Chapter 15: Accelerator
More than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the dim glow of the setting sun, the forest of Mount Colubo was washed in muted gray and gold. Faint light filtered through the dense canopy, turning the earth below into a hazy yellow blur. It was the hour when most creatures began settling down, and for Axel and the others, it was time to head home.
The four of them moved along a steep mountain trail in unusual silence.
Then, from the dense brush nearby, came a faint rustling sound.
Sabo's eyes sharpened immediately.
He raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop, then pointed toward Luffy with a look that said the obvious.
Ace understood at once. He stepped forward and covered Luffy's mouth before the boy could say something disastrous.
"There's someone there," Ace whispered. "Stay quiet."
Luffy blinked, then nodded obediently.
Only then did the four of them lower their bodies and carefully move toward the source of the sound, making as little noise as possible.
Soon, voices drifted through the undergrowth.
"I swear, I have no idea what Captain Bluejam is thinking. Sending us into this jungle just to look for a few brats..."
A pirate's complaining voice carried clearly through the trees.
The man swung his blade carelessly at the bushes in front of him, more to vent his frustration than to search properly. Every slash was loud, messy, and full of annoyance. He seemed just as eager to scare away snakes and bugs as he was to find anyone.
The pirate beside him sighed.
"If you want to complain, at least lower your voice. If the captain hears you, you're dead. And if you're dead, I'm probably finished too."
The first man clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"I only dare say it because there's no one around. If I keep bottling this up, I'm going to lose my mind. This place is a nightmare. You never know when you'll die out here. The guy I was drinking with a few days ago died in this jungle. Died! All because we're chasing those little monsters."
The other man sighed even harder.
"Just shut up and search. The sooner we find them, the sooner this ends."
The two pirates continued on, grumbling as they went.
Axel and the others did not move to intercept them. There was no reason to expose themselves over two random searchers.
Only after the voices had faded did Sabo slowly straighten.
"They've already reached this area..." he muttered, genuine surprise in his voice.
The reason was simple.
If someone knew the route, then Dadan's house was only about half an hour from here. Even without a guide, a careful search party could stumble across it after a day or two of exploring.
Axel's expression turned more serious.
"It's only a matter of time before they find us."
Ace and Sabo nodded grimly.
Luffy, meanwhile, wore a puzzled look.
Axel noticed and explained calmly, "This place is too close to Dadan's hideout. Once Bluejam's men keep pushing into the mountain, they'll eventually run into it. If Dadan's group were better liars, maybe they could stall them. But with that bunch..." He paused. "We should assume a battle could break out at any time."
Luffy finally understood.
"So for the next few days, we stay close to home?"
"Yes," Axel said. "Better that than walking into some stupid accident outside."
No one objected.
From a certain point of view, this disaster had started because of them. If trouble was coming, then Axel, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had no intention of letting Dadan's bandits shoulder it alone.
After a brief discussion, they changed course and headed straight back to Dadan's house. Even on the way back, they remained alert, checking constantly to make sure no one was following them.
When they arrived, they immediately told Dadan that Bluejam's men had already reached the surrounding area.
To their surprise, Dadan showed no shock at all.
Instead, she sat down heavily and said, "Yeah, I know."
Axel blinked. "You already know?"
Dadan snorted.
"You think the Dadan Family has survived this long just by being lucky? We've got our own information network in these mountains too."
Ace, Sabo, and even Axel looked a little surprised.
That explained a lot.
They had always seen the other bandits bustling around the mountains, but had never really paid attention to what they were doing. In their minds, the Dadan Family had gradually become less like actual mountain bandits and more like the chaotic guardians who raised them.
But of course, that was only one side of them.
The real Dadan Family had managed to survive for years in these mountains for a reason.
Dadan stood up, picked up her axe, and began wiping the blade clean.
Then she shouted, "Dogra! Magra! Are your weapons ready?"
The two bandits jumped up at once.
"Boss, we're ready! We can fight anytime!"
Dadan's expression hardened.
"Good. Then get ready. If those damn pirates come, we fight."
There was no hesitation in her voice.
In daily life, Dadan cursed them, hit them, shouted at them, and threatened them so often that it had become routine.
But somewhere along the way, she had already accepted them as her children.
She might fear Bluejam.
She might curse the trouble these brats brought her.
But handing them over?
Never.
The four boys stared at her.
Even Axel felt something tighten in his chest.
Luffy reacted first, tears already gathering in his eyes.
"Dadan... I thought you were just a scary old lady."
Dadan's eye twitched.
Ace crossed his arms and added, "Old woman Dadan, you're actually kind of reliable."
Another vein popped on her forehead.
Then Sabo smiled brightly and delivered the final strike.
"No wonder Ace said you were a real man among men."
Dadan's face went completely dark.
Axel silently decided not to add anything.
The next day, just after dawn, Bluejam's men found Dadan's area.
The Dadan Family immediately put their recent training into practice.
Or rather, they attempted to.
They lied.
Badly.
Terribly.
So terribly that it bordered on performance art.
Their overacting was so blatant that even the pirates could tell something was off. Still, because the Dadan Family had a reputation in the mountains and because Bluejam's men were wary of charging a known bandit base without backup, they chose not to attack immediately.
Instead, they sent word back to Bluejam.
By the following day, the real clash came.
Dadan did not run.
She stood in front of her house with a massive axe nearly as tall as she was and chose to fight.
Behind her, the Dadan Family bandits lined up with sharpened weapons in hand.
Ahead of them stood over a hundred pirates.
The difference in numbers was nearly absurd.
And at the center of that pirate force stood Bluejam, his leg already healed enough for battle after several days of recovery. With their captain present, the pirates carried a completely different air than before.
It was an unequal battle.
But Dadan did not flinch.
Bluejam looked at the bandits in front of him and chose to offer a final chance.
"Mountain bandits," he called out, his voice carrying easily. "We've always stayed out of each other's business. Hand over those brats, and I'll pretend none of this happened."
Dadan answered without hesitation.
"Sorry, but even if I can't stand those little devils, I'm still their stand in mother." She tightened her grip on the axe. "And I'm not handing them over."
Bluejam's face darkened instantly.
"Then die."
He raised a hand.
The pirates surged forward like wolves unleashed.
And at that very moment, movement exploded from the forest behind them.
Axel, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy launched their attack from the rear.
The pirates were caught completely off guard. Several went down before they even realized they were being attacked from behind. The formation instantly bent inward in confusion, and Dadan's bandits seized the opening to slam into them from the front.
But Bluejam did not even glance at the casualties among his men.
His eyes locked immediately onto Axel and the others.
And to his own surprise, what he felt first was not anger.
It was relief.
If these brats had stayed hidden in the mountain, they would have remained a thorn in his side indefinitely. Mount Colubo was far too large, and sending weak men after monsters like these would only waste time and bodies.
But now?
Now they had stepped right in front of him.
At last, his pent up rage had somewhere to go.
Without another word, Bluejam abandoned the broader battlefield and charged straight at them.
Luffy, Ace, and Sabo attacked at once, their iron pipes swinging toward him from different angles.
Bluejam met them head on.
His sword flashed once.
Clang!
All three attacks were blocked in a single exchange, and the force of the counter threw the boys backward.
But the moment they were forced away, Axel was already moving.
He slipped low, just like last time, trying to break in beneath Bluejam's guard and land a decisive touch.
Bluejam had learned.
This time he did not even try to stop Axel head on. Instead, he retreated instantly, abandoning the exchange and widening the distance.
It was not dignified.
A notorious pirate leader stepping back from a child would have looked shameful to most people.
But Bluejam was a pirate.
To him, victory mattered. Pride did not.
He slammed his right foot into the ground and pulled away sharply, creating just enough space that Axel could not immediately reach him. Then, once he was certain the distance was safe, he shifted his stance and swung his sword down with full force.
Axel did not dodge.
He had expected Bluejam to be even more cautious this time. And with the entire battlefield descending into chaos behind them, he knew he might not get a better opening than this.
At the exact moment Bluejam swung, Axel concentrated the force beneath his right foot and launched himself forward in a violent burst.
He crossed the distance before the sword could fully land.
Bluejam's eyes narrowed.
This brat again!
He forcefully changed the trajectory of his swing mid motion, wrenching the blade sideways and bringing it across his own front to block.
Axel's brain was already calculating.
He twisted.
The sword's new path grazed past him by the slimmest margin.
At the same time, he reached out for Bluejam.
And just as Axel thought he had made it, Bluejam's left hand flashed out.
A dagger.
The pirate had hidden it inside his clothes from the start.
At point blank range, the blade shot toward Axel's body like a snake's fang.
Even with his calculations, Axel's body could not fully evade at that distance.
In the critical instant, he forcibly changed the direction of his own movement, twisting at an unnatural angle.
Slash!
The dagger carved across his shoulder instead of burying itself deep.
Blood burst into the air.
"Axel!"
Luffy and the others shouted in alarm.
Axel clenched his teeth against the pain, took advantage of the fact that Bluejam's first force had already been spent, and immediately kicked away to widen the gap.
He landed several steps back, one hand pressed against his bleeding shoulder.
"I'm fine," he said through a wince. "It missed anything vital."
The others still looked furious, but at least they could see he was still standing.
Bluejam licked the blood from the dagger with a cruel grin.
"How reckless," he said. "You actually chose to meet me head on."
His eyes gleamed with malice.
"That power of yours... once you're older, you'll be a real problem." His expression turned darker. "That's exactly why I need to kill you now."
"Keep talking, old man," Ace snapped. "You sure love hearing yourself."
He attacked before Bluejam could respond.
Ace's pipe came down in a brutal strike, full of raw strength and anger.
Bluejam blocked it with one hand.
Clang!
Their weapons collided, and for the first time, Bluejam's expression shifted slightly.
Ace roared and jumped, gripping the pipe with both hands as he swung down with all his might.
Bluejam met it again.
This time, the force of the blow actually made his stance dip for a fraction of a second.
Only a fraction.
But it was enough to prove something.
Bluejam's eyes sharpened.
So this brat has grown too.
Then he swung back with all his strength, sending Ace skidding away.
"Not bad," Bluejam said coldly. "You've got power. Maybe one day you'll be stronger than me." His smile turned cruel. "But not now. Right now, I'm stronger. And on a battlefield, only the strong and the cowards survive. Fools who play the hero only die first."
"Heh..."
A low laugh echoed through the chaos.
Bluejam frowned and looked toward Axel.
The pale haired boy was still clutching his wounded shoulder, yet somehow he was laughing.
"What's so funny, brat?"
Axel slowly straightened.
The blood on his shoulder had already begun to stop flowing.
His pale face still looked delicate.
His eyes did not.
They were red, cold, and fixed on Bluejam with a pressure that felt increasingly wrong.
"I'm not weak," Axel said.
His voice was quiet.
Steady.
"And I have no intention of dying as some hero either."
Bluejam snorted, though a faint trace of unease had already begun to creep into him.
"The weak don't get to change reality just because they say a few brave words."
Axel lifted his head fully.
The air around him seemed to sharpen.
The battlefield noise felt distant for a moment.
Then he looked straight at Bluejam and spoke.
"They do."
His lips curved into a dangerous smile.
"Because I'm Accelerator."
.....
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