Chapter 96

"HAHAHAHAHA! And just like that, we have 350 million Berry!" Ace said cheerfully as he waved around the two briefcases he was carrying in his hands. Each briefcase held 100 million Berry inside.

"We're stinking rich!" Doppol said. "Well… stinking richer!"

"Don't go saying that out loud, Ace!" Hepha said, scolding Ace as she took the briefcases in his hands.

"Hey, don't you trust me with our money?" Ace asked, seeing how Hepha was carrying three briefcases totalling to 300 million Berry.

"I do, but that's not the issue," Hepha said. "You'll be meeting up with the others in the Blue Station, right?"

"Oh, yeah! I did promise Eri."

"Then go," Hepha said. "I'll take these back to the ship."

"What about this?" Doppol asked, raising a briefcase smaller than the ones Hepha held. The briefcase Doppol was carrying carried 50 million Berry.

"That's yours," Hepha said. "Use it to bribe the shipwrights or something."

"50 million Berry as an enrollment fee. Those shipwrights would be so happy," Ace said to Doppol with a grin.

"Alright, I'll do just that," Doppol said. "Thanks, Hepha."

"Don't mind it. Doubles, let's return to the ship!" Hepha said to the Doubles that Doppol made to carry all their remaining gold. "You sure you don't need the gold, Ace?"

"It's a black market auction, Hepha," Ace said as he gave her a shrug. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't need to pay anyone at a place like that to get what we want. We're pirates!"

"Do keep in mind that auctions in the Grand Line typically lead back to either Doflamingo or Big Mom," Hepha said. "I'm sure you know that, right?"

"Don't worry. It's not as if we were never going to antagonize them."

"What a reckless captain," Hepha said with a small sigh. "Just make sure you leave no witnesses. Wear a mask or something. Or just kill them all without letting any information leak. I recommend the former."

"I will," Ace said, taking Hepha's words seriously.

"Good luck, then. We'll be heading back now."

"Sure. Stay safe!"

Ace and Doppol waved goodbye to Hepha and the Doubles. The two of them watched them take one of the Rabuka bulls that would carry them back to the Ashen Dragon.

"I should get going now," Doppol said to Ace. "I'll go back to the ship once I'm done for the day."

"Goodluck, Doppol!" Ace said, raising a fist towards Doppol.

Doppol looked at Ace's fist and grinned. He raised a fist of his own and bumped it with Ace's.

"I'll learn what I need to know. That's a promise!" Doppol said. He was about to turn around when Ace seemingly remembered something.

"Ahh! Before I forget, there's something you should know."

"What is it?"

Ace looked around and leaned closer to Doppol's ears. Ace whispered quietly.

"There are some pretty strong people on this island. They're not stronger than us, but be careful."

Doppol's eyes slightly widened after hearing what Ace whispered to him. He didn't for a second think that Ace was mistaken. With that belief in his heart and mind, Doppol took Ace's words seriously without question.

"How many?" Doppol asked.

"Four. You're stronger than them. I trained you a bit now, after all," Ace said with a small smile. "But don't let your guard down."

"I got it. I'll be careful."

…

A distance away from Ace, Hepha, and Doppol, a small group of men were huddled around each other, whispering in hushed tones. No matter how one looks at them, it was obvious they were hooligans.

If Ace saw them, he would recognize them as members of the Franky Family.

"Did you hear that?" one of them asked.

"Yeah… 350 million Berry!"

The hooligans from Franky Family heard what Ace shamelessly announced outside the bank. Their eyes bulged at hearing the amount of Berry that Ace and the others carried with them.

"Brother Franky would definitely put that to good use!"

"But… those guys are the Royal Aces!"

The hooligans from the Franky Family shivered at the name of Ace's crew. As part-time bounty hunters, they were familiar with big and upcoming names. The Royal Ace Pirates were at the top of that list.

"I'm surprised people aren't freaking out with them here…"

"Not everyone is as informed as us, y'know?"

"That's true… but what should we do?"

The hooligans spent a few moments of silence thinking. They needed the money, after all. Their Brother Franky was in need of cash. A lot of it.

Getting their Brother Franky the money he needed was their own little way of thanking him for basically saving their lives.

"One of them is alone…"

Lightbulbs seemingly turned on inside their heads. But, it was soon turned off.

"You idiot! That's the captain! The son of Roger!"

"Not him, idiot! The other one!"

"Ahh, that dude!"

The hooligans realized that there was another one of the Royal Aces who went alone. They remembered his face.

"What's his name?"

"He's called 'Armada' Doppol…"

"The one with the 44 million Berry bounty?"

"That's him!"

"Kekeke! I'm sure we can take him!" one of the hooligans said. "Call the others! I'm sure even a big name rookie is no match for 20 of us!"

…

Doppol was taking in the sights as he walked through the streets of downtown Water 7. After looking at a map and asking around, he knew where he was headed: Galley-La Company.

It didn't take Doppol long to realize how big of a name Galley-La Company was around Water 7. People seemed to respect them greatly. Just by walking around, Doppol heard people talk about Galley-La as if they were idols to be praised.

Doppol was very excited to meet them.

Then, Doppol rounded a corner. He found himself in a rather lonely alley. It was dark, smelly, and cramped, mostly because of the garbage that filled it. Doppol covered his nose after the sudden assault of the stench of garbage and sighed as he kept walking.

"Even a beautiful city like Water 7 isn't perfect, huh?" Doppol said out loud when he was halfway through the alley. "What's next? Am I gonna encounter hooligans?"

"That's right!"

Doppol was shocked to hear a voice behind him. There was no one there at first. Then, figures popped out from beneath the garbage bags. Whoever they were, they were unhygienic enough to willingly hide in garbage.

