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Ayu looked at Komachiyo, and Bai Inu looked at her.
Both the girl and the dog were filled with questions—how did this strange brother just fall asleep like that?
Ayu softly called out, "Brother," twice. The man, face covered by a cowboy hat, slept peacefully.
The little girl sighed. This brother seems like a weirdo too...
Worried he might freeze to death, she kindly built a small fire beside him.
"What a good kid..." the young man muttered as Ayu left, then drifted back into sleep.
---
At the teahouse, Weiwei saw Ayu off and read her medical texts. To be honest, they were dreadfully boring! Wano's medical practices differed completely from those in Alabasta, making everything harder to grasp.
While she forced herself to study, a villager suddenly burst in.
"Doctor! Pirates! The pirates you're looking for have arrived! A pirate ship ran aground at Pickle Village. We looked from a distance—they're all unconscious!"
Weiwei lit up. If outsiders had arrived, there might be a Den Den Mushi among them. Pirate or not, that was a lead!
She spoke a few words to Ah He and immediately rushed to the beach.
---
The young man Ayu had seen didn't have flying powers like Golden Lion or Weiwei. He had companions and a proper ship, but when they were climbing the waterfall into Wano's outer seas, their ship got caught in a whirlpool. Thrown clear of the vortex, he drifted ashore alone, while the ship and crew were found by villagers ten miles north in Pickle Village, scattered across a shoal in a 100-meter radius.
The villagers of Pickle and Bianli were ecstatic. They scrambled to carry supplies away—no longer like the walking dead. They ran, grabbed whatever they could. After all, it was all for free!
When Weiwei reached the shoal, she saw the pirate ship stranded on the beach and villagers busy looting like it was a highway truck spill from her past life.
"Where are the pirates?" she asked.
Ayu, nibbling on a radish the size of her head with flushed cheeks, pointed nervously at the wooden pier nearby. More than a dozen pirates were tied up there, circled by villagers. Among them, the young man lay asleep on a makeshift bed.
All the pirates appeared unconscious, unaware that their supplies had been cleaned out by the villagers.
Weiwei scanned them indifferently—until her Observation Haki gave her a sudden, sharp warning. She narrowed her eyes. "Huh? Ayu, step back!"
As if sensing danger too, the tied-up young man opened his eyes.
He had been smiling faintly, but when he spotted Weiwei, his expression tensed. The freckles on his cheeks looked like sparks under the sun.
A cowboy hat. A rosary necklace. Flame tattoos up his arms. Fire Fist Ace?!
The features were too distinct—Weiwei couldn't be mistaken.
But with no idea where their relationship stood, she didn't jump to conclusions. She simply observed him carefully, noting every small movement.
"You're the big sister who forced the little girl to study? Looks like she's got talent. Interesting," Ace said, casually. He'd been awake all along—or maybe he hadn't even been asleep.
Though the villagers had tied him up, he hadn't resisted. But with Weiwei's arrival, he clearly dropped the act.
Flames erupted into the sky. Ayu jumped back in shock. The ropes binding the pirates burned away as if ignited by invisible fire. Ace, standing at 1.85 meters, rolled his shoulders and stood tall.
"I've got no ill intentions," he said with a grin. "My crew and I ended up here by accident. Take all the food you want—it's fine."
Weiwei stepped forward, clearly assuming the role of villager spokesperson. "Accident, huh? You expect me to believe that? Normal people wouldn't even approach that thousand-meter waterfall, let alone sail straight toward it. What's your real reason for coming to Wano?"
Ace chuckled. "Hahaha—the captain of the Spade Pirates really is a bit reckless."
"Ace, you idiot. You got exposed so fast."
"Ace, you're such a moron!"
Several of the "unconscious" pirates sat up, laughing loudly. Ace joined in, totally unfazed that their lie had been caught.
The villagers backed away as one. Their fear of pirates—shaped by Kaido and the Beast Pirates—ran deep.
Weiwei remained still, watching the group's smug laughter without a word.
Eventually, Ace tapped the brim of his hat and struck a confident pose. "Alright, alright. I lied. I came to take Kaido's head and become one of the Four Emperors!"
Weiwei's face stayed blank.
So I'm not the only one whose confidence inflated after eating a Devil Fruit… This guy's taking it to the next level.
"Your crew calls you Ace? That your name?"
"That's right. I'm Portgas D. Ace!"
Weiwei licked her lips, her eyes shimmering with a crimson glint. "You can't beat Kaido. Provoking him will only bring disaster on these villagers. If you run away, it's them who'll suffer. Want to fight? If you can't even beat me, forget Kaido."
Meeting a major figure like this, how could she resist testing his strength?
Ace looked young—he must've only recently set out to sea, probably not long after eating the Flame-Flame Fruit. Weiwei didn't think she'd lose.
"Alright, let's go!" Ace replied without hesitation. Since setting sail, he had barely met any real challengers. He had been unbeatable—slaughtering enemies and tearing through obstacles. His confidence was sky-high.
Weiwei's challenge only excited him more. And since she seemed a bit younger than him, and a woman, he chuckled lightly.
He lowered his center of gravity, bent his knees, and took a defensive stance, signaling her to attack first.
"Careful!" Weiwei warned.
She stomped the ground with her right foot and launched herself like an arrow from a bow. Her speed left behind afterimages. In a flash, she crossed more than twenty meters, hand outstretched like claws, aiming directly for Ace's face.
Her nails thickened and extended, infused with a blood-red energy. It was a move based on "Six Powers: Finger Gun" she'd learned from Ain. Her clawed strike—sharp as blades—could pierce steel. She wasn't holding back.
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