48 Chapter 48

"Cheers! HAHAHAHA!"

The Royal Aces, except Augur who was still sleeping, were partying by the beach. They were drinking and eating the pizzas that Ace ordered. Of course, Eri was drinking juice and Kotatsu was drinking milk.

They were celebrating their victories. The marines listened to Ace and went away after fixing their ships as much as they could. The Royal Aces also looted the pirate ships docked on the port since the crew sailing in them were already dealt with.

They started partying after Ace put the Vice Admiral he captured in the Ashen Dragon's brig and Doppol returned. They weren't partying on the ship since Doppol was seasick.

To not make Ashen - the nickname Eri gave their ship - sad because they weren't having fun aboard her, they partied beside her.

Ace really felt that the ship had life. Everyone felt so. Hearing the Voice of All Things made Ace believe that their ship was truly special.

"Ahh, that's right! I haven't told you guys yet!" Doppol said.

"What is it?" Vash asked.

"Ace, I think I can upgrade our ship now!" Doppol said.

"Really?" Ace was surprised. He didn't expect Doppol to finish his Ashen Wood formula so fast. "You already finished your formula?"

"Ahh, I already finished it a week ago. I was just being picky on the wood," Doppol said.

"So that tree you found was really something?" Terzo asked.

"It was! We hit the jackpot!" Doppol looked really happy that they arrived on this island. "Wait here."

The Royal Aces watched Doppol run. Moments later, he returned with a plank of wood in his hand.

"Look, you guys! This is wood from Nika's Palm!"

'Nika? Sun God Nika?' Ace was surprised to hear such a familiar name so early.

"Never heard of it," Teach said.

"For you to be that excited… that wood must be something else." Hepha looked at the wood in Doppol's hands along with the Royal Aces.

Doppol then proceeded to show them the properties of the wood in his hands. The Royal Aces were surprised to find a wood so… rubbery. Ace tried not to laugh out loud.

"Can you build a jump pad for us with that, Doppol-san?" Eri asked. Kotatsu looked as excited as her.

"I think so? But it won't work if you're too light or way too heavy," Doppol said.

"No worries! I have Kotatsu with me!" Eri hugged Kotatsu.

"Mreow!"

"Well, if it's alright with Ace-"

"Yeah, sure. Build one for them." Ace gave the permission for Doppol to build a toy for Eri and Kotatsu. "But, the ship will take priority. Remember that, Eri."

"Of course, Captain Ace!" Eri saluted. Kotatsu went over to Ace and cuddled his legs, making Ace sit down on the sand and lean on Kotatsu like a fluffy backrest.

"So, with your Ashen Wood formula, you'll make the wood from Nika's Palm stronger?" Ace asked Doppol.

"That's right. The problem with this wood is that it isn't as durable as other types of wood. It's light and… rubbery. But, it also can't take as much beating as normal wood. It'll break from cannon fire."

"How does your formula work, anyway?" Mihar asked. He was curious.

"Think of it like a paint," Doppol said. "I just… apply it on wood, let it dry, and voila! With my formula, the wood from Nika's Palm would be just as good as…"

"...as what?"

"You know, I was about to say it'll be just as good as Adam Wood," Doppol said. "But I've never even seen one, so I can't make a comparison."

"Hmmm. I'm sure it'll be at least close to it," Ace said, stating his confidence in Doppol's talent.

"Cheers to that!"

The Royal Aces drank the night away…

…

Most of the Royal Aces were passed out drunk on the deck. In fact, it was much easier to count those who weren't.

Augur woke up late to the party and barely drank, so he was now busy on the crow's nest to look out for potential trouble.

Mihar took Eri and Kotatsu to look around other places on the island.

Soma was up, cooking breakfast to cure hangovers. Ace was woken mostly by the smell of his cooking.

Ace sniffed the air. The faint smell of delicious food roused him from his sleep. He opened his eyes and tried sitting up, which made his headache stronger. He stopped trying to get back and lied back down. His head was on something soft.

'I don't remember having such a soft pillow.'

