Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 13.
Compared to the bustle and noise of the island's other districts, this place they called the Lawless Zone always carried a dead, listless gloom. Ordinary civilians and Marines rarely set foot here. Only desperados drifted through the shadows of these towering trees.
Creak.
The wooden door of a bar called Shakky's Rip-off Bar swung open.
Inside, the light was dim. Behind the counter, Shakky, short black hair and a slender cigarette between her fingers, was wiping a glass. On the sofa in the corner, Rayleigh, white-haired, round glasses perched on his nose, held a flask and grinned at the two figures who had just walked in.
"Well, well. If it isn't the honored guests who turned this island upside down two months ago."
Shakky exhaled a smoke ring, her gaze sweeping over Ace and the woman behind him, Leona. "I thought you'd have run off to the New World to raise hell by now. What's the matter? Did the Marines chase you into a corner, so you came crawling to my little bar for shelter?"
"Shelter? You're overthinking it, Shakky."
Ace walked to the counter, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He grabbed a bottle of rum off the bar and bit the cork out.
"Marine warships can't catch my ship. I'm just here to ask an old friend for a small favor."
"Asking me for help?"
Rayleigh set down his flask, stood, and walked over to the counter. "You little brat. Every time you open your mouth, trouble follows. Two months ago you came asking me about Conqueror's Haki infusion, and the next thing I knew, you'd executed three Celestial Dragons and sent Borsalino back to headquarters in a body cast. Sengoku was so furious he nearly flipped every desk in Marine Headquarters."
Rayleigh looked at Ace. His tone carried complaint, but his eyes held a glint of admiration.
"Alright. What earth-shattering thing are you planning this time?"
"Nothing that complicated. I just want to take a look at Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters under the sea." Ace took a swig of rum. "The Eclipse needs coating. And on this entire ocean, you're the only coating craftsman I trust."
"Coating?" Shakky laughed from the side. "That's no easy job. I've never seen that black ship of yours in person, but just from the photos in the papers, I can tell it's massive. Coating a warship like that takes at least two or three days. At a time like this, if your ship sits in port for three days, a Marine Admiral will absolutely come knocking."
"I know." Ace nodded. "That's why I didn't bring the ship down."
"Didn't bring it down?" Rayleigh blinked.
Ace didn't explain. He turned to Leona, who had been standing silently behind him.
"Leona. Show these two old-era legends what you can do."
Leona stepped forward. She didn't draw her blade. She simply raised her right hand and touched the air.
"Fuwa Fuwa no Mi."
Hum.
With her movement, the empty glasses on the counter, even the flask in Rayleigh's hand, instantly lost their grip on gravity. They floated, light as air, suspended in midair.
"That's..."
Shakky's perpetually unruffled eyes flew wide.
"The Float-Float Fruit?! Golden Lion Shiki's power?!"
Rayleigh's expression snapped to stone-cold gravity. He stared at the floating flask, then at Leona standing there calm as still water, and finally locked his eyes on Ace.
"Ace, you little brat." Rayleigh's voice dropped low. "Don't tell me you went after that old lion who's been hiding in the sky for twenty years and..."
"Killed him."
Ace said it like he was commenting on the weather.
"The old man's brain was broken. All he thought about was mutating animals. He was in the way, so I took Leona, went up there, and finished him. Grabbed the fruit while I was at it."
A dead silence fell over the bar.
Shakky and Rayleigh exchanged a look. The shock in their eyes was impossible to hide.
Golden Lion Shiki. A legendary pirate whose name once stood equal with Roger and Whitebeard. He might have lost his legs, might have had a ship's wheel lodged in his skull, but he was still a monster who could drop entire islands on people. And this monster in front of them had killed him. And worse, how had they extracted the Float-Float Fruit? It should have respawned randomly somewhere in the world.
What kind of monsters had gathered aboard that ship called the Eclipse?
"No wonder the Marines have been so active in the East Blue lately..." Shakky drew a deep breath and lit a fresh cigarette. "Those floating islands must have come crashing down."
"So, old man Rayleigh."
Ace looked at Rayleigh and pointed at the ceiling.
"The Eclipse is currently parked twenty thousand meters directly above this island. The Marines' eyes can't find us up there. You come up, coat the ship, and we drop straight from the sky into the sea. The Marines won't even get a single second's window."
"Coating at twenty thousand meters?"
Rayleigh stared, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You little brat, only you could dream up something this insane! I've spent years on this archipelago, and I've never once heard of coating a ship in the sky!"
"Then you'll do it?" Ace asked.
"If you came all this way to ask, I'd be a cold old man to refuse."
Rayleigh grabbed his still-floating flask and took a long drink.
"Let's go. I want to see this warship that can fly twenty thousand meters high. What it really looks like."
"Rayleigh, be careful." Shakky looked at him with open worry. "I know I'm probably being paranoid, but it's best if the Marines don't catch wind of your connection to them."
"Relax, Shakky. The kid's method is airtight." Rayleigh waved a hand and smiled.
"Come on. Let's head outside to the open ground." Ace stood.
The three of them reached a clearing at the island's edge, where a pile of coating materials and tools waited.
Rayleigh looked curious. "Why did you prepare so much material? The ship can't be that big."
Ace answered, "I want my shipwright and mechanic to learn from you while you work. So we won't have to bother you again."
Rayleigh grinned. "Then you're paying tuition."
"Fair enough. Leona, let's go."
Leona stepped forward and pressed one hand to the ground.
"Fuwa Fuwa no Mi."
In an instant, the entire clearing tore free from the island and flew out over the sea. Once it was a safe distance from Sabaody, it shot straight up.
Midair, Rayleigh looked down at the rapidly shrinking archipelago, the wind howling past his ears. It was his first time feeling what it was like to fly with the Float-Float Fruit. With his physical prowess, he could walk on air using Moonwalk, but compared to this feeling of flight that completely ignored gravity, the difference was like earth and sky.
In less than half an hour.
After piercing through the thick cloud layer, an enormous pure-black warship emerged into Rayleigh's view.
"That's..."
Rayleigh stared at the Eclipse's dark red ram, shaped like a reaper's scythe, and the seamless hull forged from some unknown black metal. A flicker of genuine awe crossed his eyes.
"This ship's craftsmanship and materials... they surpass even the Oro Jackson that old Tom built for us back in the day."
The three of them landed smoothly on the Eclipse's broad deck.
"Captain's back!"
The crew members chatting on deck immediately gathered around.
"Oh? So this is the legendary 'Dark King' Rayleigh?"
Enel sat cross-legged in midair, spinning his Thunder God Staff in his hand, sizing up the white-haired old man. "He certainly looks like a remarkable mortal. That Haki of his stings the eyes, even from this distance."
"Save the commentary, Enel."
Ace stepped forward. "Rayleigh, this is our chief mechanic, Jeno."
Jeno pushed up his goggles and strode forward, his eyes burning with a fanatical spark.
"It's an honor, Master Rayleigh! I've heard you're the finest coating craftsman on the seas. I want to learn the technique. I hope you can guide me."
Rayleigh looked at the mechanic before him and nodded with a smile.
"I'm only doing this as a favor to your captain. Pay attention, young man. Coating is a delicate craft."
"Then let's begin."
Ace walked to the bow and looked down at the pristine white sea of clouds below, soft as cotton candy.
"Once the coating is done, we'll finally get to see the sights ten thousand meters beneath the sea."
30+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/Authorzero