vncnus Chapter 263 Ace was sentenced to running water
Chapter 263 Ace was sentenced to running water
"It sounds interesting." Lucci responded with a smile. He knew that Sanji was worried about him. His mind was indeed a little confused these two days.
"In a few days you will find that every day with Luffy is terrifying." Sanji reached out and patted Luffy's shoulder, teasing, "Congratulations on your unfortunate joining."
"Hahaha, really?" Lucci was amused by Sanji's words and grinned and said, "It must be hard for you to take care of him."
"There's nothing we can do. Although this guy is really annoying sometimes, he is Luffy." Sanji said helplessly, and his expression softened when he thought of the scene when Luffy invited him. "It's hard for us to refuse his request."
Luffy smiled softly at the soft look on Sanji's face, the bond between Luffy and his crew was deeper than he thought, and Ace must have felt more relieved after meeting them.
……
It was a peaceful village until the pirate arrived with a big smile and a purple tattoo on his back.
He was always very affable, smiling at the crowd and being polite to everyone as he questioned them about a person.
Really, no one would have thought he would piss off half the village in a matter of minutes.
"Calm down, this is all a misunderstanding, there's no need to take rash action," Ace did his best to explain and soothe in a gentle voice as the angry villagers closed in on him, trapping him between them and the river.
"Your unpaid bill is not a misunderstanding, young man!" the restaurant owner roared, swinging the spatula in his hand in the air. "You will pay for your actions!"
"You kicked me!" added the doctor, with a stethoscope around his neck, and to prove the point, he added, "You also hit me in the face!"
The villagers who witnessed the beating nodded in agreement, further confirming the truth of the incident.
"It was all about the misunderstanding about the name... Now... Come on, it's not that bad, it was a misunderstanding, I apologize." Ace tried to comfort, raising his hands in the air, trying one last time to avoid falling into the water behind him, he didn't want to try what they called the water torture.
"Really, this is a... misunderstanding!"
The crowd's kick came surprisingly timely, and he fell down before he could finish his words. At the same time, he was surprised to find that he could not use the fire to push his body to the other side in time. Because the weather was wet and cold, it was bad and he missed the opportunity.
'It always sucks when you get caught' a sentence popped into his mind and then he passed out.
……
Ace's consciousness gradually returned. He could feel the softness beneath him. He should be lying on a softer blanket than he usually used, and maybe a furry pillow. At the same time, he felt an extremely familiar feeling of weakness, a pain deep in his bones, which made his body sluggish and weak. This feeling occurred every time he was soaked in water. It was obvious that he had unfortunately fallen into the water.
He remembered that when he pulled Luffy out of the water as a kid, he would constantly complain to him that his limbs felt like lead blocks, heavy and immovable, and his head became fuzzy and drowsy. At that time, he would usually just keep laughing at Luffy's reaction to the water.
It wasn't until many years later, when he also ate his Devil Fruit and personally experienced the full effect of water on a Devil Power user, that he realized... maybe... his brother wasn't exaggerating...
Although this made his pirate career more life-threatening, unlike some of the fruit-users he had encountered over the years, Ace never regretted losing his ability to swim, but he didn't like falling into the water unconscious anyway.
Ignoring the dull pain in his head, Ace opened one eye, then closed it again, the light above him being too bright.
"you're awake!"
A soft voice came from his left, indicating that he was not alone and there were others in the house.
Ace stood up suddenly from where he was lying, trying to ignore the stiffness in his limbs and alertly taking in his surroundings. The thin blanket that had been covering him fell off his body and landed in a heap at his feet.
A young girl with brown hair and blue eyes stood not far away confronting him and seemed to be waving at him. She looked no more than sixteen years old, which made it almost impossible for her to pose a threat to him, but he still kept her within his sight. He didn't want to get himself into trouble because of his underestimation of the enemy, and besides, Lucci was not with him.
The girl took a few steps in his direction, which drew Ace's attention to her.
"Great, you're awake." She smiled gently.
Ace allowed herself to relax, she had a smile very similar to Luffy's, just as genuine.
"I was worried that it was too late to pull you out of the water. I didn't know how long you were in there."
Ace frowned, feeling the water dripping from his hair running down his neck, indicating that his hair was wet. He ignored the pain in his throat and asked "Why am I... cough cough"
Hearing the boy's hoarse voice, the girl suddenly realized her disrespectful behavior. She forgot to pour water for the boy, and hurriedly picked up a glass of milk from the table and handed it to him, "I'm so sorry! Here, please drink this! It's very refreshing."
Ace looked at the white liquid in the cup, a little confused, sniffed it carefully, frowned, it smelled like...
"Milk?" Ace asked, and then drank the milk in his hand. The cool liquid greatly relieved his throat, and the milk tasted great.
"Yes, I made it this morning, it's still fresh!" The girl smiled and nodded, extending her hand and introducing herself, "My name is Moda, nice to meet you!"
"Portgas D. Ace." Ace replied, shaking the girl's outstretched hand and noticing the calluses on the girl's fingers, which meant that the girl had been engaged in labor.
"Hello, I think you don't mind telling me." Ace looked out the window. What appeared before him were rolling hills and a blue sky. This couldn't tell him where he was, but this was definitely not the town he went to when he landed on the island. "Where is this?"
"This is my farm," Moda replied. "I saw you in the creek at the bottom of the field. You looked completely submerged, but you were struggling, so I fished you out."
Moda said with a relieved expression on her face, "You are lucky that the current in that stream is not very fast, otherwise I would not be able to pull you out before you are washed downstream."