Versatile Talent

Ace lay sprawled on the ground, his eyes filled with reluctance but also a trace of determination. Gritting his teeth, he resolutely said, "I lost. Kill me!"

Deuce was frantic and shouted at Ace, "What nonsense are you talking about? Why die in a place like this? We're not even wanted criminals yet—it's not too late to regret this. As long as... as long as you lower your head, this Marine will definitely spare you! A real man knows when to bend and when to stand tall. Don't care only about winning or losing in the moment!"

Ace closed his eyes and calmly said, "Rather than beg an enemy for mercy and live so disgracefully, I'd rather die."

"You idiot!" Deuce turned his gaze toward Noki, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way to save Ace from him.

Ace did not actually want to die. He had yet to find the answer to life that he had been searching for, and he had not fulfilled the promise he had made with his sworn brother. But he could not let go of the pride in his heart—or perhaps it was a kind of obsession.

Noki watched the subtle changes in Ace's expression, released his grip on his neck, and casually brushed away the dust clinging to his clothes from the fight. "Your friend reminded me of something. You're not a pirate yet—just a brat slightly stronger than ordinary people.

As a Marine, I can't slaughter innocents indiscriminately. Besides, with strength as insignificant as yours, you'll die sooner or later if you enter the Grand Line. Why dirty my hands?" With that, he turned and walked away with a flick of his sleeve.

Deuce hurried over and helped Ace up.

But Ace shoved him away, steadied himself, and ignited scarlet flames all over his body once more. He shouted sharply, "As long as I'm alive, the battle isn't over! If you don't kill me, I'll defeat you sooner or later and grind you beneath my feet! Until I achieve that, I will never leave this place!"

Noki stopped. He had long expected Ace to say that. Clenching his right hand into a fist, he gave a cold, beautiful smile. "If you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish!"

Ace's heart jolted when he saw him suddenly vanish. With the experience of their first two fights, he tensed every nerve and did not dare let down his guard in the slightest.

Afraid of affecting Ace's performance, Deuce retreated some distance.

"Flame Net!"

Ace's flames surged and burned violently. A vast sea of fire formed a circle around him, creating a towering wall of flames. "That guy shouldn't be able to get in for now..."

"Too naive!"

Noki used Moonwalk, stepping through the air.

"Flame Fist!"

Ace knew he absolutely could not let him descend. He raised his fist and unleashed a burst of blazing fire into the sky, trying to stop him.

Ripples spread beneath Noki's feet as he swiftly dodged through the air. Then, with a slight exertion of force, a sonic boom rang out. His toes touched the ground as he landed steadily, Golden Scale gleaming brilliantly in his hand, its light so dazzling that Ace could barely keep his eyes open.

"Slash!"

Noki murmured, reversed his blade, and instantly struck across Ace's waist with the back of the sword.

Though it was the blunt side of the blade, wielded with Noki's swordsmanship, its power was still formidable!

Ace spat out a mouthful of bright red blood with a "wah." He clutched the clearly visible bloody mark across his waist, his handsome face twisted in pain.

"Still alive, huh."

Noki deliberately sighed. His figure flashed, and he appeared behind Ace, thrusting his Haki-coated index finger forward.

In his hands, Finger Pistol was no less powerful than a bomb—and one with terrifying penetrating force at that.

This time, Ace could no longer hold on. His eyes rolled back, and he finally passed out.

"Ace!"

Deuce's face turned deathly pale. Throwing caution to the wind, he stood in front of Noki. "Sir Marine, please spare his life! I'll do my best to persuade him to turn over a new leaf. Please give us another chance!"

He could tell that Ace still had a breath left in him, but if Noki struck him again, even with a light touch, Ace's life would be over.

Noki did not want to strike again either. If he really killed Ace, wouldn't Garp hunt him down all over the world?

The reason he had struck so heavily was both to further ignite Ace's determination to defeat him and to temper him. In the world of One Piece, people could always unleash limitless potential when they were on the verge of death.

Luffy in the original story was the best example. Through repeated "rebirths from the brink of death," he had forcibly awakened the Gum-Gum Fruit into the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika...

Of course, not everyone possessed that kind of ability. Usually, only those with extraordinary talent received such treatment.