Ace turned his head to see… a leg. Hepha's leg. Ace was using Hepha's thighs as a pillow.

Turning his head to the other side, Ace saw Hepha snoring comfortably. She had a huge smile on her face, as if she was dreaming something good.

The sound of gunshot abruptly interrupted their sleep. Everyone woke up immediately, albeit still with headaches.

"Why the hell is it so noisy in the morning?" Hepha asked as she clutched her head. She was sitting up when she looked down to see Ace still using her thigh as a pillow. "...not getting up?"

"Ehh." Ace shrugged. "It's probably just bounty hunters. I'd let Augur take care of it."

The gunshot that woke them indeed came from Augur. Right now, Augur had a ship in his sights. The ship carried no pirate or marine flag. Another bounty hunter ship.

Augur had no hesitation. He had the bounty hunters in his sight long before they had the Ashen Dragon in theirs. Augur shot a dozen more times before stopping.

"You get them all?" Ace asked Augur, shouting from the deck.

"That I did, Captain!" Augur smirked at the distant burning ship. His last bullet was an exploding shot that started the fire that eventually lit up their gunpowder storage.

"Now that you're awake and all, you should eat breakfast!" Soma shouted at the Royal Aces below who were hungover after bursting out of the kitchen door, carrying trays of food in both arms.

The scent of his food wafted over to the Royal Aces. The scent should have been enough to make them feel hungry. But, it was mostly ineffective.

"I'd rather get some more sleep." Teach grumbled before giving up, lying back down on the deck. Soma went down the stairs and placed a bowl near Teach first.

"Oh… Oh… Bleurgh~!" Doppol barfed on the deck. Then, he made Second.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

Unlike his original, Second was fine and completely sober. He helped Doppol up and unceremoniously tossed him overboard. Doppol landed on the soft sand of the beach where they partied last night.

"Damn it, we didn't disintegrate."

There were many Doubles on the ship as well. Similar to their original, they were very drunk. They slept hunching over their instruments. They didn't even remember playing music last night.

"I hope you made some for them too, Soma," Second said to Soma.

The Doubles could disintegrate if they want, but that would mean they would transfer their hangover and remaining alcohol in their bodies to Doppol. It could kill Doppol with an alcohol overdose.

So, they had to get better first before disintegrating themselves. It was rather a waste of supplies, but the Royal Aces aren't exactly in a shortage after looting the other pirate ships in the port.

"I did. I cooked up a feast. It'll be a shame if it goes cold," Soma said, going to the Doubles to give them a serving of the dish he cooked.

Soma cooked a delicious soup. It had vegetables and meat cooked in a hearty beef broth. The Doubles took their serving gratefully.

"What time is it?" Vash asked after Soma set a serving near him.

"I'm sure it's still not that early." Terzo mumbled, not even opening his eyes yet. Soma placed a bowl of the soup near Terzo as well.

"Just wake us up when noon comes around, kid." Hepha said as she clutched her head that was throbbing in pain. She lied back down.

"Actually, it's well past noon already," Soma said before lightly kicking Hepha's other thigh. "Get up, damn woman. Stop seducing our Captain!"

"I'm not!" Hepha shouted, only to immediately regret it as her head throbbed even more painfully.

Soma may be rough and rather rude at Hepha, but he still treated her like a member of the crew. He set down a serving of his soup near Hepha as well.

Right now, Ace was sniffing. He was sniffing longer by the second, as if he was eating the smell with his nose. Eventually, he sat up.

"That… smells delicious!" Ace said as he stood up, albeit shakily. Soma stopped him and made him sit back down.

"Is this spicy?" Ace asked. He developed a liking for spicy food even more after he ate his Devil Fruit. He feels heat, but he doesn't feel hot. Spicy is just another flavor for him.

"You and spicy." Soma sighed. "I'll cook a spicy dish for you later. For now, eat this."

Soma gave Ace the last bowl he had, which Ace took gratefully. Then, he started drinking the soup straight from the bowl, unbothered by its heat.

