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In the end, Ace decided to remain temporarily in this world to search for his counterpart's soul.
According to Ikki's speculation, the most likely places Ace's soul might exist were near his grave or inside the Mera Mera no Mi.
After learning there was hope for Ace's resurrection, Luffy became very excited, and next came the banquet...
Fortuitously, the Thousand Sunny arrived at an active volcanic island where Panz Fry's cooking equipment happened to be located.
Thus, to thank Luffy and the others for rescuing him, Panz Fry prepared his specialty: volcano cuisine.
Using a volcano as a stove was indeed unique...
During the feast, Ikki and the others introduced themselves.
"I'm Ikki! In our world, I serve as vice-captain of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Everyone looked stunned hearing that Ikki was actually the Straw Hats' vice-captain.
Nami then glanced at Luffy and remarked, "Luffy, why haven't you found a crew member as reliable as Ikki?"
Luffy scratched his head thoughtfully, then asked Ikki how he had joined the crew.
Ikki shared the story of joining the ship as an appetizer.
"Oh...what a shame! If I'd met someone as interesting as you, I definitely would have recruited you!"
Luffy said, laughing.
Then Luffy looked at Captain America, Kakashi, and Rouge.
The three had remained mostly quiet throughout. Only while eating would Rouge help wipe Ace's mouth.
Ace didn't refuse this attention, but rather enjoyed it.
Noticing everyone looking his way, Captain America stood and saluted.
"My name is Steve Rogers, and I'm a soldier."
Rouge smiled and introduced herself, "My name is Portgas D. Rouge, I am Ace's mother!"
Luffy looked incredulous hearing this young woman was actually Ace's mother.
"Huh? Ace...really? Is she truly your mother?"
Ace nodded and explained, "Yes, I traveled back to when I was born, rescued my mother and brought her with me!"
Though it seemed incredible, Luffy was genuinely happy that Ace had his mother.
Just as Luffy wanted to hear Ace and Ikki's time-traveling adventures, he was captivated by Kakashi's introduction.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I am a... ninja!"
Hearing Kakashi call himself a ninja, Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Lily all stared at him.
"You're a ninja...really? That's awesome!"
"Ninja ! Do you know Shadow clone?"
"Yes, yes... and Fire jutsu..."
"And throwing shuriken..."
.....
Kakashi, instantly surrounded by three people and one reindeer, was speechless.
Kakashi suddenly realized that ninjas seemed to be celebrities in this world.
Left with no alternative, he demonstrated some basic ninjutsu, such as Clone Technique, Substitutions Technique, Fire techniques...
After watching Kakashi's demonstration, little stars appeared in Luffy's eyes.
"That's amazing...can I learn ninjutsu?"
Thus, Kakashi became the most popular person present...
.....
After the banquet, the Thousand Sunny resumed sailing, and Lili and her father disembarked along the way.
"Alright...our next goal is finding Ace's grave and the Mera Mera no Mi!"
Luffy shouted from the Thousand Sunny's figurehead.
"But we have no idea where Ace's grave is, and... finding a Mera Mera no Mi at sea is extremely difficult..."
Nami raised a critical question.
Ace heard Nami's words and instinctively looked toward Ikki. He sensed Ikki might know the Mera Mera no Mi's location.
Regarding his grave, Ace had his own suspicions.
Only finding the Devil Fruit was problematic. Locating a specific fruit at sea was harder than finding a needle in a haystack!
As Ace expected, Ikki stood up and said, "The Mera Mera no Mi should be in Dressrosa. As for Ace's grave, it should be in Whitebeard's homeland!"
"Then let's go to that Dressrosa first...and then visit Pops Whitebeard's homeland..."
.....
Meanwhile.
Marine Headquarters.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Akainu slammed his desk and glared at Momonga, demanding:
"What did you say? Fire Fist Ace is still alive... Are you certain you saw correctly?"
"Absolutely..." Momonga replied confidently, "I also witnessed Straw Hat Luffy embracing him and calling him brother. Even if I mistook him, Straw Hat wouldn't be wrong."
Hearing this, Akainu took a deep drag from his cigar, then ordered, "Have Fujitora depart immediately to hunt down Ace, and prevent news of Ace's survival from spreading!"
"If you encounter Ace, kill him on sight!"
As the communications officer prepared to relay the order, Akainu stopped him. "Wait... send Ryokugyu instead! Let's see how strong he really is..."
After the communications officer and Momonga departed, Akainu activated his Den Den Mushi to contact World Government leadership and report the situation.
...
Elsewhere.
After several days sailing, the Thousand Sunny reached an island of ice and fire—Punk Hazard.
They came because Luffy had received a distress call.
Originally, Ikki and Ace planned to fly directly to Whitebeard's homeland, Sphinx Island, but upon hearing the call, they immediately thought of Momonosuke.
Remembering Momonosuke, Ikki suddenly didn't want to leave.
So Ikki and Ace also disembarked on Punk Hazard with the Straw Hats.
...
After landing on Punk Hazard, Ikki departed alone. He wanted to find Momonosuke independently and then secretly cause some mischief.
"Momonosuke...should be in the underground garbage dump now!"
With this thought, Ikki took out the Sheep Talisman he'd recently acquired. He planned to leave his body and locate Momonosuke precisely.
Though Punk Hazard isn't large, finding someone accurately remained difficult.
But the Sheep Talisman made this different. Ikki had already tested it aboard the Thousand Sunny.
The Sheep Talisman functioned differently than in the anime. When Ikki's soul left his body, he could not only pass through obstacles but also transcend spatial concepts.
Similar to when Doctor Strange first used astral projection.
Of course... Ikki had also tested the talisman's ability to enter others' dreams, which was quite amusing.
Yes...just amusing. So far, besides fun and gathering information, Ikki hadn't discovered other applications for the Sheep Talisman.
Actually, it wasn't that he hadn't found them yet—he simply hadn't tried.
After leaving Punk Hazard, Ikki planned to use the Sheep Talisman to take Ace and Luffy into Sensei Kaido's dream, then seek instruction from him.
Ikki desperately wanted to learn Haki now, but... frustratingly, similar to learning Nen, his comprehension wasn't great. He'd been learning from Ace for over a month without progress.
No...it wasn't poor comprehension, but rather that Ace didn't know how to teach.