Chapter Three

Our travel continued, putting us right before the New World.

The trip across the Grand Line was already half done. We were finishing up the first half.

Over time, the Spade Pirates had grown to comprise twenty members, one of whom was an animal. Ace and the rest of the crew were viewed differently by other pirates by now, and in accordance with that, our captain’s bounty rose higher and higher.

At this rate I almost expected us to plunge into the New World with great fanfare, but things did not turn out to be quite that simple. The first warning came from Skull, our almanac of information.

“Coating?” Ace said, repeating the unfamiliar word.

We were in the lamplit ship’s cabin. Ace was sitting in a chair, and at his feet was Kotatsu, a large form curled up into a compact ball. The giant cat was sleeping peacefully.

Skull had a sea chart open on the desk to facilitate his explanation. “That’s right. We have to coat the ship in a special natural resin. That will allow us to sail into the water and pass along the ocean floor.”

The next stop, as indicated by the Log Pose we used for navigation, was Fish-Man Island, all the way down at the bottom of the sea. Obviously, we couldn’t get there with our current setup. So we needed to have an expert coat our ship in order to get down there.

And the place we could get that coating done?

“Sabaody Archipelago…” Ace murmured, looking at Skull’s map. It was a gathering of many islands, large and small. On Skull’s suggestion, the Spade Pirates made their way for the Sabaody Archipelago.

“Technically, the ‘islands’ in the archipelago aren’t even islands. Each one of them is a giant tree known as a Yarukiman Mangrove. The land at the base of each tree is just resting on its roots, and the roots are where the resin comes from.”

“Ah, I see. And because they’re not islands, you can stop there and not have to worry about the Log being overwritten by the magnetic signal,” I said, glancing at Skull’s map too. There were seventy-nine islands on the chart, and they were all giant trees with people living on the roots. It was stunning to imagine.

“I’ve got my sights set on a good coater already. But it’s guaranteed he’ll take no less than three full days.”

“A three-day delay?” Ace murmured, looking unhappy. He didn’t usually trouble himself with maps, so seeing him look at this one with such an expression of concern on his face was like seeing a fish out of water. It was very much like Ace to call it a delay rather than just a “stay,” however.

“Is the food good, though?” he then asked, which was also a very Ace-like concern.

“The Sabaody Archipelago is a major tourist spot at the entrance to the New World. I’m sure there are tons of places with great eats.”

“Ahhh, good to know…” Ace murmured, but despite his pretense of careful consideration, I could see that his countenance was brightening. He couldn’t hide his excitement at the prospect of the trip ahead.

“So is this spot with the skull a place we should avoid?” Ace asked, pointing out a large symbol on the sea chart.

Skull was affronted by this question. “What do you mean, Master Ace? That’s my symbol. In other words, that’s the place I want to go. The destination. That’s where we’re heading now.”

“Oh… But… Am I the only one who’s a little uneasy about that symbol?”

“What? Really?! Fine, then…”

Skull pulled out a pen, dipped it in red ink, then drew a large heart around the skull.

Ace gave me a skeptical look. I couldn’t disagree with him.

Our ship continued on its way until we approached the Sabaody Archipelago at last. We were nearly to the mark on the map that Skull had identified as our destination. Out on the deck, we looked up at the majestic trees overhead.

“They’re huge…” I murmured, not realizing I had spoken out loud. The size of them was unimaginable.

A special natural resin oozed from the roots of the massive trees, and that was the material that made the coating process possible. As the roots took in air, they exhaled it through the resin to form huge bubbles that floated up into the sky. Such bubbles were constantly floating around the archipelago in countless numbers.

The sunlight reflected off the surface of the bubbles in a rainbow array. It was such a wondrous, fantastical sight that it left me speechless. In the distance was a large Ferris wheel surrounded by floating bubbles.

I felt like I was dreaming. It was painful to admit that I couldn’t even have come up with words to describe the beauty that surrounded me.

“No. Can’t let that stop me now,” I said, snapping back to business. I pulled a notebook from my coat and began to write a description of this fairy-tale sight. Every word I could think of, I wrote down. My pen flew across the small page.

In fact, the words came to me freely and smoothly at that moment. My talent for writing almost frightened me. Maybe this writing thing was going to work out after all.

Then I heard some muttering from people looking over my shoulder.

“What’s this? ‘Crazy trees. Totally stripey’? What is that supposed to mean?”

“ ‘Floating soap-bubbly things. The only word I can come up with is amazing. Where will these bubbles take me?’ You planning on floating off somewhere, man?”

“ ‘Is it right for a man who never puts down roots to live on top of roots? I say it is! Viva Sabaody!’ What the heck is this?”

I screamed, “Aaaaaah! Don’t read it, you guys!”

The deck erupted in laughter.

“H-hey, I thought you—heh heh heh!—you were going to write an adventure journal!”

“I dunno, huh-huh, th-this might be out of your range, man,” the sailors teased, stifling their laughter.

“Th-this is just notes for an outline! I’m jotting down a general plot! It’s going to be way better when I’m done with it. Be patient!”

“Sure, sure. Can’t wait to read it.”

“If you’re gonna go to the trouble, you might as well write something good. Make me the hero while you’re at it,” said one of the sailors as they returned to their positions. I watched them go and swore to myself that if I ever did complete this tale of my adventures, I would never include their names.

The Spade Pirates’ ship wove its way between gigantic roots breaching the surface of the sea. We headed for a place away from prying eyes where we could moor and disembark.

The Sabaody Archipelago had a proper port, of course, but we were staying away. For one thing, we needed to be in the area for at least three days while our ship got coated. What would be the point of starting the coating process if we were spotted by the Navy, bounty hunters, or unscrupulous pirates in the meantime?

