formation of the spade pirates

"I'll surpass the Pirate King!"

"We'll surpass them… Waves, storms, and even Fate─"

Ace washed ashore on the uninhabited island of Sixis in the East Blue. Having arrived in distress on this isolated island, Ace meets a man. Together, he and Ace escape the island and decided to go on adventures together, thus the Spade Pirates were formed. To challenge the Grand Line…

Masked Deuce, the first of the Spade Pirates crew. What is Ace's life like through his eyes? And what has Ace left behind in this world?

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Prologue

The father was no longer in this world.

Before his son was born, he was executed at the hands of the Marines.

He left behind a woman that would become a mother and the unborn child within her.

There was no one who didn't know of the father.

To protect the unborn child, the woman hid in the town she was born in.

And there, without anyone knowing, a new life quietly came into the world.

South Blue's Baterilla.

Was it a trick of fate?

On this island, she gave birth to the child carrying the blood of the Pirate King.

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Chapter 1

I set out to sea because a guy who had the track of his life laid out before him derailed mine.

A blue sea that continues to the ends of the earth, that was the world I truly thought I lived in.

That was exactly were the world of storied adventures I longed for as a child was. With a book in hand, it was a dream world I just couldn't help but watch. And that world, I'm now in it.

An uninhabited island with pear trees. A baking hot sun. White beaches. An empty stomach. All of that was reality. Just the quiet sound of the waves to gently mark the passage of time. On this beautiful island that seemed to have jumped out of the pages of a story book, today too you could hear the noisy calls of the seabirds.

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of one day trying my hand at writing an adventure story.

If I did, I think I'd like it to be a book like "Bragmen." It's my favorite book.

In that book, which is a collection of entries from old adventurers' log books, is the famous episode of "Little Garden" an island where Giants live.

A child at heart, I thought the adults of the world were idiots to say that all of the stories that book contained were lies.

Why did they get to decide something like that?

Regardless of anyone else's opinion, I wanted to verify their truth by seeing things with my own eyes. Until you confirm it with your own eyes, you shouldn't get to decide that. That is the kind of human I want to be.

Even now, that thought hasn't changed. Even if that means washing up on an uninhabited island that's said to be unescapable.

The East Blue. The too beautiful island of Sixis.

The island closest to heaven. That's what everyone said. Why do they say that? Because once you set foot on that island, that's the end, you won't leave it even in death.

Looking at it, there was a special sea current out beyond the glistening emerald green shallows. The closer ones carried things towards the island. Just like that, it was the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea. Because of this, everyone who comes to the island is forced to enjoy one last vacation in their life.

Letting out a big sigh, I laid down in the shade of a pear tree. I idly watched the sea. It's already been three days since I came to this island. It was the worst vacation of my life.

A gentle sea breeze stroked my cheek. On the other hand, the smell of the continuous tide is terribly realistic, possibly because of the bleach white skeleton of the previous guest sitting next to me.

By the clothes on it, they seemed to have been a pirate. The completely fleshless hand held a rusted over pistol and a gorgeous ring glinted on its finger. What useless stuff. Weapons and gems, you don't need to carry either of them into that distant world.

All that's left when you die are bones, huh…?

"Either way, it's a real mess…" I muttered, having nothing better to do. I'd probably forget the sound of my own voice if I didn't do that. Thinking about how I'd be skeleton like that in the near future, I mumbled a bit more…

"What an idiot I am…"

Leaning back against the pear tree, I closed my eyes. I forced myself to swallow my saliva down my parched throat. Unconsciously, I considered how it was too late to save myself. That wasn't a good sign.

"We could at least make a grave. I'll help too."

"A grave…? I see… Let's do it…"

The bleached white skeleton was ridiculously pitiful. I made the grave and gave a memorial service. Didn't have a clue who they were, but I said some nice things for them.

I swallowed my saliva again. Anyways, my throat really hurt.

I had to go looking for water soon. It's already been nearly two whole days since I've drunken any water. It'd be nice if there's fruit in this pear tree I'm leaning against. That's what I thought. Were there monkeys inside the forest? Was that a seasonal thing? Unfortunately, I didn't find a single pear.

The seabirds' calls were as shrill as ever. Listening carefully to the sound of the coming and going waves. If it's seawater, there's as much as you'd like, yet…

"Who are you!?"

I opened my eyes with a sigh, my pace upset. Just before me, on an uninhabited island that should have no people, was an attempt at a normal conversation.

If I did that─

There was the sound of sand crunching underfoot. Polished black boots. Before my eyes stood a single man. With the sparkling and glistening sea behind him, it was like he had backlighting.

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

Our eyes met and he gave a polite bow in greeting. The greeting didn't match the uninhabited island.

"My name is Ace. I'm wandering around the beach. Nice to meet you."

He gave his name with a wide grin. His orange hat was bright in the light filtering through the trees. As I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him, the guy casually sat down. A crimson necklace quietly swayed around his neck.

I noticed that he brought our line of sights to the same height. He was a young guy with freckles. We were probably around the same age. His toned body seemed to really suit an adventure story and the sound of the waves.

This was my first encounter with Portgas D. Ace.

I remained silent. My eyes widened in surprise. On this uninhabited island I'd had the bad luck to drift ashore on, there was no way I would meet anyone here. So the moment I got a glance of a guy standing before me, the word "rescue" was already floating up in my brain.

The man named Ace─ no, my Saviour, opened his mouth to speak.

"This is kind of sudden, but my ship got wrecked. Please save me."

"Wait, you're in the same situation as me!?"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I screamed and cried in my mind.

In all the wide world and seas, we somehow ended up stranded on the same uninhabited island at the same time? What were the odds of that? I couldn't stomach this shit-tastic miracle before my eyes.

