Chapter 33

Ace recognized the face he saw with his incredible Observation Haki. There in the far distance somewhere in the middle of the only forest they found so far in the island, Augur was standing on top of a tall tree looking straight at him.

Augur stared at Ace, his eyes wide in shock after seeing Ace just casually catch a speeding bullet with his bare hand. Ace stared back at Augur with a sneer. Then, calm returned to Augur's face. He nodded slightly at Ace, a gesture of respect, before turning his back to Ace.

Then, Augur disappeared into thin air. Ace assumed Augur already ate the Warp-Warp Fruit and used its power to relocate himself farther into the island out of the range of Ace's Observation Haki.

"Whoever that was, he was pretty good," Vash said. He saw what Ace did just now.

"He is. He's still somewhere on the island, I think. Can't wait to meet him!" Ace then turned back around to face his crew, specifically at his navigator.

"Terzo, how long until we get there?"

"If we keep up this speed, we'll be there in half an hour."

…

"Land! Oh, sweet land!" Doppol hugged the soil of their first island in Paradise.

The rest of the Royal Aces were still on the Ashen Dragon's main deck. Their ship was currently anchored beside a steep seabank on the island. There weren't any ports, so they had to make do with docking beside a small cliff.

"We made it!" Ace was happy that they finally arrived. "Alright, let's do this. I need you guys to do something first. In the meantime, I'll scout ahead. Once I'm done, I'll get back here and call you guys."

"Doppol," Ace addressed their shipwright first, leaning on the railing and looking down at where Doppol was. "I want you to keep working on the technique you're trying to perfect."

Ace was talking about what Doppol told them back at Baratie. He was working on a way to make normal wood as sturdy as steel. Ace was very interested in what Doppol was working on. If he manages to complete it, their ship would become much stronger.

"Don't worry, Ace! I wanted to do just that," Doppol said.

"Next, Hepha!" Ace turned to their forgemaster. "You still working on Vash's Living Metal?"

"I am," Hepha answered. "I wanna keep studying it. Can I get Vash to help me?"

"You alright with that, Vash?" Ace asked his first mate.

"Yeah, I don't mind," Vash said with a shrug.

"Next, Soma!" Ace turned to Soma, who was the crew's cook and cartographer. "Are you planning on making a map of this island?"

"I am," Soma said, clutching the backpack he carried that contained all the tools he needed. "It would probably take longer if I did it alone, though."

"Terzo, you wanna accompany him?" Ace asked their navigator.

"I don't mind. I'd explore more of the island that way!" Terzo was excited to have an adventure he can write down on his journal.

"Great! Now you guys, don't forget to always wear your Baby Transponder Snails," Ace reminded his crew by holding up his left wrist where a Baby Transponder Snail was sleeping like a wristwatch. "We'll be able to communicate even if we're separated on this island."

The Royal Aces, except Teach, held up their wrists in response to show they were wearing the same thing Ace was. They didn't have an extra one to give Teach. Hepha was lucky enough to find Baby Transponder Snails for the six of them back when she was shopping alone at Loguetown.

Among other things, she also bought other available variants of Transponder Snails from Loguetown. The Transponder Snails were being kept in the Communication Room aboard the Ashen Dragon.

"And that leaves you with me, Teach," Ace turned to Teach last. The latter only nodded in response.

"Once Teach and I find the town or something, we'll come back here. Until then, you guys sit tight!" Ace addressed Vash, Hepha, and Doppol before jumping out of the ship followed by Terzo, Soma, and Teach.

"We'll be going around the island first, Ace," Soma said to Ace.

"Sure. But you'll be exploring the inner parts of the island too, right?"

"We will."

"Alright then. See you guys later!" Ace waved goodbye to his crew as he ran straight towards the forest in the distance.

…

"Man, this island looks so normal. It's boring!" Ace shouted at no one in particular as he walked through the forest they saw back at the ship. Teach was walking behind him.

"Well, this is Paradise. The New World has the more… intense islands," Teach said. "Not many peculiar places here in the first half."

"Makes sense. Man, I can't wait to enter the New World!"

Ace kept his Observation Haki activated as they walked. It covered an area similar to the range of his eyesight. He wanted to have the habit of always being on alert.

With his Observation Haki, Ace felt the teeming life around him. Plants, trees, insects, and animals. He was trying to listen to them. That small incident with Laboon made him realize that he had the same ability as his father, to hear the Voice of All Things.

Now, Ace wants to see if he can develop it too. So far, Ace wasn't hearing any voices. It was more like murmurs. The voices of the life around him felt weak and… simple. Meanwhile, Teach's voice was like a noisy garbled mess when Ace tried focusing on his new crewmate that would definitely betray them the moment they faced Whitebeard.

Teach's voice being an incomprehensible noise made Ace assume that his ability wasn't good enough to hear more intelligent life yet. His assumption was soon supported after he felt a voice filled with pain using his ability.

Not long after, Ace and Teach heard a scream. It wasn't human. It was more feline. A big feline.