There were several lawless areas within the spacious archipelago where the government couldn’t enforce its will, and we chose one of them as our destination. If anything, a lawless district would be more comfortable and familiar than staying somewhere the Navy might attempt to seize our ship while it was incapacitated.

We found a spot nestled deep between the giant roots and quietly maneuvered our ship inside. Once we started preparing to moor it to the roots, Skull warned the crew, “It’s not just the Navy and bounty hunters to watch for. There are world nobles and slavers, too… Lots of danger around. Stay out of trouble until our coating is done.”

Especially you, he seemed to say, looking at Ace. “I’m talking to you, Master Ace.”

“Huh? How come?” Ace asked. He had been staring at the island with sparkling eyes.

“I said, we don’t want to get into any trouble while we’re here…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Hey, you think those Graman things are any good?”

“I don’t think you do get it.”

Graman were steamed buns filled with sweet bean paste that were a specialty of the islands. Clearly, all Ace could think about was what he would eat once he got off the ship.

Skull sighed and shot me a look. I knew what he was trying to say, so I grimaced and reassured him, “I’ll keep watch over him. If nobody keeps tabs on Ace, he’s likely to go and light some world nobles on fire or something.”

“Whoa, don’t even say that! I might be an intel guy, but even I wasn’t anticipating something like that! Don’t you do it! Don’t you dare do it! And that’s not a reverse dare!” Skull shouted, suddenly panicked. I laughed, and after a moment, so did he. In the meantime, the ship came to a complete stop. We had arrived.

With the delicate job of maneuvering the ship to the shore completed, the crew was suddenly more relaxed.

“Yeah, running into the world nobles would be kind of a mess, but as long as I don’t catch the eye of the Navy, I’m not worried about any—”

“There you are, Fire Fist! We meet again!” said a familiar voice, right as Skull was saying, “—one…else…”

Skull’s head creaked and turned like a rusty gear toward the sound of the new voice. I glanced over the side of the ship, fearing what I would see there.

“Come out peacefully! This time you’re under arrest!” said the bold voice. I didn’t need to see her to know it was Isuka. She stood there on the shore, arms crossed, looking up at the ship.

“There she is again…”

“How many times has it been now?”

Her appearance got the crew murmuring amongst themselves. Not out of fear, though—it was more annoyance than anything else.

Ever since we’d entered the Grand Line, the ensign had been constantly badgering our ship. Isuka was obsessed with arresting Ace; each time we shook her off and got away, she’d appear at our next destination to harass us again. Given that we were still sailing safely along, it was obvious that she had not succeeded at her goal. Ace was still a perfectly free man.

“Hey, it’s Isuka. Whatcha doin’ here? On vacation?” Ace called out from the deck of the ship. He sounded quite unconcerned.

“Of course I’m not on vacation! I’ve come here to arrest you, you fool!”

“Oh yeah? Hey, what kind of local specialties do they have here, aside from Graman?”

“You want souvenir recommendations? I bought Grasen rice crackers for my subordinates. They do keep well… Hey, I just said I wasn’t on vacation!” Isuka shouted, but I, and probably everyone else present, had the same thought:

She’s on vacation…

Definitely on vacation…

She’s clearly on a vacation…

For one thing, she wasn’t wearing her usual Navy uniform. She was in rather conspicuous casual tourist clothes. She must have spotted the ship while enjoying some free time. How could we have managed to run into this particular individual in the entire vast stretch of the archipelago? It seemed like fate working its magic…

Simply put, Isuka was a “good guy.”

She had a strong sense of justice, and she was dedicated and honest to a fault.

In a fight she was tremendously powerful, but she always lacked a finishing move when push came to shove. This was how Ace consistently slipped away from her—he could always get away when he needed to.

It had become a pattern, the punchline of our every encounter.

Isuka was a familiar figure to all of us in the Spade Pirates, not just Ace. She would probably protest this description, but she seemed like less of a Navy officer and more of an oddball who showed up wherever we did just to liven up the mood.

“Sheesh… At least she didn’t bring her men along this time,” Skull said with relief. Isuka was all alone, most likely because she was enjoying some shore leave. “I’m sure we can manage her like usual if she’s on her own.”

That was how little respect Isuka had earned from the Spade Pirates.

“Yeah, we can hide the ship again later,” I agreed, noticing the vast difference in enthusiasm between Ace and Isuka.

“Come down here, Fire Fist! Surrender yourself, if you know what’s good for you!”

“Don’t think we’ll be able to get off the ship for a while,” I sighed, grudgingly impressed by the determination of the woman down below, who continued to shout up at us.

“She’s stubborn. I’m jealous, in a way. Wish there was a stubborn woman chasing after me like that.”

Skull had always admired Isuka for her tenacity and refusal to give up on chasing us.

“But she’s Navy.” I reminded him softly.

“Yeah, I know, I know…” Skull sighed.

“You’re going to get your ship coated, aren’t you? There won’t be any escape!” Isuka promised, and laughed. I wondered when she was going to lose her voice from all the shouting.

Eventually I began to tune her out. After a moment, my stomach growled. I wanted to disembark and get something to eat on the island, but that wasn’t possible now. I’d have to eat leftovers on the ship and wait until Isuka got tired and gave me a chance to slip away.

“Hey, Ace, I guess I’ll just eat—” I started to say, before I realized that Ace was not on the deck. Belatedly, I realized that he had stopped responding to Isuka’s taunts a while ago.

“Dammit!” I swore.

Down on the shore, Isuka was still in the exact spot where she had first appeared, looking up at the ship with her arms crossed. She hadn’t even moved her face from one side to the other.

“I mean, really, how blinkered can you be?!”

Unbelievably enough, Isuka kept her eyes trained directly up at that side of the ship the entire time. Knowing she’d be that way, Ace simply hopped off in a different direction where she wasn’t looking.

