Chapter 41

"Steady!" Ace shouted for the Doubles assigned to firing the cannons. He was guiding the Ashen Dragon to the intended position. "Ready? And…!"

"Fire!"

The Ashen Dragon roared as its broadside cannons fired at another bounty hunter ship. The 16 cannons did great damage on the ship, but not enough to sink it. It's intentional though as Ace wanted to board it. Supplies are one of the most important things you need to look out for when sailing out at the wide open sea.

"Terzo! Teach! Let's board it!" Ace then turned to his marksmen. "Vash! Augur! Watch our backs!"

"Aye, Captain!"

Ace, Terzo, Teach jumped off the Ashen Dragon and landed on the bounty hunter ship. The bounty hunters were mostly unprepared for a boarding assault, so they reacted late. The three of them easily dealt with the bounty hunters. Vash and Augur also did their job by thinning down the number of bounty hunters on the ship with precise shots.

"Loot the ship," Ace said to Terzo and Teach before shouting at the Ashen Dragon. "Oi, Second!"

"Yes, Captain?" Second shouted back.

"Is our ship damaged?"

"Barely!"

"Still, get some Doubles over here! We can use this ship's material for repairs!"

"Will do!"

Second guided the Ashen Dragon closer to the bounty hunters' ship. After doing so, Doubles started filing out to help loot the ship they captured. Terzo and Teach, who was somehow injured by small fries, transported food and other supplies. The Doubles transported wood they salvaged from the ship.

Once they were done, the bounty hunter ship could barely be called a ship. Most of the wood that made up its form was taken by the Doubles. It looked like it could be capsized by gentle waves, which it soon was.

Thankfully, Ace, Terzo, Teach, and the Doubles were already safely aboard the Ashen Dragon when it did so.

"Man, how many does that total now? We're really popular, huh?" Ace laughed in joy at the situation as he stood back at the helm.

"How are bounty hunters so much more efficient than marines?" Terzo grumbled.

"It does seem suspicious how we have yet to encounter any marines. Just bounty hunters," Augur said after popping right beside Terzo, much to the latter's surprise.

"Stop doing that!"

"Apologies, but I need rest," Augur said to Vash who was standing next to Ace.

"Don't worry about it. You've been keeping watch for more than half a day now." Vash gave a nod of respect to Augur before using Air Jump to go up the crow's nest. It was his turn to keep watch.

"Vash! Keep an eye out for an island, alright? I don't care if our Log Pose isn't pointing at it!"

"Got it, Captain!"

The Royal Aces spent the last two weeks sailing while dealing with bounty hunters. They came one after another, giving the Royal Aces little rest despite having no issue dealing with them. It was like dealing with wave after wave of small fries. It would eventually get tiring and annoying.

Ace wanted to dock the ship at an island to let his crew rest. Somehow, the bounty hunters just knew where they were constantly. Ace glanced sideways at Teach. Augur did say that Teach went off on his own when he and Vash were rampaging at the garrison…

Right now, those on deck were Ace, Vash, Terzo, Teach, and Doppol with all his Doubles. Terzo and Teach were helping out the Doubles with reloading cannons and sorting ammunition. When a fight came, they were also responsible for swatting away cannonballs.

The others were inside their rooms resting or doing their job like cooking for Soma or forging cannonballs and refining gold for Hepha. In Eri's case, she was hiding. Mihar and Kotatsu were with her. Whenever battles would ensue, Ace told Mihar and Kotatsu to keep Eri safe. He had plans for her power, so her safety was paramount…

Speaking of the devil, Eri bursted out from inside the ship.

"Captain! Is the battle over?" Eri asked with an excited gleam in her eyes. Mihar and Kotatsu were on her tail.

"Ohh, Eri! Were you scared?" Ace asked.

"No! Not at all!" Eri ran up to Ace. "But, when will I get to stay up here whenever there's a fight?"

Ace smiled at Eri's adorable angry face. Every time there was a fight, Eri would have to stay inside the ship, much to her displeasure. She wanted to be of help badly.

"Patience, Eri! You're still pretty young! Can't really have you fighting guys who could easily kill you."

"But, I don't want to be useless!"

"You're not useless, Eri! Just look at the ship!" Ace gestured to the Ashen Dragon, which was clean and spotless. "The ship never looked this good before you were here!"

"But, I'm not a Chore Girl! I'm an Apprentice! At least teach me how to fight?"

Eri was begging Ace at this point. Ace found sense in Eri's request. In fact, he was thinking about training Eri for a while now. But, she was still too weak to learn about fighting techniques…

"Hmmm. Alright, fine! You're seven years old, anyway." Ace began holding up a finger for every requirement he was demanding of Eri. "A hundred push ups, a hundred sit ups, and a hundred squats. I won't teach you anything unless you can do all those in five minutes."

When Ace enumerated his requirements, Eri began sweating. Nevertheless, it was only for a moment. Eri regained confidence.

"That's it? You promise!?"

"Of course!" Ace raised his hand in promise. "I swear it as Captain."

"Alright!"

Eri immediately got down on the ground and started doing push ups.

"One…! Two…! Thre-!"

She could only do two. Ace didn't laugh at her. Those putting in effort to change themselves don't deserve being laughed at.

