Chapter 68

Ace finished reading what he could of the last chapter of the ruined book that Tanya gave her. Unfortunately, it was so damaged that he didn't get to read more of it. But, the information that was preserved was still very valuable.

It was during dinner when Ace handed the book back to Tanya. The Royal Aces sat around their dining table and chatted as they ate.

"So, what did you think?" Tanya asked Ace.

"Simply amazing!" Ace said, clearly matching the enthusiasm Tanya showed when she first introduced the book to Ace. "I've never read anything so… great! I feel like I can improve my Devil Fruit even further now!"

"I'm sure you can," Tanya said. "The book inspired me a lot back then, too. In the beginning, I was only blasting winds with my power. But then, I gained so many ideas on how to use my Devil Fruit just from the concepts you also read."

"Like what?" Ace asked.

"Well, I was only using the Emission aspect by blasting winds, right? Then, I realized that I can also have a Manipulation aspect to my power by controlling the clouds using my wind."

"What are you two talking about again?" Terzo asked, curious to know what Ace and Tanya were talking about.

"I read a book Tanya gave me," Ace said. "Well, what was left of it anyway. It talked about Devil Fruits and different ways to express their power."

"Sounds useful," Vash said. "Especially to Devil Fruit users."

"It is," Ace said, agreeing with Vash. "Which makes me think. Have you guys ever heard of someone named Yoshitoga?"

Ace's question caught the attention of the whole table. His crew turned to him as they began thinking if they ever heard the name before. Judging by the looks on their faces, Ace knew that none of them ever heard of the name before.

"You guys never heard of him, huh? Can't say I'm surprised," Ace said. "The content I read should be enough to make the World Government outlaw the book and probably its author."

"ZEHAHAHA! You really hate the World Government huh, Ace?" Teach seemed amused at seeing Ace scoff at the mention of the World Government.

"Of course! No good comes from that lot."

"What's there to hate?" Mihar seemed curious. "Isn't a World Government good for keeping the world safe?"

"If it's ruled by a good leader, probably. If only everyone knew what those Celestial Lizards are capable of. The whole world would revolt!" Ace said. "Thinking about it still makes me angry…"

"How do you know so much, anyway?" Soma asked. "As far as I know it's your first time sailing these seas."

"I told you guys, I have a great grandpa!" Ace said with a grin. "He keeps telling us stories of what he's seen of the world we live in."

"Now I'm even more curious," Hepha said with a sigh. "Just spill it. Who's this grandpa of yours that you keep talking about."

"I never told you guys his name?" Ace asked.

"No, you didn't," Vash answered.

"My grandpa is a marine," Ace said as his grin widened. "His name is Garp."

Ace revealed Garp as his grandpa to the crew. Most of them were shocked. Their eyes widened and their jaws slacked at hearing who Ace's grandpa was.

"What a surprising twist," Augur said.

"That's crazy!" Second chimed in. "That's probably what Doppol would have said."

"Garp?" Eri seemed curious. "Who's that?"

"He's probably someone important," Tanya guessed.

"I wonder if he's as strong as Captain?" Enel wondered aloud.

"The Hero of the Marines is your grandpa?" Hepha and Teach simultaneously asked.

"Yeah, he is! HAHAHAHA!" Ace was amused at seeing his crew's reactions. "You guys know him?"

"Who wouldn't?" Vash said with a sigh. "Don't you know your grandpa's famous?"

"Not really. He never told us," Ace said, lying as easily as he breathed.

"So cool! I should definitely write this down!" Terzo took out his pen and journal seemingly out of nowhere and started writing.

"Of all people, he's your grandpa?" Teach asked. "That old marine is crazy! He fought Pops so many times!"

"Yeah, crazy is putting it lightly," Hepha chimed in. "What a crazy family you have, Ace!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Soma interrupted the conversation. "Does that mean… Garp is Roger's father?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Ace started laughing at what Soma said. "He's not! I'm just an adopted grandson."

"Ahh, makes sense," Soma said.

"So… Garp adopted the son of his greatest rival?" Hepha asked.

