C14

The pirates steadily carried the treasure out of the cave and made their way to the Chris. Aside from two unlucky fools who wandered into the tunnel Weiss had entered through—only to be killed by the traps—no one else dared to resist.

Not that they would dare resist.

Weiss's earlier sword strike had shaken the entire cavern, giving signs that it might collapse. If the pirates hadn't moved fast enough, they'd all be buried inside.

Ace stood atop a boulder, surrounded by groaning pirates sprawled on the ground, with the corpses of several wild beasts lying nearby.

He had run into a group of pirates who'd come ashore looking for food, and after a brief skirmish, every last one of them had been taken down.

"That's the third group of pirates so far. One group even had their captain with them... Let's just hope Deuce doesn't run into any trouble."

After extracting the details from the pirates, Ace grew worried about Deuce's safety. As for Weiss? Ace never even considered the possibility of him being in danger.

After witnessing Weiss's terrifying strength firsthand, the only ones who should be worried were the pirates.

Determining the right direction, Ace sprinted toward the orchard where Deuce had gone. Thankfully, he wasn't too far—just needed to cross a hill.

---

Meanwhile, Deuce was in the middle of a tactical showdown with a bunch of monkeys.

After his initial negotiations with the monkeys had failed, Deuce resorted to a more roundabout strategy. But the monkeys' defenses were far too tight—lookouts posted at every angle, watching for any attempt to steal their precious peaches.

Whenever they detected someone—or something—trying to sneak a peach, they'd raise a loud alarm, summoning reinforcements in seconds. Deuce's clever tactics had all been foiled so far.

At the moment, Deuce was tying together a crude humanoid figure made of branches and leaves, intending to use it as a decoy. While the monkeys were distracted, he planned to sneak in from another side and steal some peaches.

Not that he really needed the peaches. But at this point, it was a battle of pride between him and the monkeys. As long as he made it back to the ship by nightfall, he was fine.

Just as he was deeply focused on tying the dummy together, a sinister voice called out from behind him:

"Hey, kid. What are you up to?"

Startled, Deuce glanced over his shoulder and saw a sword swinging toward him. Reacting quickly, he shoved the dummy forward to block the attack and flipped backward into the peach grove.

Looking up, he saw over a dozen pirates slowly approaching, each carrying a water bucket.

Seeing Deuce run into the orchard, the pirates placed their buckets down and began to surround him.

"Hey, kid. Where's your ship? How many are with you? Which pirate crew are you with?" one of them asked. He was likely the leader—the same one who'd just tried to cut Deuce down.

Deuce didn't answer. There were too many of them, and they were armed. He couldn't fight them head-on.

His eyes darted around until he spotted a monkey watching them from a tree. That gave him an idea.

"Our ship's offshore. The crew's in the orchard. We're with the Sea King Pirates—rulers of the seas!" he gave a random name, and put on a pitiful look.

"Oh? Then you—"

"Captain! Help me!!" Deuce suddenly shouted, and at the same time, he flicked a small stone at the monkey lookout.

The monkey screeched in outrage, shaking the tree branches and summoning its troop.

The pirates were confused by the noise, but seeing Deuce dash deeper into the orchard, they followed him, paying no attention to the monkey above.

That was a mistake they'd soon regret.

---

Deuce ran wildly through the peach grove, but the trees were small and thin, so the pirates kept pace.

After a few minutes of this cat-and-mouse game, Deuce suddenly stopped. The trees ahead were shaking violently, and ripe peaches started raining down.

Realizing what was coming, Deuce turned and sprinted back. Never underestimate these monkeys—over a hundred of them, and if each one threw a peach, dodging would be impossible. Worse yet, some of those "peaches" might be rocks.

Too late. Peaches began pelting him one after another, forcing him to cover his head and run.

"Hah! You came back, kid?" one pirate mocked, munching on a peach he had just plucked. The others laughed, treating it like a game of cat and mouse.

They were hungry too, after all.

Watching this, Deuce was elated.

Those monkeys treat their peaches like sacred treasure—no way they'll let you just pick one. These guys are toast.

Sure enough, the barrage that had been targeting Deuce now focused on the pirates.

Caught off guard, the pirates raised their weapons to block the incoming fruit. Some tried to use their comrades as human shields. But with over a hundred monkeys attacking from all directions, they were quickly overwhelmed.

"Damn monkeys! That brat's behind this!"

"Squad Captain, they're too fierce! We've got to retreat!"

"Yeah, we'll wait outside. That kid will be chased out eventually."

"Who the hell threw that rock?! Hurts like hell!"

Of course, Deuce had thrown the rock. Not just at the pirates—he'd also tossed a few at the monkeys. They just hadn't seen him do it.

But now the monkeys had. Enraged by being hit, a few leapt down from the trees, grabbed stones, and started chucking them at the pirates too.

Now the pirates were under attack both from above and on the ground. They were in total disarray.

Some of them dropped their weapons entirely and hid behind trees, throwing whatever they could find back at the monkeys.

Thud!

Thump!

Crack!

"Ow!"

---

Then, a small monkey noticed something large sticking out of the ground—an enormous red fruit the size of a watermelon, covered in flame-like markings.

Curious, it dug it out with its hands and, figuring it would hurt if thrown, hurled it toward the pirates.

One of the pirates saw the huge fruit flying through the air and dove behind a tree.

Boom! The fruit slammed into the tree. The pirate, thinking nothing of it, picked it up and chucked it back like it was just a giant peach.

It did feel nice and hefty in his hand, after all.

But the squad captain saw what he was about to do and screamed:

"Don't throw that!!! That's a Devil Fruit!"

Too late. The pirate had already tossed it.

"Shit! Grab that red fruit! That's a Devil Fruit!" the captain shrieked, his voice cracking with panic.

He had seen one before—in Loguetown, before becoming a pirate—someone had been selling one. That man ended up dead, and the fruit had been eaten.

That one had looked like a banana, but this... even if different, there was no mistaking it. This was a Devil Fruit.

The captain panicked. On the black market, even the weakest Devil Fruit was worth at least 100 million Berries. You'd have to rob dozens of ships to earn that much. Eating it could instantly turn someone into a powerful fighter—maybe even strong enough to rule the East Blue or venture into the Grand Line.

But the small monkey who'd first thrown it saw the pirates all rushing at it with crazed expressions. Terrified, it flung the Devil Fruit into the air and scrambled up a tree, disappearing into the branches.

Just as the squad captain lunged forward, ready to catch it—

WHAM!

A powerful force struck him in the gut, sending him flying.

Someone else had caught the Devil Fruit.

"So this is a Devil Fruit, huh? Luffy turned into a rubber man after eating one."

---

Currently at chapter 90 on Ko-Fi

https:// ko-fi.com/sami27