"You got a long way to go, Eri!"

"I don't care!"

Eri went back to doing push ups.

"Ace! I see an island!" Vash shouted from atop the crow's nest.

Ace went up the crow's nest with Air Jump. There in the distance, just a little speck on the horizon, was what could be an island. Ace went back down to see where the Log Pose was pointing at. It was pointing in the same direction as the island Vash saw.

…

The Royal Aces were all on the deck to look at the next island in their journey. The most notable feature of the island is the giant green stem at its center going all the way up into the clouds.

The rest of the island was rather normal from what they could see from a distance. They were yet to dock on the port they spotted. There was what looked like a city going all the way from the coast of the island up to its center around the giant stem.

"Any of you know the island ahead of us?" Ace asked the Grand Line veterans of his crew.

"That's probably Jackstalk Island," Teach answered, much to Ace's surprise. "See that river over there?"

Ace and the others followed the direction Teach was pointing at. It was a river by the coast that looked like it ran through the island. The strange thing about the river was that it didn't lead out to sea. It looked like the current was going to the giant stem.

"If we ride it, we'll go up inside the stem and reach a sky island."

"Wow. Sounds fun! Have you been here before, Teach?" Ace asked.

"No, but I heard stories about it from my family," Teach answered, almost spitefully saying the last word which elicited a small laugh from Ace.

"Ahh, can't wait for you to call us that someday, Teach."

"Don't count on it."

Ace wasn't affected by the awkward air that suddenly surrounded his crew. Seeing that they were near the port they could dock on, he rallied his crew around the helm.

"Alright, you guys! Looks like we're going to a sky island!"

"An island in the sky? For real?" Soma looked doubtful that an island on the sky actually exists.

"If it's real, I can't wait to explore it!" Terzo was already furiously taking notes on his journal.

"Do islands like that really exist?" Vash asked Hepha and Second. Doppol, of course, was puking around somewhere.

"I don't know. Never been to one!" Second confessed.

"I have," Hepha said. "I'm sure it'll be fun for people like Ace or Terzo seeking adventure. But, if you're not, you'll get used to it pretty quickly."

"That sounds fun! We can play in the clouds, Kotatsu!"

"Meow!"

Hepha patted both Eri and Kotatsu. The two adorable additions to their crew really served to warm their hearts and put their minds at peace.

"How big are sky islands?" Augur asked Hepha. He was curious.

These past two weeks allowed Augur to get closer with the crew. They found out he was actually born in East Blue and sailed alone to the Grand Line just a few weeks earlier than the Royal Aces.

"Well, sky islands are small. At least, the ones I've been to are. Just the size of a small town. Not much to see," Hepha said.

"Well then, let's hope that the sky island we're going to is a big one!" Ace said.

Inwardly, Ace was excited. He was hoping that the sky island they were going to was Skypiea, but he wasn't hoping for it. Their route was different, after all…

Ace guided the Ashen Dragon to dock beside what looked like a bunch of pirate ships. He grinned at the sight of them.

"I guess we should be expecting some action."

"I don't recognize any of their jolly rogers," Mihar commented. He was the most updated on news. The Royal Aces only got to see a News Coo after Mihar joined them. He was the only one who had a subscription to the World Economy News Paper.

"Must be newcomers to the Grand Line." Vash said.

"In any case, let's try to recruit them!"

"Recruit?" Teach said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'm building a fleet, after all!"

The Ashen Dragon docked beside a small pirate ship. The Doubles set down a plank for the Royal Aces to walk on. Doppol was the first one off the ship. Augur, Vash, and Hepha stayed behind on the ship. Augur and Vash to stand guard, Hepha to continue working on refining the gold ores Ace, Vash, and Doppol plundered.

"Oh, you beautiful and precious land!" Doppol was kissing the concrete path.

"Captain, I think Doppol likes the island a little too much," Eri said to Ace, eliciting a chuckle from a majority of the Royal Aces.

"I-It's not like that, Eri! You don't think I'm weird… right?" Doppol asked.

"...no," Eri answered, her eyes glancing sideways.

"She definitely thinks so!" Doppol was horrified. "No… how am I gonna be the cool uncle now?"

"Just be the weird uncle," Soma said.

"Hell no!"

"HAHAHAHA! Alright, that's enough! Let's go eat somewhere! I bet the people here have their own cuisine!"

Ace led his crew to look for a restaurant. There was usually one near a port. It was at that moment that Doppol spoke up.

"Hey, Ace."

"What is it, Doppol?"

"Is it okay if I go on my own for a bit?" Doppol asked.

"You see something interesting?" Ace asked.

"I did indeed. A strange tree I've never seen before."

"Come to think of it, I think I know what you saw."

Ace remembered the strange trees around the beach of the island. It looked like palm trees, but the trunks were all… noodly. It would twist and bend in some spiral shapes. Other than that, it looked like a normal palm tree.

"Then again, I haven't been to many places." Ace chuckled. "Go ahead, Doppol."

"Thanks, Captain! I'll catch up with you guys as soon as possible!"

Doppol went back to the beach where many of the strange trees were. Ace wasn't worried if he encountered trouble. Doppol was a capable fighter who used both his Devil Fruit and Haki.