Ace's Reminder
"Oh!" Luffy curiously poked the head of the Den Den Mushi, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "By the way, Ace! Do you know Uchiha Natsu? He's the Fifth Emperor with the 3.5 billion Beli mentioned in the newspapers! He's so amazing!"
Ace smiled upon hearing this, a warm glint in his eyes. "Yes, we know each other. We're friends. He helped me out in the West Blue last time. He's a very nice person. If I can't make it, you can call him here."
"Really? That's great!" Luffy jumped up excitedly. "After I defeat Crocodile, I'm going to the West Blue to play with him!"
Ace shook his head helplessly. He looked up at the sky in the direction of the Rainbase, where yellow sand filled the air, obscuring the view in the distance.
"I'm leaving." He patted Luffy on the shoulder. "I'm going to chase after a traitor; he's in Rainbase. I'll come back for you after I've dealt with him."
"Yes!" Luffy nodded vigorously, gripping the Den Den Mushi tightly in his hand. "Ace! You be careful too!"
Don't worry.
Ace smiled, and a small flame ignited at his fingertips. In a flash, he transformed into a fiery meteor, flying towards the Rainbase, leaving behind a sky full of sparks that slowly dissipated in the scorching air.
The setting sun over the West Blue, like a blood-soaked rag, pressed heavily on the horizon.
The sea breeze carried a strong stench of blood and the sour smell of cheap rum, masking the original salty and fishy odor.
The deck of the "Black Tooth" was a mess, with broken wooden crates scattered everywhere, and fragments of silk and porcelain mixed with dark red bloodstains, making it sticky to walk on.
The bodies of more than a dozen caravan guards lay scattered about, some with their limbs severed, others with scimitars protruding from their chests. Blood flowed into the sea through the gaps in the deck, attracting a group of sharks that circled around the stern of the ship.
The pirates, shirtless, were drinking from barrels of sake, bursting into savage laughter.
They threw the stolen gold coins into the air, the clinking sound mingling with the woman's cries, creating an indescribably jarring effect.
Several drunken pirates were dancing around a pile of jewels, their feet trampling on a merchant who was still convulsing. The man's throat had been slit, and blood and foam kept gushing from the corner of his mouth.
"Drink as much as you want!" The captain of the Black Tooth Pirates sat on the helm, holding a barrel of liquor the size of a human head. The scar on his face, running from the corner of his eye to his chin, looked particularly ferocious in the setting sun.
"Well done! Whoever gets the merchants' gold coins and the women on the ship keeps them!"
"Long live the captain!"
The pirates cheered in unison, their voices filled with greed and savagery.
At the cabin door, several women huddled together, trembling.
Their clothes were torn to shreds, and their faces were covered in tears and fear.
A mother holding her baby tightly covered the child's mouth, afraid to let him make a sound, but the faint sobs were still heard by a burly pirate.
"Hey, there's a little one here!" The pirate grinned, revealing a mouthful of blackened, rotten teeth, and reached out to snatch the baby.
"No! Please don't!" the mother screamed, clutching her child tightly to her chest and desperately trying to shrink back.
The pirate cursed impatiently and slapped her across the face. The crisp sound of the slap rang out, and blood immediately trickled from the woman's mouth, but she still held onto the child tightly and refused to let go.
"Damn it, you're asking for it!" The pirate glared, drew his curved sword, and slashed down.
The scimitar slashed down with a whistling sound, and the mother closed her eyes in despair, pressing her child tightly into her arms.
The expected excruciating pain did not come.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
The gleaming scimitar stopped just an inch from the baby's forehead, unable to strike again.
The pirate's face still wore a ferocious grin, but his eyes suddenly became empty. With a sharp twist of his wrist, the sharp blade sliced across his own throat without hesitation.
"Pfft--"
Blood spurted out, splashing onto the woman's pale face. The pirate fell straight down, his eyes still wide open, dying without ever understanding why he had done such a thing.
The noisy deck fell into dead silence instantly.
All the pirates stopped what they were doing and looked blankly in the direction from which the sound came.
From the shadows, a young figure slowly emerged.
He wore a black turtleneck trench coat, the hem of which fluttered gently in the sea breeze. The light of the setting sun fell on his face, but it couldn't reach his unfathomable eyes.
The next second, the eerie Three-Tomoe Sharingan suddenly lit up, the dark red light almost tangible, sweeping over everyone present.
There were no screams, no resistance.
The pirates who had just been burning, killing, and looting suddenly became dazed, like puppets whose souls had been taken away.
They mechanically put down the barrels of wine and the scimitars they were holding, and turned to walk toward the ship's wheel and sails.
Some people tripped over the corpses, but got up expressionlessly and continued walking forward;
Some people were still clutching the stolen gold coins in their hands, letting them slip through their fingers and clatter as they rolled on the ground.
The rudder was slowly turned, the massive hull creaked and turned, and the ship set sail towards the Grand Line.
Natsu stood in the middle of the deck, watching all of this with a blank expression.
His gaze swept over the trembling women and businessmen huddled in the corner, without lingering or uttering a word.
He turned around, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and jumped onto the side of the "Black Tooth".
The sea breeze ruffled his black hair, and the light of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly faded.
Only when the pirate ship disappeared on the horizon did the surviving merchants finally come to their senses, collapsing to the ground, panting heavily, their faces filled with the fear and bewilderment of surviving a disaster.
Seven days later, at the edge of the Calm Belt, 300 nautical miles from the Sabaody Archipelago.
The azure sea was like a polished sapphire, without a breath of wind.
The merchant ship "White Gull" drifted slowly on the sea, the sailors leaning against the ship's side, yawning and gazing idly at the distant horizon.
"Captain! Look over there!"
The lookout's shout suddenly broke the silence. Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw a pirate ship with a black skull and crossbones flag floating alone on the sea, its sails tattered and hanging down, like a corpse floating on the sea.
"It's the Black Tooth Pirates ' ship!" An experienced sailor recognized the iconic black fang and skull flag at a glance, his expression instantly changing. "Those are notorious ruthless characters from the West Blue; they just robbed three caravans last month!"