I weakly answered that.

"…my ship broke in the previous storm. My luggage almost ended up a gift to Davy Jones along with the ship. In that storm, it was like all the good deeds I'd done meant nothing."

My chapped lips split and bled. It'd been a while since I'd talked with anyone.

By the way, Davy Jones was a pirate a long time ago. A legend of a man cursed by a devil to live on the sea floor even to this very day. That's why things that are sunk, boats, treasures, all of it, are said to be gifts to him. Of course, no one actually thinks that he's really alive down there. That's just what the legend says. I mean, if he really was down there, those aren't gifts but accidentally lost items, so he should return them, right?

"Is that so? …Well, guess we both got unlucky…" Ace said, letting out a happy laugh. Between us drifters it was really frustrating.

When it came to Ace, you may have noticed that I was frustrated. One reason was that I felt you can't smile much in this situation, and of course that he didn't want to stop saying the same things I'd said to the bleached skeleton.

No, that wasn't right. I reconsidered that in a flash. This guy probably wasn't scared of this island because he didn't know anything about it yet. He was a novice at being shipwrecked. What does that mean? It means that the starvation and thirst will make his thoughts indecipherable.

"Me… I got here 3 days ago…"

It was a quiet yet powerful mutter.

How's that, I've been surviving here for three days. Think you can match that? By their meaning, those words had the feeling of puffing my chest in pride mixed into them.

"This is my sixth day. I've got you beat."

"Eeeeeeeeh!?"

At Ace's words, I shouted out without thought. This guy was more badass than me.

"Ah well, before that… I'm making a raft, but it's not going too well. So why don't you lend me a hand and we can build a boat together?

With a delighted expression, Ace told me all about it. According to Ace, he had already tried two or three times to escape the island by making an instant raft. On his own, it just went wrong and he was at a loss, then he discovered me.

─building a boat together…

At a glance, it sounded like a good idea. However, that would be trusting a person I just met and don't actually know, doing nothing more than testing our fates together.

If thought about simply, more hands were obviously better. But that wouldn't work in our current situation. This was an uninhabited island. There was a limited amount of everything. Even all on your own it was hard to survive here, even more so with two of us. Two portions of water. Two portions of food. A boat just big enough to fit two. Wouldn't we have to prepare all of this? It's ridiculous. What if we could only find enough food for one of us?

Should I share it with a guy I just met? No, splitting it was the easiest choice. And if one of us took it all for ourselves? It was all well and good to say we'd cooperate with each other, but if there was a last-minute betrayal?

Even without extreme conditions, people will betray each other. Even more so when it comes to living or dying on an uninhabited island. There was no one else to see you. Could I really trust the person before me until the end?

That's why I don't work with others. I don't need any nakama. Since I set out for the sea, I decided to live alone without relying on anyone. If I do that, I'll never be betrayed by people.

When I first saw Ace, the moment I heard his voice, there were expectations somewhere for me. How miserable. There was still softness in my heart somewhere.

He came to save me, I thought. That's really what I thought.

Even though such a thing shouldn't be.

My emotions quickly cooled down. It's supposed to be my own life, yet here I am watching it like it's someone else's life. Even someone like me was happy to have actually met someone when I should have been all alone on this uninhabited island. It felt like soaring.

But that too was short-lived. Nakama just made the feeling of being all alone all the more prominent. After all, if you meet someone, no matter where that is, no matter what the situation is, you'll inevitably have to confront the emptiness within your own heart.

"By the way, I still haven't heard your name yet."

It had only been a few minutes at most since we met, yet Ace was already barreling forward on his own. He didn't stand still. When it comes to giving my own name, I've always hated when others ask for your name so familiarly.

"I'm not giving you my name…" I muttered in reply, dancing around the subject. I didn't trust someone I was meeting for the first time to give them my real name. Since the day I decided to live on my own, I left my name behind.

"What's with that? We're already friends, right?"

That's what Ace said. Since when were we friends?

"Come on, I said to tell me your name."

"Shut up… Alright, if a penname is fine, how about I tell you any number of those?"

Before a pushy Ace, such a thing just slipped out.

"A penname…?"

"'Ace' is a good name, yeah? Mind if I use it when I write adventure stories?"

Those were the words that poured out of my mouth without a thought. What a strange feeling. The story flowed, but in this place, in this situation, for the words flying out of my mouth to be of my childhood dream…

In response to my request to use his name, Ace's expression clouded over.

"Oi, wait a minute. It's my name."

"That's why I called it a penname. It doesn't matter what name it is, see?"

"Quit it. My goal is to bring my name to the top. So don't copy it."

'The top' Ace said. With just that, I could imagine to some extent what kind of person Ace was. And the probable reason for why he came to this island too.

"Did you find the treasure?" I asked, ignoring the flow of the conversation.

"Do you know something?" he immediately replied.

"No… just rumors…"

"Having amazing treasure marks a strong pirate. That's what I thought when I came here, but I lost my ship and can't find the treasure at all. There's no bounties here and, as a bonus, I haven't been able to leave. This is a ferocious island, isn't it?"

I realized for the first time that he was thinking of raising his name by finding a legendary treasure no one had ever found before or beating well-known pirates. Just for the sake of that commonplace ambition, he came to this island…

From its beautiful appearance, there's been a legend of treasure on this island since long ago. It's a famous story among the local sailors. However, no one approaches this island. It's only natural. Anything that enters won't be able to leave until the very end. Even if there really was treasure.

First of all, there's no lack of gossip about treasure among sailors. No one knows what's going on in the island's interior. They just point at the beautiful island they can only view from a distance and speculate on what might or might not be there.