"What's the rush, kid?" Hepha asked. She was already sitting up and sipping on the bowl of soup Soma gave her.

"You got yourself a date with that cute waitress yesterday or something?" Terzo teased Soma before blowing on a piece of meat on his spoon.

"Nah, that's impossible. Pretty sure our cook here likes men," Vash said before blowing on the broth.

"Don't worry, old man. If I liked men, you'd be the last on my list." Soma bit back with a smirk. The Royal Aces were getting used to Soma's strange banter with Hepha and Vash.

"You made a real delicious soup, Soma!" Ace said before eating the remaining meat and vegetables in his bowl. "But seriously, you got something going on?"

"I still haven't mapped this island yet, Captain," Soma answered before going back up the kitchen. "I'd rather get it done with before we go up Giant Jack."

The Royal Aces watched Soma go back to the kitchen. Then, they remembered something about last night.

"Wait, you guys seriously want to go up?" Hepha asked. Ace talked about wanting to go and see the sky island above them that was connected to the Giant Jack. "That's suicide!"

"ZEHAHAHA! That's what makes it fun," Teach said after downing the contents of his bowl.

"I thought big ships can't make it?" Hepha turned to Ace.

"That's what the locals told us," Ace said. "That means, small vessels can go through."

"Really now? They said that?" Hepha raised an eyebrow.

"Well… not really. Just me making a hunch." Ace grinned. "They were rather secretive about the Giant Jack when we asked them about it after dealing with the pirates. At least they were grateful enough to warn us that our big ship won't make it."

"You're serious." Hepha sighed.

"So, you wanna come?" Ace asked. "I can just go up and down with Striker, carrying you guys by batch."

Hepha thought for a few seconds before answering.

"I don't think I should," Hepha said. "I think it's better if I stay here and help guard the ship while you guys are gone."

"Actually, I think we can catch up with the Ashen Dragon," Second said. "We just need to rebuild her."

"How long would that take?" Terzo asked.

"Uhhh. Hours. I still haven't finished treating all the wood we need."

"Man, a sky island huh?" Terzo looked excited. "Still can't believe those exist."

"We'll just scout the island ahead of you guys then," Ace said. "Hurry with the work and catch up, Doppol!"

"I'll be honest, Ace. I don't exactly feel… excited about going up to a sky island," Doppol said.

"Me too," Teach added.

"Me three." Hepha followed.

"Ehh? Why not?" Ace asked.

"Come on, Doppol! I don't think you'll get seasick there!" Terzo joined Ace. "You guys need to have some fun!"

"Already been to one, remember?" Hepha said.

"Me too. Not much in a sky island, honestly," Teach said.

'Well, that's understandable. Most sky islands are small, after all,' Ace thought.

"Well, if that's what you guys want, I won't stop you," Ace said. "Man, I hope we're going to a big sky island. HAHAHAHA!"

-----

"Commodore Newt! Their Captain is something else!"

Newt didn't need to hear the report of his men to know what they were talking about. He was looking through his binoculars to watch a single man made of smoke annihilate two ships of the Spade Fleet by himself.

The Spade Fleet's East Blue Division was currently locked in a battle with a marine fleet. Thirty-seven pirate ships against twenty marine ships. They had the numbers, but the marines had more training.

If the battle continued with their powerful captain in the lead, the marines would surely take the victory.

"Logia! Like Admiral Ace's power!" Newt instantly realized the power of the Marine Captain that was leading the assault on their fleet. "Contact Kuro! Tell him we need to retreat! Now!"

"Aye, Commodore!" One of Newt's men rushed off to contact their Base Commander on the Transponder Snail.

"Commodore Newt?" one of Newt's men asked. "Should we contact Admiral Ace?"

"No need," Newt answered. "He shouldn't be bothered by something like this. He already expected this to happen. Holding Loguetown for more than two weeks is already impressive."

"As you say, Commodore!"

"Now, men! We need to retreat before that Smoker guy destroys our work!" Newt shouted at his men. "Raise the flag of retreat! Signal the remaining twenty-six ships of our fleet!"

"Aye, sir!"