A Man Worth Following...

Chapter 10

Title: A Man Worth Following...

….

-Ace POV-

I look at Jason as he bows in front of me. I don't get it, why is he even doing something like this? This is mutually beneficial, there is no need for him to be so grateful to me. I helped him and he helped me.

Sheesh, people in this world are so weird. I walk next to him and crouch down in front of him. 

"Oy~ Jason, there is no need to bow to me." I tell him as I poke him with my finger. He then looks up and he has tears coming out of his eyes and snot out of his nose, staining his nose. Well, that is gross...

"A -Ace!!! You are so kind!" Exclaims Jason as he goes to hug me. But he meets the bottom of my feet instead.

"Don't hug me you filthy prick!" I insult him in annoyance. No way I was gonna let someone like him hug me, that is gross, not only is his face nasty, but he probably doesn't remember the last time he took a shower.

I see that the others look at this situation strangely. I don't blame them, from their point of view it's probably super weird. 

In the end, I just lie down on the grass and look at the sky. "Damn… today was quite tiring."

I look at the stars in the sky and can't help but contemplate how things work out there. I know that in this world one can easily get to the moon, and shadows are like 2nd souls, so obviously it would be ludicrous that the laws of physics even work the same.

While looking at the sky I ask the other guys. "So what's your dream?"

"We don't have dreams." The one to answer that is surprisingly Bob. He is usually quiet and just laughs, but then again, I haven't even known him for a full day yet, so I know nothing of what he is like. 

"Our dream was just a hope, a hope that one day things will get better." Says Jason, now he is already calmed down it seems. "So we hoped to live to see another day, and maybe witness when the change will happen."

"I see…" That is all I can say as I contemplate what they just told me. "Are all people in Gray Terminal like this?"

"I don't know about all of them, but most of the people I know are like this." Says Chriss, the guy who used to sing.

Hmmm… this could be good for me. I just need to turn this to my advantage somehow. I am not crazy enough to try and overthrow the kingdom or anything like that. That would just be asking for death, after all, this kingdom still has the Marine's support. They will flock this place like flies to a sh*t pile if anything so drastic happens. 

There is a reason that Dragon is the most wanted man in the world. He is not stronger than the Yonko or anything like that. At least I think so, he simply directly fights the World Government. I am also in a very precocious situation, I can't start doing drastic movements at five years old or they will see me as the next coming of my father. I don't want them to see me as a danger at all.

That is when an idea hits me. "Oh! I got it."

The others look at me in confusion, but I only smile and exclaim. "I will carry everyone's hopes."

As I say that I give the shocked thugs a thumbs up.

….

-General POV-

They look at Ace, the first thought that they have is that he might be joking. But when they see his confident demeanor, even though he is a child, they can't help but think that he can do it.

"That is impossible!" Exclaims Chriss suddenly. He knows how things work around here. Only hope and faith can't change something like this. "This will end in failure."

Ace's smirk gets even wider at this. "Well, we won't know till we try now will we?"

Chriss is conflicted at this. That is until Ace walks towards him and extends his hand. "Will you help me make everyone's hopes a reality Chriss?"

At this moment, Chriss felt that the world around him disappeared completely. There were only him and two decisions that he could make here. He never in life really contemplated the decisions he made in life, he was born with a good sounding voice. That was all that there was to it, fate has smiled on him, that is why he never really had to try hard in life to have a normal earning. 

'But here my decisions have led me.' Contemplates Chriss, he regrets so many things in his life. He never pursued the love of a woman. He never really aimed to be anything in life, he never wanted to make his parents proud. He understood that once someone dies, he will end up as a worm sh*t… even the greatest amongst them will end like that. He is in his thirties and he looks back on his life. 'I regret so much…'

This time he looks at Ace and sees his face. 'This time… even if I come to regret it. I will at least know that I chose this decision and wanted to be something more than just an average guy!"

Chriss' frown morphs into a smile and gives Ace a handshake. "I accept, I might come to regret this someday. From rock bottom, one can only go up. Bahahahaha…"

Ace smiles back and looks at the others. Though his frame is small it felt to them like they were standing in front of a king as they standing in front of a king. That is the moment that all of them decided that they would follow this man everywhere.

….

Later at night Ace falls asleep on the ground. He knows that Dadan won't really be worried if he doesn't return, he has gone missing for weeks before and then one day turned up without a scratch and a lot of different animals being dragged by him. 

The others look at Ace and smile a little. They can't help but still be a little intrigued by Ace, he slept soundly next to people who tried to rob him not even one full day before. But at the same time, they were intrigued by themselves too… they had decided to follow a kid that they have not met for even a full day after all.

'I guess we are all fools aren't we… but we are fools with a purpose now.' Ponders James, as he too decides to fall asleep right here. 'I wonder what the kid has in mind.'

They didn't know that Ace didn't sleep because he trusts them. But he knows that even if they tried to attack him, they are nowhere near as dangerous as a python in the jungle trying to swallow you whole while you are sleeping.

….

….

The next morning, the ex thugs are woken up by some loud metal croaking sounds and clanging.

*Bang* *Screech*...

They open their eyes and look around. They notice that Ace is at the metal pile and working on something. They are about to ask what he is working on, but they are shocked as they see Ace using his bare hands to mold metal into different shapes.

They understood that Ace was strong from the beginning when he broke their ex-bosses sword by clashing it with his own. But now this is no longer just strong… he is monstrously strong now.

That is when Ace notices them and smiles. "Oh hey guys, sorry for the noise, hope it didn't wake you up."

….

AUTHOR NOTE:

Upping the Update Rate as I want the story to move along some more, while at the same time keep up the character interaction while and also not make it seem like Ace is getting sh*t out of nowhere. Hope this makes sense!