There was already a huge gang of Naval ships in the port and out at sea. They’d come here to prevent us from leaving. The Navy was prepared to stop Ace from reaching the New World at any cost, apparently.
We slipped through the backstreets, evading the Navy’s eyes, and ran this way and that all over the islands. I never expected that Ace’s habit of wandering around eating would come in so handy—he was much more familiar with the routes, and was able to steer us around the more public areas.
We had to get back to the ship, and quick.
If they were setting off from shore now, we probably weren’t going to get back in time. But if the ship waited too long to set sail, the Naval fleet would surround us as soon as we got out to sea. In order for the crew to escape, the ship needed to be ready for its voyage and pushing off at this moment.
But neither Ace nor I were worried at all. We both had full faith that the Spade Pirates would have the ship on the move already. That’s why we didn’t head for the place where it had gotten its coating. The ship would no longer be there. If it was, there was no saving us either way.
That left us to determine what the ship’s destination would be. Where could we actually get on deck?
“There’s a little cape just ahead. That’s gotta be it!”
“Yep!”
We were certain of it. For one thing, it was the very spot on Skull’s map where he’d put the skull mark.
We pushed our way through the bushes and out into the open. The cape was just ahead. And the ship…
The only thing before us was empty blue sea. But only for a moment.
“Captain Ace!”
“You’re late, Ace!”
Then the ship was there, cheers sounding from the deck. Our crewmates had already started it sailing ahead of time.
“Hurry, Boss, get on!” Skull said, waving and signaling. There was no time to stop—he was telling us to run and jump. I got a good head of steam and leapt over the edge to the ship.
“C’mon, Ace!”
The ship continued without slowing down. If it broke pace even a little bit, the Navy would catch up.
“All right. Let’s go, Isuka,” Ace said, and leapt.
But only Ace.
His eyes bulged. “Why…?!” Isuka was still standing at the top of the cape.
“I’m still a Naval ensign… I cannot go with you,” she said, smiling weakly, standing alone at the edge of the land.
“How come?!” Ace demanded. He leaned against the railing of the ship he’d just jumped to, but the distance between the ship and the land was widening now.
“Don’t die out there, Ace. Thank you.”
He and Isuka were getting farther and farther apart. The ship wasn’t stopping. It couldn’t.
“Should I have grabbed her hand?” he muttered to himself, hanging his head. “But I couldn’t…I can’t hold her hand. Not when I’m a pirate, and anyway it turns into fire…”
He tugged his hat low over his eyes.
“Ace…pal…”
I couldn’t find any other words to say.
There were times, now and then, that Ace seemed to believe he couldn’t be loved. And when that mood struck him, a dark shadow passed over his face.
But I was sure that Isuka didn’t feel that way about him.
And it wasn’t just Isuka.
Ace simply couldn’t figure it out.
✦ ✦ ✦
He was like the sun.
Everyone looked up to Ace. Even our enemies had a grudging respect for him. Ace was at the center of everyone and everything. But because the sun was too bright, it was always alone. No one could get too close to him. If you stood too close, you were likely to burn up.
Ace was the one who made this place for us. But could you claim the reverse? Were we part of a place that Ace could call home? In the New World ahead, would we find a place for Ace to be himself and be at peace?
The answer wasn’t clear yet. All we could do was keep moving forward.
The Naval fleet was already pushing into view.
Cannonballs roared down upon us as they struck the sea. Plumes of water burst upward, collapsed, then reappeared. Spray splashed down on the deck like rain.
There was more roaring—but this wasn’t from a cannonball.
Ace’s flaming fist carved the way for us.
“Let’s go, gang!” he called out, loud enough for everyone on deck to hear him. The farewells didn’t matter now. Ace was the ship’s captain, and he needed to keep fighting.
Pulling away from our Navy pursuers, the ship rushed headlong for the bottom of the sea, where Fish-Man Island awaited us. Once the sunlight from the surface no longer penetrated the water, we were left in a state of darkness.
In the depths of the ocean where the sun couldn’t reach, Ace burned with ambition.
His destination was the New World. His target: Whitebeard.
The man who was closer than anyone to the One Piece.
Slowly the ship sank, deeper and deeper into the darkness.