“Hah! Have you gone silent because you’re terrified, knowing there is no escape, Fire Fist?! At long last, your reckoning has come! Fire Fist! Are you listening to me? Answer me! What’s wrong with you? Have you fallen asleep?! Fire Fist!”

He’s obviously made a getaway already.

I stared down at Isuka with pity in my eyes as she continued shouting and wailing. Ace was probably strolling along the market stands in town by now, picking out whatever looked tasty.

But suddenly…

“Where’s Ace?”

The door to the ship’s interior opened a crack with a creaking sound that seemed unnecessarily slow and creepy. Peering out through the crack was the man who hardly ever showed his face: Mihal.

“Teach! What a rare surprise,” I exclaimed when I spotted his glasses and whiskers through the doorframe.

Though he called himself a teacher, Mihal never showed his face in public unless giving an official lesson. He generally stayed shut inside his library even when we reached a new island. If he dared to venture within a step of the outside world, then something bad must be happening.

Mihal reached an arm out toward the deck, treating the door almost like a shield. There was something clutched in his hand.

“Ace’s wallet fell on the floor outside my cabin…”

I went pale. Something bad had happened.

“H-he doesn’t…h-have…any money? And he went…into town…for f-food?”

“This is bad news, Master Deu,” bellowed Skull, grabbing my shirt. “We’re gonna be here for three whole days!”

“Y-you said you’d watch over him!”

“I didn’t think he was going to disappear that fast!”

“W-what do we do now?! He’s going to torch a world noble at this rate!”

“Is he?! Would he really do something like that?!”

Skull and I quaked with fear imagining the worst possible scenario. It would take three days to coat our ship. We couldn’t leave this place until then—we were stuck. So we had to avoid any unnecessary trouble during this time. It was bad enough that Isuka had spotted us the moment we dropped anchor here…

“Dammit, I gotta go after him! You take care of the ship!”

I snatched the wallet out of Mihal’s hand and jumped overboard to go after Ace.

Isuka still stood in front of the ship, feet firmly planted in place and shouting at the top of her lungs. But, as I suspected, she was barely paying attention. All I had to do was sneak away out of the corner of her eye, and I was free. This must have been how Ace got away too.

First, I headed for the crowds in search of Ace. Large bubbles were rising from the ground ahead of me. I rushed onward, dodging both people and bubbles. It felt very strange to be running atop roots instead of proper soil.

I couldn’t help but notice vehicles and buildings making use of the durable bubbles. Not only were the resin-secreting roots the solid ground of these islands, they were also an economic engine supporting the people who lived here. I passed by the island’s industries and headed for the commercial area.

Once there, I found Ace right away. Or, more accurately, I found a trail of cooks and stall managers chasing after him.

“Eat-and-run!”

“He went that way!”

Angry shouts filled the market. The lanes were full of angry workers from all manner of food stands. Clearly, this situation was the result of Ace making the rounds without any money.

I would find him leading the line of angry, shoving workers, I was sure. But it wasn’t a situation I could navigate in that circumstance. There had to be a better way to get through them to reach him…

I steeled myself for action. My eyes shone.

“All right, looks like this is going to require some negotiation… I’ll need you people to get out of my way!”

I shook out my shoulders and fists, then grabbed the man standing at the very end of the line. “Hey.”

When the intimidating fellow turned around to glare at me, I gave him my most simpering smile. “How much do we owe you?”

In this manner I made my way through the line, paying each food worker and apologizing in turn.

I finally caught a glimpse of Ace in a bubble-themed amusement area called Sabaody Park, beneath the Ferris wheel. Apparently he’d been lured here by the scent of the food stalls.

Eventually I finished paying the last of the food merchants chasing after Ace and made it to his side, panting and wheezing. He was sitting on a bench near the Ferris wheel and—believe it or not—he was fast asleep. In fact, he was sleeping with his cheeks still completely stuffed with food. There was a half-eaten skewer in either hand, which must’ve been the food I’d just paid for.

“If you eat food…you pay for it!” I said, like a mother giving a child etiquette lessons, and then I chop-slammed Ace on the forehead.

“Mmmlp?!”

Ace woke up, his cheeks bulging. He gazed around sleepily, blinked, and swallowed everything in his mouth in one gulp.

“Pwaaah, that was good. I sure ate and ran a lot. In fact, I ran so much that I’m hungry again.”

“How in the world does your body work?”

He chowed down on the remaining bits of meat left on his skewers, then headed for another food stall, so I tossed him his wallet. “Here. Don’t cause any more trouble.”

“My wallet! Is it…lighter than I remember?”

“Of course it is.”

“Hm…”

He didn’t seem to be able to put two and two together. I sighed; my job was done. I glanced up at the giant wheel overhead, listening to the children shrieking with delight.

The rotating wheel looked huge from below, and it was even more beautiful up close than it was from our ship. The gondolas shone with the iridescence of the bubbles, rotating slowly and catching the sunlight.

It must be an incredible view from the top, I thought. But it wasn’t the kind of thing a grown man could do his own. Especially not a pirate…

Eventually Ace came back from the food stands and said, “What, you wanna ride it?”

“Who, me? A Ferris wheel? I’m not a little kid,” I snorted.

“You ever been on one before?”

“Well, no…”

“Then now’s the time. We’re here anyway, so let’s ride it!” Ace said. He slapped me on the back.

At Ace’s urging, I headed toward the ride. I made a show of being reluctant about it, but the truth was, I was excited on the inside. The endlessly smiling ride attendant motioned toward the step, and one of the bubble-made gondolas slowly approached.

“There you go! Do enjoy the wonderful sights of Sabaody Archipelago!” said the attendant, putting a hand on the gondola door.

“I’ve found you at last, Fire Fist!” shouted Isuka, appearing out of nowhere and shoving her way into the gondola with a fierce look in her eyes.

“Wha—! H-hey, don’t…!” I yelped, getting squashed against the side.

