Chapter 2: Marines
Chapter 2
What are the qualifications of a Captain?
I think they have to be someone others will love.
In other words, a Captain should be like the sun, lighting up the dark seas.
Someone who's noticeably always in the center of a group, who naturally ties them together regardless of birth, how they were raised, ideals, or personality. Someone who no one loves and loves no one in turn can't be a Captain.
Ace is the perfect fit for a Captain.
If it attracts people, Ace has it. Just bravery and charisma don't cover all of what attracts them.
All those people attracted to Ace naturally joined Spade Pirates.
'Pirates' are of course outlaws, but the members of the Spade Pirates were even outlaws among other pirates.
People who had no place in other pirate crews, or normally people with careers who didn't originally intend to be pirates were taken in by Ace. Also those who that were naturally picked up during our travels as they appeared before Ace and some that had some mysterious aura to them.
And so as we continued our journey on the Grand Line, with Ace at our heart, the crew increased in size in ones and twos, and eventually we had to get a bigger boat.
Om that day─
"Gaahahaha! Aaace! I love you, man!" a man with a thin beard yelled like a rising blade.
"Shut up!"
With that my kick hit him squarely in the face. Just like that, he was kicked off the boat.
"M-my bountyyyyy!"
As he wailed, he fell into the sea with a giant splash. By the way, just now wasn't one of the outlaws attracted to Ace. More like outlaws who were after Ace, as in enemies.
As the Captain of the Spade Pirates and the one leading us, Ace already had a huge bounty. Having a bounty was supposed to warn people away, yet today the ship was under attack again.
Beside us was a bounty hunter group's ship. From there they were coming, one after another, boarding us as they raised their weapons and voices. There were a lot of them. Just how many times larger was their group compared to us? It made it hard to tell who were the pirates here.
In the blink of an eye, the deck of the Spade Pirate's ship became a battle ground.
Ace, who was their target, was immediately surrounded by countless bounty hunters to the point you couldn't even see him anymore. I was driven to the edge of the ship and most of the crew was separated by their ridiculous numbers.
It all started when we carelessly approached them to help since their ship was broken.
It seems these bounty hunters use this trick to attack the pirates passing by.
There's not a single person who sails the wide seas that isn't aware of how scary getting stranded out at sea is.
No matter who you are, you don't just sail on by when you see a ship in that condition. It's simply not done.
At a time like this, pirates, no matter the reputation, will stop by either out of mercy or to finish looting the ship.
In other words, no matter the pirate passing by, they will stop for some reason or another.
That was the goal these bounty hunters had gathered for.
As for tactics, I don't think it was a bad idea.
But when it comes to goodwill among men, to use the mercy of your fellow sailors like that, doesn't it make them worse than the pirates?
"Damn, these bastards have no manners at all…!" As I spat that out, I felt burning air to my right.
"Uwah!"
As I turn around, I get grazed by burning red fire. A nearby enemy gets sent flying with a pathetic scream. Ace had released a flame by punching out his fist.
"Ace! Be a bit more careful! You almost caught my coat on fire!" I automatically protested.
"Sorry! But you know I don't make flames that would burn my nakama!" I heard Ace reply from far away. He laughed as his right arm was clothed in flickering flames. It was as Ace said, his flames only ever hit the enemies while leaving us and the ship unharmed. Ace had steadily improved his use of the Mera Mera no Mi.
Even now, Ace's technique, Fire Fist, had become his epithet.
With those bright flames, Ace rushed down a thin strip of deck. The bounty hunters had no way to match those freely fluttering flames. On this ship that Ace was so familiar with, it was his turf. No one could stop Ace.
And as Ace's back captured my attention, I heard the retort of a gun.
I quickly turned around to find a single bounty hunter at my back crouched down and cradling his hand.
"Sorry, Sensei!"
As I said that, I kicked down the man in front of me. The guy's eyes rolled back and he fainted, but in the moment he lost consciousness, he probably thought it would have ben better to be shot than to take that kick from just now. After all, he got sniped from nowhere to knock his weapon out of his hand.
"Please be more careful, Deuce-san." I heard him call out from out of nowhere the same time as another gun retort. However, I couldn't see the voice's owner anywhere.
The shooter was a man named Mihal.
It started with me, but now everyone on our ship calls him "Sensei."
He's a rarity among sailors, carrying the out of place title of a teacher.
Mihal's dream is to sail the seas to the children of the world who can't receive an education, but, professionals or sailors, he was a black sheep and they wouldn't accept him. The only one to encourage that dream, who took him out to sea, was none other than Ace.
