Chapter 42

The Royal Aces went back to finding a restaurant. They quickly saw one that was admittedly a little far from the port, judging by the spoon and fork logo it had above its door. Ace entered the restaurant first. He didn't necessarily make noise for a dramatic entrance, but his presence was enough to draw the attention of the people inside… who were mostly pirates.

The Royal Aces entered the restaurant and sat on two free tables. Ace, Terzo, and Teach at one table and Soma, Mihar, and Eri at the other. Kotatsu sat beside Eri's chair. She was tall enough to have her head poke out to look around the table.

"Owner! Drinks for two tables please! Juice for the kid and milk for our fluffy friend!" Ace called out to the man behind the counter serving drinks.

At that moment, whispers erupted from the other tables. Many of them were panicked whispers. Ace couldn't help but hear what they were whispering about.

"Oi, that's Gold Ace!"

"Idiot! His bounty poster says Gol D. Ace!"

"But isn't he Roger's son?"

"Don't ask me!"

"He's a big shot!"

"His bounty's already 100,000,000!"

"That's so high!"

"Ha! That's only because he's riding on his daddy's name!"

Ace was rather pissed at the last statement he heard. Sailing out to sea to become a pirate but still living under the shadow of a dad you never met was one of the reasons Ace wanted to be the most notorious pirate of all time. It was rather frustrating, knowing that all the glory you'll be trying to attain in the future would be contributed to your origin.

His two souls fusing didn't mean that one was more dominant than the other. In a way, it was like the two souls made the qualities of each other more… pronounced. Ace was more loyal to his family and friends more than ever now. It was the same reason he was more… ruthless than he originally would be.

In the same way, his hate for his father was never truly gone. It was still there, but it was mostly held back by the respect that Ace D. Goldstein had for the character of Gol D. Roger.

'Seriously, why respect a man so selfish? Falling in love and having a kid a year before dying? What an epic version of leaving to go get milk! Plus, my mom is half my dad's age! I think… I don't know. No one ever told me.'

'Then again, maybe he did it for mom. He knew he was about to die, so maybe he tried leaving her with me as his living legacy. Maybe he asked for Gramps's help because he wanted mom to give birth to me safely…'

'Ahh, damn it Ace! Stop thinking about this! You can't bring them back! You can't bring anyone back!'

Whether he admits it or not, Ace was starving for the kind of affection only a loving parent can give their children. Garp was there, but it wasn't like a parent's love. He was a genuinely cool, albeit kinda stupid and strict, grandfather. Dadan was also there, and she did act like a mother, but she still felt rather distant.

Ace was distracted by his thoughts and didn't realize that the one who made the statement that bothered him so much already got up and approached the table he was sitting at.

"Ain't that right, o' Prince of the Pirates?"

The pirate provoking Ace decided to take his stunt a step further. He placed his left foot on the table, right in front of Ace. He was dangling his groin area right in front of Ace's face.

Seeing how the pirate was blatantly disrespecting Ace, Terzo got agitated. He unsheathed his sword and tried chopping the man's head off.

"Terzo."

With one word from Ace, Terzo stayed his hand. The sword stopped at the man's neck, making him feel the cold steel of Terzo's blade. After feeling the threat of imminent death, the man stumbled backwards and fell on his ass.

"Wh-What a strong crew you have! You win them over with your daddy's name?" The man said as he stood up, trying to salvage some of his honor by going through with what he thought was a good idea.

"Eri!" Ace called out to Eri from the next table, ignoring the man's existence. "Terzo showed two important rules on the ship just now. Can you tell what it is?"

"Uhmmm…"

Eri thought hard for a few seconds before answering.

"First, defend the captain's honor. Second, always obey the captain's orders?"

"Which of the two is higher?"

"The… second one."

"Good girl, Eri! You're very smart!"

"Ehe!"

"Stop fucking ignoring me!" The man that insulted Ace screamed for attention.

"Now, Eri," Ace said before disappearing from everyone's sight.

Ace reappeared behind the man, quickly subduing him. Ace made the man kneel in front of Eri. He took out the revolver from his waist.

"Kindly kill this man for me," Ace said to Eri, inviting her to use the revolver in his hand.

"Ace, this is-!"

"It's okay, Sensei! I can do it!"

Mihar was about to tell Ace that it wasn't necessary, but Eri stopped him. She was a pirate now, and she knew what it meant. Eri wasn't naive. She stood up and walked to Ace.

Eri took the revolver Ace wanted her to use, looked at the kneeling man, and gulped. The revolver was too big and heavy for Eri to use with one hand, so she used both hands. She pointed the revolver at the man's forehead. She closed her eyes and pressed the trigger.

But nothing happened. There was only a clicking sound. Then, Ace laughed.

"Good job, Eri!" Ace patted Eri on the head. "Thank you for trusting me!"

Ace let go of the man he was holding by the head. He instantly got up and backed away. Ace took his Evolver from Eri. In the past two weeks, Ace had Hepha make him his very own Evolver.

Unlike the prototype Hepha first showed, his Evolver was at full capacity. It can now auto-reload as well as change the calibers of both the gun and bullet. Since it was an Evolver bonded to Ace, no one else other than Ace can use it.