Without a word, Ace rushed to where he felt and heard the voice. Teach followed him. They ran for a minute and arrived at the origin of the scream.

'Wait… that must be Kotatsu!' Ace guessed, but he wasn't sure.

A big golden-haired lynx stood in front of Ace and Teach. The lynx was relying on three legs instead of four to stand. One of his forelegs was caught in a metallic trap. The trap was a jaw-like contraption that snapped shut on the lynx's right foreleg. The lynx was mewling in pain as he tried prying the man-made trap off his leg.

Ace went to help the lynx. He didn't mind the two men hiding atop a tree, watching the three of them on the ground. He already felt them earlier. They got here first and waited on top of the tree instead of doing anything to the lynx.

If they do decide to interfere with him, they'll pay.

Just as Ace was kneeling down to save the lynx from the trap, a bullet was shot on the ground right in front of him. Ace wasn't startled, but he looked in the direction where the shot came from all the same.

"Now, now! Don't just go and free our prey!" one of the men shouted before the two of them jumped down and showed themselves. No matter how Ace looked at it, they were either poachers or hunters.

"You're in our territory!" the other man shouted.

"Hey, they really don't look familiar."

"Hmmm. They must be pirates," one of the men said as he eyed the weapons on Ace as well as the black coat on his back.

Ace wanted to question them if they were poachers or hunters when he felt another presence with his Observation Haki. Whoever it was, he was rushing towards where they were.

The one Ace felt was rushing over quickly went up a tree. There in the distance, there was a man who lined up his rifle to where Ace was. Ace focused his Observation Haki to look at who the man was.

A split second was all Ace needed to recognize the man.

'That's Mihar!'

Mihar, who was currently standing on a tree branch, aimed his rifle at the people around the lynx. With two quick shots, he put a bullet in the heads of the two poachers in front of Ace. Next, Mihar aimed at Ace.

"Man, this is the second time today I'm being shot at!"

Ace looked at the bullet coming straight for his head. With a quick draw of his cutlass, Ace cut the bullet in two. It was only possible because of his Observation Haki. He wasn't like those other swordsmen who could do something like that stunt on instinct yet.

Seeing his shot was blocked by a sword stunned Mihar. But, he recovered quickly. A split second later, two more bullets were flying at Ace. Of course, Ace blocked those bullets too.

Mihar emptied his magazine at Ace. Three more bullets came flying, and Ace cut all of them. Seeing how Mihar was quickly reloading his rifle, Ace attacked. He sent a flying slash, cutting the line of trees until it cut the tree Mihar was standing on.

Ace watched Mihar lose balance and jump away. While in midair, Mihar was reloading. He jumped for another tree he could stand on. Ace didn't want the unnecessary fight to continue, so he Flickered over to where Mihar was.

"What in the-!"

Ace kicked Mihar across his torso, sending him flying to where Kotatsu was. Mihar skidded on the ground near Kotatsu before coming to a halt. The lynx meowed in concern at Mihar.

With an Air Flicker, a combination of Air Jump and Flicker only made possible because Ace was incredibly light after turning his inner body into fire, Ace landed in front of Mihar.

"Look, I'm not with those two poachers. I was trying to help the lynx," Ace said to Mihar who quickly aimed his rifle at Ace.

Hearing Ace's words, Mihar stopped. He looked at Ace. Seeing what he was wearing as well as the weapons on him made him quickly realize that he wasn't a poacher.

He was something worse. A pirate.

Mihar squeezed the trigger, his rifle aimed at Ace's head. Ace just sighed after seeing how his words didn't reach Mihar. So, he just stood and let the bullet hit him. The bullet went through him harmlessly.

Mihar was stunned again after seeing that the part he aimed at turned into fire. Ace was obviously unharmed.

"What are you?" Mihar asked Ace.

"Your pet's savior if those poachers didn't interrupt," Ace said before going to the lynx he suspected was Kotatsu, not caring if he didn't have Mihar's permission.

Ace knelt down in front of the lynx. Before helping an animal, they must trust you first. Ace stared into the lynx's eyes as kindly as he could to soothe the big cat who was in great pain.

The lynx stared deeply into Ace's eyes. Ace used his ability to hear the Voice of All Things to feel what the lynx was feeling. The lynx slowly went from feeling afraid, on guard, and relaxed. Ace earned his trust.

Seeing how he had the permission of the lynx to help him, Ace quickly set his hands to deactivating the trap on the lynx's foreleg.

"What's his name?" Ace asked Mihar without turning to him.

"Kotatsu. He's my student's friend," Mihar answered, watching Ace and Teach closely.

"Kotatsu, huh? What a great name!" Ace said to the lynx. He really wanted to lean on the lynx's fluffy looking fur to see if it was as warm as a kotatsu.

The trap on Kotatsu's foreleg was quickly deactivated. Ace took the trap and crushed it with his bare hands, much to the shock of Mihar and Kotatsu.

"Teach, carry Kotatsu for me," Ace said to Teach as he threw away the metallic trap that he crushed into a ball to the side, never to hurt anything or anyone again.