"When things are so noisy, I can't read my book in peace. It would seem our rude guests are in need of a short lesson. Let's finish this up quickly, shall we?" As he spoke, there was more gunfire. It was several shots this time.
With that, a little ways away, the bounty hunters' guns continued to dance in the air. And just like always, you couldn't see hide nor hair of him.
Because of his shut-in personality, Mihal seldom left the cabins.
He didn't leave even when we came to port and everyone went out shopping, instead keeping guard on the ship with a book in hand, so we also called him Mihal of the Indoors.
He had an intelligent look with his top hat and neatly polished glasses, but contrary to that he was pretty strong. Particularly his skill at sniping from out of nowhere, which was really reliable in a ship guard.
But─
"Really, where in the world is he shooting from…?"
Occasionally, I privately wonder if he really is a teacher.
"Ooo, that's a really nice gun you've got there," I suddenly heard, even though we were in the middle of a battle.
"Is it a North Blue model? That's a rare one. The skull engraving is real nice," that guy said as he studied the gun pointed at him.
He was a guy who stood out from the crowd with his whole body covered in skull accessories, which seemed like too much even for a pirate.
One of our nakama, Skull.
"Good tatse. You've got some good taste there."
He was the one pointing the gun, yet the bounty hunter wore a confused expression that asked, 'Why are you praising me?'
"But did you know they quickly discontinued manufacturing that gun? And why is that, you ask?"
As he said this, Skull boldly grabbed the gun.
"That's because the bullets get jammed."
"Eh, ah, what?"
The trigger clicked as it was pulled. The bounty hunter was impatient. However not a single bullet came out.
"Pointing that gun at me, you've really got taste."
The blood drained from the bounty hunter's face. At the same time, Skull's fist crashed into the bounty hunter's face.
"Hehe, this is rare. Think I'll use it to decorate my room."
Skull wore a thrilled smile as his eyes raked over the gun left in his hand.
He too was a changed man like Mihal.
Skull was a self-proclaimed collector of regular pirate mania.
He was a skull goods collector, in other words, he wasn't a pirate in the first place.
He likes pirates so much he was caught stowing away on a pirate ship, after which he started living as a weirdo who took care of odd jobs between ports.
Skull supposedly only did chores for lots of pirates just to be close to his favorite thing, but Ace was different.
Ace relied on his experience and knowledge gained from every boat he sailed on and the ports they stopped at all over the world. Skull had hidden qualifications as an intelligence officer of the sea.
Since he met Ace, Collector Skull has become Intelligence Officer Skull.
Skull feels a deep gratefulness to Ace for that self-recognition and vowed to become the world's greatest intelligence officer and to be a member of Ace's Spade Pirates.
Though he says himself that though he's an intelligence officer through and through, he still doesn't seem to be a pirate.
"Damnit… Your collection always creeps me out."
I spoke up to Skull in his spoils of war haze over the gun.
"We're still in the middle of a fight, you know."
"Oh, Master Due."
Skull turned his face up to me. Well, I say face, but Skull hides his face beneath a skull mask. As an intelligence officer, he considers even his own face to be a piece of information, even when nothing is going on.
I guess we reached the same conclusion from different thought processes.
Anyways, although there might be a price on his real face, no one who showed up yet was going to pay for it.
When we get new members on board we always see eager discussion of our true faces under the masks, but they just keep missing spotting us when our masks are off I guess.
Anyways, the three of us, Skull and me plus Mihal, are the brains in charge of the Spade Pirates. In other words, the intelligence team.
With Ace as our leader, the Spade Pirates pick a lot of fights. And because of that, inevitably I talk it out at length these two.
"Come on, it's a rare gun. Anyways, it looks like everything's just about finished."
Skull gestured with his chin to the center of the deck.
Flame Commandment
The flames around Ace swirled and the remaining enemies broke down.
As I noticed that, the angry bellowing stopped. It was replaced with the groans of the bounty hunters who had boarded us.
─that was pretty fast for the numbers we faced… I thought.
There was quite the difference between the corner where I fought alone against a fair number and the center deck where the battle teams had been spread out running around with Ace.
"Alrighty then… I think that about does it…"
Looking around at the defeated bounty hunters, Ace spoke up.
"You guys! Take your unconscious guys and get outta here!"
