"Huh? Big bro Shano! What are you doing?!"
Luffy was startled and instinctively reached out. "You can borrow other stuff as props, but this one's really important to me. I can't just—"
"Watch closely."
Shano smiled as he lightly tossed the straw hat into the air.
And the moment it started falling and landed into his hand—it vanished without a trace.
"?!!!"
Luffy's eyes went wide like copper bells. He circled around Shano's open palm, looking from left to right, but couldn't find any clues at all.
"Don't bother looking. Believe it or not, it's already in my bag." Shano chuckled.
"No way!"
Luffy clicked his tongue and hurriedly unzipped Shano's bag. Under a few loaves of bread, he actually pulled out his straw hat.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa!!!"
Luffy lifted the straw hat high and shouted in amazement, "It's really here! That was amazing! How did you do that? Big bro, do it again! Do it again!"
Like he was offering treasure, he shoved the straw hat back into Shano's hands and shook his arm hard. "Just once more, okay? Just once... please…"
"A magic trick shown a second time… loses its charm."
Shano laughed, ruffling Luffy's head. "Alright, that's enough. Looks like they've almost finished packing. I should get going too."
...
No one noticed—at that very moment, below the cliff...
A freckled boy was gritting his teeth, slowly climbing up.
He nearly slipped and fell several times, but finally, with difficulty, he reached the top, grabbed the edge, and pulled himself up.
"Those damn mountain bandits!"
They actually dared to capture Luffy. He had to give them a good beating!
He looked toward the stone pillar and froze. Huh? Where was everyone? He clearly saw Luffy tied to that pillar from far away.
He moved behind the stone pillar, poked his head out, and suddenly gasped in shock.
He saw a muscular black-haired man—looked like the leader of the mountain bandits—grabbing Luffy's head with one hand, tilting his head with a wicked grin.
And next to Luffy was a big pot, boiling thick soup with bubbling sounds.
What the heck?
These mountain bandits had gone mad—they were really going to cook and eat Luffy alive?!
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Ace was furious. He roared and charged forward without hesitation, right fist clenched, rushing straight toward the damned bandit leader.
Thud!
In a flash, the man reacted. He suddenly turned, reached out his large hand, and caught Ace's punch directly.
Huh?
Ace was stunned. This guy… has such fast reflexes!
Shano was stunned too.
That face full of freckles… Was this Ace? Why did he suddenly jump out and attack me?
They locked eyes for a split second.
Ace yanked his fist back, and with his other hand, drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed toward Shano's wrist.
"You—"
Shano had just opened his mouth when he was interrupted. He backed off quickly and swung a leg sideways, kicking the dagger away.
"Calm down, kid!"
He caught Ace's next punch and frowned. "Did you misunderstand something? This is clearly our first time meeting, right?"
"Misunderstand? What misunderstanding?! I saw it with my own eyes—you had your hand on Luffy's head and were about to throw him into that pot!"
Ace roared and used his strength to break free from Shano's grip. Twisting his waist, he threw a sharp upward kick right toward Shano's groin.
"You cannibalistic freak—GO TO HELL!"
Oh come on, that's enough!
Shano got pissed. This brat was jumping to conclusions and not listening to reason at all.
Fine then, no need to hold back!
He suddenly raised his foot and stomped straight down on Ace's incoming leg.
Crack!
At the moment of impact, Ace let out a shrill scream. His face twisted from the pain, and his leg made a cracking noise, bending at an unnatural angle.
It hurt like hell! How is this guy so much stronger?! Ace was embarrassed and angry. Ignoring everything, he grabbed Shano's waist with both hands, lifted his upper body with effort, and smashed his head into Shano's chest.
Still coming?
Now Shano was truly out of patience. He clenched his fist and threw a straight punch at that freckled face coming at him.
Thud!
With a dull thud, Ace's nose spurted blood. His eyes glazed over. His body swayed for a second, then collapsed softly to the ground—completely knocked out.
That knocked him out?
Shano pulled back his fist and looked at Ace on the ground, a little surprised. He hadn't even used full strength.
The kid had decent strength and speed, probably around half of Shano's level. But his endurance? Maybe even worse than Luffy's.
Though, Luffy's a special case. The Nika Fruit's rubber powers let him naturally absorb most blunt force, even as a kid.
"Ace!"
Luffy widened his eyes and rushed over, shaking Ace, "You okay? Wake up!"
Actually, the moment Ace pulled out the dagger, Luffy had wanted to stop him.
But everything happened so fast—before he could react, a few punches and kicks later, Ace was already down.
"He's fine. He'll wake up soon."
Shano checked him and shook his head slightly. "But I think his leg is fractured. He'll need a few days of proper rest—no rough movements."
He's okay?
That's good. Luffy sighed in relief. Looking at Ace, bruised and swollen, he couldn't help but laugh out loud, pointing at him:
"Got taken down that fast—so lame! You finally got what's coming, Ace!"
"..."
Shano raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd rush over to avenge him."
"Well, Ace was being unreasonable. I know he was just worried about me, but I'm not dumb. Of course I wouldn't blame you, big bro Shano. Plus, I couldn't beat you anyway."
Luffy stood up. "Ace and I spar all the time. He's way stronger than me. Out of a hundred times, I can't win even once. He always beats me up and shows off. Never thought I'd see him get knocked down so fast today."
"You're so strong, big bro Shano!" Luffy rubbed his chin. "Hmm… should I ask you to teach me magic first, or how to fight like you?"
"Neither."
Shano laughed, slung his backpack over one shoulder.
"Manba and the others are all packed up. This time, I'm really leaving. See you if fate allows, Luffy."
Huh?
Luffy instinctively looked up and saw the camp had indeed been cleaned up. The poor folks were gathered outside the gate, waiting for Shano.
"Let's go!"
Shano gave Luffy's messy head one last ruffle—it was scratchy but oddly satisfying—then waved with a smile and walked off with Manba and the rest.
The once lively camp suddenly fell quiet.
...
Luffy stared out the gate, lost in thought for a long while. Finally, he came back to his senses and touched his empty stomach.
So hungry. He turned to the big pot still bubbling beside him.
Inside were boiled radishes and wild vegetables. Normally, he wouldn't touch that kind of stuff.
But now, he was starving, and he had to stay here to wait for Ace to wake up, so he grabbed a bowl and started gulping it down.
Just as he was finishing, a groan came from nearby—Ace had woken up, clutching his head.
"Luffy?"
Ace blinked at him in surprise. "You haven't been cooked?"
"Cooked? No way—it was all a misunderstanding, Ace!" Luffy scooped another bowl and handed it to him. "Those uncles weren't mountain bandits at all."
Radishes?
Ace looked down at the soup by his mouth, scratched his head, and suddenly understood a lot.
He gave a bitter smile and took the bowl. "Looks like I was too impulsive. That guy who fought me… he's really strong. Who was he?"
"That guy, huh…"
Thinking of earlier, Luffy grinned.
"He's a really good guy! And he can do magic tricks—really amazing ones! Too bad I didn't learn it yet. Ace, I'll show you later, and you can try doing it for me, okay?"