“I’ve had enough of your sneaking and running about! Why didn’t you just come out the front of the ship?!”

“Because you were there.”

“What?! So…so you should do it anyway! You’re a man, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be crazy!”

She rounded into him with accusations, which Ace protested. But just at that moment, there was an unpleasant clicking sound from behind Isuka.

“Huh…?”

She turned around. The door of the gondola was locked.

The Ferris wheel began to turn again, and there was nothing to do about it now. I couldn’t believe how uncomfortable it was inside of the gondola. How did we end up here?

I sat on the bench, hunched up awkwardly against the wall. Next to me, Ace gazed happily out the window at the scenery.

Sitting across from us and looking rather grumpy was Isuka. She didn’t spare a glance outside, just glared at the two of us in silence.

I wanna get off this thing!

We had barely started moving, and already I could hardly take it. I felt like I was going to suffocate. How could there be a Navy officer and pirates riding together in the same Ferris wheel gondola?

There was no way to enjoy the view. It was like being in prison. Were we still going up? When would we get back to the ground? I never knew the agonizingly slow movement of the wheel could be so terrifying.

I want to get back down… No, wait. What’ll happen when we get there?

Since there was nothing any of us could do in the cramped gondola, Isuka was behaving for now. But who knew what she would try once we were back on solid ground?

What’ll happen to us when we’re on the surface again?!

I inhaled and groaned. This was hell. It was hell inside the gondola, and hell waiting when I got back out of it.

But while I was squirming around feeling sorry for myself, Ace simply said, “So once the bubbles get a certain distance off the ground, they pop, huh?” He was the only one of us who was actually ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the view.

Ace, buddy, how can you be so calm over there? Isuka’s sitting right here, staring daggers at you. In fact, I might even say she’s staring laser beams at you.

I was so alarmed by the situation that I could hardly look at her. Instead, I stared at Isuka’s hands to avoid the ferocity of her gaze. One of them featured a very nasty burn scar. I’d noticed that scar the first time I ever saw her, in fact. Up close like this, it was clear that the scar was quite old.

“Curious?” she asked me, rather suddenly.

I was so startled that I jumped. Silence settled over the gondola.

“I asked, are you curious about my burn?” she repeated.

Now that I understood her meaning, I mumbled, “Uh…yeah. I mean, no…”

“It’s all right,” she said, smiling. “This happened when I was a kid. Pirates attacked the village where I was born. Within moments it was a sea of flames. The fire took my parents…”

The word ‘fire’ elicited a reaction from Ace, albeit a subtle one. He continued to stare silently out the window, however.

“I was trapped by the flames and smoke. It was a Navy officer who raced to the scene and actually saved me. That was Lieutenant Commander Dorrow, although he’s been promoted—he’s Vice Admiral Dorrow now. He’s the reason I wanted to join the Navy,” she explained, tracing her burn scar.

“Every time I look at this hand, I remember my youth. I don’t want any other children to have to go through what I did. That’s why I swore an oath to lock up all the villainous pirates,” Isuka continued, smiling gently. Her burn was both a painful memory and a signpost guiding her future way.

It occured to me that this was the first time I’d ever seen her looking so peaceful and pleasant. Maybe it just seemed that way because she wasn’t wearing her usual Navy uniform. Or maybe…

“Listen to me, Fire Fist,” she said, at the end of her story. “Quit the pirate life.”

It was so unexpected, I gasped.

“From what I can tell, you don’t seem like a bad person.”

Time seemed to slow down inside the gondola. I suddenly realized that the shouting and screaming of the children at the amusement park had drifted away. We were near the top of the ride. Ace continued to look out the window without offering a word.

“W-what are you saying?” I asked the ensign, stunned. “Q-quit being pirates? If we’re not pirates…then…what are we?”

She cut off my stammering. “If you have nowhere else to go, come to the Navy. I can give you a personal recommendation.”

Isuka was staring at Ace, her eyes passionate and full of intent. “I’m sure you would look good in a Navy uniform. We can take care of all of your friends together. What do you think? It’s not a bad deal, is it?”

This lady’s crazy…

I was at a loss for words. But Isuka was clearly dead serious. She was seriously, honestly trying to recruit Ace and the Spade Pirates to the Navy.

Since we’d entered the Grand Line, she’d been our enemy at each and every island we’d visited. Navy and pirates could never be anything other than pursuer and pursued, hunter and prey—so how could she possibly suggest such a thing with a straight face?

Perhaps, through our many evasions, Isuka had begun to accept Ace not as a pirate, but as an individual. Pirates caused the death of her parents, so she viewed all pirates as evil—until she had seen enough of Ace to realize that he wasn’t that bad.

Ace maintained his silence throughout her speech.

Then there was a familiar clicking sound.

“Hey, the door’s open,” Ace said, turning back with a worried look. Somehow the lock on the gondola had come undone. Air was rushing into the cramped interior from the open doorway.

“You’re not supposed to open—I mean, it’s not supposed to be open like that!”

The gondola door was wide open at the very top of the wheel. I’d thought Ace had just been looking out the window in silence this whole time, but apparently he’d been tinkering with the door all along.

“Sh-shut the door! It’s dangerous!” I told him, but Ace was already rising from his seat.

“Actually, I’m getting hungry, so I’m gonna jump down first.”

“Huh?!” I screamed, as Ace leaned his body out of the doorway.

“Wait,” said Isuka, “You haven’t given me an answer yet.” Her arms and legs were crossed, and she wasn’t budging an inch from her seat.

“Quit pirating to be a Navy man? Afraid I can’t do that,” said Ace, turning back to face her. His eyes were the color of the bottom of the sea, like I’d seen once before.

But it only lasted an instant. Just as quickly, a cheerful smile was on his face. “Later, Isuka,” he said, and jumped out, landing on the roof of the next gondola down and bounding off of it. In midair, fire erupted from his body.

