Mt.
Colubo, the backyard of Dadan’s cabin.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the bonfire was burning intensely, fueled by crackling dry wood.
A giant roasted wild boar was set over the fire, emitting an enticing aroma of grease.
“Wooo…
this is so good!
I’m starving!” Luffy sat cross-legged on the ground, his rubber arms moving so fast they became a blur as he frantically stuffed roasted meat into his mouth.
His cheeks were puffed out like two balloons, and even though his face was covered in several bandages, it didn’t slow down his eating speed at all.
On the other side of the bonfire, Sabo was sitting cross-legged amidst a pile of glittering treasure, using the firelight to see.
He held a small notebook, and the quill in his hand was calculating rapidly.
“So,” Ace, his muscular upper body bare, tossed a pure gold coin in his hand as he looked at the grease-covered Luffy with a faint smile: “Although you’re usually a single-celled organism, these three years of training haven’t gone to waste.
How on earth did a heavy, clumsy guy like Burjiam manage to catch you?” Hearing Ace’s questioning, Luffy struggled to swallow the meat in his mouth, took a big gulp of water, and then angrily waved his fists.
“It’s not like I lost in a fair fight!
I was catching rhinoceros beetles on the edge of the Terminal this morning when that group suddenly rushed out and surrounded me!” Luffy shouted indignantly: “They said you and Sabo had stolen their business in the Black Market several times recently, and they kept forcing me to tell them where our base and treasure on Mt.
Colubo were hidden!
Of course, I didn’t say anything, but then they suddenly threw a strange net with stones attached.
As soon as I touched that net, all the strength in my body disappeared…” Hearing Luffy’s explanation, Ace’s hand, which had been tossing the coin, paused slightly.
Sabo, who was nearby, also stopped writing, his eyes looking at Luffy with a complicated expression.
Facing interrogation by a pirate with a bounty in the tens of millions, even many adult pirates would be scared enough to wet their pants and spill everything.
But this ten-year-old kid had gritted his teeth and held out, without revealing a single word.
“You idiot.” Sabo sighed helplessly, though his eyes held a smile he couldn’t hide.
“You could have just made up a lie and led them to the territory of that mutated giant bear on the back mountain.
Why did you have to hold out like that?” “But I don’t want to lie to that trash!
And, I would never betray Ace and Sabo!” Luffy shouted righteously, then lowered his head to continue dealing with the roasted meat leg in his hand.
“Hahaha!” Ace suddenly let out a wild and arrogant laugh.
He stepped forward, pressed down on the straw hat on Luffy’s head, and rubbed his hair vigorously.
“Well done, Luffy.
A real man on the sea would never betray his brothers, even if he dies.” A defiant arc curled at the corner of Ace’s mouth.
Although his tone was wild, his eyes revealed an absolute protectiveness: “But next time you run into this kind of trash, forget about the rhinoceros beetles.
Just run back and tell me, and I’ll go twist their skulls off.” “Hehehe, I know!” Luffy grinned heartlessly.
Ace pulled his hand back, turned, and walked over to the pile of loot, pulling out a weapon that had been stuck in the mud.
It was an extremely heavy, single-edged machete.
The blade was broad, showing a cold, dark cyan color, and the handle was wrapped in non-slip black animal hide.
This was a fine piece Ace had found in the private treasure chest of that pirate with a bounty in the tens of millions when they took down Burjiam’s nest.
Because it was so heavy, Burjiam rarely used it, which just happened to be their gain.
“The weight is barely acceptable, enough for me to swing for a few years.” Ace gripped the handle and swung it casually twice.
The heavy blade easily tore through the air, creating a piercing sonic boom.
For him right now, swordsmanship skills were secondary; combined with his monstrous strength, this heavy machete was perfect to use as a blunt weapon to smash people.
“Sabo, how is the counting going?” Ace asked, shouldering the machete and looking at the chief financial officer nearby.
Sabo closed the ledger, his blue eyes flashing with excitement as he lowered his voice: “We’re rich, Ace!
That bastard Burjiam has been robbing merchant ships for years and actually hoarded such a huge amount of wealth.
All the gold, jewelry, and cash add up to a total value of about eighty million Berries!” “Eighty million?” Ace raised an eyebrow.
“In a countryside place like the East Blue, that’s enough to build a good ship.” “Eighty million for a ship?” Sabo was a bit surprised.
“If we took this money to a famous shipyard like the one in Syrup Village, we could even hire the best craftsmen to build a top-tier two-masted sailboat.
Should we go to other islands to find someone?” “No, we don’t need to go that far.” Ace shook his head decisively, a rational yet wild arc curving at the corner of his mouth.