"Bother us again, and a real bullet will lodge itself in your brains." Ace grinned at the rude man.

The man realized that Ace is much more than just his reputation. He was the captain of his own crew, but Ace easily took him down without a fight. Just as the man was walking away…

"Ahh! That reminds me!"

Ace shot the man's left leg, dismembering it at the knee. The man screamed as he stumbled forward. Eri saw what happened and just froze, trying not to puke. Ace walked to the dismembered leg and picked it up.

"Captain!"

The man's helpless crew went forward to help him. But, they couldn't do anything. It looked like they had no doctor among them.

"That's for rudely stepping on our table."

Ace burned the dismembered leg and threw it at the man's crew. Someone in the crew caught it like an idiot and burned his hands and shirt. He rolled around on the floor to try and put out the fire.

Meanwhile, Ace just went back to sit down on his table. Eri did the same. She was successful with holding her puke in. She sat back down and Kotatsu comforted her, which proved rather effective.

The rest of the Royal Aces were rather hard-faced, glaring at the other pirates who were watching. It was a warning to them, telling them that they'll meet a worse fate if they try anything else to disrupt the peace.

When Ace sat back down, he spotted Teach grinning at him. Which was strange, because Teach was rather cold ever since he joined the crew.

"ZEHAHAHAHA!" Teach started laughing gleefully. "Ace! You're Roger's son? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Teach's question caught Ace off guard. He assumed that Teach already knew that little fact.

"You didn't know?" Terzo asked Teach.

"First time I've heard of it." Teach shrugged.

"But you surely knew his real name, right?"

"Yeah. But I always thought Roger's full name was Gold Roger, not Gol D. Roger."

"You speak of my old man as if you knew him," Ace commented.

"Because I did! I was just a brat when I met him, though," Teach confessed, much to the surprise of everyone in the restaurant.

"Wait… I didn't recognize him!"

"Is that…?"

"It definitely is him!"

"Edward Teach!"

"Whitebeard's son?"

"What's he doing with the Fire Lord's crew?"

Whispers once again erupted among the people in the restaurant. Some stepped out, others stayed to listen and watch.

"Huh. Then how could you not know his real name?" Ace asked.

"Do you normally refer to other people with their full name whenever they're being talked about?" Teach raised an eyebrow.

"...I guess not."

"See? That's why I'm surprised." Teach grinned and laid back on his chair.

Ace was surprised to see Teach seem so… relaxed and free. Knowing that Ace was the son of a man he knew seemed to have made so much of a difference.

"Our fathers knew each other, you know?" Teach said. "They're like rivals. I'm sure my father would like to meet you someday."

"Oh, he will."

"You gonna try to beat him?" Teach sneered.

"I won't." Ace sneered back. "I will beat him."

"Tough words! ZEHAHAHAHA! I'll be with you guys until that happens," Teach said.

"Man, you really don't wanna be in our crew huh?" Terzo asked, almost disappointedly.

"No. Like I said, I still believe my father should be the king!"

More people went out of the restaurant. Not everyone was a pirate. At that moment, drinks were served at the Royal Aces' tables.

"Ohh, by the way," Ace asked the waitress serving them. "What's the best food you guys got here?"

The young waitress looked nervous at having to talk to someone like Ace. It seems she knew who he was. Still, she had a job to do. She tried to stay professional.

"Y-Yes, uhmm. Our seafood pizza is the best on the menu," the young waitress said.

"Great! Can you pack 50 boxes for us?" Ace asked with a grin.

"50? Uhhh," the waitress seemed doubtful about something with the order.

"Here," Ace took out a stack of Berry from his pockets and gave it to the waitress. "Will this be enough?"

The waitress stared wide-eyed at the money Ace was giving. Ever since the pirates entered their restaurant, the owner told them to expect not to get paid. They were instructed to just try and not piss the pirates off.

With slightly shaking hands, the waitress took Ace's money and quickly counted. It more than covered the price of the order, so she returned more than half of what Ace gave her.

"Your order doesn't cost that much, sir," the waitress said.

"Oh? You'd return the money instead of keeping it?" Ace grinned. "You're an honest one, huh? That's rare! Alright."

Ace turned to the other pirates inside the restaurant. He slightly narrowed his eyes at them, but it was enough to send chills down their spines.

"All of you. I see you drinking and eating. If you don't pay up, I'll kill you." Ace turned to the young waitress that served them. "None of them paid yet, right miss?"

"N-No, sir. But, they don't really need to."

"Why not? This is a dining establishment! If there can't be order, there should at least be respect. You guys are working hard to serve customers. Doesn't seem fair if the customers don't cough up cash for that service, right everyone?"

Ace turned the question to his crew. The Royal Aces grinned.

"Yeah. Would be a shame if they don't. I can think of many bad things that would happen to them." Teach was unexpectedly the first one to support Ace.

"We'll pay, miss!" one of the tables where pirates sat instantly reached out a stack of Berry.

"We'll pay too!"

"Us too!"

Other pirates followed suit. The other waitresses reluctantly went and took the money. The pirates could do nothing but glare at the Royal Aces. They didn't really feel afraid. Just unwilling to be the one to take the first step. They were from different pirate groups, but they were confident that the Royal Aces can't take them on all at once…