Chapter 146: Ace
"Foosha Village is this way," Eric said, looking at the map of the East Blue, deciding to take the rescued civilians to Luffy's birthplace.
If there is anywhere in the East Blue that's the safest, it would be the village where Garp frequently visits to see his grandchildren. And the people there are simple and good-hearted, and Luffy and Ace were able to grow up safely there without facing vicious pirate attacks.
As for whether to visit the young Ace and Luffy, what's so interesting about those two little brats? It's better to visit some beautiful young ladies.
"Chiron -sensei, how many days will it take to reach this place according to our sailing speed?" Eric asked, pointing at the location of Foosha Village on the map, addressing the navigator on his ship.
"If we go through the Goa Kingdom, we can follow this current. Although the route is longer, it will take less time and only take three days."
Chiron pointed to the sea chart, and although Eric could understand every word, when they were all combined, he couldn't make sense of it, and his head began to spin.
"Bruh bruh!" Just then, the phone bug in his arms rang, saving a dizzy Eric from further confusion.
"Hello, who is this?"
"It's me, Morgans." The voice from the phone bug immediately made Eric furious.
Morgans, on the other end, seemed to hear the voice of a demon from hell whispering, "Why hasn't my latest bounty notice come out yet?"
Morgans' feathers stood up in shock, "You, who are you?!"
Eric snapped back impatiently, "Me? Didn't you call me? And now you're asking who I am? I'm Darren Eric!"
Morgans wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, "That voice... it was too terrifying. Sorry, I didn't recognize it right away…"
"So, has my latest bounty notice come out?"
"Your bounty and news were printed in the newspapers the day before yesterday, and most of the islands in the Grand Line should have already received the latest issue of the paper by now."
"What about the Four Seas? Didn't they receive the latest issue?"
"Since you are currently sailing in the Grand Line, your news and bounty notice were sent there first, and will be sent to the Four Seas afterward. Huh? You're not in the Grand Line anymore, are you? You've returned to the Four Seas?"
Morgans caught the key information.
"...I'm just near the Calm Belt, none of your news birds have passed by," Eric denied, not wanting anyone to know his whereabouts.
Morgans didn't push further, deciding to complete Big Mom's task first, "I need to ask you something. Are you familiar with the powers in the New World?"
"The powers in the New World? The most famous ones would be Whitebeard, Kaido of the Beasts, and Big Mom, right? Their territories practically cover the entire New World."
"Yes, yes," Morgans nodded repeatedly, happy to hear Big Mom's name, but he was worried that Eric, like other pirates, would be too reckless and not even take Charlotte Linlin seriously.
"A few days ago, I attended Big Mom's tea party, and she mentioned you..."
"Hey, hey, hey? What's going on? Bad signal? Can't hear anything." Eric cut the phone bug off before Morgans could finish his sentence.
"Hello, hello?" Morgans was a bit confused. When did the phone bug have a bad signal? After that, no matter how much he tried to call, it wouldn't go through...
"What happened, why aren't you answering Morgans' call?" Kurumi asked curiously. "Wasn't your collaboration going smoothly?"
"Collaboration is collaboration, but what he's about to say is definitely going to be troublesome for me. Otherwise, he wouldn't have contacted me."
"Big Mom, she's considered the world's strongest woman, right?" Esdeath was clearly more interested in Big Mom's strength.
"She's no longer really a woman, she's more like an old witch," Eric smirked. While Big Mom had an impressive figure in her youth, now... sorry, it's too painful to look at.
Big Mom had been famous for a long time, and it was hard to even see news about Charlotte Linlin in the current newspapers. While everyone was eager to witness Big Mom's "godly" beauty, Eric's drawing skills had turned her into a ball, so no one could make sense of it and gave up.
"BIG… MOM," Perona hugged her toy bear. She knew that she was dealing with a monster of the same caliber as Kaido, who made Moria doubt life. If a conflict broke out, she hoped it wouldn't harm the companions who were currently with her.
Kurumi gently placed a hand on Perona's head and patted her gently, calming her nervousness.
...
After arriving at Foosha Village , where the Red-Haired Pirates often stay, the villagers didn't run away. Instead, they gathered at the dock to watch such a huge warship.
"So big! Bigger than the military ships I've seen before!"
"Is this ship made entirely of steel? It's so cool!"
The people at the dock discussed excitedly.
"Wow, these people didn't even run away. Didn't they see the pirate flag on our ship?"
"Weaklings, weaklings, so weak!"
"At least it shows that pirate attacks are rare here. Esdeath, stop focusing on their strength."
"We'll go to this village's bar and ask the landlady to take care of them for now."
"You trust this woman so much, did you know her before?" Kurumi asked while looking at Akame, who had been with Eric the longest.
Akame shook her head, indicating she didn't know either.
Eric couldn't explain how he knew her, so he just remained silent.
Walking down the village path, the usually tense nerves relaxed.
"CLOSE?" The bar had a CLOSED sign hanging in front.
"What's going on? The bar's closed in the middle of the day."
"Ah, are you here to find Makino?" A villager suddenly spoke up. "She's not in the shop during the day. She seems to be teaching etiquette, she'll probably be back in the afternoon."
"Oh, thanks so much."
The villager, looking at the group of strangers, suspiciously asked, "So, are you here for a drink, or are you looking for her personally?"
"In that case..."
"Ah, Makino's back." The villager suddenly saw Makino, wrapped in a scarf, walking back from the mountain path.
"Why are you back so early today?"
"Ace has already learned all the etiquette, so we finished early today. I'm back now." She answered the villager's question and turned to face Eric and the others.
"I'm so sorry for keeping you all waiting." Makino said as she unlocked the door and with a very gentle tone said, "Please come in, welcome to my shop."
'No wonder this is the pirate world, that figure... it's so unreasonable,' Eric couldn't help but stare at Makino's slender waist, and her...
After receiving a glare from Kurumi, Eric quickly looked away.
Everyone sat down, and Eric spoke to Makino, "Actually, we want to ask you to take care of these people… They lost their families due to pirate attacks, their hometown was destroyed, and they have nowhere to go."
"Ah, that's truly unfortunate," Makino said sadly, covering her mouth. "I'll take good care of them."
"Here, please take this, kind lady." The rescued civilians also stood up and bowed.
"This is my little token of appreciation." Eric then pulled out a wad of Berries.
"No, this is too much," Makino waved her hands in refusal.
"Haha, we still plan to eat here." Eric paused, glanced at Akame, and then silently pulled out another wad.
At that moment, a small figure entered through the bar's door and bowed to Makino. "Makino, thank you for all your guidance these days."
"Ah, Ace-kun, didn't you already thank me?"
"It's important to thank properly. Also, here's a snake egg I just stole from the snake nest, as a gift for you."
"Haha, thank you so much, Ace-kun."
Eric glanced to the side.
The devil fruit that the protagonist obtained is the Paramecia Clay Clay Fruit. Guess who will be summoned next?
(END CHAPTER)
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