"Something like that," Ace said before steering the conversation back to the book Tanya gave him. "Anyway, that's not important-"

"It is!" his crew told him.

"What's more important is the valuable knowledge that Tanya's book had," Ace said. "Doppol and Augur, you two should read it."

"Sure, Ace."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Here, Augur," Tanya handed the book to Augur.

"Hey, why is he the first to read?" Second complained to Tanya.

"You'll probably just store it somewhere and forget all about it," Tanya said.

"...good point."

"Tanya, thank you for sharing your treasure with us," Ace said.

"It's nothing," Tanya said. "Right now, I'm part of your crew. All of you getting stronger is also in my best interest."

"In that case, I can trust you. Will you train Eri for me?" Ace asked.

"Ehh?" Eri looked surprised at Ace's request.

"No problem, Captain," Tanya said with a small grin.

"C-Captain!" Eri stood up from her chair and walked to Ace. She then began lightly pulling him by the arm as she slightly teared up. "Do you hate me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No! Of course not, Eri!" Ace said, quick to disagree and reassure his young apprentice. "It's just that Tanya can train you better with your Devil Fruit power."

"But… will you still train me?" Eri asked as she calmed down.

"If you complete my training, you'll resume your training with Ace," Tanya said to Eri.

"I see. In that case, please teach me well, Tanya-chan!" Eri said after walking to Tanya.

"How earnest!" Tanya patted Eri on the head.

…

The Royal Aces continued sailing towards their destination. Four days after Tanya gave Ace the ruined book, they entered a winter climate. It started snowing out of nowhere. Of course, they weren't totally blindsided. Tanya was with them, after all.

"We entered the island's climate zone!" Tanya announced on the loudspeaker inside the crow's nest.

Currently, most of the Royal Aces were gathered around near the ship's figurehead where a large fire was burning inside the dragon's mouth. It provided just enough warmth to stop them from freezing.

"Seriously? A-Another winter island?" Doppol complained as he fought off his seasickness as well as the cold.

"Hopefully, Karakuri is a better island than the one we went to last time," Soma commented as he handed Doppol his bowl of hot soup.

"Thanks, Soma," Doppol said before eating the soup. It was so cold that Doppol didn't mind the heat of the food, and instead welcomed it.

"No worries," Soma said. "Hey, your seasickness is getting better!"

"I guess I wasn't just used to sailing, haha!" Doppol said, before his face went green. "Ahh, I spoke too soon."

"Just relax," Vash said. "You'll get more seasick if you think about it."

"This damn cold isn't helping," Doppol said. "Hey, Ace. Let me hug you."

"HAHAHAHA! Is it really that cold?"

"Damn fire Logia," Hepha muttered under her breath out of annoyance.

"Why don't you guys just go inside the ship?" Ace asked.

"ZEHAHAHA! It's colder inside, Ace!" Teach said.

"I swear, my next upgrade of this ship will include a heating system." Doppol swore to himself. 

"Ooh! Add a cooling system!" Ace suggested. "I'm sure there are summer islands somewhere out there."

"I'll keep that in mind," Doppol said.

"For now, let me help you guys out," Ace said before spontaneously combusting into flames.

"Ahh, that's better," Hepha said with a sigh of relief, snuggling closer to their living campfire that was Ace.

"Captain is so warm!"

"Mreow!"

The Royal Aces huddled closer to Ace. He provided enough warmth to make them comfortable. The only ones who were unaffected by the cold except Ace were Terzo, Tanya, Enel, Teach, and Augur. Still, Enel and Teach huddled with the Royal Aces. Augur and Tanya were busy looking for their destination in the crow's nest. Terzo was on the helm, guiding the Ashen Dragon towards the direction their Log Pose was pointing at.

Soon, Augur's voice was heard by everyone.

"Island spotted!"

Despite Augur's announcement, none of the Royal Aces went to take a look at what's ahead of them. They knew about the impressive eyesight of Augur, of course. They expected that it would take them at least ten minutes to even make out a distant spot in the horizon that served as their next destination.

"Captain! Permission to speed up the ship?" Tanya asked from the loudspeaker.

