【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Now it's time for the "Moon Kick" to appear, which is about to fall from the sky!!"

Ace looked at the enemy who suddenly disappeared in confusion. He could only hear the voice of someone talking in the air. Ace jumped back hastily to avoid the giraffe's head that suddenly attacked vertically, and shouted in shock, "You call this a 'kick'!?"

"Because it's my skill, no one will find fault with it no matter what I call it!" said a pirate who looked like a giraffe in a white suit and tuxedo proudly.

"That's true!" Ace's left hand was blazing with flames, and he said indifferently, then leaped forward high and attacked the giraffe.

The pirate looked at the attacking fire fist and laughed sarcastically, "I forgive your natural negligence! Take my move "Kudzu Leaf Stab!"

Looking at the incoming attack, Ace suddenly remembered what Thatch had said a while ago, 'Ace... you have always been inclined to use the Devil Fruit ability that you are good at, this is the harm of self-study, you have to expand your ability range!'

He calmed down and used his Observation Haki to sense his breath. Ace used fire to accelerate and dodge the pirate's kick. His right hand ignited a lot of fire and punched the giraffe pirate's body. "What kind of 'random stabbing' is this?!"

In an instant, the pirate in animal-like giraffe form was completely defeated by Ace, and fell to the ground in the ruins with burns all over his body, his life or death unknown.

Thatch looked at this wonderful scene and came behind Ace with a grin, saying in a mean way, "Not bad for observation Haki, thanks to my perfect suggestion!" Then he came to Ace and winked at him and said, "Thank you, there's no need to say thank you!"

"...Tsk." Ace turned around and left speechlessly, walking towards Lucci.

"Wow!! Damn it, I'm stabbed!!" a big guy with a face full of black stubble shouted in panic.

"Are you being careless again, Teach?" Thatch said with amusement, shaking his head.

……

Whitebeard Territory - Fordwading Island

The Moby Dick sailed to an island governed by Whitebeard, and after dealing with some pirates who came to the island to cause trouble, they had a dinner and rest there.

"So, you were just screaming there after being stabbed?" Thatch said with a smile to Teach who was sitting opposite him.

"Ah? But I still worked, Thatch!" Teach drank the wine in his hand and laughed loudly. "Besides, I was the one who took the head of that animal captain!"

"You just gave him the final blow after Ace knocked him down," Thatch pointed out speechlessly.

Teach smiled and avoided the question, then looked at Ace and Lucci who were sitting on the side, pointed at Ace and said, "Oh, by the way, you are the 'Flame Rookie', right? I have heard your story! You want to take your father's head, and if you fail after 100 challenges, you will join the Whitebeard Pirates?"

"Huh!? I didn't say the number of times..." Ace shouted in shock.

"It will never end." Thatch smiled and took a sip of the wine in the glass. "By the way, this is the 88th defeat."

Lucci looked at Thatch with amusement, "Thatch, you are the one who said this number, right?"

"Hey! I was the one who spread the words. How did you know that, Lucci?" Sachi looked at Lucci curiously with his eyes wide open.

"Huh!?" Teach looked at Thatch in surprise.

"Of course I saw it." Lucci said mysteriously.

"Come to think of it, it seems that many crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates are people with special abilities!" said Lucci, the pirate sitting on the railing and looking at the deck.

"Yeah... I think so too..." Ace, who was sitting next to Lucci, nodded in agreement.

"Dad's is the 'Tremor-Tremor Fruit', Captain Marco's is the 'Bird-Bird Fruit', and Captain Joz's is the 'Shining Fruit'," Teach, who was sitting on the deck, responded while drinking the wine in his hand.

"You have the 'Flame-Flame Fruit'. As a cook, I really envy your ability." Thatch excitedly raised the wooden barrel cup in his hand and said enviously.

"If you want, you have to kill this guy!!"

Lucci, who was about to drink juice, stopped what he was doing the moment he heard these words. He subconsciously looked at Teach who was talking. The man was sitting cross-legged on the deck with his head slightly lowered. A shadow covered his face, making it impossible to see his expression. He seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts and was still talking in a low voice.

"I heard that if a person with special abilities dies, his fruit will reappear somewhere in the world."

"Hey, don't say such dangerous things. I don't want some kind of power so much that I would kill my friends." Thatch interrupted Teach and said with a smile.

"Who is your partner!!" Ace shouted angrily.

"Oh, sorry! Well, it's just a matter of time, right?" Sachi said with a smile while pouring wine.

"Hey!" Ace yelled angrily.

“Then the rule on this ship is that whoever finds the fruit can eat it,” Teach added with a smile.

"...Is there any fruit you want to eat?" Ace asked subconsciously.

Lucci looked at Teach, wondering what he would say.

"...Yes, do you want to hear it?" Tikki grinned.

"Not really." Ace said uninterested.

"Haha, Teach, is that it?" Sachi looked at Teach with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Oh, of course." Tikki looked at Thatch with the same smile, "I want to find it in my whole life..."

Lucci looked at Teach solemnly. Was he going to say it? He wanted to know what kind of devil fruit he wanted. He could feel the ambition hidden when he talked about the devil fruit he wanted. It was buried deep, and he felt a sense of uneasiness.

"Transparent Fruit!! A man's romance!" Thatch and Teach clinked their glasses and shouted excitedly.

"Huh?" Lucci was shocked by their conversation. He thought they were going to say something. Sure enough, he shouldn't have had hope for their conversation.

"We've finished the wine. Can this barrel be opened?" Ace looked at the strange barrel of wine next to him. There seemed to be something written on it. He squinted his drunken eyes and tried to see clearly.

"Wait, wait, that barrel won't do. That's Dad's wine!" Thatch shouted hurriedly.

"Is this the cheapest bar?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Dad's preference." Tikki said with a smile.

"The Four Emperors' preferences?" Lucci asked curiously.

"Because my father sent all the treasures he was supposed to take back to his hometown, he can only make do with the cheapest wine." Sachi explained with a smile.

"It seems to be a remote island that can't even afford the Celestial Gold that can be given to the Celestial Dragons, and the World Government won't protect it," Teach added with a smile.

"The same thing happened to that island just now, so we lent them the flag." Thatch said proudly with a smile on his face, holding his drink, "Our father is such a pirate!"

Ace opened his eyes wide and couldn't help but think of the words he declared when he and his brothers spoke loudly about their dreams on the cliff, 'It doesn't matter if I use fear or anything else! ! I want my name to resound throughout the world! ! !'

Ace lowered his head and pursed his lips in sadness and anger.

"He's a great pirate, right? You and him are like heaven and earth, the difference between a firefly and the sun!" Teach laughed loudly.

"Stop making sarcastic remarks, Teach!" Thatch frowned and stopped him.