Black hair, black eyes, freckles on his face, and an orange hat with a smiley face and a crying face pattern on it.

Noir was stunned.

Is this Ace? Why am I meeting him here?

Oh, right. If we consider the age, Noir and Ace are the same age.

He has set out to sea, and Ace should have become a pirate by now. It's quite normal.

Noir saw Ace and his companions looking at him blankly and greeted them, "Hello!"

Ace saw a large ship approaching, and the ship's owner greeted him. He naturally realized that Noir and those people weren't together, so he said happily:

"Hey there! Can we come aboard to take shelter? We can't fight properly in the water!"

Noir smiled and nodded, saying, "Just in time, I have a grudge against those guys too. Come aboard."

Ace was delighted. He grabbed a crew member with each hand and climbed aboard the ship, followed by another companion holding a sniper rifle.

Back on the ship, the pirates immediately regained their confidence. Ace laughed excitedly towards the sky, standing at the bow and shouting at the natives, "Come on! Let's continue the fight!"

Noir noticed that Ace had been soaked in seawater for so long without any issues, so he understood.

It seemed Ace hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit yet. Otherwise, Ace would have charged up and unleashed a Fire Fist, turning those guys to ash.

The natives, relying on the sea beasts, began to disperse and surround Noir's ship on the water's surface.

"You foolish outsiders, thinking you can approach our sacred land and even injure our people!"

The leader, with the most solid muscles and a face painted with strange red graffiti lines, unemotionally sentenced Noir and his companions to death.

Ace shouted angrily, "You guys were the ones who commanded those sea beasts to attack our ship first! You started it!"

The native who had been taught a lesson by Noir pointed at Noir and the others, shouting, "Kasa! Stop wasting words with them. Feed them to our scarlet dolphins!"

The barbarian leader, known as Kasa, snorted coldly, took out a wooden whistle from his neck, took a deep breath, and blew it.

One of Ace's crew members frowned and said, "They're summoning sea beasts again."

They had fallen for this trick before. Whenever that whistle was blown, many sea beasts would rush up from the sea.

Their ship had been flipped like this on the spot.

In Noir's observation, many large figures surged from the sea towards the bottom of the ship.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Noir frowned and said, "You guys watch the ship for me. I'll handle the troubles underwater."

Noir took a deep breath and jumped into the water just as Ace shouted, "Wait, I'll come with you!"

The remaining three crew members bitterly watched the deck as a group of natives jumped aboard, surrounding them.

Can't we talk this out…

Do you dare to fight one-on-one?

Underwater, Noir and Ace watched the swarm of sea beasts surging up, and Noir's face darkened.

There were just too many of them.

These natives had some truly vicious thoughts.

Ace clenched his fists, charged into the swarm, and started fighting.

Even though Ace hadn't eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit yet, his combat abilities were impressive.

A human charging into the swarm of sea beasts barehanded, knocking each sea beast flying with a single punch.

His quick attacks against the sea beasts created large bubbles underwater, and wave after wave of enemies were immediately restrained.

Not to be outdone, Noir demonstrated his Fish-Man Karate!

Ever since obtaining the Fish-Man Karate training manual, Noir's combat abilities had skyrocketed, but he had never fought underwater before.

Noir took a stance, lightly spreading his arms, his palms gently opening, and a blue light seemed to glow at his fingertips, taking on a webbed form.

Gunwave: Group Rain—

Silently chanting the name of the technique, Noir swung his arms forward with force. The water currents condensed around him, launching like cannonballs.

Several powerful water currents became extremely powerful underwater. Each gunwave, as powerful as explosives, struck the sea beast swarm, creating massive disturbances in the ocean.

The waves of attacking fish were instantly repelled. Facing Noir's fierce gaze, they hesitated to approach but were unwilling to leave.

Ace, holding his breath, couldn't speak, but he stared wide-eyed at Noir, then gave a thumbs up in admiration.

Noir proudly raised an eyebrow at him and waved for him to move aside.

Ace hesitated, then swam away from the battle, distancing himself from the sea beasts.

Noir placed his fists on his waist, then moved his hands along the ocean currents, making an over-the-shoulder throw gesture.

Derived from Fish-Man Karate, Fish-Man Jujutsu allowed for better control of water currents than karate.

Sea Current Over-Shoulder Throw!

With the gesture of an over-the-shoulder throw, Noir grasped the water behind him, sending a torrent of waves forward like a flood.

The devastating currents struck the fish swarm. Even the sea creatures couldn't withstand this calamity-like attack, all being driven back to the depths.

Noir was thrilled, looking at the dark seabed. He hadn't expected Fish-Man Karate to be so powerful underwater.

It was far superior to a certain someone's village policeman combat skills!

Ace, seeing the enemies repelled, happily approached and patted Noir, bubbles emerging from his mouth as if he were complimenting him.

Noir pointed upwards, and Ace nodded, and the two swam back to the ship.

Meanwhile, on the ship, Ace's three crew members fought defensively against the natives.

It must be said that the companions valued by the future Fire Fist Ace were not weak.

The three fought against many, surprisingly holding on for so long. Many enemies lay on the ground, while they were only lightly injured.

One blue-haired youth with a deep blue eye mask said worriedly, "Why hasn't Ace returned? We can't hold on much longer."

A man with a skull mask and numerous skull-themed accessories said firmly, "We must hold on until the captain returns!"

"They are fighting the sea beasts. If we can't even hold off these guys, how can we follow the captain?"

The last person, wearing a top hat and holding a sniper rifle, fired shots calmly. Enemies fell before they could react.

Hidden under the top hat, his face showed no expression, but his eyes suddenly sharpened, and a slight smile appeared as he said, "They're back."

Before the words finished, Noir and Ace broke through the surface, jumping back onto the deck. Ace, stretching his muscles, shouted menacingly, "You dare bully my crew?"

"I'm going to settle the score with you all!"