The barely standing bounty hunters were forced to retreat. Right next to Ace a large species of cat gave an intimidating growl, "Gururu…"
Our nakama Kotatsu. By the way, Ace named him.
Kotatsu the lynx. I guess he's a rare species, but I don't really know the details.
Their relationship started on a certain island where Ace saved him when he was caught and injured by a poacher's trap, and just like he followed Ace back to the ship.
When they met, he had become a big coward, but through our journey, he's gotten his bravery back bit by bit.
Like this people have come to be aboard the Spade Pirates' ship. That's how it happened for Mihal, for Skull, for Kotatsu, and of course me too. It's full of people who finally found somewhere to belong when they met Ace.
The Long-arm Ganryuu and the Fishman Wallace too didn't belong anywhere else until they joined the Spade Pirates. Ace didn't judge people by their race or appearance. There were things more important than that. He could see into their hearts. And he probably did it without realizing it.
That's why Ace attracted not only outlaws, but those separate from the world of outlaws as well.
Now, these outlaws weren't attracted to but targeting Ace, yet they were frightened by Kotatsu's low growl and like when they came, it was like a race to send them flying from our ship.
The unconscious guys, the conscious ones carrying their nakama, and even the ones regaining consciousness all went flying off the ship at full speed as they were chased by Kotatsu.
"Gururururu… Nyaan"
"Such a cute voice!" the last one screamed as they fell into the sea with an indescribable expression. Actually, contrary to his appearance, any cry besides Kotatsu's growl was really, really cute.
Speaking of, Kotatsu was only ever calm in front of Ace since the area immediately around him was warm thanks to the power of the Mera Mera no Mi.
With our attackers gone, Kotatsu laid down with a thump on the now clear deck. He rubbed his back against the deck as he showed us his belly. He was just a stupidly large cat in that moment.
With the nearby bounty hunter ship sailing away, the earlier struggle seemed like a lie in the quiet calm. That was the sudden impression aboard the ship. It was like after festival. Of course, it seems Ace felt the same.
"All right, you guys, let's partyyyyyy!"
At Ace's exclamation, the crew brought out barrels of alcohol and served up heaps and heaps of meat dishes, immediately turning the dead deck lively.
With food and alcohol in hand, the crew burst into song, made a ruckus, and took a breather.
There was no wind and the waves were calm.
But the Grand Line's weather isn't really something you can predict.
It was calm now, but in the next second you might have gale force winds.
It's just that kind of sea.
"One of those guys earlier said he loved you."
With a mug in hand, I heard Ace speak up from where he was leaning against the railing.
"Probably because he'd get rich if he could take my head," Ace answered with a laugh. Then he turned to look in the direction the bounty hunters had fled earlier.
I too turned a cautious eye that way. Even though we'd just passed through there, it was already covered in a dense fog to the point you couldn't even see the silhouette of a ship.
Damn, it was a whimsical sea.
"You're sure popular."
"Lately it's only been guys like that. Such a bummer," Ace complained, which he rarely did, as he took a drink of alcohol. Well, we'd certainly seen an increase in people coming to attack us for Ace's bounty. And that was because even in comparison to other pirates in the same class as Ace, his bounty was high. To have that high a bounty as a rookie who hadn't even been to the New World yet makes him look like a reasonable target.
We were just happy to see Ace's bounty rise.
And Ace was happy to see us happy.
However, only Ace knows why it's higher than normal.
Not the crew, not those targeting Ace, nor the Marines around here.
Probably no one knows.
Ace is strong, of course. He's even a Devil Fruit User.
And he was quickly sinking big name pirates one after another. The Marines couldn't catch him. It was natural that they were wary of him.
But was all that the only reasons Ace had such a bounty?
Just what was the motive for giving Ace a higher bounty then guys who did worse than him and had seniority over us.
That was the seed. I couldn't help but feel bad about this underhandedness.
I couldn't believe it after traveling with Ace for so long.
Ace probably knew the truth.
─Roger.
When I look at Ace's wanted poster, I remember that name.
However, Ace probably doesn't want to, shouldn't, admit that.
Even if it couldn't be seen, you had to notice the shadow of that existence over him, even as Ace kept his mouth shut, so I had no choice but to pretend I didn't notice it too.
"Ah, well, I guess being loved by someone is better than being hated and hating them in turn…" I said to lighten up the bland mood just a little.
"Even that bushy beard bastard─" I cut myself off without thinking.
There was a loneliness in his eyes as he stared into his mug, just like the dark depths of the seafloor.
He wasn't drunk.
