Ace's Shattered Confidence

Carmen returned to the dormitory and racked her brains until she came up with a brilliant idea.

Hadn't Ain said she would only act if Tereina made a move to seduce Noki? Then tomorrow, Carmen would create an opportunity for Tereina to get intimate with the commodore.

Once it was done, she could report it to Ain. That way, Ain would intervene, and Tereina would no longer be able to learn cooking from the commodore.

Heh heh heh... Tereina, you were still too green to fight me.

The following evening.

As expected, Tereina came to the kitchen again to freeload on cooking lessons. No matter how Carmen tried to drive her away, she would not leave.

While Noki demonstrated his cooking for them alone, Carmen leaned close to Tereina's ear and whispered, "It's late at night, and Colonel Ain is rarely not by the commodore's side. Don't you want to take this chance to do something?"

Tereina's mind immediately filled with wild thoughts, but no matter how many ideas she had, they were all meaningless fantasies. She had no plan she could actually put into practice.

Seeing the blank look in her eyes, Carmen laughed and scolded, "Idiot, you can't even figure this out, yet you want to steal a man from his girlfriend? Big sister will reluctantly teach you a couple of tricks."

"Teach me? You'd be that kind-hearted?" Tereina blinked at her, suspicion filling her eyes.

"Of course, there are conditions." Carmen lifted her chin proudly.

"What conditions?"

"If you get together with the commodore, he'll definitely teach you some secret cooking techniques. When the time comes, you can't hold anything back from me. You have to share every last one with me."

Tereina knew that Carmen's love for cooking had reached an almost fanatical level. She had even joined the Marines just to improve her culinary skills, so something like this was not impossible. Thus, she believed her. "I agree."

"Good." A sly smile appeared on Carmen's gorgeous face. "The commodore and Colonel Ain are deeply in love now. It's nearly impossible for you to wedge yourself between them through ordinary means, so you need to take another path—be more proactive, bolder. Men are creatures ruled by their lower halves. As long as you can awaken that kind of desire in the commodore and turn raw rice into cooked rice, what do you think will happen, given his personality?"

Tereina's eyes lit up, but after thinking it over carefully, she began to hesitate again. "He definitely wouldn't abandon me, but... can feelings maintained through that kind of relationship really be happy and lasting?"

Carmen sneered inwardly. I was just making things up. Do you seriously think you can get the commodore into bed?

"Oh, come on. Commodore Noki's heart isn't made of steel. If you treat him well consistently, you'll move him sooner or later. For now, the most important thing is establishing the relationship. Later, you just need to do this..."

Listening to the two women whispering behind him, Noki found their conversation increasingly outrageous. Although they had deliberately lowered their voices, how could they possibly escape his Observation Haki?

Noki turned around, his pretty face dark as still water. "Have you said enough? It looks like neither of you is interested in my cooking at all. If that's the case, I won't teach you." With that, he set down his utensils, turned, and left.

Just as Noki was about to step out of the kitchen, the two women hurriedly went forward to stop him.

"Commodore, you misunderstand. We were discussing cooking matters," Carmen hastily explained.

Noki raised an eyebrow, his smile carrying a hint of cold beauty. "Who said men were creatures ruled by their lower halves? And who said to turn raw rice into cooked rice?"

"So you heard us..."

Carmen was utterly baffled. She had lowered her voice enough that she had practically been speaking into Tereina's ear. How had the commodore still noticed?

Noki had never been particularly interested in teaching them in the first place. Now that he had an excuse to slip away and rest, he certainly would not let it go. He strode out of the kitchen.

Tereina watched helplessly as the commodore she had been thinking about day and night left. She might not even have another chance to ask him for cooking lessons in the future, and she vented all her fury on the culprit, Carmen. "It's all your fault! If you hadn't been talking nonsense behind our backs, would this have happened?"

Carmen had "lost both the lady and the army" today, and her temper was no better than Tereina's. She glared with her phoenix eyes and argued indignantly, "You've got the nerve to blame me! If you hadn't insisted on sticking around here to learn, would this have happened?"

"Pah..."

With her hands on her hips, Tereina launched into a blame-shifting shouting match with Carmen.

Inside the base commander's room.

Noki's early return puzzled Ain. "Why did you finish teaching so quickly today?"

Noki told Ain everything he had seen and heard without holding anything back.

Ain was also furious after hearing it. "That Carmen! She just agreed to help me keep an eye on Tereina, and only a few days later, she turned around and defected to the enemy. Good thing you found out, Noki. Otherwise, I'd still be completely in the dark!"

Noki yawned, rolled over onto the bed, and said, "All I can say is that neither of them is easy to deal with. Ain, be careful with them. I fully support you."

Ain huffed softly. "This is obviously Noki's problem, yet you're acting like a hands-off boss, making it seem like it's my own business."