As the son of the Pirate King, Ace had undergone Garp's hellish training alongside Luffy since childhood. Setting aside the "Mythical Zoan" ability, his tenacious vitality should not have been much weaker than Luffy's. He clearly met the conditions.

The faster Ace grew stronger, the sooner Noki could complete the task Garp had assigned him.

Thinking this, Noki decided that every time he fought Ace, he would beat him until he was half-dead.

As for the danger Ace would pose once he became stronger...

Heh heh.

It was not that Noki was exaggerating his own strength. Even if Ace, three years later, stood before him as Whitebeard's Second Division Commander, renowned across the seas, Noki as he was now could still beat him into complete submission.

Deuce anxiously waited for Noki's response, but he remained silent for a long time. "Sir Marine, do you have any other demands?"

Noki's beautiful eyes stared coldly at Deuce, making his scalp tingle and his legs tremble slightly.

Every second felt as long as a year to Deuce. Whether they lived or died, could he at least say something? What was the point of dragging this out?

Finally, Noki's lush red lips moved. He said in a low voice, "Take him and get as far away as possible. Disappear from my sight forever."

He knew full well that Ace's injuries could not be delayed. He could only remain in a Loguetown hospital for treatment, which meant Deuce could not take him out of Loguetown while he was unconscious.

And once Ace woke up, he had already declared that he would never leave Loguetown until he defeated him.

So Noki was not worried about them running away at all.

Deuce was overjoyed. "I'll take him away right now." He bent down, carried Ace onto his back, and hurried off at a jog, afraid that Noki would change his mind.

Noki smiled faintly and returned to the Marine Base.

Elsewhere.

In the office of the commander of the Loguetown Marine Base.

Ain carefully observed the beautiful girl with short orange hair before her and asked, "You want to see Rear Admiral Noki. Is there something you need?"

The girl took an envelope carefully wrapped in pink paper from her chest. "I'm from Cocoyasi Village. This is a letter from my sister to Rear Admiral Noki of Loguetown. She said that once the Rear Admiral reads it, he'll definitely take me in."

"May I take a look?"

Ain had a feeling that the contents of this letter were anything but simple. Usually, only love letters from girls came in this sort of packaging.

The girl shook her head. "My sister specifically told me that I had to personally hand it to Rear Admiral Noki."

Women's curiosity was often quite strong.

The more mysterious something was, the more interested they became.

Ain's bright, watery eyes curved into crescents as she smiled gently. "I'm Noki's fiancée. There are no secrets between us. Giving the letter to me is no different from giving it to Noki."

"The Rear Admiral has a fiancée?"

The girl had secretly opened the letter before, so she naturally knew what it contained.

In her view, Nojiko probably did not know about this. Otherwise, why would she try to seduce a married man?

"Alright."

Nami voluntarily handed over the letter. At this point, there was no need to hide anything further.

Ain patiently opened the envelope, unfolded the letter inside, and carefully read it word by word.

"It really is a love letter."

Looking at the heart-stirring words of affection written in the letter, Ain could not help feeling a little jealous, but she was not angry.

Ever since Noki had confirmed their relationship, he had received not a hundred love letters, then at least dozens.

She had long grown accustomed to it.

With an apologetic expression on her lovely face, Nami said, "I'm sorry. My sister seems not to have known that Rear Admiral Noki had a fiancée. I hope you can forgive some of the things she wrote inside."

"It's fine."

Ain set the letter aside and stopped paying attention to it. "The letter says you're an excellent navigator?"

Nami nodded lightly, puffed out her chest, and proudly said, "At the very least, I've never met a navigator more skilled at sailing than me."

"I see... Then do you have any other talents?"

After thinking for a moment, Nami answered, "My current job is pirate thief. I specialize in stealing pirates' treasure to make money. If I have to name a talent, my theft skills rank among the best in the entire East Blue."

Ain did not look down on Nami's unsavory methods. In her view, strength and skill were neither righteous nor evil; only the people who used them were.

"Have you ever been to the Grand Line?" Ain asked again.

Nami shook her head blankly. She had heard that the Grand Line's climate was completely different from that of the Four Seas. This was a gap in her knowledge.

"There's a library in this Marine Base with many books about the Grand Line. You may borrow and read them freely. I'll let the librarian know. We won't stay in Loguetown for long. Sooner or later, we'll return to Marine Headquarters. I hope that by then, you'll be qualified to serve as the navigator on our ship."

Ain knew she could not judge someone's abilities and character based on just a few words, so she wanted to observe her further. If this girl was truly as gifted as the letter claimed, it would not be too late to put her to important use.

Nami had always been most interested in books about navigation. The moment she heard she could read them freely, she was overjoyed and developed a much more favorable impression of Ain.

As a little money-grubber, Nami cared greatly about money. She cautiously asked, "May I ask how much my monthly salary will be after I join the Marines?"

Ain patiently answered her question. "For recruits, in addition to food and lodging, the monthly salary is fifty thousand Beli."

"Only fifty thousand?"

That was only six hundred thousand Beli a year...

Nami could not help feeling a little disdainful. No wonder Nojiko had told her to prepare herself mentally.

Ain called for Sergeant Carter. Since the women's dormitory was already full, she told Carter to prepare the room next to it for Nami.

However, giving Nami a room all to herself would be a little too preferential.

Ain planned to split the five women apart to improve their living conditions. Nami would stay with Tashigi and Dezaya, while Tereina and Carmen would share a room.

After receiving the order, Carter took Nami and several Marines to prepare the room.

Not long after, Noki returned to his office. Seeing a letter on the desk, he casually asked, "What's this?"

"A love letter for you. The writing's quite good. Noki, do you want to read it?"

Ain picked up the envelope and held it out to him. She appeared unconcerned, but her lips were already pursed, making her jealousy obvious.

Noki waved his hand and reclined halfway on the sofa in the room. "If there's nothing important, I won't read it."

"You say that, but there really is something."

"Oh?"

"This letter was brought by a little girl named Nami. Her sister wrote it and said she had an agreement with you—that she would let her younger sister enlist."

"Nami, huh."

Noki had not expected that besides Ace, he would receive another surprise today.

If one had to name the most versatile and important person in the original protagonist group, then in Noki's opinion, it was neither Luffy nor Zoro, but Nami.

Why?

Because Nami was the true commander of the Straw Hat Pirates, practically half a captain. Day-to-day scheduling, planning, fund management, and route selection were all handled by her alone.

If Nami had been replaced by another navigator, then without the protection of protagonist plot armor, those dimwits in the Straw Hat Pirates would have found it difficult even to sail through the Grand Line.

After all, there would never again be a navigator as versatile as Nami in this world—unless Oda drew another one. There was practically nothing she could not do.

Noki thought that perhaps Nami could replace Sergeant Carter. He had never planned to treat Carter as part of his future core team.

It was still for the same reason: Carter was too old, and his abilities were average. Even if Noki brought him into the Grand Line, he could not guarantee Carter would survive against those vicious pirates in the future.

Rather than let him die an unnatural death and leave behind needless sorrow, it would be better to let him remain in Loguetown and live the life he should live.

"Mm. I'll have her study in the library for a few days first, then assign her a suitable position based on her abilities."

Noki nodded in agreement. "She really does have quite a lot to learn."

Ain stood and walked behind Noki, placing her slender hands on his shoulders and kneading them. "Noki, you met Vice Admiral Garp's grandson today, right?"

"Yeah. That brat was pretty impressive. At such a young age, he's already a Logia Fruit user."

"He's Vice Admiral Garp's grandson, after all. Of course he isn't ordinary. You didn't cripple him, did you, Noki?"

"I knew what I was doing. I only beat him unconscious. He'll be fine after resting for a few days."

Ain could not help rolling her eyes at him. "And you call that knowing what you're doing? Aren't you afraid Vice Admiral Garp will find out and come all the way from Marine Headquarters to beat you up?"

"Ain, dare to make a bet with me?"

"What are we betting on?"

"I'll tell Vice Admiral Garp that I beat up Ace. If he doesn't get angry, I win. Otherwise, you win. The loser has to agree to one reasonable condition from the winner in the future."

"Sure." Ain felt like she would not lose either way, so she agreed with a smile.