Chapter 1
I've… traveled through time?"
Inside the dim wooden cabin, the boy stared at his reflection in the mirror. Messy black hair, sun-tanned skin, and those unmistakable freckles scattered across his cheeks. The familiar childish yet sharp eyes that once appeared countless times on manga panels now looked back at him.
Beside the table rested an orange cowboy-style hat decorated with a pair of smiling and frowning badges.
The hat of Portgas D. Ace.
He picked it up slowly, his fingers trembling slightly.
"This… isn't a dream."
Ever since waking up, he felt wrong. His body was different. The world was different. Even the air felt heavier, filled with salt and heat, like the sea breeze from an endless ocean.
He raised his palm.
His index finger extended outward.
Pop.
A tiny flame ignited at his fingertip, swaying like a living spirit.
The fire did not burn him.
Instead, it obeyed him.
The young man stared at the dancing flame for a long time. His throat moved, and finally a quiet voice escaped.
"So it's real… I became Ace."
He had not just crossed worlds.
He had become Portgas D. Ace, son of Gol D. Roger, sworn brother of Luffy and Sabo, and the man who would one day command the Spade Pirates before joining Whitebeard.
And more importantly…
He had already eaten the Mera Mera no Mi.
Unlike other transmigrators who had to desperately search for a powerful Devil Fruit, he had directly inherited one of the strongest Logia fruits.
Logia… the rarest and most feared power on the seas.
As a One Piece fan, he should have been ecstatic.
But instead…
"Why… do I feel uneasy?"
He rubbed his messy hair, placed the orange hat onto his head, and pushed the cabin door open.
The moment he stepped outside—
"Huh?! Captain Ace is out!!"
"Captain!! You're finally awake!!"
"I thought you burned yourself to death in there!!"
A group of bizarrely dressed pirates rushed toward him, crying dramatically. Some had long noses, some wore animal skins, some even had exaggerated hairstyles.
Tears and snot flew everywhere.
Ace froze.
This scene…
Way too familiar.
He subconsciously stepped back and reflexively shoved away a massive two-meter-tall man who leaped at him.
"Wait… who are you people?"
Silence.
Then the crew exploded into louder crying.
"Captain forgot us!!"
"He got stronger and now he's abandoning us!!"
"Logia users are heartless!!"
Ace's eyelids twitched.
"Captain…?"
His mind instantly calculated.
Spade Pirates.
So the crew had already formed… but judging from their strength and numbers, this must be right after he set sail from the East Blue.
That means…
He had eaten the Mera Mera no Mi not long ago.
He had not yet entered the Grand Line long enough to make a name.
And most importantly—
He had not yet met Whitebeard.
Which also meant the Navy still didn't know he was Roger's son.
A man wrapped in a gray cloak walked forward. Curly hair, sword at his waist, calm eyes.
Ace instinctively recognized him.
Masked Deuce.
The vice captain and first companion Ace met after leaving Dawn Island.
"So it's true," Deuce said seriously. "Devil Fruits are said to taste worse than rotten garbage. I didn't expect it to damage your brain too, Captain."
Ace coughed.
"Hey… don't exaggerate…"
He paused.
"Actually… maybe a little."
He remembered the canon description.
The fruit tasted like absolute death.
Looking back at Ace's original fate…
A brilliant life. Freedom, adventure, brotherhood.
And then death at Marineford at age twenty.
From an outsider's view, it was heroic.
From his current perspective…
It was unacceptable.
"I refuse to die that early," he muttered internally.
There was still time.
He hadn't met Whitebeard yet.
Everything could still change.
He looked at Deuce.
"My mind's a bit messy after eating the fruit. Remind me… how long have we been sailing?"
Deuce narrowed his eyes.
"About a few weeks since we officially began gathering crew. The Spade Pirates are still small. We haven't even reached a stable Grand Line route yet."
Ace nodded slowly.
So this was the beginning.
Before Alabasta.
Before Jinbe.
Before Whitebeard.
Before the world knew his name.
He exhaled.
"Then… maybe we should disband."
The words fell casually.
But the atmosphere froze instantly.
Clang.
A sword stabbed into the deck in front of him.
Deuce stood there expressionless.
"Ace. Say that again."
Behind him, the previously ridiculous crew had completely changed. Their crying vanished. Their eyes were sharp like predators.
Ace swept his gaze across their faces.
And suddenly—
Memories surged.
Fire.
Battles.
Laughing around campfires.
Sharing stolen food in poverty ports.
Fighting rival pirates for supplies.
Protecting each other against bounty hunters.
Those memories weren't his.
They were Ace's.
Yet now they felt natural.
He remembered meeting Deuce on a stranded island.
Remembered fighting side by side.
Remembered conquering enemies who mocked their dreams.
The emotions mixed into his heart.
These people…
Were not strangers.
They were Ace's first companions at sea.
The men who believed in him before the world ever did.
Before Whitebeard.
Before fame.
Before the title of commander.
If he abandoned them now—
He would no longer be Ace.
He slowly lowered his head, the hat shadow covering his eyes.
"…"
Silence stretched.
Then he laughed softly.
"Heh…"
He grabbed the sword stuck in the deck and pulled it out effortlessly, flames briefly flickering along his arm.
"Forget what I said."
The crew held their breath.
Ace turned toward the sea, his voice calm but firm.
"We sail."
Not toward the same fate.
Not toward Marineford.
But toward a future he would rewrite with his own hands.
The era of the Spade Pirates…
Had just begun.