𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩: 𝘈𝘤𝘦'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 3: Always a step ahead

"How long until the log pose sets?" Ace asked his crew member, Saber who answered with 'a day'. He nodded, eyeing the plan of their next island on the table. It was another underground trading island, which Ace was again going on to inspect. While he does that, the rest will look out in their ship. This time Deuce was going with him, which is new.

"Okay. Me and Deuce will go, inspect the place, snap a few pics, and if needed we will burn down the place. You'll take that as a warning and immediately sail away leaving the Striker behind. We'll find you with Striker. Any questions?" Ducky Bree raised his hand.

"What are we- well, you, exactly looking for?" The man asked. Ace bit his lower lip, not knowing what to tell them. Surely he couldn't tell the truth? But, he could hide the 'coming from another timeline' part and tell them he owes to the Whitebeard crew.

"I'm searching for someone that must die. I'll tell everyone about him once I have enough clues of his betrayal on a pirate crew that I owe to." Ace answered. Well, what he said was true. He did owe it to Whitebeard. And no matter what, he'll repay. When there was no more questions asked, Ace got up and so did Deuce. They both nodded to each other and left the ship to go towards the town. It was a nice, cozy town, where no one would assume this place was actually an underground trading island.

"Captain really is strange." Ducky Bree said, and everyone agreed. Ace was acting strange. And Deuce was supporting him. Stupid captain and first mate, hiding secrets from the crew. They did not pout once the two left. No. They are strong pirates and they don't pout like children.

×××

"Here, Deuce. Come." Ace whispered, and Deuce followed him through a narrow entrance. It lead them to an open room with many doors. An old table was put inside and a man was standing behind it. He eyed Ace suspiciously and pointed for him to come. Ace went, while Deuce stood behind watching from where he was hiding. It was their plan, Ace would go inside and Deuce would look around the place. While Ace searched the inside place, Deuce would search the outside. Ace had already told him what Blackbeard looked like. He asked him to call if he saw the betrayer.

"Whatcha here for?" The man asked. Ace didn't talk, just gave him a card. A card that worked and was known well for those who were working underground. They got this card from Shanks. The Yonkō pirate was a big help to them and gave every information that could be helpful for them. The man nodded to himself when he saw the card, and gave Ace another card that had the number '97' on it. He then pointed to one of the doors. Ace went inside the door, looking back at Deuce and giving him an eye-nod. Deuce left to go around the buildings once Ace was out of sight.

Going inside the room, Ace looked around and saw many seats, mostly equipped. It looked like an auction house. But the place was surprisingly silent and Ace could see that mostly pirates were around other than nobles. He went and sat down on one of the back seats, just searching around the place. Maybe Blackbeard would be here. This island was closer to Sabaody, after all. A nice place to come to if nothing was found on Sabaody. Blackbeard would eventually come here. Ace doubted that anyone had the fruit still, as Thatch found it from the ocean. In the New World. He watched for a while, seeing the items come and go, every one of them being sold. He was about to leave, before another announcement was made by the host which had him interested in what was next.

"Alright, everyone! Now, for today's special item, we have a wonderful devil fruit in our hands!" The auction host said, gaining Ace's attention. Just as he was saying that he doubted the auctions having that devil fruit, this place has one. Now, the real question is, which devil fruit is it? He waited impatiently for the devil fruit to be shown, while also looking around the attendants to see if Blackbeard is present. The devil fruit was wheeled inside by the workers, a red cloth on it to hide it's appearance. The host went behind it and put his hand on the red cloth.