Chapitre 8: Chapter 8
It was a beautiful sunny day with just the right amount of wind. Ace enjoyed the feeling of finally sailing on the sea. He was glad he decided to study numerous subjects with Sabo regarding the basics every sailor needs to know.
Ace spread out a map depicting a region of East Blue. There, he saw his destination. On one end of the map was his hometown of Dawn Island. On another end of the map is a place that he is very familiar with because of his knowledge about One Piece.
Sixis Island. It was where Ace got his Devil Fruit as well as his first mate, Masked Deuce.
'Well, that was One Piece. Maybe both of those aren't there now.'
Ace long since accepted that not everything he knew about One Piece would remain the same. There were small details that differed between the story and the life he knew. For instance, Luffy didn't have a scar under his left eye. Another example is that Makino had black hair instead of green.
'Well, if it isn't there, can't do anything about it. But man, I hope it's there. Fire is so cool!'
Ace really wanted to eat the Flare-Flare Fruit. It was a Logia with a lot of potential. Ace accepted the drawback of not being able to swim. He can just use Air Jump, after all. If he falls to the sea and drowns to death, it's his fault.
However, he also had a theory he wanted to test out; another reason why he wanted to eat a Devil Fruit. Ever since his two souls fused, Ace was no longer a normal human. His current 'soul' is twice as strong as a normal human's. Call it curiosity, but Ace felt that he needed to eat a Devil Fruit.
But before going to Sixis Island, Ace needed to restock. He didn't have enough supplies to last a journey from Dawn Island straight to Sixis Island. Ace traced a finger on the map as he tried looking for a place he could possibly stock up.
He found one. An island called Gunsmoke Island. It was more like a small continent, honestly. Ace was surprised when he first discovered how big the world could be. East Blue alone is much bigger than Ace D. Goldstein's previous world!
When he discovered that, Ace got even more excited. There could literally be a million islands out there in the wide open world!
Ace returned his focus to the task at hand. With his tools and knowledge, Ace looked at the map and measured how long it would take to get to Gunsmoke Island as well as which direction he should take.
It would take him three days to get there if he sails north-east. Ace adjusted and gave himself a margin of error. He rationed his supplies to last a week and a half.
"Alright! Onwards to the first island of my journey!"
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(FIVE DAYS LATER)
Ace spotted a huge island on the horizon. It could be Gunsmoke Island, but there was a chance he was mistaken.
In any case, he saw a port he could dock in. So, it won't be that big of a deal if he did make a mistake.
Ace sailed to the port town he saw and docked there. He paid the docking fee before heading to town. All his valuables were in a bag he slung over his shoulder.
"So, this place is called Casing Town?"
Ace looked around at the port town. It was like Dawn Island where there was a kingdom and small towns surrounding it. Casing Town is one of those towns. He wanted to immediately go ahead and stock up on supplies, but he didn't know where to go.
Thankfully, there was a bar near the port for sailors and travelers. There was usually one like that near a port because of the heavy foot traffic. Lots of potential customers.
Ace entered the bar simply named 'Casing Port Bar'. It wasn't too shabby. A little messier than Makino's Partys Bar, but that's to be expected. There were a lot more people in Casing Town than Foosha Village.
There were empty seats in front of the bartender, so Ace sat there. Bartenders usually know a lot about the place they're in. Ace also tried listening to the conversations around him in an attempt to piece some kind of picture about the island. A neat trick he practiced in the Goa Kingdom.
One particular conversation caught Ace's attention.
"Hey, did you hear? The Stampede went crazy again!"
"Again? Where was it this time?"
"Just outside Bullet Village. All that ruckus, but he let his target escape!"
"What a lousy bounty hunter! I thought he was strong?"
"Yeah, I heard that too."
"In any case, he better not come anywhere close to this town."
'Who's this Stampede guy they're talking about?' Ace couldn't help but feel that epithet was familiar. He put that thought to the back of his mind for now.
"What can I get you?" the bartender asked Ace after he was done with the previous customer.
"You got sake?"
"You want a bottle?"
"Just one."
The bartender reached for a shelf under the bar. Ace took that moment to ask. "Say, where can I stock up on supplies?"
"You a sailor?" the bartender asked. Ace nodded. The bartender put a bottle of sake and a cup in front of Ace before answering. "There's a market six blocks away from this bar to the north. If you need tools and materials for ship maintenance, just find the shipwrights' shack near the harbor."
"Got it. Thanks." Ace took note of the information the bartender gave him. He drank the whole bottle before leaving a small stack of Berry that more than covered the cost of the bottle of sake on the table. He would have stayed if he heard any more interesting conversations, but it all was just casual gossip and grumblings. The bartender noticed the amount Ace left and wordlessly accepted the silent gratitude.
Ace got out of the bar and went to the market first to buy much needed supplies. Ace was a big eater. His one week's worth of food supply can easily match a normal sailor's one month worth of food supply.
Cooking was one of the things Ace learned about in Dawn Island as well. Of course, he studied with Makino. It would have been much more fun if Sabo didn't join…
Ace quickly noticed that he reached the market area the bartender told him about. It was hard not to notice. The whole street was a market, both sides of it. There was surprisingly a vast selection of ingredients Ace could buy. It makes sense. It's a port town, after all. Sailors and travelers were a frequent sight.
The vast selection of ingredients gave Ace the opportunity to try and recreate his mother's recipe. Ace's favorite food was still the spaghetti he remembers in his previous life. The one his kind mom always made for him. The two souls inside him both miss their mothers. A wistful feeling suddenly grew in Ace's heart. Dawn Island had so many distractions to make him forget about his past life. But now that he was alone, that slightly empty feeling returned.
Someone bumped into him, which shook Ace out of his daze. It was a man who looked like he was running away from something. His forehead was covered in nervous sweat. His body felt tense.
"Outta my way!" the man said as he tried pushing Ace away. He couldn't even move Ace when he bumped into him. Still, Ace turned his body to let the man go. The man immediately ran away.
"Hey! Get back here!" someone shouted after the man. Ace soon saw who it was. It was a blonde haired man wearing a bright red coat. One of his arms looked metallic. Ace felt that he looked familiar.
Ace and the red coated man locked eyes for a brief second. They felt the world slow down as if they felt pulled to each other. The man quickly ignored the feeling though. He was busy chasing the one who bumped into Ace.
Ace watched the man go, still feeling as if he should know who he was. He quickly realized why the next moment as he heard the gossips around him.
"That's 'Stampede' Vash!"
"We should get out of here…"
"We should. Trouble always follows that man."
It clicked in Ace's mind. That man was Vash the Stampede! The protagonist of Trigun!
'How the hell is that possible? I thought this was One Piece?'
Ace was quickly reminded that he shouldn't assume that he knew everything in this world. The world was vast and unpredictable. Still, things tended to be close to the canon from what he's seen so far. Then, Ace had a wide grin on his face.
"I guess I found the first member of my crew!"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone