Ace's Adventure

The Charger slowly slid into the crescent-shaped harbor.

The town is built on the mountain, with small buildings with white walls and red tiles stacked up along the hillside.

The wind carried the aroma of baking pizza, fried potatoes, tomato sauce and other foods.

"It smells so good!" Meli lay on the side of the boat, her nose twitching, her tentacles stretching uncontrollably towards the dock, the suction cups at the end opening and closing, trying hard to breathe in the fragrance.

Ace couldn't help but stick his head out to take a sniff, his face salivating, "It really smells good."

Deuce patted his empty pockets and shrugged, "But we don't even have a single Bailey. We've already spent all the treasure we found on the deserted island last time."

"What? It's all gone so quickly?"

"Don't you see how much you eat every time?"

"I'm still growing!"

The three of them got off the boat and walked along the dock when their stomachs suddenly rumbled.

“Gurgle—”

"Well, let's go and eat."

"Huh? But, don't we have... um, um..."

Ace held Merry in his arms with one hand and covered her mouth with the other.

The young man's lips curled up into an unconscious smile: "Don't talk, just follow me."

Meli's words were muffled because he was covered by his hand: "...Um...Wait...until..."

"Okay, okay, be good."

The three of them turned into a cobblestone alley, and the fragrance became even stronger.

They walked into a random restaurant.

The store was doing good business, with many customers sitting there. The aroma of food and wine mixed together, attracting every greedy person.

Ace calmly found a seat near the door and sat down, ordering like a regular customer: "Boss, three orders of barbecue, three orders of pizza, three orders of pasta, and three orders of seafood fried rice..."

Meli was forced to sit on the inner chair, his hands folded neatly on his legs, and he lowered his head guiltily.

Deuce sat down on the other side, his back straight, but still revealing some uneasiness.

The boss was completely clueless and responded readily, "Okay! Please wait a moment!"

Ace smiled and rubbed Merry's head: "Relax."

"Hmm~" Meli glanced at the kitchen and swallowed.

Plates of pizza, pasta, and fried rice were served on the table, and the aroma was fragrant.

Meli instantly lost his restraint and took the lead in picking up the charred barbecue and taking a big bite.

"Hiss!" The scalding oil splashed onto the back of his hand. Meli grimaced in pain, but he couldn't bear to spit it out. He could only puff out his cheeks and exhale.

"Don't worry, no one will snatch it from you."

"It's so hot," Merry was quickly attracted by the aroma of meat bursting out of his mouth, "but it smells so good!"

Ace's mouth was also full and he gave a thumbs up: "Delicious!"

Deuce also narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. This barbecue was much more delicious than the wild boar roasted by Ace.

The three of them hadn't eaten such delicious food for a long time. They stuffed the food into their mouths in big mouthfuls, not even bothering to talk.

A small "tornado" rolled up on the table, and the plates were cleared at a rapid speed and then stacked up layer by layer, attracting the surprised gazes of many guests.

"Burp!" Ace burped, sweeping over the mountain of dishes. "Are you guys full?"

"I'm full." Meli touched his bulging belly contentedly.

"Then..." Ace lowered his voice, "Run!"

Before he could finish his words, Ace picked up Merry and rushed to the door.

Deuce was slow to react, stumbling after him, wailing inwardly: Oops! It seems he's following an unreliable captain!

Eating a free meal? The restaurant owner chased after him, holding a big spoon, "Stop right there!"

"Oh, I forgot one thing." Ace was halfway through his run when he suddenly stopped and turned around to bow ninety degrees to the restaurant owner.

"Thank you for your hospitality." After thanking him, Ace immediately turned around and ran away.

"You guys!" The boss's roar echoed in the alley.

Ace, Merry, and Deuce had already disappeared without a trace.

——

A few days later.

The sea surface is sparkling.

Meli, Ace, and Deuce were huddled in the small Charger, about to fall asleep out of boredom, when a ship with a skull and crossbones flag came floating by not far away.

A huge black shadow enveloped the Charger.

A row of heads popped out from the deck, and the pirates looked at the small boat on the sea, pointing and laughing loudly.

"Hey? What is this?"

"Are you playing house with such a small boat?"

"Hahaha, there are three little kids up there."

"They are going to the Grand Line to die."

"Wait, the one in the middle is a mermaid, right?"

"It's true. Living mermaids are very valuable. I'm going to make a fortune!"

Greedy eyes were fixed on Merry, and a tall pirate wearing a horned hat squeezed out from behind the crowd.

"Hey, kid, hand over that mermaid, and I'll let you live."

"Want her?" Ace sneered, and the next moment, boom—

Ace turned into an orange-red meteor and smashed into the opponent's pirate ship.

The pirate closest to him was directly overturned by the air wave and plunged into the sea.

"Yes, it's a Devil Fruit user!"

The pirates on the deck suddenly fell into chaos.

