章節 37: Chapter 37
Hepha gave two Evolvers to Vash. Vash took them in his hands and looked as if he was getting a feel for their weight. Then, he started spinning the guns in his hand. After spinning them for a few moments, he twirled and threw them around, alternating them between his hands.
Ace and the others just watched the show. After a few seconds of Vash doing it, he turned his guns into their liquid form and made them go inside his sleeves. Vash looked up at the crow's nest where Augur was watching as well.
"I guess we finally have a scout, huh?" Vash said after guessing what role Augur had in the crew. "I guess he's the sniper that shot at you earlier?"
"He is." Ace answered Vash's question truthfully.
Then, Vash summoned his Levolver in one hand and shot in Augur's direction. Augur disappeared from his spot with a pop and reappeared beside Vash with a similar sound. Augur pointed his rifle at Vash's face, but Vash also had his revolver in Augur's face. They were at a standoff.
Ace just watched it all happen. He knew what Vash was doing. It was important to establish rules and hierarchy in an organization.
"Next time you try to shoot our Captain, I won't miss," Vash said to Augur, his eyes hidden by the glint of his glasses.
"...I understand."
"Then, welcome aboard…"
"Augur. Van Augur."
"Vash."
Vash and Augur lowered their guns and shook each other's hands. Ace just grinned at their display of professionalism.
"What's going on? Are we under attack?" Mihar bursted out of the door and asked everyone on the deck.
"No, we aren't," Ace said, reassuring Mihar. "Just introducing the new member to the first mate."
Ace then looked at Augur.
"I wanted to ask. What Devil Fruit did you eat?"
"The Warp-Warp Fruit," Augur answered. "I can transport myself and anyone else I wish to carry to somewhere I can see."
"For someone with good eyesight, that's a neat fruit!"
Ace also thought about what potential Augur could have if he masters Observation Haki. Will he be able to warp to places he can feel instead of see? In that case, Augur wouldn't need to look at where he's going to warp to it.
"I shall do my best to be helpful to the crew with it," Augur said before popping back to the crow's nest.
"Anyway, I think I'll go off on my own for a while," Ace said as he started stretching.
"Where are you going?" Vash asked.
"Uhhhh… training? I think I want to use those Espa dudes as dummies."
"You can't!" Mihar immediately wanted to stop Ace.
"Why not? Are they poor?" Ace asked. He wanted to pillage them after.
"Well, no…"
"Then all the more reason I should go wreak havoc on them!" Ace said. "Besides, aren't the locals being oppressed by them? If I win the locals over to our side, this island can easily be our territory."
"It's not like that," Mihar said. "They're not oppressing locals in the normal way. You see, the Espa have the people of Colo working as their farmers and miners. The Bounty Plains is an incredibly rich land, and the locals don't mind sharing. They get paid through… entertainment."
From what Mihar briefly explained, Ace had a rough idea of what was happening on the island. The locals in Colo Village take the richness of their land for granted. The Espa Kingdom comes and proposes a trade. The people of Colo would give them resources, and in exchange, the Espa Kingdom built the Circus Town supposedly to provide them entertainment as thanks. Ace thought it was probably for propaganda and instilling the belief that Espa Kingdom is a great and just kingdom. An ally of the Colo people.
"So, the Espa Kingdom built Circus Town in exchange for the locals of Colo to work for them. In turn, the Circus Town spreads the propaganda that Espa is their ally, when in reality, they're exploiting the people of Colo?"
"That's… yes. That's exactly it." Mihar looked shocked that Ace immediately grasped the situation. "Even if you free the locals from Espa, they might not necessarily be thankful."
"Well, I wouldn't know until I got there. Is this Espa Kingdom affiliated with the World Government?"
"They are! That's another reason you shouldn't go provoking them!"
"Great! Now I really wanna destroy them!" Ace looked excited. "They must be rich! There's no way they aren't! HAHAHAHA!"
"Hold on, you really wanna fight the World Government?" Mihar looked incredulous at seeing Ace's desire to pick a fight with something no one should even dream of.
The others who already knew Ace deeply just chuckled and went back to whatever they wanna do.
"I left my tools somewhere in the forest. I'll go and get them," Soma said before jumping out of the ship.
"I cut up a lot of people today. My sword needs maintenance," Terzo said before going inside the ship, probably to his room.
"Might as well train," Hepha said before going to the front deck to swing her large hammer around.
"I set out to rule the seas, Mihar! If I'm afraid of some World Government, how will I succeed?" Ace asked as he did his final stretches.
"Is no one gonna stop him?" Mihar asked, referring to Ace.
"He's our Captain. We follow him," Vash said to Mihar before turning to Ace. "If you don't mind, can I come? I wanna test out what Hepha made."
"Sure, no problem!" Ace was about to jump out of the ship when Teach, who was actually awake all this time, spoke to him.
"I can't help but wonder. Is treasure really the reason? Or do you want to help those people?"
"Ohh, Teach! Good morning!" Ace grinned at Teach. "What are you asking?"
"I just can't figure you out," Teach said. "One moment, you're a remorseless killer. Next, you're acting like some hero. Now, you're talking about taking a territory like some conqueror. What are you?"
Ace chuckled at what Teach observed. If he would be honest he observed the same thing too. Sometimes, his words and actions don't add up. It's like he has two or more personalities within him…
'I guess this is another effect of that soul fusion?'