He bounded from roof to roof down the series of descending cars, like going down a flight of stairs. It was the most dynamic method of descent I could have imagined.

Eventually he reached the ground and waved up at us. Isuka and I watched him rush away in total silence. Our gondola passed the apex of the wheel and began to descend.

“What now?” I said at last, unable to bear the silence.

“What now, what?”

“Ace isn’t going to stop being a pirate. And the Spade Pirates will continue to follow him. So no matter what, we’ll only be enemies in the future.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Isuka said, slightly disappointed.

“Are you just…going to take me hostage?” I asked. Obviously, I hoped the answer was no. “If you do, Ace will come and rescue me rather than running away. That’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Isuka only grimaced. “Since when does a person on the side of justice take hostages? Fool,” she said. Then, much quieter, she muttered, “That’s exactly why I want him on my side.”

The gondola slowly made its way back down. My trip on the Ferris wheel would soon come to an end.

When the ground approached, Isuka made a big show of turning away from me in a huff.

“I’ll be back to try again. You’re free to go today,” she said. “The truth is, I’m not on duty now. I was on leave.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I climbed out of the little gondola booth, leaving Isuka behind in her conspicuously obvious vacation clothes.

Ace spent the entire time the coating was being done walking around the islands and eating food. He made the most of his brief time on land, never returning to the ship.

The others on the crew also busied themselves while enjoying their three-day stay.

In typical fashion, Mihal did not leave the ship, even while it was getting coated.

Skull attended and observed the coating process as the ship’s representative. Others patched up holes, repaired various fixtures, and cleaned up the ship in the meantime.

Some went out to purchase supplies, food, and weapons for the journey into the New World, some joined Kotatsu in sleeping all day long, some enjoyed extravagant vacations, and some strode the backstreets with purpose, hunting the pirate-hunters. The three-day stop passed in a blink.

I had become Ace’s money handler by default, it seemed. So I had no choice but to wander the archipelago with him. That in itself wasn’t so bad—what was annoying was the fact that he commanded such a high bounty that he was attacked by bounty hunters and glory-seeking pirates at every turn.

Naturally, Ace easily crushed any and all comers so that he could continue enjoying his meals.

In a way, it was smart for Ace not to return to the ship. There was no point in leading his pursuers to where his ship was, stuck in place until the coating was finished.

But Ace wasn’t thinking about any of this. He just wandered around, walking into every establishment that looked interesting to him…

On the third day, the coating was nearly complete. I hadn’t seen Isuka at all since our first day. Perhaps her leave time was over, and she’d gone back to her base. No—she was going to show up again, this time with her subordinates. The thought of returning to face that made me feel gloomy.

Ace was roaming around and snacking again today. He really seemed to like those Grasen rice crackers, as recommended by Isuka, and he bought so many that he had a bundle of them stuffed under each arm.

The crackers crunched and crumbled and disappeared at an alarming pace. They were packed in attractive boxes, intended to be given to others as souvenirs, but Ace was ripping the boxes open and devouring them right on the spot.

“How many boxes are you going to eat?” I asked, aghast.

“I shoulda bought more,” he said. “I’m not gonna get full on these.”

I would have thought he’d be sick of them by now, but instead he was unhappy that he hadn’t gotten enough. We’d also been dealing with bounty hunters while we bought the Grasen packages, so the transaction had ultimately been very hasty. Ace seemed to want more than we’d purchased at the time.

The bounty hunters were probably shocked to see such a highly valued target strolling around a tourist attraction, buying local souvenirs. Sometimes fame just isn’t worth the trouble.

Even later, several groups of unsavory-looking figures stepped up to Ace. He had no trouble defeating all of them. But in the act of tussling with them and heading away from trouble we had moved from the crowded city center and farther into the slums.

It was gloomy and much quieter here than where the tourists were. Trash littered the area, and most of the buildings looked abandoned.

“I’m getting hungry… Wonder if they sell any Grasen around here,” Ace said, glancing around despite the fact that he was already holding several boxes of them under his arms. This was a more dangerous area, clearly, where no tourists were likely to venture. Nobody would set up a rice cracker shop here.

In fact, not only were there no stores, there were no people here, either. The fact that we were wandering around outside must have made us stick out like sore thumbs. I could see young children peering out from the crumbling buildings. They appeared to be street urchins.

Ace promptly beckoned to them. They approached us suspiciously, until Ace started handing out the boxes of Grasen he was carrying. Then their faces lit up with smiles, and they raced away holding the boxes like precious objects. The gloomy, depressing back alley seemed just a bit nicer than a moment before.

He’d given away every last one of his Grasen boxes. I asked him, “You really mean to do that, Ace?”

“Yeah. I just realized I’m totally full,” he said, watching the children go. It put a smile on my face too.

Just when we were looking for the right path back to the ship, I saw a figure emerge from a back alleyway, and I couldn’t help but groan, “Ugh, not now…”

There was Isuka, coat flapping brilliant and white in the breeze, looking completely out of place in the slum. She was in her Naval uniform this time—meaning she was here on duty. Her appearance caught me off guard, because I had expected that if anything, she’d strike at the moment we were leaving.

“Ah, so there’s two of you this time,” Ace noted with interest. Standing behind Isuka was not her usual group of subordinates, but a man in an officer’s uniform. Like her, he wore a coat with the word Justice on the back.

“Wait,” Isuka said, when we tensed up. “I’m just here to talk this time.”

She and the man walked around the corner into the lane to face us. They did not draw weapons or make an aggressive move.

“Rejoice, Fire Fist! I have good news!” she said, eyes alight. She motioned to the man with her. “This is Vice Admiral Dorrow. He’s the man who saved me as a child.”

“Let’s keep this brief, Ensign Isuka,” said Dorrow, stepping forward. He was about a head taller than Ace, and very well built. It was a pretty intimidating sight when you were standing next to him. We were in the presence of a very large man.

