?" Linley asked, turning back to Ace.

"That should do perfectly," Ace nodded.

Although he didn't know much about these seven in terms of comprehension, he could sense that of the six supreme warrior descendants in question, Wharton was the weakest, being a warrior of the seventh rank. Still, after transforming, he would be equal to a warrior at the ninth rank; plus, even though he doubted it could compare to his classmates, he knew that Wharton's comprehension was nothing to scoff at.

As for the other five, they were all in the eighth rank, meaning each of them was equal to a peak ninth-rank warrior.

And as descendants of supreme warriors, when transformed, they were far superior to warriors in the same rank. Of those in the eighth rank, even if they hadn't comprehended one with their weapon, just by relying on their innate gifts post-transformation, they would be equal to a ninth-rank warrior who had comprehended impose.