"Isn't my business your business?" Noki opened one eye.

Ain felt joy bloom in her heart. Stroking his soft cheek, she smiled faintly. "Yes. I'll handle things for my commodore. You just sleep obediently."

Before long, Noki fell asleep.

After finishing what she had been working on, Ain quietly lifted the man's blanket and slipped into his warm embrace.

In the days that followed.

Carmen and Tereina had particularly miserable lives.

Ain was not some naïve, harmless girl who was nothing but innocent and kind.

The day after the incident, Carmen ran to Ain to explain exactly what had happened the previous day.

However, Ain did not believe her at all. Even if Carmen had been telling the truth, it was still better to discipline them early and take precautions before anything happened.

From that point on, the Marine base in Loguetown gained two genius little cooks. Though they were only single-digit in age, they possessed culinary skills surpassing those of veteran chefs. They deservedly earned the titles of the East Blue's first and second greatest cooking prodigies.

With Ain teaching his apprentices and handling all the trivial matters for him, Noki's daily work became much simpler. Apart from eating, going out for walks and patrols, and occasionally shopping and dating with Ain, he either slept or slept some more. His days were incredibly leisurely.

This continued until mid-January.

One afternoon.

Noki stared at the sun outside the window. It was rare for him to be unable to sleep. Why was there still no news of that brat Ace?

Could they have somehow missed each other, and had Ace already entered the Grand Line?

That should not have been possible.

Over the past few days, aside from having Dadi keep watch for Ace, he had also sent plenty of Marines to search throughout the city. The chances of missing him were extremely low.

Furthermore, there had been no news of Ace in the newspapers, which meant he had to still be in the East Blue!

As Noki was thinking, a Marine burst through the office door, panting heavily as he shouted, "Commodore, he's here! The person you were looking for has appeared! He's at the square. Big Brother Bartolomeo has already kept watch over him without alerting him!"

"He finally came!"

Noki had to admit that a leisurely life really did make one feel refreshed and at ease.

However, Noki also knew that such a life of wasting time was still too early for him.

He wanted to settle Ace's matter as soon as possible and return to Marine Headquarters. Only there could his strength advance further!

Noki hurriedly draped on his Marine coat, took Golden Scale and Sandai Kitetsu, and headed for Loguetown Square.

At the same time, a young girl with short orange hair and an immature, youthful face gazed at the somewhat old buildings of the Marine base from afar and murmured, "This should be the place, right?"

Loguetown Square bustled with an endless stream of people, while the towering execution platform stood in the center.

A young man wearing an orange cowboy hat and a brown shirt looked up at the top of the execution platform, his expression solemn. "This was where he died..."

"Ace, what are you talking about?" Beside the young man, a man wearing a black mask over the upper half of his face looked around. He held a notebook in one hand and a fountain pen in the other, constantly writing things down.

"It's nothing. I was just sighing over how the Pirate King died so pathetically in a place like this. I definitely won't die so spinelessly in the future!" Ace clenched his fist tightly.

Deuce smiled helplessly. "Rather than thinking about how you'll die, why not first think about where to find a ship and crewmates? Do you really want to enter the Grand Line completely unprepared?"

"Hmm..." Ace stroked his chin and pondered for a long time. "That doesn't sound impossible."

"Stop saying stupid things. Even if you're a Logia Devil Fruit user who fears nothing, you still have to fear seawater, right? That little boat we're riding definitely won't survive the Grand Line's fierce winds and waves. If something happens, we'll both end up feeding the fish."

"That makes sense, but where can we find a ship?"

At that moment, an androgynous voice entered their ears.

"Are you looking for a ship?"

"Yeah."

Following the voice, Deuce saw an unbelievably beautiful Marine... man.

Deuce remembered how Ace constantly shouted that he wanted to become the Pirate King. Sooner or later, he would become a pirate, meaning the Marines should be their enemies.

But they had not yet been wanted by the Marines, so they had nothing to fear even if they encountered Marines.

However, Ace's actions left Deuce dumbfounded and angry enough to curse aloud.

Ace cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Finally ran into some Marines. This is perfect—I can try out the new move I came up with these past few days."

Noki asked calmly, "Taking the initiative to attack Marines... are you a pirate?"

"Of course. I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King!"

Noki could not help laughing. "Pirate King? What a boring dream."

Bartolomeo watched the situation from the shadows. Seeing that the brat seemed ready to attack his Senior Noki, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to rush over, only to be held back by the other Marines.

"Big Brother, did you forget what the commodore just ordered? No matter what happens, don't disturb him."

"I can't stand this brat disrespecting Senior Noki."

"Please endure it for now. We can find a chance to deal with him later..."

Flames flickered across Ace's fist. Just as he was about to attack, Noki raised a hand to stop him. "You can fight if you want, but we'll do it somewhere without people. Starting a fight here could harm civilians."

"Fine."

Ace decisively agreed as he looked at the people around them turning their eyes toward him.

Deuce let out a long sigh. He was not worried that Ace would lose, but his ordinary life was about to end. Once Ace defeated this Marine, a bounty poster would soon be issued, and he would become an accomplice to a wanted criminal.

The three moved to an open stretch of ground.

Noki yawned. "You attack first."

Flames once again rose from Ace's body. "Watch out."

"Flame Fist!"

With a loud shout, Ace swung his right fist fiercely. The surging flames took the shape of a fist and blasted toward Noki.

Noki's dazzling figure remained perfectly still. Only when the flames came within three meters of him did he calmly raise his right hand, a black vortex swirling in his palm.

"Dark Water!"

Ace watched as his raging flames gradually dissipated until they vanished into nothingness.

"What kind of ability is that?"

Though curious, Ace did not stop moving. He crossed his index fingers into the shape of a cross, and amid surging flames, a dazzling cross-shaped beam shot forward.

Noki remained where he stood without any intention of dodging. Wisps of black smoke spread behind him, enveloping his body.

"Boom!"

Cross Fire ignited a scorching blaze as it struck the darkness, causing only a ripple.

"Impressive."

Ace praised him sincerely, becoming even more serious. Flames roiled and coiled around his body as he threw another punch.

This time, the flaming fist was clearly more than a full size larger than his previous attack.

Noki placed his right hand on Golden Scale's hilt. Facing the unstoppable crimson flames that seemed capable of devouring everything, he slowly drew his blade and swung it forward, releasing an invisible flying slash.

The fierce flames were actually cut in half with a single strike, unable to harm Noki in the slightest.

"My turn."

Noki did not choose to use the Dark-Dark Fruit to bully Ace. Instead, he chose hand-to-hand combat.

So fast!

Ace realized his opponent had vanished. His eyes rapidly swept the area, trying to locate him, when he suddenly felt his neck tighten.

"Thud!"

Deuce's eyes widened in disbelief. From his perspective, Noki had seemingly teleported in front of Ace. With just a light push, Ace had fallen.

How could Ace be so weak?

Ace struggled desperately, but the other man's hand was like a pair of iron pincers, gripping him tightly. His whole body felt as though it were pinned beneath a massive boulder, unable to move.

In the end, he helplessly accepted the fact that he had lost.

Ace clearly had not expected to lose so quickly. He attributed this defeat to carelessness and underestimating his opponent.

Still, the other man was simply too fast. He could not see him at all, and that was truly troublesome.

"I lost this time, but I'll definitely win next time. Dare to fight me again?" Ace's expression grew increasingly serious.

"Sure."

Noki took up his stance against him once more.

Ace no longer wore a playful expression. Flames rapidly boiled and flickered across his body. It was still the familiar punching motion. "Flame Fist!"

The flames formed the shape of a fist and shot rapidly toward Noki.

Too slow!

"Soru!"

Noki ignored the attack entirely, flashing behind Ace. He raised his right hand, and the black vortex in his palm accelerated.

Ace hurriedly spun around, extending both hands in the shape of pistols. His index fingers jerked up and down rapidly. "Fire Gun!"

Noki thrust Dark Water forward. Every flaming bullet was swallowed by the black-hole-like vortex. Then he reached out and grabbed for Ace's neck again.

Ace only felt a powerful suction force pulling him in. His face changed drastically as he tried to dodge.

But some incredibly powerful force came from nowhere, forcibly dragging him into the Marine's hand.

"Damn it!"

Ace gritted his teeth. Even using every ounce of strength in his body, he could not overcome the darkness's gravitational pull. He could only let Noki seize his neck again and pin him hard to the ground.

Ace's emotions were a tangled mess. His second challenge had ended in another defeat! He had lost just as miserably as the first time!

There were mainly two reasons why Noki could suppress Ace in every aspect.

First, Ace had only recently gained his ability. Many of his techniques had yet to be developed, and his use of it remained at the simplest, most basic level.

Noki's Dark-Dark Fruit naturally countered ability users. When a beginner like Ace encountered Dark Water, it was practically no different from having his entire ability rendered useless.

Second was the suppression in physical combat. Ace's physique was not weak. He had trained hard from childhood to adulthood, but compared to someone like Noki, who had undergone years of systematic training, there was still a huge gap!

Ace was an extremely confident man who had rarely lost from childhood until now. He had originally thought obtaining the Flame-Flame Fruit would give him wings, allowing him to make a name for himself in the Grand Line. Yet before he had even left the East Blue, he had been defeated twice in a row by an insignificant Marine.

Moreover, this Marine looked about the same age as him. They were practically peers.

How could he possibly accept that?

His confidence completely shattered!