“This is for you, Fire Fist Ace,” Dorrow said, pulling a letter from his coat and opening it to show Ace.

“S-Seven Warlords…?!” I yelped when I caught sight of the letter. I could scarcely believe my eyes.

The letter was from the World Government. The Five Elders, the council that was the highest level of power in the government, wanted to recruit Ace to join the Seven Warlords.

The Warlords formed one of the great power centers on the Grand Line; everyone knew who they were. They were essentially privateers—pirates whose activity was sanctioned by the government, as long as it served as a balancing force against other pirates rising in the ranks. To be a Warlord of the Sea, you had to be powerful and infamous. And now Ace was being recommended for the title.

“There, isn’t that good news? Now you don’t have to quit being a pirate!” Isuka said happily. Ace had turned down her offer in the Ferris wheel because he wasn’t about to stop being a pirate. But being one of the Seven Warlords meant aligning yourself with the World Government, and cooperating with the Navy.

That was the price to be paid for the benefits: the government gave you a pardon, removed your bounty, and allowed you to continue your pirating activities as long as you paid a proper share to the authorities as well.

But Ace wasn’t interested.

“Warlords? No thanks,” he said promptly.

“W-why not…? All you have to do is accept, and the Navy will stop chasing you,” Isuka said, stunned. She was right; it was a good offer. There were plenty of people who would do anything for the title of Warlord of the Sea. It wasn’t like just anyone could get it. And Ace turned it down without even thinking it over.

“Sorry, I just don’t like the whole Seven Warlords system,” he said.

“What?!”

Isuka was shocked. She clearly had never considered the possibility that he might reject the offer. But Dorrow hardly batted an eye. If anything, he now wore a quiet little smile.

“What a coincidence, Ace. Turns out I’ve been thinking the exact same thing,” Dorrow said, chuckling. He held up the letter and tore the paper in two.

“Vice Admiral! Why did you—?!”

“What’s the point of a trained, servile pirate? Better to get rid of them altogether. Isn’t that right, Ace?”

Suddenly, Dorrow’s fist was raised.

“Hmph!” It roared through the air, gouging at the place Ace had just been standing.

“Heh. Pretty violent, aren’t we?” smirked Ace, who had dodged out of the way of the attack in the nick of time.

“Dammit! I thought this was just going to be a discussion!” I wailed, retreating to a safe distance.

“Wait, Vice Admiral!” pleaded Isuka. “We were only supposed to be talking about the offer today!”

“Talking? Haven’t we finished talking, Ensign Isuka? Ace doesn’t like the Warlords. Coincidentally, I don’t like them either. And whether Warlord or not, I just plain don’t like pirates. I’m very glad that he turned down the offer in my presence. Because now it gives me a perfect opportunity to destroy Fire Fist Ace the pirate, right here and now!”

Dorrow shrugged off his officer’s coat. The action revealed a very odd object underneath. Dorrow had cylindrical weapons harnessed to both of his arms. They looked a bit like bazookas or tonfas, but tubes attached to the back of each cylinder ran to containers that hung behind each flank. So this contraption was the reason he looked so solidly built.

“Let’s run a test and find out which is stronger—this, or the Flame-Flame Fruit,” said Dorrow, smirking. His eyes gleamed with murderous glee.

“C’mon, Ace, let’s get outta—” I started to yell.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Fierce jets of flame shot from the ends of the cylinders. They were flamethrowers. So those tubes connected to fuel tanks in the back. The ferocious stream of fire completely cut off our escape route.

Within seconds, everything around us was on fire. The buildings caught fire, and I heard the nearby children screaming. They were trapped by the flames, and unable to escape.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?!” Ace demanded, rushing toward the children. Dorrow took the opportunity to sharpen his aim.

“There you are.”

The flame licked over the ground directly toward Ace. He spread his hands and turned his body into fire to stop the stream. Without enough oxygen to feed both fires, his bodily flames canceled out the flamethrower’s jets.

“Please, Vice Admiral! Stop this!” Isuka pleaded, her face pale. “The children!”

“Children? What are you talking about, Ensign? I’m just attacking pirates, making sure they cannot escape. If you let pirates run free, that is what causes misery to so many children out there. Am I wrong, Ensign?”

Dorrow wasn’t even looking at her. All of his attention was focused on Ace, at whom he continued to blast fire.

Ace, meanwhile, was stuck in place. The force of the flamethrowers was so great that he couldn’t push forward at all. And if he stepped backward, the flames would hit the helpless children. There was nothing he could do.

“Raaaaaah!”

I rushed at Dorrow and tackled him from the side.

“What the…?!”

Clearly, he wasn’t expecting me to jump on him. Shock flitted across his face.

At this close proximity, the searing heat made my skin boil. I could feel my clothes and hair starting to char. But still, I clung to Dorrow and refused to let go. Isuka promptly rushed to the children’s side.

“Come on! This way, hurry!” she said, working busily to free the children while Ace was immobilized. She reached through the gap in the collapsed building to get to them. I could see the childhood scar on her hand. She must have reached through flames like this when she lost her parents, too.

I couldn’t imagine the sadness and fear she felt back then. How much inner strength would it require to do the same thing now to save these innocent children?

In the midst of the boiling flames, the word “Justice” flickered on the back of her coat. Once I’d made sure that Isuka had the children out and safe, I grinned to myself. Now Ace could move again…

“What…do you think…you’re doing?!”

Dorrow was furious. He rammed a knee into my stomach.

“Urgh!”

Once, twice, three times…but I still held tight to him.

“Let go of me!”

He gave one more particularly hard blow, and I collapsed, spitting up stomach acid. It felt like my insides had been mashed into a blob. I could hardly breathe. The heat coming off of the flamethrowers only made the pain worse.