"Ace…" I hesitated, opening my mouth to say something─
"Nau!" Kotatsu cried out.
The crew's noisy revelry came to a complete stop, the ship becoming quiet. Everyone followed Kotatsu's line of sight into the distance as he stared and growled. Kotatsu was looking in the direction of the deep fog the bounty hunters' ship had disappeared into. And looking there, we could see the silhouette of a single ship appear from within the fog.
"What the…? Are they coming back for another round?" Ace said. But there was more than just a single ship's silhouette.
In the fog, countless ships were coming into view. This was a fleet…
"Marines!?"
The seagull mark slipped out of the fog.
It was painted on the sails. It was one of the marks in this world no pirate wanted to see.
Below that, written in absolutely huge letters was the word "MARINE." Sure enough, those were Marine ships that had appeared. The smoothly lined up fleet was heading our way.
"That's Nailing's ship. We got found by someone dangerous."
Skull pointed to the leading ship.
"Nailing is rumored to be a really strong Ensign."
"An epithet, huh? Were they a former shipwright or something…?"
Listening to Skull and Ace's conversation, I gave the rest of the crew instructions.
"Open up the distance!"
One battleship surged ahead of the others. Moving with it, there was a gap surrounded by the other ships. The battleship had already entered the gap in the formation as it opened up the distance bit by bit with both sides. But it shouldn't have done that.
"So there's a reef area nearby. Looks like if we don't change course, we'll enter it. Full speed straight ahead! Sensei, the sea charts!" I gave instructions for Mihal, who was probably in the archives. Wary of the battleship following right behind us, I stayed topside going back and forth to keep her on course.
And then─
"This is a nice ship," said a voice I was unfamiliar with from right beside me.
It was a young woman's voice. Turning quickly, there was a single Marine standing on the deck.
And it wasn't just any Marine. She wore a fluttering white coat with the characters 正義 (justice) printed on the back like a cloak. Wearing a coat like that is only done by those in the Marines that can be called Officers.
"When the hell did she…!?"
Where did she jump over from, this lone Marine Officer that boarded us?
"Sorry to say it, but your voyage ends here."
She reached for a sword hanging off her waist. On the back of her hand was a terrible burn scar.
And the retort of a gun─
"Hmph."
A metallic ringing. She gave an amused snort.
Without changing her expression, she had drawn her sword.
"Oh my, she blocked it…" Mihal said from out of nowhere after a moment of silence. It had all happened in an instant. That woman had blocked Mihal's sniper shot with her unsheathed sword.
"What a monster…"
I unconsciously took a step back.
"Master Ace, that's Nailiiiing!" Skull screamed after a glance, having noticed her presence because of the gunshot.
"Oh? I thought for sure it was some sort of skilled old carpenter coming for us. Why's she called 'Nailing'?"
"Because she's said to leave her prey full of holes that are precise like hammering in a nail."
"So that's her thing." Ace said as he stepped forward, without even the slightest tremble in fear.
Ace was calm and collected. But so was she.
Without batting an eyelash, she started straight at Ace with strong willed eyes.
"I am Ensign Isuka. You're Fire Fist Ace, right?" she introduced herself in a strong voice. Then she pointed her sword at Ace. "You're under arrest."
"You…" Ace looked at her with rare serious face. "Have a bird-like name, huh."
For a moment, the air around them stilled ─or at least it felt like it did.
Ace's remark didn't fit the tense atmosphere. Yet the Officer, Isuka, didn't move a muscle. Silently, her sword stayed pointed at Ace.
"Can you really cut me with that?" Ace asked, grinning like a mischievous child. With that, his body seemed to flash like a mirage. The flash was him preparing to instantly turn into flames.
His whole body could become flames. That was the power Ace gained from the Mera Mera no Mi.
"As you wish, I'll fill you full of holes!"
Isuka moved before she even finished speaking. With speed that I couldn't follow she struck out with her slender blade.
"Uwah!?"
It might have been because there was too much force behind it, but even though Ace had turned into flames he was still pushed back by her sword.
"Captain Ace!"
"Guys, help the Captain!"
Even though the crew immediately surrounded her, Isuka still moved her sword around freely. It was like there was an invisible wall with no gaps in any direction. Even just a step closer and I imagine in a flash of her sword tip we'd be full of holes.
Nailing Isuka. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed she lived up to the name.
"Ace, don't run! Quit your futile resistance and come quietly!" Isuka lashed out at Ace in a fierce voice.