"Why are you panicking? He's alone!" The pirate in the horn hat swung his sword, his arms as thick as masts, veins bulging. "Go!"

The surrounding pirates rushed forward bravely, but their roars were instantly drowned out by Ace's flaming fists and turned into screams.

Ace threw a punch, and the air around them became distorted with heat. More than a dozen pirates were lifted into the air, their bodies on fire, and fell into the sea screaming.

Many sparks fell on the deck and mast, and the flames spread upwards with a hissing sound.

"We can fight, but we can't burn the ship!" Merry frowned and reached his tentacles into the sea to slap it.

Several water jets broke out of the water and turned into several water dragons, rushing towards the fire.

"They were right. Our ship is indeed a little small." Deuce looked at the medium-sized sailboat in front of him, studying the glittering object. "This one is huge. It's quite good."

Ace turned around and winked at the two people on the boat: "Good idea! This boat is really nice."

"Go to hell!" The pirate in the horn hat took the opportunity to swing his sword and attack Ace from behind.

As the blade came at him, Ace chuckled and turned sideways. He raised his hands, put his index and middle fingers together, and aimed at the Horned Hat Pirate and the other pirates on the deck like two pistols.

"A musket."

Small flames spurted out from the fingertips, bang bang bang bang!

Every shot hit the target, and flaming orange flowers exploded on the pirates' chests.

In just a few breaths, the pirates were defeated by Ace.

The remaining pirates dropped their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

"We were wrong, wrong, please spare us!"

"Your ship and your treasure will be ours."

Ace landed smoothly, the remaining flames swirling around him, then obediently returning to his body.

"As for her, don't even think about raising a finger."

"Yes, yes, it's all yours! It's all yours. Please just spare our lives."

A few minutes later, the pirates were driven onto a lifeboat and huddled together.

Ace smiled brightly and waved goodbye, "Thank you for the gift."

The pirate in the horned hat could only watch his pirate ship being driven away, feeling helpless and unable to cry. He should have known not to provoke these demons.

The Charger was tied to the place where the lifeboat was originally hung. Deuce went into the cabin to count the supplies on the ship and found a lot of Baileys and treasures, which made him smile.

"Wow, these pirates are quite rich."

"Hahaha, what a great harvest, let's celebrate tonight."

"No problem, there's plenty of food in the warehouse."

"I agree!"

......

Ace leaned against the mast, his arms folded across his chest, his bare upper body as hot as fire.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Meili, slowly raising his eyebrows: "Strange, why does it feel like Meili seems to have become different?"

Meili put down the lobster in his hand and looked down at himself: "Really? Don't I look like this?"

"No," Deuce walked up to Merry and gestured with his hands, "Merry seems to have grown a lot taller."

When they first met, Meli stood normally, only reaching Ace's waist, like a 12-year-old girl.

After this period of crazy eating, Meli's height and body shape changed almost every day.

The nutrients she had lost due to being frozen for years were finally replenished, and she successfully grew into the appearance of a 15-year-old boy.

The boy's originally round cheeks revealed a clear jawline, his pink-gold hair grew longer, his skin glowed with a flowing pearly luster in the sunlight, and his strength in all aspects also surged.

Ace walked over, stopped in front of Merry, raised his hand and gestured: "Really? I remember you were only this tall before, but now, you're almost as tall as me?!"

"Huh? Really?" Meli's eyes lit up. She couldn't help but straighten up, holding the sail rope beside her with one hand, trying to stretch her tentacles a little longer, and her whole body grew taller.

Her height is even a forehead taller than Ace, who is 1.8 meters tall.

"Hey, hey, what do you mean by that?" Ace was forced to look up, watching Merry grow taller and taller, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Growing taller is such a big deal?"

"Hehe! It's more than just growing taller!" Merry raised an eyebrow at Ace condescendingly, spread out his palm, and a layer of water mist floated up, spinning it into a water ball. "Want to compete?"

The water ball reflected Meli's raised eyebrows and small fangs. Ace was stunned for a moment, and the corners of his mouth curled up a little, and the flames "puffed" bloomed at his fingertips.

"Okay, let's compete."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ace turned into an orange flame.

A mist also rose from Meli's whole body.

Two figures, one orange and one aqua, suddenly rose from the ground and crossed each other in mid-air, and the flames and water dragons collided head-on.

boom--

Water and fire devoured each other, creating a circular shock wave.

The water dragon was evaporated into countless water droplets by the high temperature, and the flames were exploded into rainbow light all over the sky.

The sails and ropes on the deck were blown away, and a poor seagull was thrown overboard by the air wave and screamed as it fled into the sky.

Many sparks fell all over the ship.

Deus, Skarl, Michal, Bonsi and other friends rushed out and frantically helped to put out the fire.

"Ace! Merry! Stop it! You're going to destroy the boat!!!"

That’s right, there are a few more companions on the boat, and it’s becoming more and more lively.

"Stop it now!!!"