I don't know who he heard it from, but Ace took such gossip seriously and bothered to come to this island. He's the type to be destroyed by his ambitions. Furthermore, he stupidly thinks that cooperating will allow us to live longer.

"Got it! Be Deuce!" Ace suddenly said to me. "Your penname. How about it? Be Deuce. It sounds like Ace, doesn't it?"

"Ah? 'Deuce' you say…?"

Deuce. Wasn't that a term for two in cards or dice? It certainly meant 'bad luck.' It described my current situation perfectly. But ironically it wasn't that bad a name…

Just in case, I tried asking Ace.

"You do know what deuce means, right…?"

"Nope. But it sounds similar, right?"

He gave that answer with an honest look, so he probably really doesn't know.

With a serious expression, he gave a single, seemingly satisfied nod.

"It's too bad, but Ace is my name. I can't let you have my name. That's why I think Deuce would be a good penname for you. They sound alike, you know."

"Quit going on about how they sound alike!"

"But aren't you the one who refuses to tell me your name? And you tried to take my name. How would people know who is who if the two people on the same uninhabited island are Ace? Just think about it. With just the two of us on this island, if I, who should be Ace, call you Ace, then who am I supposed to be?!"

"Well, you're… Ace… right…? Besides, I was going to use it as a penname someday. It's not like I want you to start calling me 'Ace' right now…"

"But that doesn't make when I have to address you any easier. So from now on I'll call you Deuce!"

It's great, right? he seemed to think. I didn't really care for it, but if he liked it, whatever. It's not like I had any intention of getting along with him.

"Well, that's that, you're Deuce. Now I noticed this earlier, but…" Ace crossed his arms and stared seriously at my face, "Does everyone in your hometown wear one of those? Or was there a festival or something?"

When I say Ace was staring at my face, it would be more accurate to say he was staring at the mask hiding my eyes and asking about that.

"Ah, by any chance, can I touch it?"

At the same time, I also noticed that. He introduced himself first, so regardless of appearance, he was a perfectly polite guy. But, that concern is useless. At the same time I left my name behind, after I set out to sea, I also decided to hide my face.

"No, and it's just something I wear because I like it…"

"Oh? Then you can be Masked Deuce. It even kinda matches the way you dress with that coat. Yeah, it doesn't sound bad at all."

"Don't give me such a weird name!"

As Ace nodded once in satisfaction, I sighed. I just got dragged into his pace. This Ace guy had an air to him unlike any other.

In the first place, I wear a mask because I don't want people who don't understand my lifestyle to know my identity. If they don't know what my face looks like, it's easier to avoid trouble.

"Listen. Since the time I decided to set out to sea I've been wearing this mask. By doing this, if I say, catch the Marines's attention, even then, they won't know who I am. It makes sense, right?"

Said another way, it was a form of commitment to my resolve.

In order to live on the seas alone, I left both my real name and my face back on land. And that was when I first realized I was living my own life. I wasn't a bad medical student anymore. I had no regrets about that. Furthermore, I had no place on land like that.

My father is an excellent doctor, and my older brother became an excellent doctor just like him. I was the only one that wasn't excellent, the odd one out in my family.

When I met with my father, all he said was "Don't embarrass me." It felt like he never said anything else to me, he just repeated those words.

I was always compared to my excellent older brother. My older brother didn't treat me like that. He avoided and thoroughly ignored me.

Friends would often tease us, asking if we were really brothers. Things like that would make my older brother angry, so that's probably why he avoided me.

Also, these friends thought they'd look stupid hanging out with me, so they avoided me too. If I came close to them, they'd tease me and toss insults at me. Thinking about it now, I was probably the only one that thought of us as friends.

I didn't belong with them. Nothing I did would change that. I just went with the flow of things. Well, it's a common story.

However, even if that's common in any world, even it's a commonplace and boring story, I can't escape being the protagonist of that boring story.

If that's the way it is, then at least I shouldn't be punished for trying to live honestly to my own feelings.

In my home town the days just passed by, the same thing every day again and again.

Gradually, the foolish thought that the current me just wasn't the real me got stronger. I wanted to become the real me. I wanted to try living the life of the real me.

In those empty days, I got my hands on a copy of Bragmen.

As soon as I finished reading it, I could suddenly see the brilliance of the sea. I got a taste of the shocking experience of things like what colors are only out beyond the sea.

In that moment, I found my true self. I realized that now was the start of my life. That's what I decided, body and soul.

Living life and pushing forward before a wild death. If I fall, even if it's in a river of mud, I'll stand up again. That's what I resolved to do. And to do that I needed this mask.

The mask is something I need to be me.

"I don't know if that makes sense or not, but I think if you're a man you should proudly show your face and give your name, yeah? That said, I can't imagine doing otherwise."

At Ace's words, I sighed as I remembered the past. It felt like forever ago that I left my home town.

"I don't really want a bounty. I want a normal adventure, that's all."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't need to hide your face and name, right?"

"I don't know if you'll get it, but where I used to live people who asked to go out to sea were looked down on and made fun of. Pirates, people with bounties, and adventurers, they're all considered trouble. The day they find out you fell into such a life, it's not strange for them to even stone your family."

"I see... oh, I get it!"

Having seemed to realize something, Ace's face lit up with a smile.

"You care about your family."

"...what?"

"You didn't want to cause trouble for the family you left in your home town. Am I right or what?"

Given Ace's confidence in saying so, I spoke up without thinking.

"I don't like them! I dislike them! In fact, I hate them! That's why I'm out here!"

"Is that so? How strange. I was sure I had it right..."

Ace frowned as he ruffled his black hair on top of his head.

"That's... not the case..."

Fame? That shouldn't be it. But, I didn't say any more than that in reply.

