While the Whole Cake Island incident was spreading across the seas through Morgans's report, a chase was currently unfolding in the East Blue.
Ace, his freckled face tight with effort, was wildly swinging the oars in both hands.
Behind the small boat beneath him trailed a long, high spray of seawater.
His arms were moving so fast they had practically turned into afterimages.
As for the reason, the ship chasing behind him explained everything.
"Those bastards! Why the hell do they have to keep chasing me?!"
Ace cursed as he rowed, though his hands did not slow down in the slightest.
People on the sea these days had no manners at all.
Had the environment for pirates really gotten this bad?
After leaving Foosha Village, Ace had set out to sea full of longing for the ocean.
Pirate.
That was the identity he had chosen for himself.
At the time, Ace had probably been quite pleased to call himself a pirate, but everything changed after he ran into pirate hunters.
Swish!
Just as Ace was gritting his teeth and complaining, a slash flew toward him from behind.
His expression changed sharply. He rowed hard, forcing the small boat into a sharp curve and narrowly avoiding the attack.
The black slash skimmed past the little boat and split the sea open.
Seeing that, Ace rowed even harder.
That was how things had gone.
After he defeated the first group of pirate hunters he encountered, even more pirate hunters had come after him, and this time, some real experts had appeared among them.
For Ace, who had only just gone out to sea, swordsmen were not easy opponents.
The real problem was that there was more than one of them.
If it had only been one, he might still have tried to fight it out. But there were two on the ship behind him, and one of them was even a Devil Fruit user.
"Almost there… almost there!"
Ace gritted his teeth, his hands moving furiously.
As long as he reached Reverse Mountain and entered the Grand Line, he would be able to find a chance to shake off the people behind him.
The Hunter Guild?
What the hell even was that?
Back in Foosha Village, Ace had barely paid attention to outside news.
After going to sea, he had even less time and fewer chances to learn much about what was happening in the world.
To put it simply, across the four seas, there were now even more pirate hunters than pirates.
As for the reason, it was because plenty of pirates, after being unable to endure the constant pursuit of pirate hunters, simply declared themselves pirate hunters too.
Whether they had actually joined the Hunter Guild or not?
Who on the sea could really tell that clearly?
As a result, pirates and pirate hunters had begun playing a game of "who's really the pirate" across the seas.
Of course, there was no shortage of stubborn people like Ace.
As for what happened to them, well, it looked exactly like this—being chased by a whole crowd of pirate hunters!
Behind Ace, another ship caught up from the side.
Payne rested one hand on the ornate rapier at his waist and placed the other on the ship's railing.
"Kuina! Zoro! You still haven't caught him?"
The two ships sailed side by side, and Payne shouted at the top of his lungs.
On the other ship, Zoro was gripping his unsheathed sword and staring at the small boat racing ahead.
Hearing Payne's words, he turned his head back, obvious irritation on his face.
"I told you already, your ship is too slow! How about merging your team with mine?"
Payne offered the invitation again.
Back when he had met them in Shimotsuki Village, his invitation had failed.
Not long after that, however, Payne had unexpectedly run into Kuina and Zoro after they had received Koshiro's permission to go to sea.
Once the two set out, they had naturally headed straight for a Hunter Guild branch.
After all, the Hunter Guild had been established by Cyrus.
To Kuina and Zoro, the Hunter Guild naturally felt familiar and close.
After the three met, Payne had invited them several times, only to be rejected every single time.
"No way!"
Kuina lifted her chin and replied firmly.
"That really is a shame."
As Payne spoke, he turned to look at the small boat ahead.
"Want some help? We're already very close to Loguetown. Any farther ahead and we'll be in the waters controlled by the Marine branch. Lately, the Marines have banned our Guild members from catching pirates in the waters around their branches."
"I can definitely catch that guy."
As Zoro spoke, he raised his hand and sent out two more slashes.
Two flying slashes tore toward the little boat ahead!
Seeing that, quite a few swordsmen on the two ships showed looks of envy.
A swordsman.
Although swordsmen were not particularly rare on the Grand Line, in the four seas, they were practically exotic creatures.
Many people had not even heard of such a thing.