"You're forgetting what I am, Teach?" Ace smirked. "Let me remind you. I'm a pirate. I do whatever I want. It doesn't have to be reasonable or logical! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Ace was about to jump off the ship and rush towards Colo Village where he guessed the rest of Espa's people were when he remembered Augur's ability. He was curious to know what warping feels like.
"Hey, Augur! Can you see Colo VIllage from there?" Ace called out to Augur on the crow's nest.
"Yes, Captain! Would you like me to take you and Vash there?"
"If you'd be so kind!"
Augur popped twice. He first warped to where Ace and Vash were. He put a hand on their shoulders, then warped again. Now, they were in the crow's nest. Augur focused for a moment, then warped again.
Ace looked around at where they were. They were on top of a small building. It was a building inside a walled section of what looked like a small city, not a village.
"Is this-?"
"The Espa Garrison of Colo Village." Augur finished what Ace wanted to ask.
Ace looked at their newest recruit and observed how he was slightly pale. Augur was also breathing heavily, as if he was really tired.
"You feeling alright, Augur?" Ace asked.
"I will be fine. Thank you for your concern, Captain. Do you need anything else?"
"Can you warp back to the Ashen Dragon just fine?"
"Yes. Warping alone is much easier than with people."
"Then, go back and wait for us there. Vash and I can go back alone just fine."
"As you wish, Captain."
Augur looked in the direction of the faraway Ashen Dragon and popped. Ace noted what direction Augur looked at before turning to Vash.
"You sure you wanna accompany me in this craziness, Vash? Fighting an entire army with just us two?" Ace smirked at his own question.
"What do you mean, Ace? This is just training."
"What if you run out of bullets?"
"I'll just take their guns."
"HAHAHAHA! Good man!" Ace looked at the biggest building inside the walls. "I guess that's where the higher ups are?"
"Most definitely."
"Alright! Here we go!"
Ace jumped towards that building and landed on its big front doors. His high-profile way of landing instantly made him the attention of soldiers running around the garrison.
"Hey! Who are you?"
"This area is off limits!"
"Put your hands in the air!"
The soldiers quickly surrounded Ace. In the next moment, another figure landed behind Ace. Of course, it was Vash. Ace and Vash stood back to back. Ace readied his flaming arm. Vash raised his two Evolvers.
"They're hostile!"
"Shoot them down!"
The soldiers in front of Vash shot their rifles. What happened next impressed even Ace. With his Observation Haki, Vash saw every bullet coming their way. He fired quick and precise shots. Every shot from Vash blocked a bullet. It had to be said that there were around thirty shots coming at him, but Vash shot them all down. Ace whistled at his stunt.
"Damn, how many bullets does one cylinder pack?" Ace asked.
"A hundred, Hepha said."
"She really outdid herself, huh."
"That she did." Vash looked at the soldiers shake themselves out of their shock. "Let's not waste time. I'll handle these guys."
"You watching my back?" Ace asked as he raised his fist, ready to punch out at the front door of the main building in the garrison.
"Well, that's my job."
This time, Vash shot first. Every bullet lodged itself inside a shoulder, putting them out of the fight.
"Fire Lord's Fist!"
Ace threw a column of fire with his fist. His attack easily busted down the front doors and continued on its way inside the first floor before exploding. The glass windows of the first floor shattered from the force of the explosion of Ace's flames.
With calm steps, Ace walked inside the building. No one from outside interrupted him since they had their hands full with Vash. Ace entered the first floor to see soldiers rolling around, trying to extinguish the flames on their body. The majority of the first floor was burning too.
Ace snapped his fingers and called to the flames around him. The flames responded and gathered in Ace's hands. The scene that looked like hell instantly calmed down as Ace had what looked like complete control over fire.
The flames gathered and compressed into a ball of fire the size of Ace's hand. Ace threw it up and down as if he was playing with it. When the soldiers started getting up, Ace threw the incredibly hot and dense fireball in his hand.
The fireball flew around like a wisp under Ace's control. It went through the bodies of soldiers, burning holes in them. Ace made the fireball fly through their chests, destroying their hearts in the process. There was no saving them.
Ace left one soldier alive. He called back the fireball to his hand and went back to throwing it up and down like he was playing with a tennis ball. He approached the remaining soldier who was looking at him in fear.
"Tell me. Do you want to live?"
"P-Please don't kill me! I have a family back home! I-I don't wanna die on this backwater island!"
"Then tell me. Where's your vault?"
"Vault?"
"Yes. Vault. Where treasures and money are usually kept. You must have one in this building, right?" Ace flashed a greedy grin at the soldier who was begging on his knees.
"Yes… a vault. Where treasure is! Uhhh…" the soldier looked like he was thinking hard. "The commander has his personal mini vault! A safe where he keeps his own treasure! This garrison is also where local workers enter to mine for us! We dug a tunnel underground!"
"I see," what the soldier said piqued Ace's interest. "What do they mine here? Gold?"
"Yes! Gold!"
"Where's it being stored?"
"In a warehouse, east of here. On the northeastern part of the wall!"
"Thank you! You've been very helpful!"
Ace proceeded to walk deeper inside the building, heading up to where he guessed the commander's office should be. He let the soldier he questioned run away.
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