Chapter 6: Plan
Deep within Mount Colubo, hidden among thick trees and tangled brush, stood a worn down mountain cabin built mostly of wood.
Its walls were crooked, its roof had seen better days, and several of the planks looked like they had survived on sheer stubbornness alone. Under normal circumstances, the place would have felt rough but lively, the kind of hideout suited for bandits who laughed loudly, ate too much, and settled arguments with fists.
Today, however, the atmosphere inside was strangely solemn.
Ace sat cross legged on the floor, arms folded, his expression serious in a way that made him look older than he really was.
Across from him sat the leader of the mountain bandits, Curly Dadan.
She was a fierce looking middle aged woman with the presence of a wild beast and the temper to match. Even sitting still, she radiated the kind of pressure that made grown men lower their voices without realizing it. There was a reason Ace had once described her as more manly than most men in the world.
"In short, that's the situation," Ace said, finishing his explanation.
He had just finished telling Dadan about Axel. How they met. How he fought them. How he later made it clear he was not with Bluejam's group. And how, somehow, after all that chaos, the four of them had become friends.
Dadan listened in silence, one hand supporting her cheek.
When Ace finally finished, she did not answer right away.
Instead, she frowned.
Axel, standing off to the side, understood immediately.
This was the moment.
So he stepped forward, lifted his face slightly, and spoke in the most harmless tone he could manage.
"Please let me stay."
With that delicate face, pale skin, and those strangely beautiful red eyes, the effect was immediate.
Dadan's expression twitched.
The last of her resistance collapsed on the spot.
"Fine!" she barked, waving a hand irritably as if trying to chase away her own weakness. "You can stay!"
Before Axel, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy could properly react, a loud cheer suddenly erupted from the back of the room.
"Finally, a little girl!"
"Yeah! An actual cute girl in this dump!"
"We've been surrounded by ugly mugs for years!"
"Our boss doesn't count at all!"
The room went silent for one fatal second.
Then Dadan's face darkened.
"What was that?"
Her voice was low.
Far too low.
The bandits froze.
Then every single one of them lunged for the exit as if death itself had just stood up.
Unfortunately, before they could fully escape, Axel calmly delivered the finishing blow.
"I'm a boy," he said. "Please take care of me."
The words hit the bandits harder than any punch.
The hope that had just burst into life died instantly.
Several of them collapsed dramatically to the floor, faces full of despair.
"No..."
"It was all a dream..."
"The heavens are cruel..."
Ace clicked his tongue. Sabo covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. Luffy, meanwhile, looked from one person to another, clearly wondering why everyone was suddenly acting like their souls had left their bodies.
Sabo happened to glance at Axel just in time to catch the faint smile that flashed across his lips.
His eyes narrowed.
So that was deliberate.
He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Axel turned his head slightly, looking innocent.
"Did I?" he asked. "Who can say?"
A chill ran down Sabo's spine.
This guy looked delicate and harmless, but every now and then that strange, sly side of him surfaced, and it always made people feel like they were being quietly led into a trap.
Before Sabo could say anything else, Ace's voice came from the doorway.
"Sabo! Stop dawdling. Let's go!"
Ace already had a pipe in hand, ready to head out for training.
Sabo dismissed the thought, grabbed his own pipe, and followed. Luffy bounced after them with his usual energy, and Axel left the cabin with the three boys, stepping into the forested slopes of Mount Colubo.
To outsiders, Mount Colubo was a dangerous place filled with wild beasts, treacherous terrain, and all sorts of hidden risks.
To Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, it was basically a giant training ground.
The wild animals were both food and opponents. Fighting them sharpened instinct, timing, and courage. Running through the uneven slopes improved stamina and footwork. Even the harsh terrain was useful, forcing them to react quickly and adapt constantly.
For boys who had chosen freedom over safety, this mountain was as close to a teacher as they were ever going to get.
The four of them had not gone very far before Luffy suddenly raised a hand.
"I'm hungry! Let's eat first!"
Ace's face instantly darkened.
"Luffy! We just ate!"
Sabo, however, looked perfectly calm. "Well, eating again isn't the worst idea."
Ace whipped his head toward him. "You spoil him too much."
Sabo shrugged, utterly unbothered.
Ace let out a sigh, then looked at Axel. "Ask him too. We've got a new member now."
That at least seemed reasonable, so Sabo nodded and turned to Axel.
"What about you, Axel? Want to eat first?"
Axel had not even fully adjusted to the rhythm of these three yet. They had eaten before leaving the cabin less than an hour ago, but clearly Luffy's stomach worked according to its own rules.
He gave the safest answer possible.
"I'm fine with whatever."
Sabo immediately pointed at Luffy with an expression that said see?
"Even Axel agrees. So, Luffy, what do you want to eat?"
Luffy's eyes were already sparkling.
"That!" he shouted, pointing dramatically into the distance.
The others followed his finger.
Not far away stood a fruit tree loaded with ripe fruit, its branches nearly sagging under the weight.
Ace exhaled. "So that's your target."
