Ch 12: Meeting Ace

Chapter 12: Meeting Ace

Since Ayaan knew the witch doctor, it was only natural for him to know Chopper.

As for why Chopper was afraid of his Fullbelly Pills? Well, ever since eating the Baku Baku no Mi, Ayaan's sense of taste had become completely different from that of a normal person, operating in two entirely different modes.

When not using the Baku Baku no Mi, his sense of taste was almost the same as that of a regular human. But once he activated it, his sense of taste became... bizarre.

After all, Wapol's taste buds had changed drastically after eating the Baku Baku no Mi—he even began to enjoy things like baked houses. That alone showed how wide the range of acceptable flavors could be under this Devil Fruit's influence—and how strange they might taste to others.

So, when Ayaan was developing the Fullbelly Pills, which were more like medicine than food, he hadn't considered flavor at all. His only goal was to maximize nutritional value.

Anyway, as far as he was concerned, no matter what he ate using the Baku Baku no Mi, it tasted pretty good.

Of course, this created a problem for anyone who had to test his pills. Chopper, the little deer, had become a frequent victim. Still, both Ayaan and the witch doctor found his reactions to the pills hilarious, so poor Chopper ended up as their guinea pig.

After messing around with Chopper for a while, Ayaan sat on the rocks by the sea again, staring blankly at the ocean in the distance and sighing.

"I'm about to head out to sea. Little Chopper, what are you going to do?"

"Going out to sea?" Chopper's eyes suddenly lit up with longing. "That's amazing. I want to go out to sea too."

Ayaan shook his head. Our roles overlap. Why would a ship need two doctors?

If Ayaan didn't know medicine, he would've definitely taken Chopper with him. But now, it would be a complete waste of potential—for both of them.

"You should wait another two years. I'm sure someone will come for you... Hey! A pirate ship!"

In the distance, a small pirate ship was approaching the shore. The pirate flag was quite unique: a skull wearing a hat inside a red heart, flanked by crying and laughing faces.

"Oh no! Pirates are coming! Pirates are coming! Run, run!" Chopper panicked as soon as he saw the ship, his fur fluffing up.

Ayaan curled his lips. "I want to go out to sea as a pirate too. What are you so afraid of? Besides, you're just an elk, not a human. Why would pirates bother with you?"

"Ah! That's right. I'm not human at all... why should I be afraid of pirates?" Chopper tilted his head in confusion.

Seeing Chopper finally relax, Ayaan added grimly, "Then again, since you're not human, they won't rob you—but they might make you into emergency food rations and bring you aboard."

"Ah! You're right! I'll be turned into food reserves and taken on board... That's even worse!" Chopper cried, tears welling up in his eyes as he hid behind Ayaan.

Ayaan wanted to tease him a little more, but suddenly noticed a flash of fire from the pirate ship in the distance. A moment later, that fire streaked through the air—headed straight for them.

"Did they just fire a cannon?" Ayaan frowned slightly and raised his fist. Circulating chakra through his body, he clenched his hand as dirt and rock gathered around it. He punched forward, launching the condensed mass like a cannonball toward the approaching flame.

This technique resembled a modified Rock Fist Jutsu, though in reality, it was just a stone-wrapped punch. The power depended entirely on the user's strength—it wasn't fancy, but it was practical.

Most of the ninjutsu Ayaan had developed on his own lacked true power. He simply hadn't learned enough techniques to create anything devastating. His current jutsu were more like improvised tricks than true ninja arts.

That said, his physical body was now quite strong. With chakra-enhanced strength, even a stone punch carried considerable force—like a crude catapult. It smashed through the flame with a sharp whistle.

However, the flame didn't react. Instead, it continued its path toward them—before condensing into a humanoid figure right in front of Ayaan.

"What a powerful punch! That would've been dangerous if I didn't have the Mera Mera no Mi," said the figure made of fire. He wore a hat and had a bare upper body, grinning at Ayaan.

At the same time, someone dangled from his arm—a red-faced, dazed man who looked seriously ill.

Ayaan's expression twisted. Even though over a decade had passed and his memory of One Piece had grown fuzzy, he could still recognize the man standing before him.

Fire Fist Ace.

A man who looked like a protagonist, but had died far too casually.

At this moment, Ace had just entered the Grand Line. But under Ayaan's Observation Haki, he could already sense the immense strength within his body.

Even without Haki, Ace gave off an intense pressure. Ayaan was sure that even without using the Mera Mera no Mi, Ace could still beat him to a pulp.

In the end, Ayaan's talent was simply too ordinary. Even after eating the Baku Baku no Mi and gaining a One Piece–world physique, it was still the physique of an ordinary person. Nowhere near the gifted monsters like Ace.

The only reason he could keep up was thanks to the chakra system. Without it, the gap between them would've been even wider.

Ace noticed the change in Ayaan's expression and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? Do you know me?"

Shaking his head, Ayaan answered, "Fire Fist Ace. Pirate supernova. Earned a bounty of hundreds of millions of berries the moment he debuted. I've seen your bounty poster."

He then looked at the man slumped under Ace's arm. The guy wore a strange eye patch and dressed like Zorro. Ayaan frowned, trying to recall his identity, but came up blank.

After all, he'd never read Ace's spin-off manga, and though he'd skimmed Oda's supplemental material long ago, he had long since forgotten the details.

Seeing the look in Ayaan's eyes, Ace helped his vice-captain stand up.

"This is Deuce, the vice-captain of the Spade Pirates. Don't worry—we're not the kind of pirate crew that does whatever it wants. We came here to find treatment for Deuce."

Ayaan still found it odd.

Which route of the Grand Line did they take? It wasn't covered in the original series...

Still, he found something even stranger.

"You don't have a ship doctor?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Surely Ace wasn't as carefree as Luffy... right? Was it really possible that there wasn't a single doctor on board?

Ace scratched his head with an awkward smile.

"Deuce is our ship's doctor... even though he's just a medical student."

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