12 Blackbeard

The rest of the journey went well without any problems. Toshiro managed to convince him that Paulie taught him how to protect himself in bare hands fighting and as for swordsmanship, he made up a story that he learned that from a swordsman who visited water 7 and stayed for a year. Saraki know that he was hiding something but knowing that Toshiro is the kid that grew up in front of his eyes, he trusted him and did not push further.

In the past couple of days, Toshiro did not stay idle, along with learning ship mechanics, he also gained a new skill <Navigation>, with the help of Saraki. Saraki is an excellent navigator and also a capable teacher.

When the ship was about 4 hours away from the Island, two of the crew members separated themselves from the main crew and took the pirate captives along with the pirate ship, with jolly roger removed, to the nearby marine base to claim bounty . Fortunately the pirate captain and his first mate are still unconscious from the injury, so there is no worry of crew having any trouble.

Few hours later, they arrived the island. It is one of the islands of Lulusia kingdom, which is prosperous due to merchants and relatively safe due to the nearby G2 marine base.

"Okay everyone, we are staying on this island for 5 days. You can have fun and explore the island. We shall meet here after 5 days in the morning and go back to water 7. And don't cause trouble." Saraki said and jumped off the ship to meet the customer.

The rest of the crew dispersed joyfully. Toshiro went back to his cabin and took his bag and jumped off the ship and went towards the town. The town was lively and mostly common goods were sold, which did not gather much attention. After exploring the town for a bit, Toshiro felt hungry and went into the restaurant which seems to be most popular on the island. The name of the restaurant is, Pasta Lake. It was a pretty ambient place. Toshiro ordered food and juice and started devouring it.

While enjoying his food, he was listening to the chatter from the people. That's when he heard, "Do you know black beard has come to the island? He is currently in the building next to the restaurant."

As soon as the man finished his sentence Toshiro heard loud noise from behind the table where a tall man who was topless and wearing dark shorts and a orange hat, pushed the chair that he was sitting on and rushed towards exit. The chef saw that the man way leaving the place without paying he quickly followed him while shouting.

When Toshiro saw who the man was, he was shocked. and followed him out, but did not forget to put cash on the table for the food.

While Toshiro was a distance away he saw the man who was kicking another fat man who was carrying a breifcase and wearing a white coat. When the fat man was down, the town started gathering around the person who kicked the fat man.

That person was Portugas D Ace. And the fatman he kicked was Dr. Blackbeard.

When Ace saw that the man who was lying down was not his former crew mate. He felt bad and allowed the towns people to attack him, who were angry that their beloved doctor was kicked from behind. The towns people and the chef kicked Ace into the canal.

Ace fell into the canal and started flowing away due to the current. Being a hammer in the water, he was unable to swim and succumbed to the flowing currents.

Toshiro quickly followed him and jumped into the canal and swam towards him. He got hold of Ace and slowly drifted towards a bridge that was built in the middle. He quickly caught it and tried to pull himself up, his hands were caught by a girl and helped him pull Ace who was unconscious currently.

"Whew, thanks little girl. What's your name?" Toshiro asked as he was holding his bag to drain water from it.

"My parents said not to tell my name to strangers." the girl said.

"Ok then. My name is Toshiro. Now that you know me, you can tell yours." Toshiro said amused.

"I am Moda. Nice to meet you." The girl said.

"Moda, do you know any place near by to stay and help my friend here to get some rest?" Toshiro asked pointing to Ace.

"I have a farm nearby and you can stay there if you can help me out a bit." Moda answered.

"Great, Show me the way." Toshiro said as he put Ace over his shoulders like a gunny sack.

Moda started walking towards the Farm with Toshiro and Ace in tow. Soon they reached the farm. It was not so big farm but can produce decent amount of milk.

"You can have your friend sleep in the house. " Moda said as she pointed to the house in front.

Toshiro quickly went in and dumped Ace on the couch and came back outside to dry his clothes in the bag. He also took his sword out and started cleaning it.

Soon he was done and started helping Moda with feeding the animals while she went to prepare dinner. After feeding the animals, Toshiro went in and had dinner. It was a decent meal, after meal he helped Moda with cleaning the dishes. After they are done Toshiro went in the guest room and slept like a log.

Next day he woke up early and started training outside. After about one hour, he heard someone coming out of the house.

It was Ace. He stared at Toshiro who was putting away his sword in its scabbard and said, "Who are you?"

"Toshiro. I pulled you out of the canal yesterday after you were kicked by the towns people." Toshiro answered.

"Oh! Thanks man! Is this your house?" Ace asked.

"Nah, we were lucky to meet a kind girl who allowed us to stay the night in her house." Toshiro answered.

As if on que Moda came out to feed the animals.

"Ah, you are awake. You slept like a log yesterday, so didn't wake you up for dinner. Are you hungry?" Moda asked Ace.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me stay. And yes I am hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" Ace answered.

"Have fresh milk first, I will cook something in sometime." Moda said.

Bothe Toshiro and Ace drank fresh milk from the farm and Toshiro helped Moda to cook. After their breakfast, Moda went to the town to deliver milk.

"So what brings you here?" Ace asked Toshiro.

"I am a ship builder from water 7. We came to deliver a merchant ship and now exploring the island. What about you?" Toshiro said.

"Well, I am looking for a certain man. The person I kicked yesterday was due to a mistaken identity. Their names were similar." Ace said as he looked at the ground.

"Blackbeard? Is that the name?" Toshiro Asked.

"Yeah, that's the name he is currently going by. His name is Marshall D Teach. He used to be part of my crew. He commited a crime that i cannot forgive." Ace said gloomily.

"Ah, so it's him. Are you hunting Teach?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes,You know him? Do you know where he is?" Ace asked looking at Toshiro.

*Ding*

[Mission: Help Ace find whereabouts of Marshall D Teach

Objective 1: Inform Ace on Recent known location of Marshall D Teach

Rewards: 1 Copy card and 200,000 Beri

Objective 2: Inform Ace on current location of Marshall D Teach

Rewards: 1 Heal card and 1 card point]

[Do you accept the mission?]

Toshiro's eyes glittered when looking at the mission and its rewards.

'Yes, I accept'

Toshiro quickly accepted the mission, because he can complete the first objective right away as he know Blackbeard's recent location.

He turned his head to Ace and said, "I don't know him personally, but I heard of his recent location from the marines who were discussing when they visited water 7."

"Really? Tell me where was he. Please." Ace said.

"His recent known location was....."