"Well, at least it's nearby," Sabo said.
Since no one was truly against solving Luffy's hunger issue quickly, the group headed toward the tree. Ace and Sabo were already preparing to climb when Axel suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
The three turned.
Luffy looked especially pained. "But I'm hungry."
Axel ignored the complaint and looked at the three of them seriously.
"I still haven't explained my ability to you properly, have I?"
Ace and Sabo exchanged a glance.
That was true.
They had seen enough to know Axel possessed some strange power, but they still did not fully understand what it was. Since they had already become friends, hiding it any longer would only make future cooperation more troublesome.
Axel lifted a hand.
"My ability lets me control the direction of force and energy," he said. "To put it simply... I can do things like this."
The next moment, his body floated off the ground.
Luffy's mouth fell open.
Ace's eyes widened.
Even Sabo, who prided himself on keeping calm, could not hide his surprise.
Axel rose lightly into the air, white hair shifting in the wind, then drifted toward the fruit tree as if gravity had simply stopped applying to him.
"Whoa!" Luffy shouted. "That's amazing!"
"A Devil Fruit?" Ace asked at once.
Axel paused for a fraction of a second, then nodded. "You can think of it that way."
It was the easiest explanation.
Trying to explain esper powers to people in the One Piece world would only create unnecessary complications. Calling it a Devil Fruit was cleaner, and more importantly, it fit their understanding of the world.
Sabo looked up at him, still curious. "Control the direction of force and energy... what exactly does that mean?"
Axel descended lightly back to the ground.
"It means I can interfere with how things move," he said. "Gravity, impact, wind, heat, and more. For example, if I alter the force acting on my body, I can float. If I gather airflow and redirect it..."
He flicked his hand.
A swirling gust appeared in front of them, growing into a small whirling vortex of wind that kicked up leaves and dirt before Axel casually dispersed it.
Luffy's eyes practically turned into stars.
"That's so cool!"
Sabo was not far behind. "No, seriously, that's incredible."
Ace folded his arms and glanced sideways at Luffy. "Way more useful than your rubber body, that's for sure."
Luffy puffed up immediately. "Hey! Being rubber is cool too!"
Ace snorted. "I still haven't seen the cool part."
Luffy grumbled but could not come up with a good rebuttal. Instead, he stared at Axel with pure envy.
"I want to fly too..."
That innocent complaint almost made Axel laugh.
Then his expression shifted.
The playful mood faded, replaced by something sharper.
"I have an idea," he said. "Let's strike back at Bluejam."
The air changed.
Sabo's face tightened instantly. "Strike back... at Bluejam?"
He stared at Axel as if wondering whether he had misheard.
"That's insane," he said flatly. "We can't beat him."
That was not fear talking. It was experience.
Sabo still remembered too clearly what kind of threat Bluejam represented. Just dealing with one of Bluejam's men had nearly cost them dearly. Bluejam himself was on another level entirely. Charging at him head on would be the same as asking to be crushed.
Axel shook his head.
"I'm not talking about challenging him directly. Not yet."
That got their attention.
"My identity hasn't been exposed," Axel continued. "As far as Bluejam's people know, I'm just a masked kid who comes around to trade. That means I can still buy information from them."
Sabo listened carefully now.
Axel went on. "We use that. We find out where Bluejam's subordinates are moving, where they gather, and when they're isolated. Then we pick them off one by one."
Ace's eyes sharpened.
Axel stepped closer, voice calm and controlled.
"We use them to train. To sharpen ourselves. To get stronger while cutting away his support. Little by little, we weaken the people around him before dealing with the main problem."
Sabo lowered his head in thought.
It was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
One mistake could expose Axel. One misstep could get them surrounded. And if Bluejam showed up before they were ready, they could end up in a situation far worse than the last one.
Yet...
It was not the same as blindly charging in.
It was a real plan.
A reckless one, yes, but not a stupid one.
Before he could answer, Ace spoke first.
"I'm in."
Sabo turned sharply. "Ace!"
Ace did not look at him.
His gaze remained fixed ahead, as steady as a drawn blade.
"Our dream is freedom," he said. "If someone stands in the way of that, then sooner or later we have to crush them."
There was no hesitation in his voice.
Only certainty.
Only the fierce pride of someone who would rather break than bow.
Luffy, naturally, understood the most important part and none of the risk.
"Yeah! Let's beat Bluejam up!"
Sabo stared at the two of them.
One was fearless.
The other was hopelessly simple.
And somehow, Axel stood beside them with that calm face, making a plan that sounded absurd and reasonable at the same time.
For a moment, Sabo wanted to say no.
Wanted to be the sensible one.
Wanted to remind them how dangerous this could become.
Then Ace turned and looked at him.
In that gaze, Sabo saw the same thing he always did when it mattered most.
A dream.
Freedom.
A refusal to yield.
And just like that, the answer became obvious.
Sabo smiled.
"Well," he said, exhaling softly, "if the three of you are going to do something this crazy, then I'm joining too."
He stepped forward, grin widening.
"After all, we're brothers."