"Ace, since you've made your decision, we trust you!"
Deuce and the others looked at Ace with trust in their eyes.
Seeing those gazes, Randall couldn't help glancing at Christa.
Christa looked back at him.
Yes, pretty much the same look.
Only Christa's was more fervent, more unreserved.
Before long, Ace walked up to Randall.
"Finished talking?"
Randall lifted his eyelids.
Ace nodded, then bowed deeply and respectfully to Randall.
"Thank you, Mr. Randall, for helping me see the error of my ways.
But before I go to the island you mentioned, there's something I need to do."
"What is it?"
"I need to go see Shanks.
I want to find him and thank him in person."
Ace looked earnestly at Randall.
Randall smacked his lips.
"You want to thank him?"
"Yes. I want to thank him for looking after Luffy for so long."
Randall's expression was hard to describe, but in the end, he said:
"All riiight."
Thanking someone who'd led his little brother into becoming a pirate?
How ridiculous.
But he couldn't stop Ace from going, either, or it would become an obsession.
"Thank you, Mr. Randall!
Please take good care of Deuce and the others while I'm away!"
"Sure, don't worry. Nothing will happen to them with me around."
Deuce and the others watched Ace leave with tears in their eyes.
All they were missing were handkerchiefs to bite.
Randall took Deuce and the others back to the G-1 Branch.
Then, under their terrified gazes, he dragged their little boat into the sky.
Only once the G-1 Branch below was out of sight did they spot something unusual in the sky.
"Th-there's actually an island in the sky!"
Deuce and the others stared at Birka in astonishment.
They had chosen a different route back then, so they