But I’d done my job. Through the agony and gagging, I smiled.

“I pulled…’em out…sucker…”

“Huh? Pulled what—” Dorrow started, glaring down at me. Then he noticed something was wrong. “My fuel tanks?!”

The tubes attaching the flamethrowers to the fuel tanks at his sides were disconnected. The liquid was now seeping out and covering his clothes.

I hadn’t just been clinging on for dear life. I had grabbed the tubes supplying his weapon with power and wrenched them free. Without any fuel to shoot through the flamethrowers…

“Tsk!”

Dorrow clicked his tongue. The jets of flame from his weapons were rapidly weakening. And even worse for him, another fire was pushing back the stream, getting closer and closer.

It was Ace.

Ace’s fist slammed into Dorrow’s face. Blazing fire enveloped his head.

“Aaagh!”

“Hang in there, Deuce!” he said, helping me up. But a moment later, his body was floating off the ground. Dorrow had a hand around Ace’s neck and was lifting him up. He swept aside the flame as though batting away a fly. He was perfectly unharmed.

The punch had landed. But Dorrow smiled it off, totally unaffected. And strangely, although Ace had turned into flames right then, the man continued to grip him around the neck anyway.

“Is this…Haki…?” Ace said, grimacing.

Haki.

I’d heard that word—it was the name of a subconscious power within people, which could be drawn upon after long, arduous training. Many of the mightiest members of the Navy could wield the power of Haki. Especially strong Haki would easily overpower the abilities of a Devil Fruit. For example…by making one capable of grabbing fire with their bare hands.

“Fire Fist Ace…do not trifle with me. Your cheap little flames cannot stop me. Pirates like you are a dime a dozen in the New World.”

He lifted Ace by the neck, his grip as strong as a vise. Ace struggled and his limbs flopped.

“You don’t have what it takes to go on from here. Your fun little days in the pirate business are over—I’ll see to that. The strength of justice is putting you into early retirement!”

“Heh! You put children in harm’s way…and you talk…about justice?!” Ace grunted, writhing in pain.

“No, you’re wrong. I didn’t put the children in harm’s way. You did that, Ace,” Dorrow growled in his deep voice. “This only happened because there were pirates here! Do you understand that, Ace? The children suffered because you were here. I am only doing my job—capturing pirates—to the best of my ability. But you can’t say the same. You’re not supposed to be alive. Your very existence causes people who have committed no sin to live in fear. You must accept that.”

Ace was silent. His resistance began to wane. I didn’t miss the dark shadow that passed briefly over his features.

“Crazy…bastard!” I shouted, and went into another coughing fit. I didn’t have the strength to stand yet. “Don’t…listen to him, Ace! He’s…wrong!”

But Dorrow’s powerful voice drowned me out. “If it weren’t for you, no one would have this misfortune. Am I wrong? If not for pirates, I would have no reason to go around setting things on fire.”

Ace had given up struggling. His very life was hanging on the brink at this moment.

“It’s…not true…is it, Vice Admiral?” Isuka said, all of a sudden. She had returned from helping the children escape. “I thought it was the pirates…who set my village on fire…” There were tears in her eyes. “And then…you…saved me…”

“Of course I will save a wounded child right before my eyes. I am on the side of justice, after all.”

“Then, my parents…”

“What are you going on about, Ensign Isuka? Some sacrifices are necessary to properly carry out justice. You know this is true. Why would you get all worked up about the loss of a few civilians here and there?”

Isuka crumbled on the spot. She put her hand to her mouth, holding back her cries, tears dripping from her cheeks. To Dorrow, they were just a few meaningless sacrifices, no big deal. But to Isuka, this meant the loss of her parents, and the village where she was raised. It was a cruel, ironic end to the shining image of justice she’d adhered to since that traumatic childhood incident.

With Isuka’s sobs in my ears, I got to my feet in quiet anger. “Dorrow, you called yourself? If I were you, I wouldn’t make Ace too angry.”

I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth. The flames were already surging from Ace’s body again. Power returned to his eyes.

“What do you mean? I told you, flames this feeble mean nothing to…”

Suddenly Dorrow paused. The fuel staining his clothes was on fire. Ace did not hesitate to release his own fire on the fuel tanks.

“You rat!” Dorrow shrieked.

He exploded—the fuel tanks burst right next to him. Ace was blasted free, then got to his feet and headed slowly back toward the man.

“Gah… You…miserable…” Dorrow hissed, standing unsteadily.

Ace stared into his face, unfazed by the force of the blast or the wounds he sustained from the tank’s shrapnel. “Perhaps my flames can’t hurt you because you can use Haki. But,” he said, raising a fist, “Haki can’t extinguish the flames of rage.”

Dorrow punched back. They traded blows, power against power.

“Dammit! Why…why won’t you go down?!”

The larger man began to fatigue. Ace’s punches were doing serious damage to Dorrow now.

“Impossible…how?! Unless…you, too…” Shock entered his eyes.

“You mocked him and underestimated him,” I said quietly. Dorrow knew too little about Ace. He didn’t know that Ace, regardless of his powers and abilities, was simply a tremendous fighter—and that he was continuously growing stronger through battle.

“Gaaah!” Dorrow stumbled after one of Ace’s punches. The blows were completely overwhelming him now. “Impossible… How…how?”

He was out of breath, his face twisted with pain.

“How can you use Haki?!”

“How should I know?!”

Flame burst from Ace’s arms. With fire as the propulsion driving the thrust of his fists, they became like shooting stars with fiery tails. And this comet was not going to burn up before it hit Dorrow. Their fists crossed one another.

Dorrow’s fist pounded Ace’s face. The impact was strong enough to make a sound, and Ace’s jaws clenched. His legs quavered. But…

“I really…don’t…like you…”

It was Dorrow who collapsed. He had taken a ferocious punch to his own jaw.