"Speaking of family, I've got a little brother. Well, we're not related by blood, but still..." Ace said, turning to look out to sea. "He's noisy like a monkey. I can barely remember a time without him, so being away from him and going it on my own like this, it's unexpectedly lonely..."

Ace chuckled with a lopsided grin. His little brother unrelated by blood. That's Ace's family.

Ace seemed so happy thinking about his adopted family.

While I was jealous of Ace's circumstances, I was also frustrated. Even when I left the town I was born in, I didn't feel anything like loneliness.

Even though Ace and I seemed to be roughly the same age, why had we lived such different lives until now?

When I think about being related to you by blood, I get embarrassed.

Since my older brother always ignored me, the only thing he ever said to me was that. Even now those words are still burned into my memory and when I remember them I can't help but clench my fists.

"Good for you... you have somewhere to return to..." I said with that realization. then I continued as if I were alone, "Why did you come here?! Why don't you just go back to your little brother?!"

"O-oi. Whey are you mad so suddenly...?"

"I'm different from you! If you've got somewhere you want to return to, isn't that happiness?!"

I suddenly stood up and stomped towards him.

"You've got somewhere to return to, a great little brother related not by blood but by heart, and you're a disgustingly happy bastard! Isn't that right? You've surely got a loving mom and dad that are anxiously awaiting your return. You're damned well blessed!" I spat out in my rage. With that I turned my back on him, intending to leave.

Then-

"My mother, she's gone..." Ace muttered in reply. His behavior now was different than anything from before, his voice sunk low.

Without thinking my legs came to a halt. I got the sense that I'd really said something insensitive. But even if I thought that, I didn't go back.

"And your father? What about your father, huh?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder. Why did Ace's eyes swim as soon as I said the word father?

"My father, is gone too...!"

This really wasn't good. The air around us was thick with bad feelings. But even understanding that wrongness snuggly wrapped around us, I started to make convoluted excuses.

"Whenever I met with my father, he'd never say anything to me besides 'don't embarrass me.' Compared to that, hanging out with you should be kind of useless. So if he's gone, he's gone and it's all fine, right? If all you've got left are happy memories-" I said, then I paused. Ace was staring me down. And I could see he was trembling just a little as he opened his mouth.

"I don't have any happy memories... I don't even know my mother's face. And my father wasn't a very good person. The short version of it is that he was a criminal..."

"A criminal, you say, and he's already dead, right? Even though it's not like you did anything wrong, why are you making such a sour face? Don't let it trouble you!"

Silence. As Ace's dark expression stayed in place, he began to babble at me.

"So that doesn't make me bad, is it?! I'm just being self-conscious! No one will mind if there's a famous criminal around! In fact, like you, no one will even think about it, right?! Do you even understand the problem of saying a criminal is a criminal, like if I were to say my parent is the Pirate King? He was the worst criminal. It makes me want to die. But it's not like that for you, right? Right? Don't make me the main character of some tragedy…" he said, and I just didn't know what to say anymore.

Ace stared at the sandy beach as those words left his mouth.

"No… wait, hold on a second… I mean, what's with that reaction…?"

It was a strange atmosphere and the forced dry laughter was pointless.

"That's not true… right…?"

Ace closed his eyes. Then, he just barely nodded his head.

"R-Roger…? That Roger…? The Pirate King, Roger…?"

A moment─

Then Ace silently confirmed it.

The sun was already setting, staining the sky around us red. And Ace just sat there in the silence. The sea birds that had been so loud earlier had at some point stopped crying out. With only the sound of the waves, I could easily hear him. I didn't think this island could be so quiet.

I stared at Ace's face.

The Pirate King, Gold Roger.

He wasn't some ordinary criminal. His was a legendary name of evil that everyone in the world knew.

He was the pirate said to have conquered the Grand Line and obtained the One Piece.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his execution marked a great change in the world.

Before Roger and after Roger.

That's the thought that has taken root in the world, the man had such a large influence.

Many townsfolk fear him, the Marines and World Government see him as a threat, and by the hands of rogues and misfits, he's a defied existence. That is the man called Roger.

Speaking honestly, I've always considered him to be something like a monster sprung forth from legends. And you're saying that that man's son, a true son by his own blood, is Ace, the guy right before my very eyes?

It's not a story you can just believe out of the blue. If we weren't castaways on an uninhabited island with practically no food or water, I'd be laughing my head off at this normal tall-tale. But here we were…

In situations of extreme hunger and thirst, a human's true nature shows. They start to speak and act in ways they normally don't. That's the way I've been since earlier until now.

Myself, Ace too, we were past the point of lying anymore.

It's not that we couldn't, it just wasn't the kind of situation you lie in.

I wondered just what Ace was thinking as he had yet to say anything more.

I don't know if he felt regret for that or not. If he regretted revealing the secret of his birth. But at the very least, in an emergency situation, the truth comes from the bottom of your heart─

"Shit…"

Clicking my tongue at the unsettling idea, I turned my back on Ace once again.

"Ah, h-hey, let's build a boat together…"

"Don't talk to me anymore… I have no intention getting help from someone like you…"

Leaving behind that line on not needing nakama, I walked across the sand.

Wrapped in that bad air, I left that place behind.

To prepare for my escape, my immediate needs were water and food. Even if I escaped the island, it would be meaningless if I starved to death at sea.

Leaving Ace to make a boat on his own, I wandered around the island's interior to collect water and food.

That said, the only decent food I got my hands on were the sea birds' eggs, which couldn't satisfy chronic hunger. The sea birds danced in the sky, even though it would be so convenient if, as they flew over my head, they'd fulfill the mandate of heaven and drop down to me. I couldn't count how many times I thought that ridiculous thought.

There was a forest on the island, but I couldn't spot any edible looking animals or fruits. I could hear birds and other things, but I couldn't see them. I dug into the ground and found some potato-like things, however they had to be poisonous because just touching them to my lips caused them to numb and swell up.

And the ants in the forest were fierce, attacking if you just got close to their nest.

They got all over my body, biting into my skin countless times. In my anger, I devoured the ants clustered in the palm of my hand. They were sour. And they did nothing to fill my empty stomach.

All I could think about was food.

And why, at a time like this, wasn't it my favorites I remebered, but all the common dishes that you never really notice as peaceful days pass you by. If it's normal, then it's not the type of food you think of, yet they kept popping in and out of my mind.

Food leftover from when I got full, all the food I secretly didn't eat as a child because I didn't like it, I remembered all of it at that moment. If it was all before my eyes right now…

If I escaped this island, the first thing I'd do is eat that one. Then I'd eat that one. And after that, this one. And then after that one I'd eat this one too. That's right, I wanted to eat that too, just one more time…

It was like something had possessed me and I spent all day thinking about that.

In regards to water, just a little─ though I say just a little, honestly it could still save me.

Beyond the beach was a sharp cliff. I noticed that the cliff face was moist.

At first I thought it was seawater, but when I gave it a lick, it was pure water. Was it rainwater or spring water? It didn't really matter why pure water was dripping down the cliff face, just that it was.

I fixed an emptied bottle to the stone and collected the water coming off the cliff face. Making some string from the frayed edges of my clothes, I attached one end to the cliff face and put the other in the bottle.

Using the thread as a connector, one drop, then another started to accumulate in the bottom of the bottle.

A whole day of collecting water results, at best, in about 2 or 3 mouthfuls of water, but it's enough to take the edge off the thirst.

I soon lost track of time.

When I was still in my hometown, I thought about how according to the adventure logs I read, if you went to an uninhabited island, you should simply tally the days on a wall.

But now even if I intend to do that, I didn't.

Even though I'm alive, I'm too busy for that.

Just wandering around with the intent of collecting food and water, the day came to an end. Just by wandering around I was thirsty and hungry. Even if I did nothing, I was thirsty and hungry.

At night it was cold and I needed a place sheltered from the sea wind.

While I was searching for food, I also collected branches and made a shelter. At the same time, I also had to collect materials to use for the boat when I escape this island.

Honestly, I had too much to do.

It seemed as though the sun set shortly after it rose. And the nights felt abnormally long.

In my shelter, my exhausted body drowsily rolled around, as the sound of the sea wind would suddenly pick up when it became night.

While I was drowsy, those strong winds would wake me up.

This would happen over and over again all night long. It was like someone wasn't going to let me sleep, so they made the wind blow the moment I started to drift off.

And every time I woke with a start, I muttered "Cold…" Those words came out while I was half conscious. I said that because every day was like a battle for it, yet I couldn't get a campfire going.

Was I doing it wrong? Was the wood on the island no good for making a fire? Or was it both of those reasons? Still, I had to do without a fire for those countless nights.

The beach at night was cold. But the forest wasn't any better for sleeping when the starlight didn't reach into its depths and the fierce ants from earlier are in there.

Wrapped up as tightly as I could in my long coat, I continually murmured "Cold…" Every now and then my unconscious rambling would startle me awake.

It was ironic, I thought.

I had come to be on a beautiful uninhabited island, just like the ones I dreamed about after reading about them in books as a young child. There, and thus now, I was dying.

Were reality and dreams all that different…?

My survival wasn't going that well, nor was Ace's boat making it seemed.

Afternoon. I walked down the beach and right now Ace was set up for another attempt to head out to sea. I wonder what number this one was in his attempts?

What Ace had made was more suited to being called a farce of a coffin than a boat. Riding upon it, he gallantly left the shore.

I watched for a while as the 'boat' dragged itself out to sea until I lost sight of it. And then soon afterwards, Ace came back soaking wet without the boat.

"Don't think that I'm done just because of something like this…!"

Faltering, Ace tottered away. That optimism from when we first met had taken hits and was changing, he was pretty much full of sadness now.

I too started tottering away in the opposite direction that Ace left. I had to gather food and water today too so that I could live.

My stomach growled.

You don't really notice it in yourself, but your face and body should become rather haunted looking.

Yet there I noticed. He was filled with sadness, yet I couldn't see that haunted look in Ace.

Without thinking I looked back. Ace was already gone.

I tried following Ace's footprints in the beach's sand.

If I thought about it, I was doing all I could to keep living, yet I had no clue what Ace was doing outside of building boats.

My tread was heavy. I was so exhausted I couldn't walk properly. Stumbling, I continued forward and at last Ace's back came into sight.

Hidden in the shade of a nearby tree, I got a look at his situation.

In the next moment I thoughtlessly let out a small "Ah!"

Ace stood still with his back to me and the beach. Where did he find it? For to my surprise, in his hand he held a big, round fruit.

My throat screamed for that fresh ripeness I could see the fruit possessed even at a distance.

"Where did he find that…! Shit, has he been eating fruit like that this whole time..?!"

I was already salivating at the fruit. My empty stomach growled to be filled. I stared holes into the fruit in Ace's hand.

At that time, I unexpectedly remembered what happened that day we met.

His father is the Pirate King. Ace had nodded, no mistake. His silence answered that question. He's the worst villain's son. The true son of a man executed and the fear of many people. The memento of a terrible criminal. It was unfair, that guy was living without thirst or hunger. How was that okay?

At that time, I was resolved to steal that fruit from him by any means necessary.

I picked up a thick tree branch from nearby with a grunt.