“No matter how top-tier the timber and shipbuilding technology in the East Blue may be, in the face of the extreme climate of the Grand Line, they’re just a few slightly sturdier wooden planks.
We have four years until we set sail.” Ace used the machete to draw a simple nautical chart on the ground: “Sabo, take the money and find a solid, skilled Old Shipwright secretly in the Goa Kingdom or a nearby port town.
No fancy, flashy designs; I just want him to use the hardest wood available in the East Blue and spend a few years, taking his time to carefully craft us a black fast ship that is sturdy enough and has extreme speed!” “The first ship doesn’t need to be too big; as long as it can carry the initial core crew members, withstand the undercurrents of Reverse Mountain, and safely get us into the Grand Line, that’s enough.” Listening to Ace’s plan, Sabo immediately understood: “You mean this ship built with eighty million is just our initial ‘transition ship’?” “That’s right.” Ace looked up, his pitch-black eyes peering through the thick smoke of the bonfire, as if piercing through the entire night sky, looking toward the distant and mysterious clouds.
“How could a ship worthy of the name ‘Eclipse,’ one that could serve as our base to rule the world…
be just an ordinary wooden ship?” Ace grinned, his smile filled with the arrogance and ambition to conquer the world: “When we enter the first half of the Grand Line, I will personally lead you up to the clouds!
There, not only is there countless gold, but there are also divine vehicles crafted with the legendary ‘Island Cloud’ and peerless technology!” “That’s where we’ll switch to our true flagship!” Sabo gasped, his hand holding the ledger trembling slightly.
“The clouds…
Ace, are you talking about the legendary Sky Island?!
Does that place, which only exists in fairy tale picture books, really exist?!” “Of course it exists, and soon, it will become my airspace.” Ace laughed and stood up, casually sticking the machete into the mud beside him.
“Um, Ace.” Just then, Sabo seemed to suddenly remember something; he looked at the ledger in his hand, then turned to look at Luffy, who was still burying his head in eating meat.
“Luffy is setting sail three years after us.
Since we have plenty of funds now, should we also have the shipwright put in extra effort and build a single-masted sailboat for Luffy in advance?” As a brother, Sabo was still a bit worried deep down.
Hearing this, Luffy finally stopped eating.
He gulped down the food in his mouth, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth messily, and sprang up from the ground like a spring.
“I don’t want it!” Luffy made a big ‘X’ with his hands in front of his chest and refused loudly without hesitation.
“Huh?
Why?” Sabo was stunned for a moment.
“If you have a good ship, wouldn’t it be much safer when you set sail?” “I don’t want a ship you guys built!” Luffy pressed down on his straw hat, his pitch-black eyes shimmering with an incredibly bright light as he shouted righteously: “If the ship for a pirate’s adventure is prepared by someone else, what’s the point!” “Listen up!
When I set sail, I’m going to start from scratch on my own!
I’m going to use my own strength to find ten super amazing, super interesting crewmates!
And then, together with them, we’ll get a pirate ship a hundred times cooler than yours!
I’m the man who’s going to be the Pirate King, I don’t need your help!” Looking at Luffy’s energetic, even slightly stubborn, single-celled appearance, the air by the bonfire went quiet for a moment.
Immediately after— “Hahahaha!” Ace let out a burst of laughter.
He was laughing so hard tears were almost coming out, patting Luffy’s shoulder hard while laughing, with enough force to almost pat Luffy into the mud.
“Well said!
That’s what a man’s adventure is all about!” A hint of genuine admiration flashed in Ace’s eyes.
He knew Luffy too well; although his little brother was an idiot, his heart, which pursued freedom, definitely didn’t lose to anyone else on this sea.
However, praise is praise, but a big brother’s mockery is also essential.
Ace stopped laughing, a playful arc curling at the corner of his mouth: “But Sabo, you’re definitely overthinking it.
With this kid’s brain that can’t even tell north from south, even if you gave him a big ship, he wouldn’t be able to sail it without a navigator.
He’d probably hit a reef and sink on the first day!” “Ace!
Stop looking down on me!” Luffy stomped his feet in anger.
“I think,” Ace rubbed his chin, suppressing a laugh as he teased, “on the day you set sail when you’re seventeen, you probably won’t even be able to scrape together enough money to buy a small wooden boat.
You might just have to find an apple barrel to crawl into and drift along the sea!” “I won’t crawl into a barrel!
I’ll have a super big ship!
You just wait and see!” Luffy bared his fangs and brandished his claws at Ace, unconvinced.
Watching Ace and Luffy making a scene together, Sabo shook his head helplessly, but a warm smile rose on his lips.
He closed the ledger and carefully tucked it away close to his body.