-East Blue-
"The technique behind Shave involves rapidly kicking the ground dozens of times within 0.36 seconds to generate an explosive reaction force, allowing for high-speed movement!"
"Right, exactly like that. You need to practice this more in the future and ensure you can advance or retreat with precision."
"As for Moonwalk, it is an applied technique of Shave. It uses powerful leg strength to kick off the air, creating a brief moment of suspension!"
"Hmm, not bad. Although you are still quite inexperienced, you have at least grasped a bit of the trick."
Noisy chatter drifted over. Ace slowly regained his consciousness, only to find his entire body completely devoid of strength. He felt terribly uncomfortable as though he were submerged in the ocean.
His eyelids felt incredibly heavy. It took almost all his strength just to pry them open a crack.
A figure moved across the deck within his blurred vision. The person moved so fast that afterimages formed in the empty air.
A black-haired young man sat cross-legged at the bow, leisurely offering guidance and critique to a girl with short orange hair.
He looked just like a teacher instructing a student.
Swish!
Halting her shifting movements abruptly, Nami turned her head and shouted, "Lius, this guy is awake. Should we throw him into the sea to feed the fishes, or..."
She did not finish her sentence. Instead, she raised her hand and made a slicing motion across her neck.
A bloodthirsty sneer actually surfaced on her beautiful face.
Despite the bright, sunny weather, the captive instantly felt as though he had plunged into an ice cave. His mind jolted, snapping him into a much clearer state of wakefulness.
"Aha, he woke up after being unconscious for only half a day. It seems this guy has a pretty good constitution!"
Lius crouched at the bow and looked down at the prisoner with a faint smile.
He praised the man inwardly, acknowledging that the bloodline of the Pirate King truly lived up to its reputation. Ace was only slightly inferior to the original protagonist.
"Dammit!"
Fully awake now, the prisoner tried to struggle to his feet, only to discover his complete lack of strength. He lowered his head to look and immediately suffered a drastic change in expression.
Thick ropes bound his body tightly. Forget about breaking free; it was difficult for him to even twitch.
Furthermore, he had been stuffed into a wooden barrel. Everything below his neck soaked in water, draining every last ounce of energy from his limbs.
"This is seawater?" Ace widened his eyes in utter disbelief.
"We don't have any seastone, so we can only use seawater for now." Lius nodded, admitting to it quite directly.
"Who are you, and why did you capture me?" he demanded angrily, glaring with fury.
Although not much time had passed since he set sail from Foosha Village, his journey could only be described as smooth sailing.
He had never experienced the setbacks reserved for the weak, nor had he ever encountered an evenly matched opponent.
Shortly after heading out to sea, he had even acquired a Logia type devil fruit, skyrocketing his strength in a flash.
No matter who the enemy was, he had always swept through them effortlessly. He simply had no rival capable of withstanding a single exchange!
Now, a moment of carelessness had reduced him to a prisoner, leaving him feeling incredibly suffocated and aggrieved.
He glared at Lius with boundless rage. "What kind of man relies on sneak attacks!"
"Hahaha!"
Lius could not help but burst into laughter upon hearing those words.
Even Nami standing nearby found it hard to hold back her amusement. She walked over to the ship's helm, adopting the look of an eager spectator.
"Listen here, Ace. We are pirates. Aren't sneak attacks a perfectly normal? Besides, you were the one who delivered yourself to our ship!"
Reining in his smile, Lius lowered his head to meet the captive's gaze. "You must understand, being threatened by a Logia type user like you truly terrified us."
Despite claiming to be terrified, his tone and expression remained incredibly casual.
This blatant nonchalance caused the young man soaking in the wooden barrel to flush bright red with utter frustration.
"What do you want?"
He could already tell that this guy was full of nonsense but harbored no real murderous intent toward him. It felt more like some form of punishment.
"Nothing much. We were intimidated by you, so we naturally require some compensation!"
"Don't you agree?"
Compensation? And demanding it from a pirate?
Ace almost thought he had misheard. Seeing the earnest look on the other party's face, he nodded instinctively.
"Release me first. We can talk about compensation after that!"
"Of course!"
To everyone's surprise, Lius agreed easily.
Even the girl at the helm could not help but feel astonished.
Pulled straight out of the wooden barrel, Ace felt as though he were dreaming, standing there in daze.
Less than three seconds later, his physical strength surged back. Roaring flames furiously erupted from his body, incinerating the ropes in an instant.
"I don't know how you managed to hit my true body, but I will never lose to you in a head-on fight!"
He spun around, his skin radiating high-temperature flames as a thick fighting spirit blazed within his eyes.
"If you start a fight out on the sea, you had better think clearly about the consequences of destroying this ship!"
In response, Lius returned to the bow and sat down, looking as though he were leaving the choice entirely up to him.
Hearing those words, the eyes of the girl at the helm lit up brightly.
Meanwhile, the eager and restless Ace finally extinguished his flames.
"Fine, let's discuss the issue of compensation first!" He sat down in a huff, raising his head to glare at his captor.
"It is quite simple. As you can see, there are only two people on this ship. We will need an extra hand to help out on such a long voyage."
"Are you trying to form a pirate crew?"
"Yeah, I do have that thought in mind!"
"What a coincidence. Me too. But I haven't found any companions here in the East Blue yet."
Speaking up to this point, Ace shot upright. He smashed his fists together brimming with excitement. "Why don't you join me instead? Don't let the fact that you knocked me out with a sneak attack fool you; I am the strongest pirate in the East Blue!"
"The strongest?"
Lius lifted his eyelids, shooting him a faint dismissive glance.
Right then.
A massive flock of seagulls suddenly filled the sky. As they passed over the ship, one of the birds dropped a batch of newly issued bounty posters.
Flutter!
The bounty posters rained down from above, drifting onto the deck like falling snowflakes.
"Hmm? New bounty posters?"
Witnessing this scene, Ace raised a brow, a trace of curiosity surfacing on his face.
He had experienced this exact phenomenon when his very first bounty was issued.
He just did not know which rookie had earned a poster this time around.
Harboring such thoughts, he casually picked up a wanted poster from the deck. After taking a single look, he snapped his head up to stare at Lius in shock.
"It's you?"