"Go ahead, Tanya!" Ace shouted. His voice was loud enough to reach the crow's nest.

"Roger that!"

Then, the wind picked up around the Ashen Dragon. Not a moment later, the sails of the Ashen Dragon caught the strong winds Tanya summoned. The Royal Aces had to balance themselves after feeling the Ashen Dragon speed up as if seemingly gliding along the freezing waters around Karakuri Island.

"WOOOHOOOO!" Ace whooped in celebration while still in his fire human form. "We're going so fast!"

"Shit, this isn't helping it all!" Doppol's face went green. "BLEEEEUUUUUUURGH!"

"ZEHAHAHA! I think his seasickness got worse!"

The initial assumption of the Royal Aces was wrong. It didn't take them ten minutes to spot their next island. They only needed three. With Tanya's ability, they traveled much faster than they normally could.

They needed five minutes more to arrive at their island. The sight that greeted them was not a pretty one. Right in front of them was a burning ship that was about to sink. The ship was a rather strange one. None of the Royal Aces has ever seen a ship similar in design to the one right in front of them.

"It's getting looted," Mihar said. "By… marines!"

"Aaaaand they saw us too," Vash said, seeing the marines scurrying away from them.

"Captain!" Enel spoke up to get Ace's attention. "One of them said something I think should concern you."

"What is it?" Ace asked.

"The one in command just ordered one of his men to contact someone named Admiral Aokiji," Enel said. Those who were familiar with the name, except Ace, visibly froze.

"Aokiji?" Hepha started sweating.

"This is bad," Teach said.

"A Navy Admiral is already after us?" Vash looked like he wanted what Enel said to be a lie.

"We should run, Ace," Soma said. "I don't think we can face an Admiral yet."

"But, I can," Ace said as a wide grin spread on his face. "HAHAHAHA! The damn Navy really wants my head, huh?"

"This is no laughing matter, Ace!" Hepha shouted.

"Sensei, what's an Admiral?" Eri asked Mihar.

"An Admiral is a high-ranking marine, Eri," Mihar said, slowly explaining the situation to Eri. "They're very strong, Eri. They're only one level below the Fleet Admiral, the one in command of all marines."

"Is Mr. Admiral… stronger than Captain?" Eri asked Mihar, but it was Ace who answered.

"No, Eri. I can probably win."

"Cut the crap, Ace!" Hepha said. "Sure, you can probably fight an Admiral. But, he won't be alone."

"I'll have to agree with Hepha, Ace," Vash said in support of Hepha. "We can't risk it. Not all of us are strong enough to fight against an Admiral Fleet."

Ace calmed down. He really wanted to fight an Admiral to test his current strength, but his crew brought sense into him. He was a Captain. His first job is to ensure the safety of his crew and their ship. He'll have more chances in the future to fight as he likes.

"You're right. It's better to be safe," Ace said and stepped up on the dragon figurehead of their ship. He was no longer on fire, but his intensity still brought a unique kind of heat with him.

The Royal Aces watched to see what Ace would do next. Ace had his eyes on every marine that looted the strange burning ship. One of them was running away. 

"You're not getting away."

Ace raised a hand in the direction of his target in preparation for his attack. He assumed that the one running away was the one ordered to contact Aokiji. So, he was the priority.

"Fire Lord's Fangs!"

Flames gathered on Ace's hand. Shortly after, a large ball of fire shot out from his hand. However, it wasn't an ordinary fireball. Shortly after being shot out, the fireball turned into a wolf that ran in midair, chasing the retreating marine.

The move Ace used was inspired by the battle between Tanya and Enel on Skypiea. With Enel's help, he was able to create his new move. However, it still felt incomplete for Ace. The animals Enel and Tanya created felt alive while his just felt like a uniquely shaped fire.

Still, it got the job done. The wolf Ace created with his flames chased down the marine and bit him on the neck before exploding. The marine soon burned to death.

Seeing the fate of their comrade, the rest of the marines froze in horror and turned towards Ace who was still standing on top of the Ashen Dragon's menacing figurehead.

"Yo!" Ace greeted the marines with a smile. "Anyone care to tour us around the island?"