“That’s funny…I was just thinking the same thing,” said Ace to the unconscious officer. Then he faltered. I rushed to offer him support. Moments ago Ace had been giving me his shoulder, and now the roles were reversed.

“You took down a Navy vice admiral. That’s impressive.”

“Who, that guy? Nothing to brag about…” Ace smiled, panting heavily.

“Let’s get back to the ship before the Navy surrounds it,” I urged, but Ace looked hesitant.

The blaze was already dying down around us. Fairly soon, the slums would be back to their regular state.

The only thing that wouldn’t be able to stay the same was Isuka.

When Dorrow had chosen to fight Ace, he’d thrown aside the coat with the word “Justice” emblazoned upon it.

And Isuka had rushed to save the lives of the children, bearing that word herself.

That was her answer.

Under ordinary circumstances, no one could be more suited for the Navy than her. But now her reality was a little different. Perhaps there was no place for her in the Navy, I thought. Her entire reason for enlisting had just crumbled into dust around her.

She’d been betrayed by what she believed in, and she slumped onto her knees in absolute dejection, her head hanging down. We couldn’t just leave her in this state.

“Isuka…come and stay on my ship!” Ace offered suddenly. “I’m not going to make you into a pirate, of course. You can be a bounty hunter. You’re tough, and the job’s just right for you, isn’t it? Then you can keep chasing after me. And we’ll be on the same ship.”

Ace reached his hand out to her. Isuka wiped her tears, sniffled, and smiled.

“You idiot… Why would a bounty hunter and her target join hands, Fire Fist?”

“Good point.” Ace grinned. Instead, he clenched his hand shut. “Let’s go.”

The three of us rushed off through the town of floating bubbles.

There was already a huge gang of Naval ships in the port and out at sea. They’d come here to prevent us from leaving. The Navy was prepared to stop Ace from reaching the New World at any cost, apparently.

We slipped through the backstreets, evading the Navy’s eyes, and ran this way and that all over the islands. I never expected that Ace’s habit of wandering around eating would come in so handy—he was much more familiar with the routes, and was able to steer us around the more public areas.

We had to get back to the ship, and quick.

If they were setting off from shore now, we probably weren’t going to get back in time. But if the ship waited too long to set sail, the Naval fleet would surround us as soon as we got out to sea. In order for the crew to escape, the ship needed to be ready for its voyage and pushing off at this moment.

But neither Ace nor I were worried at all. We both had full faith that the Spade Pirates would have the ship on the move already. That’s why we didn’t head for the place where it had gotten its coating. The ship would no longer be there. If it was, there was no saving us either way.

That left us to determine what the ship’s destination would be. Where could we actually get on deck?

“There’s a little cape just ahead. That’s gotta be it!”

“Yep!”

We were certain of it. For one thing, it was the very spot on Skull’s map where he’d put the skull mark.

We pushed our way through the bushes and out into the open. The cape was just ahead. And the ship…

The only thing before us was empty blue sea. But only for a moment.

“Captain Ace!”

“You’re late, Ace!”

Then the ship was there, cheers sounding from the deck. Our crewmates had already started it sailing ahead of time.

“Hurry, Boss, get on!” Skull said, waving and signaling. There was no time to stop—he was telling us to run and jump. I got a good head of steam and leapt over the edge to the ship.

“C’mon, Ace!”

The ship continued without slowing down. If it broke pace even a little bit, the Navy would catch up.

“All right. Let’s go, Isuka,” Ace said, and leapt.

But only Ace.

His eyes bulged. “Why…?!” Isuka was still standing at the top of the cape.

“I’m still a Naval ensign… I cannot go with you,” she said, smiling weakly, standing alone at the edge of the land.

“How come?!” Ace demanded. He leaned against the railing of the ship he’d just jumped to, but the distance between the ship and the land was widening now.

“Don’t die out there, Ace. Thank you.”

He and Isuka were getting farther and farther apart. The ship wasn’t stopping. It couldn’t.

“Should I have grabbed her hand?” he muttered to himself, hanging his head. “But I couldn’t…I can’t hold her hand. Not when I’m a pirate, and anyway it turns into fire…”

He tugged his hat low over his eyes.

“Ace…pal…”

I couldn’t find any other words to say.

There were times, now and then, that Ace seemed to believe he couldn’t be loved. And when that mood struck him, a dark shadow passed over his face.

But I was sure that Isuka didn’t feel that way about him.

And it wasn’t just Isuka.

Ace simply couldn’t figure it out.

He was like the sun.

Everyone looked up to Ace. Even our enemies had a grudging respect for him. Ace was at the center of everyone and everything. But because the sun was too bright, it was always alone. No one could get too close to him. If you stood too close, you were likely to burn up.

Ace was the one who made this place for us. But could you claim the reverse? Were we part of a place that Ace could call home? In the New World ahead, would we find a place for Ace to be himself and be at peace?

The answer wasn’t clear yet. All we could do was keep moving forward.

The Naval fleet was already pushing into view.

Cannonballs roared down upon us as they struck the sea. Plumes of water burst upward, collapsed, then reappeared. Spray splashed down on the deck like rain.

There was more roaring—but this wasn’t from a cannonball.

Ace’s flaming fist carved the way for us.

“Let’s go, gang!” he called out, loud enough for everyone on deck to hear him. The farewells didn’t matter now. Ace was the ship’s captain, and he needed to keep fighting.

Pulling away from our Navy pursuers, the ship rushed headlong for the bottom of the sea, where Fish-Man Island awaited us. Once the sunlight from the surface no longer penetrated the water, we were left in a state of darkness.

In the depths of the ocean where the sun couldn’t reach, Ace burned with ambition.

His destination was the New World. His target: Whitebeard.

The man who was closer than anyone to the One Piece.

Slowly the ship sank, deeper and deeper into the darkness.