Then I desperately thought. Tried to come up with a reason. That's it, where I was born pirates and adventurers were made fun of together, so wouldn't that be because of the infamy of Roger? I don't know, but surely that's the case. So decided, I went for it.

Anyways, it was an uninhabited island. No one would see it. I didn't need any compassion. There was no need to feel guilty. Not when Ace carried the blood of the worst villain, Roger…!

With the branch club in hand, I staggered slowly and stealthily up to Ace.

I got close behind and in the moment I raised my arm up─

Gyururururu, my stomach growled.

"Aaaah…" I miserably sighed.

Ace turned around. I was noticed.

"Hm? Oooh, that's a nice branch!"

Ace took my club. Like taking candy from a baby. There was no way I was getting that fruit. I was already at my limit just standing.

Before my eyes stood Ace with my club.

I looked up at Ace with a pale face. My breathing became rough pants. He took my weapon and I didn't have the strength to run. I was going to reap what I sowed. That's what I thought.

But Ace's reaction wasn't what I thought it would be at all.

"Did, did you come to help with the boat?" Ace said, and he smiled.

"Uh, ah, uuuh..!"

With that I couldn't speak, and juts groaned. At the same time, I was miserably ashamed of my own actions. Tears naturally welled up in my dry eyes. I was thankful I was wearing a mask.

And right after that, even though this was the situation, no, exactly because this was the situation, my stomach let out a large growl.

With a bitter smile, Ace took the fruit in his hand and held it out to me.

"Here, you can have it."

Yet at that moment─

Gyururururu.

Ace let out a small gasp. Just like a response to my stomach, Ace's stomach let out a big growl. Ace also had an empty stomach.

Even so, I asked Ace, who was offering me food with a face that said he hadn't eaten any, "Th-there's a bunch more of these, right? Out there? Right?"

"Nope, I picked it up just now. It probably washed ashore here like we did."

I felt like I'd just been clubbed in the head. I couldn't face him, not like that. I sunk to the ground and noticed I was crying. Ace didn't seem to understand, but he remained silent.

What kind of fearful thoughts was I thinking?

I had decided myself that carrying Roger's blood made Ace barely human. Convinced myself that that made anything I did to him okay.

But I've only ever seen Roger in newspapers and books. I've never met him, never spoken with him. I was just swallowing the world's reputation of him, someone's opinion of him.

Where my thoughts really so shallow and ugly?

And there I had an epiphany.

This was exactly the reaction of the adults of my childhood that I was dissatisfied with.

Those adults made fun of Bragmen and looked at it with prejudice.

And I too looked at Ace with the same kind of prejudice.

Just when had I become such an adult, such a person?

But what about the real Ace?

Not even paying attention to his own hunger, he could share his food with someone else who was hungry. That was the kind of person Ace was.

That was the son of Roger, Ace who carried the Pirate King's blood, the man I saw with my own two eyes.

"What's wrong? You're hungry, right? Aren't you going to eat it?"

I answered Ace while sniffling, "I can't eat that…!"

I was embarrassed with myself. I wasn't someone Ace should give his food to. I wasn't worth it. I should suffer this hunger. At the very least that ought to make up for this sin, I thought.

"Eat it," Ace said with a little frown, pushing the fruit towards me.

"I won't…!" I persisted, shaking my head.

"Why not!? You're hungry, so quit refusing!"

"But- but you're hungry too, right…?!"

My will power was being stretched and my voice was raised. I was crying, yet I refused to lose. Ace made a troubled expression and said nothing. Then─

"Alright, let's split it in half. That okay with you?"

That said, I didn't have time to answer as he split the fruit in two with a knife he had.

"See, I'm eating. So you eat too."

With a little smile, he handed over half of the fruit.

With the wordlessly cut in half fruit before me, I forgot my resolve and received the fruit.

Ace took a bite of the remaining half.

"Well, it's not poisonous… yep. Tastes bad though," Ace said, steadily chewing the fruit.

I took a bite if the fruit in my hand too. With fresh juice dripping from the cut before my eyes, holding on to my resolve became impossible.

"It's good… It tastes terrible, but it's good…!"

I couldn't stop after that one bite. It was like I was in a dream and I devoured the fruit. As I ate, tears kept dripping down my face without a thought.

"So good… so good… I'm sorry, so sorry…"

I continued to cry as I ate the fruit.

Actually, it didn't taste as good as I said it did. It was actually the nastiest fruit I'd ever eaten in my life. Even so, I don't think I've ever felt like I've eaten such a delicious fruit before either.

I drifted ashore onto an uninhabited island─ amid the desperation of hunger and thirst, I finally tasted the true flavor of life.

Gradually the sky was dyed a deep red. Even today had to come to an end.

After we ate the fruit while commenting on how bad it was, Ace and I sat next to each other watching the sun sink beyond the horizon. As usual, just the scenery of this beautiful island could make you tremble. I thought of the skeleton close to the bush. Did he once get to see a sunset like the one we were seeing now when he washed ashore here all alone?

With no one to talk to, just him all alone.

As I thought that, did I appreciate Ace being there beside me? I realized that up until now I had not, in fact, been alone all this time.

Because Ace was here, I did my best to live even though I was alone. Because I thought of how there was someone else on this island, I choose to live in solitude.

When I thought about it like that, it was the same for Ace.

"This sunset─" Ace spoke up as a matter of course. "Even though I think it's pretty, just thinking on my own it'll come to an end. With no one to see this scenery, it doesn't matter how pretty it is, it's just so boring…"

Ace chuckled at that.

Soon the sun set, but I didn't feel cold tonight like I always did before. Was it because for the first time in a long while I had food in my stomach? Or was it because I was here with Ace?

It was strange. For some reason it felt like it was getting even hotter than it was during the day.

I casually turned to face Ace.