"So if it's not futile resistance, it's fine, right?" asked Ace in a light tone, having been pushed back by Isuka's sword.
Those two were quite the contrast.
And here I suddenly noticed that there was something strange about Isuka's tactics.
Isuka was one person. We were many. Both sides had a limit to their physical strength. With Isuka's tactics, either way it would without a doubt be her loss. Despite that, why had this woman boarded our ship without backup? Despite all the subordinates she had brought along, she was on our ship alone. Given that, if she was just buying time─
Noticing that, when I looked around, our ship's destination was already surrounded by battleships. I thought we were losing them, but the truth was they were steadily surrounding us.
─She used herself as a decoy…!
She boarded an enemy vessel all alone herself to open up space.
Despite my dislike, I gave it my full attention as we didn't have any choice but to deal with those actions. If trouble breaks out on the ship, inevitably the ship's steering will become negligible. And if other battleships surrounded that gap…
Thinking about it, with just the one ship following perfectly behind us, maybe it was a plan to turn our attention to only behind us.
"Now, it's over."
Isuka thrust her sword tip at Ace again. However─
"Uwaaaaaah!"
From outside our ship we could hear shrieks. Of course, they came not from our Spade Pirates' ship, but the surrounding battleships.
"Well, would you look at that, it looks like we made it in time…"
Something in my chest calmed down. In that moment we'd made it to where we were heading.
"Didn't you notice the rocks around the bottom of the ship in your delirious chase?" I said, turning to look at the battleships. One of the battleships surrounding our ship was heavily listing to one side.
It was a reef area.
If you enter one without noticing, the waves will beat you against the rocks and it's impossible to navigate. If your luck is bad, it'll open a hole in the bottom of your ship and you'll sink. It looks like that's what happened to the battleship before me.
It was obvious from the start that their goal was to have the battleships surround us. I never thought the Commanding Officer would board our ship herself and fight us, but the point was that even if they wanted to surround us, our best bet was to make it a situation where they simply couldn't do it. That's why I had this place be our goal. I thought we would escape them without getting surrounded if we could slip through a gap in the reef area.
Raising their speed and with such vigor, they probably got caught on the sharp rocks. The battleship's damage looked severe. As I watched, its listing got worse.
People and barrels were dropping off the listing ship.
The reef area's waves were rough. Because of all the rocks the waves crashed together irregularly.
In addition, those wave washed rocks were all sharp, so if you carelessly charge in you won't get off scotch free.
"It really would have been best if you noticed the rocks and quit following us…"
The fallen Marines were at the mercy of the waves. No matter how good a swimmer you are, a place like that is tough.
With that, Isuka sheathed her sword and stepped onto the edge of the ship.
"What's this? You're running?"
To Ace's foolishness, Isuka answered, "You idiot, I'm going to save them!"
That said, without hesitating she jumped down into the white frothing waves.
Leaning over the edge, we watched her progress.
Not even phased by the wild waves, Isuka swam. Then she extended her hand to her drowning subordinates. She got them clinging to floating barrels and planks.
"That's one amazing woman."
Skull gave a whistle of admiration.
But the relentless waves were strong. Even Isuka was at the mercy of the fierce waves. Countless waves washed over her head. Because she was handing out floating assistance to all her subordinates, soon there wasn't one for her.
Ace stared at Isuka's form. And then─
He quietly threw out a life preserver.
With strong eyes, she stared up at the Spade Pirates' ship, at Ace.
"Why did you save me!?" she shouted in a ridiculously loud voice.
"Who knows," Ace bluntly replied, turning away from her.
"Fire Fist! I will definitely arrest you next time! I'll make you regret saving me!"
Our ship continued forward as we listened to Isuka yell this.
"She's a good person…" Ace whispered as we passed back around the reef area.
A Commanding Officer that without hesitation prioritized the rescue of her subordinates herself.
Thinking like that, I guess she was a "good person" just like Ace said. A battle plan to board an enemy vessel all alone yourself and buy time, it wasn't just because she was the strongest, but possibly because that was the type of person she was.
However─
"Thinking about how that scary woman is going to be chasing us around from now, it makes me want to cry…" I said with a sigh.
"But it's better than that bushy beard, isn't it?"
"Well, I guess so… It's just he's been chasing us for so long…"
That said, Ace and I looked at each other and laughed.
"Now then, how about we continue that party? Raise your glass!"
With Ace's lone command, the party started again.
_______________________________________________
The end. _______________________________________________
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone