As more and more companions joined them, the cramped Striker could no longer hold everyone.
After completing a major merchant convoy escort mission, the Spade Adventure Group switched to a broader, sturdier ship.
There was no skull on its sails, only a black spade that looked as though it were burning.
They explored ruins, charted sea maps, escorted merchant convoys, rescued shipwrecked vessels, and never hesitated to attack any pirate ship plundering civilians.
After another battle, broken planks floated across the sea while the rescued merchant ship cheered in the distance.
A newly joined crew member finally could not hold back any longer. "Captain."
"Why do we fight every pirate we see committing evil?"
Ace sat on the rail, holding the wanted poster of that pirate captain.
Flames sprang from his fingertips and burned the paper to ash. He grinned.
"Can't help it."
"My grandpa and uncle are Marines, after all."
Everyone froze.
"Your family members are all Marines?"
Ace did not reveal Garp and Rock's identities. He merely waved a hand casually.
"More or less."
The companions exchanged glances and quickly filled in the blanks themselves.
Ace had probably grown up in a Marine family, receiving a Marine-style education but unable to tolerate all the rules and restrictions within the military.
That was why he had not enlisted, choosing instead to become a free adventurer.
That explanation sounded perfectly reasonable.
Only Deuce noticed that whenever Ace mentioned that "uncle," his tone became a little more serious than usual.
Time passed.
The Spade Adventure Group defeated pirates along the way, completed bounties, and helped civilians.
Their name gradually spread throughout the first half of the Grand Line.
They were not Marines, yet they were more decisive than many Marines.
They did not fly a pirate flag, yet they were freer