บท 39: Desert Deals (II)

As I signaled Ace to slip away into the crowd, I turned to face her. If Ace hadn't been here, this would've been no problem—my name was only known in the North Blue, and even then, it was three years ago. But Ace had engaged with Smoker just two days ago, and Tashigi must've seen his face in the poster. I needed time for him to disappear.

So, putting on my friendliest smile, I looked at her and said:

"You recognize my sword!" I squeaked with childlike excitement.

"Of course! It's one of the Skillful Grade Blades," she replied, her eyes lighting up.

"Amazing! You really know your swords. It's great to see someone who's as into them as I am."

"Really? I'm glad to hear that. These days, all the legendary swords seem to be in pirates' hands."

"I know, right? Just yesterday, I saw a green-haired guy carrying both Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu."

Tashigi clenched her teeth. "Roronoa Zoro!"

"What, you know him?"

"Yes, he's a vile swordsman who tricked me back in Loguetown."

"Tricking another swordsman… how dare he!" I echoed, feigning outrage.

She launched into a passionate rant about how she dreamed of reclaiming the legendary swords from evil hands. I already knew her motivations but needed to buy time for Ace to disappear. When I was sure he was gone, I said, "You know, I think I saw where he went."

"Where?" she asked eagerly.

"There was this guy with a long nose who said they were heading to the capital."

Tashigi quickly relayed the information to Smoker on her Den Den Mushi. Before she left, I added, "You know, if you want to collect those swords, you'll need to become a lot stronger." She nodded, seeming to take my words seriously, and I slipped away.

Two streets over, I found Ace buying something from a vendor. Seeing me, he smirked. "Done flirting?"

I gave him a dirty look but didn't react. I knew he was joking.

"It's because of you I had to put on a show."

"Zoro's gonna be mad at you."

"I know." I couldn't help grinning. "Kind of funny, though."

"Alright, I held up my end of the bargain. Now tell me where Blackbeard will be."

"A week from now, Mock Town. We should leave soon—your brother's planning to defeat a warlord. If we don't get out now, Marines will be swarming the place before long."

"I don't have an eternal log pose towards Jaya." He pointed out

"We don't need one. I found out that a merchant ship will head to Mock Town in two days."

"We don't have the money to board a merchant ship."

I gave him a look. "We're pirates. We'll just rob another pirate ship. It's hardly difficult with our strength."

"Isn't that... immoral?"

"Being with the Whitebeard Pirates has made you soft. What did you do to gather funds before you joined the Whitebeard Pirates?"

"Rob other pirates."

"Exactly. Now, Crocodile has wiped out most of the pirates in Alabasta. But the Baroque Works agents have a lot of money. We'll just target some of their ships, and voilà, we have enough money to go to Mock Town."

"Sounds like a plan."

So, we did just that. Well, by 'we', I mean me. Ace was way too flashy, and his devil fruit power would destroy everything. After raiding five ships, we had around one million berries, which was more than we needed. But I decided to keep some for myself, as I needed to buy an eternal log pose for Sabaody later on.

As we were eating our dinner on the merchant ship, Ace asked me,

"How are you so relaxed? Knowing Teach, he'll never recruit weak members on his crew. And you'll be vastly outnumbered."

I thought about his question for a bit. I really was carefree, wasn't I?

"Well, yes, I'll be outnumbered. But I have something that they don't have."

"And what is that?"

"Information. Other than one of their members, I know almost everything about them. On the other hand, I'm a total unknown to them. Also, it's not like I'll actually play fair with them. I'm going to try and take them out one by one."

"But what if that doesn't work? What if they stick together all the time?"

I grinned. "Then I'll do what I can do. Besides, it would be good for me if they're strong. I haven't really had a good fight for quite some time."

Ace sighed, "Me too. Paradise is boring."

"Don't be too arrogant, Ace. As I keep telling you, Blackbeard is strong. You need to be careful."

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid. Also, I'm not weak."

The last line was emphasized. He thinks I'm underestimating him. Which was kind of true. It was already set in my mind that Ace would lose, just because he lost in the original story. But the future might be changed already. After all, Blackbeard doesn't have the surprise effect going for him right now.

I looked at Ace and said, "I'm sorry."

He was smart enough to understand what I meant. He just gave me a nod and said,

"We should get some sleep. The next couple of days is going to be hectic for us."