Figures popped out one after another from the piles of garbage. Doppol quickly found himself surrounded by rather strangely dressed hooligans.

"Tsk! This is annoying," Doppol said, but his attention wasn't really on the hooligans surrounding him. "Man! If Ace hears this, he's really gonna lay it on me…"

Doppol was disappointed in himself. Ace always told them to stay alert and use Observation Haki as much as possible. He pointed out that a successful quick and sneaky attack can prove to be fatal or at least harmful even to the strongest people.

If the hooligans opted to just straight up kill him without announcing their presence, Doppol would have been in a tight spot. He let his guard down and wasn't consciously using Observation Haki.

"Your captain is the least of your problems, 'Armada' Doppol!" one of the hooligans said to Doppol. "We are!"

"Who the hell are you?" Doppol asked as he took a cigarette and lighter from his pockets. Smoking was a habit he picked back up after Enel died.

"We're the Franky Family!" the hooligans said, announcing who they were. "Now, hand over that briefcase!"

"This little thing?" Doppol asked as he raised the briefcase in his hand. "What exactly are you planning to do with the briefs I bought? You guys perverts or something?"

"Wha-?"

"Well, I shouldn't exactly be that far off," Doppol said. "I mean… look at what you're wearing! HAHAHAHA! Whoever your leader is must be one big pervert!"

'I'm getting better at trash talking… thanks for the training, Ace!'

The Franky Family hooligans felt their nerves crawl in annoyance at Doppol. They didn't expect him to just insult them like that after finding himself surrounded and vastly outnumbered. They could have taken an insult directed at them, but Doppol had to go and slander their Brother Franky.

"Don't talk about Brother Franky like that!" one of the hooligans shouted to Doppol, raising a sword towards him. "He's a better man than you ever will be!"

"Really now? He must be quite a manly man, then," Doppol said, not taking them seriously. It was obvious for the hooligans.

"That's enough!" they said to Doppol. "Don't you see the situation you're in right now?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm completely aware," Doppol said. "But, I really think we're seeing the situation we're currently in… very differently."

"Shut up! You're surrounded and outnumbered! Give us that briefcase!"

"Me?" Doppol asked with a chuckle as he huffed in a big breath, feeling his lungs fill with smoke. He exhaled all of it before talking. "Not really."

"You blind or something?" one of the hooligans asked Doppol. The others chuckled.

"Wanna know why they call me 'Armada'?" Doppol asked. "I do have to say… that's quite a fitting name for me. I like it!"

The Franky Family hooligans had enough. They started inching closer to Doppol.

"You see… I don't even need to raise my own hand to deal with you."

Doppol created two Doubles that stood on both his sides. But, the Franky Family seemed prepared. They weren't surprised by the sudden appearance of two other Doppols. They saw the other Doubles that went with Hepha, after all.

"Now!" one of them shouted to the rooftop adjacent to the alley.

At the same time, without the Franky Family noticing, the two Doubles Doppol created disappeared. They Flickered toward the same rooftop the Franky Family hooligan shouted at.

At the rooftop, there were other members of the Franky Family. There were two of them. They carried with them two big buckets filled with seawater. Just when they were about to pour it down on Doppol below, the Doubles that Doppol created appeared at the edge of the rooftop.

The two hooligans from Franky Family froze like a deer caught in headlights after they saw the Doubles stare at them with a rather mocking grin. The Doubles kicked the buckets the hooligans carried, spilling seawater on the rooftop instead of Doppol. Then, the Doubles took the two hooligans by their suspenders and threw them down to the others.

"Aaaah!"

The two from the rooftop dropped down on two others from the ground. With that, Doppol knocked out four of them without raising a hand himself. He was glad that he didn't let his guard down again. He already noticed the two hooligans on the rooftop earlier with Observation Haki, after all.

"This is bad!"

The hooligans realized that their ambush plan failed miserably. Doppol wasn't weakened at all. Instead, they were already losing. The Doubles came down from the rooftop and returned to Doppol, facing the remaining hooligans. 

"We can still do this!" one of the hooligans shouted, encouraging his companions. "We're strong, brothers!"

"YEAH!"

With a shout, the Franky Family hooligans charged at Doppol all at once. But, it wasn't Doppol that made a move. His Doubles acted for him.

Then, a rather one sided battle ensued. The Doubles that Doppol made were strong enough to deal with the Franky Family hooligans without getting a scratch. Once they were all down and beaten, the Doubles returned to Doppol and disintegrated.

"See?" Doppol asked the remaining barely-conscious hooligans. "I didn't even move!"

Doppol walked away and returned to his walk towards Galley-La Company, leaving the bruised, beaten, and bleeding hooligans from Franky Family in that dark alley.

…

Vash was woken by a powerful presence.

Due to Ace's training and insistence, all the members of the Royal Aces who could use Observation Haki used it often as both training and a way to stay alert. It came in handy this time for both Vash and Augur.

Similar to Vash, Augur sensed the nearby presence as well. With a popping sound, Augur warped to where Vash was. They wordlessly nodded at each other. Augur put a hand on Vash's shoulder before warping both of them outside the Ashen Dragon.

Vash and Augur reappeared near the edge of Rocky Cape, where they docked. They stared in the direction of Water 7. They were looking at the path that the Ashen Dragon took to arrive at the Rocky Cape.

At that moment, they saw it: a small boat carrying a person that was too huge for it. The most noticeable feature on the enormous man was his rather cute bear ears.

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A/N: Enter, Bartholomew Kuma! If you guys haven't read the recent chapters of One Piece… go read it. It's sooo infuriatingly good!