Just when we were looking for the right path back to the ship, I saw a figure emerge from a back alleyway, and I couldn’t help but groan, “Ugh, not now…”
There was Isuka, coat flapping brilliant and white in the breeze, looking completely out of place in the slum. She was in her Naval uniform this time—meaning she was here on duty. Her appearance caught me off guard, because I had expected that if anything, she’d strike at the moment we were leaving.
“Ah, so there’s two of you this time,” Ace noted with interest. Standing behind Isuka was not her usual group of subordinates, but a man in an officer’s uniform. Like her, he wore a coat with the word Justice on the back.
“Wait,” Isuka said, when we tensed up. “I’m just here to talk this time.”
She and the man walked around the corner into the lane to face us. They did not draw weapons or make an aggressive move.
“Rejoice, Fire Fist! I have good news!” she said, eyes alight. She motioned to the man with her. “This is Vice Admiral Dorrow. He’s the man who saved me as a child.”
“Let’s keep this brief, Ensign Isuka,” said Dorrow, stepping forward. He was about a head taller than Ace, and very well built. It was a pretty intimidating sight when you were standing next to him. We were in the presence of a very large man.
“This is for you, Fire Fist Ace,” Dorrow said, pulling a letter from his coat and opening it to show Ace.
“S-Seven Warlords…?!” I yelped when I caught sight of the letter. I could scarcely believe my eyes.
The letter was from the World Government. The Five Elders, the council that was the highest level of power in the government, wanted to recruit Ace to join the Seven Warlords.
The Warlords formed one of the great power centers on the Grand Line; everyone knew who they were. They were essentially privateers—pirates whose activity was sanctioned by the government, as long as it served as a balancing force against other pirates rising in the ranks. To be a Warlord of the Sea, you had to be powerful and infamous. And now Ace was being recommended for the title.
“There, isn’t that good news? Now you don’t have to quit being a pirate!” Isuka said happily. Ace had turned down her offer in the Ferris wheel because he wasn’t about to stop being a pirate. But being one of the Seven Warlords meant aligning yourself with the World Government, and cooperating with the Navy.
That was the price to be paid for the benefits: the government gave you a pardon, removed your bounty, and allowed you to continue your pirating activities as long as you paid a proper share to the authorities as well.
But Ace wasn’t interested.
“Warlords? No thanks,” he said promptly.
“W-why not…? All you have to do is accept, and the Navy will stop chasing you,” Isuka said, stunned. She was right; it was a good offer. There were plenty of people who would do anything for the title of Warlord of the Sea. It wasn’t like just anyone could get it. And Ace turned it down without even thinking it over.
“Sorry, I just don’t like the whole Seven Warlords system,” he said.
“What?!”
Isuka was shocked. She clearly had never considered the possibility that he might reject the offer. But Dorrow hardly batted an eye. If anything, he now wore a quiet little smile.
“What a coincidence, Ace. Turns out I’ve been thinking the exact same thing,” Dorrow said, chuckling. He held up the letter and tore the paper in two.
“Vice Admiral! Why did you—?!”
“What’s the point of a trained, servile pirate? Better to get rid of them altogether. Isn’t that right, Ace?”
Suddenly, Dorrow’s fist was raised.
“Hmph!” It roared through the air, gouging at the place Ace had just been standing.
“Heh. Pretty violent, aren’t we?” smirked Ace, who had dodged out of the way of the attack in the nick of time.
“Dammit! I thought this was just going to be a discussion!” I wailed, retreating to a safe distance.
“Wait, Vice Admiral!” pleaded Isuka. “We were only supposed to be talking about the offer today!”
“Talking? Haven’t we finished talking, Ensign Isuka? Ace doesn’t like the Warlords. Coincidentally, I don’t like them either. And whether Warlord or not, I just plain don’t like pirates. I’m very glad that he turned down the offer in my presence. Because now it gives me a perfect opportunity to destroy Fire Fist Ace the pirate, right here and now!”
Dorrow shrugged off his officer’s coat. The action revealed a very odd object underneath. Dorrow had cylindrical weapons harnessed to both of his arms. They looked a bit like bazookas or tonfas, but tubes attached to the back of each cylinder ran to containers that hung behind each flank. So this contraption was the reason he looked so solidly built.
“Let’s run a test and find out which is stronger—this, or the Flame-Flame Fruit,” said Dorrow, smirking. His eyes gleamed with murderous glee.
“C’mon, Ace, let’s get outta—” I started to yell.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Fierce jets of flame shot from the ends of the cylinders. They were flamethrowers. So those tubes connected to fuel tanks in the back. The ferocious stream of fire completely cut off our escape route.
Within seconds, everything around us was on fire. The buildings caught fire, and I heard the nearby children screaming. They were trapped by the flames, and unable to escape.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?!” Ace demanded, rushing toward the children. Dorrow took the opportunity to sharpen his aim.
“There you are.”
The flame licked over the ground directly toward Ace. He spread his hands and turned his body into fire to stop the stream. Without enough oxygen to feed both fires, his bodily flames canceled out the flamethrower’s jets.
“Please, Vice Admiral! Stop this!” Isuka pleaded, her face pale. “The children!”
“Children? What are you talking about, Ensign? I’m just attacking pirates, making sure they cannot escape. If you let pirates run free, that is what causes misery to so many children out there. Am I wrong, Ensign?”
Dorrow wasn’t even looking at her. All of his attention was focused on Ace, at whom he continued to blast fire.
Ace, meanwhile, was stuck in place. The force of the flamethrowers was so great that he couldn’t push forward at all. And if he stepped backward, the flames would hit the helpless children. There was nothing he could do.
“Raaaaaah!”
I rushed at Dorrow and tackled him from the side.
“What the…?!”
Clearly, he wasn’t expecting me to jump on him. Shock flitted across his face.
At this close proximity, the searing heat made my skin boil. I could feel my clothes and hair starting to char. But still, I clung to Dorrow and refused to let go. Isuka promptly rushed to the children’s side.
“Come on! This way, hurry!” she said, working busily to free the children while Ace was immobilized. She reached through the gap in the collapsed building to get to them. I could see the childhood scar on her hand. She must have reached through flames like this when she lost her parents, too.
I couldn’t imagine the sadness and fear she felt back then. How much inner strength would it require to do the same thing now to save these innocent children?
In the midst of the boiling flames, the word “Justice” flickered on the back of her coat. Once I’d made sure that Isuka had the children out and safe, I grinned to myself. Now Ace could move again…
“What…do you think…you’re doing?!”
Dorrow was furious. He rammed a knee into my stomach.
“Urgh!”
Once, twice, three times…but I still held tight to him.
“Let go of me!”
He gave one more particularly hard blow, and I collapsed, spitting up stomach acid. It felt like my insides had been mashed into a blob. I could hardly breathe. The heat coming off of the flamethrowers only made the pain worse.
But I’d done my job. Through the agony and gagging, I smiled.