Being able to unleash flying slashes with a weapon was the mark of a true swordsman.
Zoro and Kuina were so young, yet they had already reached that level.
They were envious.
...
Ace, who was rowing ahead, was losing his mind.
The little boat swerved wildly across the sea, narrowly dodging the incoming slashes by the skin of its teeth.
But that delay allowed the distance between them to shrink once again.
Ace could even hear the voices of the people talking on the ships behind him.
He glanced back at the pursuing ships and saw two vessels sailing side by side.
The corner of his mouth twitched like crazy.
Another ship had joined in, he had to speed up again.
It had to be said that Pirate King Roger's bloodline was indeed something special.
Although Ace's physique could not be considered monster-class on the sea, for his age, his physical ability was already impressive.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have avoided pursuit for this long.
However, Ace was not confident he could deal with the people aboard the ships behind him.
He could only place his hopes on shaking them off at Reverse Mountain.
Just as Ace was thinking that, several cannon blasts rang out. A few black cannonballs came flying toward his small boat.
However, hitting a tiny boat accurately with cannon fire on the open sea was not easy.
The cannonballs landed in the water behind Ace and exploded.
Instead, they slowed down the two ships chasing him.
Ace froze for a moment, then sharply sensed that this was a good opportunity.
His small boat suddenly made a right-angle turn and shot straight off to the side!
The cannonballs had naturally been fired by a Marine warship.
Compared to Kuina and Payne's two ships, the warship was clearly much larger.
After firing a round of shells, it sailed straight toward them.
"Captain Smoker, it looks like people from the Hunter Guild are chasing a pirate again."
The adjutant beside Smoker, who had two cigars clenched in his mouth, spoke up.
"You sure that guy is a pirate?"
Smoker looked at the small boat making a sharp turn and speeding away.
There was only one person on the boat, and it was not flying a pirate flag.
If anything, it looked more like some kind of personal grudge playing out at sea.
"Those two ships are definitely from the Hunter Guild. They have the Guild's symbol on them: flame, sword, and rose."
Hearing that, Smoker looked toward the two ships that had slowed down.
Sure enough, the symbol of the Hunter Guild was displayed on their sails.
"Notify the warships patrolling the outer waters. Stop that boat."
Smoker gave the order, then fixed his eyes on the two ships drawing closer to the Marine warship.
In truth, Smoker did not think the way the Hunter Guild acted conflicted much with the Marines.
Moreover, after capturing pirates, many of these pirate hunters were still used to sending them to Marine branches to collect the bounty.
But because of orders from the higher-ups and the World Government, as well as the person standing behind the Hunter Guild, the relationship between the two sides had become stiff, even hostile.
"I am Smoker, Marine captain of Loguetown. Ahead of you are waters administered by a Marine branch. You are not permitted to enter."
Smoker stepped forward and shouted loudly.
On the two ships that had slowed down, everyone heard Smoker's voice.
"The Marines again!"
Zoro sheathed his sword in irritation.
Back in Shimotsuki Village, Zoro had not had much of an impression of the Marines.
But after going out to sea, he had run into Marine warships several times, and every encounter had been unpleasant.
They had come very close to fighting outright.
These Marines were useless when it mattered and only good at ruining things.
That was Zoro's opinion.
The two Hunter Guild ships and the larger Marine warship formed a standoff on the sea.
"You bastard Marines really are getting more and more overbearing. It's bad enough that you don't catch pirates yourselves, but now you're stopping us and letting the pirate run away?"
Kuina stepped forward and spoke.
The moment she opened her mouth, Smoker's eyes were drawn straight to her.
He looked down and saw Kuina's appearance, then froze.
Almost instinctively, he wanted to turn back and look at someone on his own ship, but then he frowned.
The one who had come forward to speak was actually a little girl of fourteen years old?
Maybe even younger?
Yet judging from the reactions of the others, none of them seemed to object.
That meant the one in charge was this little girl.
"Ever since I came here, not a single pirate has passed through the waters under my jurisdiction."
Smoker spoke as though trying to prove that he had not been slacking off.
But just as his voice fell, the adjutant beside him spoke up.
"Captain, that kid just broke through. The warships are pursuing him."
Smoker: "…"