Ace was on fire.

That's not a figure of speech. He was literally on fire. Flames were billowing from his whole body.

"Hot! Eeeeeeeeh!?"

While I was screaming, Ace noticed the abnormality going on with his body.

"Uwah! W-what the heeeeeell!?"

Ace ran around screaming. I quickly started dowsing Ace with the sand from beneath us. However, the burning flames just merrily increased with no sign of any of them going out.

"W-why am I suddenly on fire!?"

As I threw sand at the unabating flames, I suddenly remembered a discrepancy.

Ace's body was suddenly engulfed in flames. Yet it looked different from his clothes and body being set on fire. It was strange, but it was like his body ─and what he was wearing too─ became fire together…?

"Uwaaaaaah! Hot…! Hoooot…! Ho─ It's not hot!?"

Ace immediately regained his cool. In that moment, the flames covering Ace's body became smaller before my eyes before going out. There wasn't a single burn on Ace's body, nor his clothes or hat, not one burnt spot or even a little bit of soot.

"No way… That fruit…" I muttered as I stared on dumbfounded, "was a Devil Fruit…"

Those are the forbidden fruits said to be incarnations of the Sea Devil.

True or not, if you take just one bite, you become the new vessel for that devilish power.

And in exchange for that power, it's said that those who eat the fruit are forever hated by the sea. In other words, they become incapable of swimming ever again.

I'd never seen them outside of books and even at their cheapest such fruits are said to cost a ridiculous price of 100,000,000 beri, and we just ate one without even knowing it. I couldn't think of anything else that could explain the mysterious phenomenon that happened right before my eyes.

"This is a Devil Fruit?" Ace asked as he stared at his restored palm. "Wait a second! If that was a Devil Fruit, then that means I can't swim anymore!?"

As he said that, Ace suddenly stood up and started running towards the sea before us.

And without the slightest hesitation, he entered the crashing waves of the sea.

"Hey, look, Deuce. I'm just fine. It really wasn't a Devil Fruit."

As he said that, Ace continued forward, deeper into the waves.

"It wasn't a Devil Fruit. I'm fine. I─ ah…"

Unexpectedly, Ace collapsed. He was like a puppet with his strings cut.

"What are you doing!?"

I briskly waded out to where Ace sank and pretentiously dragged him back to shore, where I noticed something.

"That's right, I'm… just fine…?"

I observed my own body in astonishment much like Ace had earlier. I wasn't suddenly on fire and even though I was wet, I still had energy.

"I guess a Devil Fruit only gives its power to whoever eats it first…"

Now that he was out of the sea, it seemed that Ace's strength had returned as he woke up with coughing up sea water. It was like his previous weakness hadn't even happened.

"And what's left is just a normal, nasty-tasting fruit, I guess."

As I said that, Ace stared at his fingertip. Then, in the blink of an eye, the fingertip went from trembling to transforming into a small flame.

Finally, we knew it was a real Devil Fruit.

"So this is a Devil Fruit… It doesn't really feel real, you know…"

Ace focused on his fingertip again. Then, the gently flickering red flames gradually returned to their former shape. The flames went out and there it was again, his finger just as it was before without a single burn.

"Hmmmm, guess that's that then…"

Seeing that Ace had calmed down about his powers, I asked, "Do you need a better explanation of Devil Fruits?"

"I told you before, didn't I? I've got a little brother. His name's Luffy and he's a Devil Fruit User too. So I kinda know more about adapting to it than most people. Well, we fought and I won every time, anyways."

"What kind of brothers… Speaking of that, how do you beat a newly made Devil Fruit User?''

His story jumped all over the place and I couldn't follow it at all.

"My little brother ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, so he's a Rubber Man. It's interesting. I mean, his arm just stretches with a booooing, you know? "

Ace seemed happy telling his story as he stretched out a fist in an imitation of his brother.

Ace always had a happy air to him, but when he talked about his little brother he seemed particularly happy. They were family unrelated by blood, but I think it's exactly because of that that he truly treasured his little brother. Even trapped here on an uninhabited island that felt like it was at the edge of the world, these thoughts and feelings for his family wouldn't change.

"Getting stuck in the same circumstances as Luffy isn't such a bad thing, you know…"

Ace's expression became a little sharper.

"Though on an uninhabited island, this honestly… I can't swim anymore. If the next boat I make sinks, that's it. I won't be able to get out of here…"

Ace stared at his hands. This time it wasn't just his finger but his whole palm that turned into burning flames. The sun had set, yet his flames lit up the completely darkened beach. He was like a bonfire. Mine and Ace's shadows wavered to the sound of the waves.

Ace was silent as he stared at the flames. Ace's worry was natural, a given.

Those who ate Devil Fruits were hated by the sea and lost the ability to swim. And it wasn't just that they couldn't swim like a normal person. If they were submerged in water, they'd lose all the strength in their body in mere moments. That was how Ace's body worked now.

Just what did that mean? It was rather obvious.

There was a special current around the entire island. It was the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea. To break through that, Ace had made and challenged it with countless boats. Even if he was thrown from the boat, he could swim along while clinging to it. If the boat broke, he could swim back to shore. That's the way it was, until now. There was no way he could do that this time.

If he fell in, all he could do is wait for death.

That was the price he paid in exchange for the unexpected power of flames he'd obtained, that even as he could light up this dark night, he could no longer cross the sea.

Ace's power wasn't to make flames come out of his hand, it was the power to turn his own body into the gently flickering flames. The name of the fruit that turned him into crackling flames was the Mera Mera no Mi. Essentially, Ace should have gained the ability to overcome a force of nature, fire, but instead because of that power he was trapped.

His body could turn into flames, gush out burning flames, an overwhelming power of the natural world. That was all Ace's now, it was his to command, and yet─

And that's when I had a flash of inspiration.

"Ace! Can you manipulate that flame?"

"Hm? Well, I'd probably need to practice, but I should be able to…"

Ace held his hand out like a pistol and pointed it towards the sea, firing off a small ball of fire into the night. The fireball traced a parabola through the sky, soon melting into the night's darkness.

"Like could you just use the flame's force? Adjust the output maybe? Could you consciously control that?"

"I'm not really sure, but it's not impossible… I think."

Hearing Ace's answer, a grin spread across my face.

"We just might be able to get out of here then."

The next day Ace began special training.

Wrapping in flames and burning things. Using the force of the flames to simply blow things away.

Stabbing lots of tree branches into the sandy beach and using them as targets for repeated practice.

Thanks to Ace's ability to start a fire, even our survival was going better. Ace's knowledge from being raised in a jungle as a kid also helped a lot.

Digging holes to find spring water, filtering that water, then boiling and storing it.

And by passing them through fire things that seemed inedible became edible.

I also didn't have to suffer any more cold nights.

And so a few days passed. Soon Ace was able to freely manipulate his flames.

Before long─

"It's done…!"

We finally finished the boat. Our hands and clothes were pitch black from the charcoal. That was because Ace helped burn the wood for the boat after his training.

Carbonizing the wood by burning it surface drastically increases its durability, fire resistance, and water resistance, or so I remembered reading in some voyage log. I don't know how much it helps, but it should endure the wind and waves better than normal wood. The instant Ace can generate flames and then freely alter them, this boat will be completed.

That's how this boat will get moving. To break through the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea and escape this island, that's what we need. The power to simply go forward against powerful sea currents. It's impossible even with the man power of two people, but with Ace's flames I think we can make it. To be exact, with the force of Ace's flames.

"Listen up. The flame's force─ their energy, is used to turn this board. It should push the boat forward. I've given this boat the name 'Striker.'"

"Striker… This thing's going to bust through the current, huh? Alright! If you're sure, then let's have a pre-departure party! Let's eat all the food we can here today!"

"Those are our food stores, so you can't."

"Ah, is that right…"

At my side was all the food and water we'd collected to load onto the boat. I took two bottles of collected water from the pile and handed one to Ace.

"Well, we're heading out today."

"Sure are."

Ace flashed white teeth at me in a smile. We made a toast with our bottles of water.

The boat seemed to glide as she ran over the gentle waves. With Ace's vigorously burning flames as our driving force, we were going faster than rowing by hand and we didn't have to wait on the wind, so the boat just continued onward and onward.

We drew away from the island. We drew away from the cries of the sea birds. The grave we made for the skeleton seemed to shrink to the size of a grain of sand. From a distance, the island looked exactly like a beautiful paradise. The skies were clear and the ocean sparkled.

It was a strange thing, for I had suffered plenty of hunger and thirst there, yet leaving like this I felt some kind of regret. I didn't think I would come to remember this inescapable island of death with nostalgia. I didn't even feel like that when I fled my hometown and yet…

Then, as Ace looked back at the island with me, he calmly said, "At first, I thought finding treasure as fast as I could and then beating strong pirate, after strong pirate, after strong pirate was what I had to do to get my name out there…"

While holding down his vibrantly orange hat so the sea breeze wouldn't send it flying away, Ace quietly continued, "But I was wrong. I can't get famous with just that. No matter how valuable the treasure I find is, no matter how strong the pirates I fight and defeat are, if I'm alone, then it doesn't mean anything…"

"After all, the rumor that there was treasure on that island was really just a regular old false rumor…"

Ace moved to look at me and gave a fearless smile.

"So what do you think…" Ace turned to me and held out his hand, "about coming along… with me?"

I returned Ace's fearless grin.

"If it's with you, I've got a feeling I could write a real good adventure story."

With that, Ace and I firmly shook hands.

As we shook hands, I thought that I'd live the rest of my life for this man.

Was my nostalgia for the island because my life would have ended there the way I was going originally? That certainly would have been the case if Ace wasn't there.

But reality was different.

Somehow, Ace and I met, even though it was a place where there should have been no one to meet. Then he saved my life. And maybe that was my fate, I thought.

To live for him, to survive for him, and one day die for him. A life of no regrets. To have met someone who could make me think that, surely I'd be the happiest man in the world.

As we continued forward away from the coast, the waves steadily got bigger.

The waves tried to drive the boat back, the rising swells attacking the boat causing the hull to clack and tremble. But the boat continued forward fearlessly.

"Under different circumstances, I think we could have been friends for how we consider my father," Ace suddenly said, looking straight forward.

"I'm going to surpass them…! Waves, storms, and even Fate. With that, I'll have surpassed even my father!"

At the same time, Ace's flames burned even more vigorously. The boat sped up a few notches. It's shaking intensified too. I clung to the hull desperately.

Heading straight forward, cutting through the waves, it pushed through the current. The prow floated up.

In that moment─

The boat jumped free of the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea and danced in the sky. Dancing in the sky with us was the wave's spray, sparkling as it was drenched in sunlight.

I looked up at Ace as I clung to the hull. He was laughing. Chest held high as he looked forward, an innocent smile on his face.

Then Ace spoke of the distant heights we were aiming for.

"I'm going to… surpass the Pirate King!"

The skies were clear. The goal was the Grand Line. Looking at the sea ahead that could not be overcome alone, with just the two of us for now, the Spade Pirates were born to these words.

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The end

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< This story is the light novel Ace, support the official book by buying the real copy>

< Also I'm sorry I haven't been updating my other story, I've been busy with school but know that I have some chapters ready I just need to be edited.>