**Chapter 4: Blood and Saltwater**
The morning sun burned away the last traces of coastal fog as Luffy's sandals hit the splintered dock of Calcium Village(Yes very creative). The fishing village clung to the rocky shoreline like barnacles to a ship's hull—weather-beaten, stubborn, and stinking of yesterday's catch. Behind him, Ace secured their small boat with quick, practiced knots, his eyes already scanning the maze of ramshackle buildings.
"Smells like piss and bad decisions," Ace muttered, adjusting the sword at his hip.
Luffy inhaled deeply through his nose. He took off at a sprint toward a smoking chimney, only for Ace's hand to snag the back of his vest.
"Intel first. Food later."
---
### **The Rusty Cutlass Tavern**
The tavern's sign creaked on rusted chains, its painted cutlass long faded to a brown smear. Inside, the air hung thick with the sour tang of unwashed bodies and cheap rum. Conversations died as the door swung shut behind them.
A barrel-chested man with a knife scar bisecting his lip set down his tankard. "Ain't seen you two 'round before."
Luffy plopped onto a stool that groaned under his weight. "We're looking for—"
"Information about Alvida," Ace interrupted, sliding onto the neighboring stool. His boot knocked against Luffy's shin—a silent warning. "Her location or where that whale was last seen would be perfect"
The bartender, a woman missing her right eye, snorted. "Work ehy, Looking for her may be looking for death.?"
"Yes her death you are precisely right," Ace said, flashing teeth.
At the corner table, a skeletal man in a waterlogged coat chuckled. "Ain't no honest work on these waters since the Iron Mace came through."
Luffy's fingers stilled on his tankard.
Ace leaned forward. "Iron Mace the ship of Alvida so you got info on her tell me?" said Ace flashing some notes of berries.
The tavern's collective inhale was almost comical. The one-eyed bartender snatched the berries and poured two fingers of something that smelled like turpentine. "Alvida's ship. Sailed through here three days past." She jerked her chin northward. "Word is she's hunting easy prey near Conomi."
A pirate with a parrot on his shoulder spat. "Fat bitch sank three trawlers just for crossing her wake.She is dangerous kid"
Luffy's tankard cracked in his grip.
Ace's hand clamped on his shoulder before he could stand. "What's her heading?"
"North-northeast last we saw," the scarred man said. "But if you're smart, you'll—"
The door burst open.
Three Pirates stood silhouetted in sunlight, their clothes battered glaringly out of place. The lead Pirates gaze swept the room before rasing his pistol and saying"From today onwards this island is our we the kerchef Pirates rule this place."
Ace's smile turned dangerous. "I don't think so Mr."
The Pirate hand drifted toward his pistol"You brat this audacity will be your death."
CRACK!
Luffy's fist sent the man crashing through two tables before he could draw. The remaining Pirates reached for their weapons—
Ace moved.
One Pirate collapsed clutching his shattered knee. The other found a knife at his throat.
"Tell your Crew," Ace whispered, blade pressing just enough to draw blood, "that strength own these waters."
He kicked the sobbing man into the street.
Silence. Then—
The scarred pirate burst out laughing. "Well I'll be damned." He raised his tankard. "To stupid bastards!"
The tavern erupted in cheers.
Ace tossed some money to the bartender. "For the damages."
Luffy was already at the door. "North-northeast, yeah?"
---
### **The Chase**
Salt spray stung their faces as the fishing boat cut through choppy waters. Ace manned the tiller while Luffy perched on the bow like some strange seabird, his straw hat pulled low against the wind.
"She's slow," Ace called over the waves. "We'll catch her by dusk."
Luffy's fingers drummed against the wood. Three years of training, of waiting—all boiling down to this first real test. His stomach growled. "Should've stolen those meat buns."
Ace snorted. "Priorities."
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the first crow's nest spotted their prey—a hulking silhouette with patched sails limping across the wine-dark sea.
Luffy's grin turned feral. "There you are."
---
### **Boarding Action**
We came in silently, using the last light of day as cover. Alvida's ship—a floating wreck held together by rust and spite—loomed above them.
Ace tested the weight of his sword. "Remember the plan?"
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Smash everything."
"That's not—"
Too late. Luffy's arms shot out, rubber fingers grasping the railings twenty feet above. With a gleeful whoop, he launched himself onto the deck like a human cannonball.
Wood splintered. Pirates screamed.
Ace sighed and scaled the side like a shadow.
Chaos greeted him. Luffy spun through the panicked crew, his fists reducing grown men to broken dolls. A pirate lunged at Ace with a boarding axe—
Steel flashed.
The axe—and the hand holding it—tumbled to the deck.
"Wrong move," Ace said, kicking the screaming man overboard.
---
### **Alvida's Entrance**
The cabin doors exploded outward.
"WHO DARES—?"
Alvida emerged like a landslide given human form, her spiked club scattering what remained of her crew. Her piggish eyes locked onto Luffy. "YOU!"
Luffy tilted his head. "Me?"
Ace stepped between them, sword gleaming in the dying light. "You're fatter than I imagined."
Alvida's face purpled. "I'LL CRUSH YOU BOTH!"
Her charge shook the deck. The club swung in a brutal arc—
Ace didn't dodge.
Haki flared along his forearm as he caught the spiked metal bare-handed. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing through the deck beneath his feet.
Alvida's eyes bulged. "Imposs—"
Ace twisted, ripping the club from her grasp and driving his knee into her gut. The air left her lungs in a whoosh.
Following that Ace coated his knees with haki and kneed her in the face with enough force to knock her out.
"The whale is out she was easy just as i expected. We will claim her bounty in the village where Zoro is so I will make sure that she is unconscious."
"On the other hand lets take care of these small fries Luffy.
The surviving pirates huddled near the forecastle, weapons trembling in their hands.
Luffy cracked his neck. "Ace?"
Ace flicked blood from his blade. "You know the rules."
What followed wasn't battle.
It was butchery.
Ace moved with surgical precision—every slash severed tendons, every thrust found organs. Luffy fought like a force of nature, his Haki-hardened fists reducing men to crimson smears against the bulwarks.
One pirate begged on his knees.
Ace cut his throat mid-plea.
Another tried to jump overboard—
Luffy's stretching arm yanked him back into a fist.
When the last body hit the deck, the only sounds were the creaking of the dying ship and the distant cry of gulls.
---
### **Coby**
The trembling came from below decks.
Luffy kicked open the hatch to reveal a storage closet. Inside, a pink-haired boy no older than fourteen curled around his knees, his glasses cracked, his face streaked with grime and tears.
"Hey," Luffy said.
Coby flinched. "P-Please... I'm just a cabin boy..."
"Don't worry kid i am not here to hurt you or kill you or something.But why are you here you want to be a pirate as well? You don't look like others here and you look weak and there isn't determination in eyes."replied Luffy
"That's right....Sir. I accidentally got on her ship and since then i have been their errand boy. I wanted to be a Marine that was my dream."
Luffy crouched until they were eye-level. " So you still wanna be a Marine?"
The boy blinked. "I... what?"
Ace appeared at Luffy's shoulder, wiping his blade clean. "He's asking if you want to stop being a victim."
Coby's gaze drifted past them to the carnage on deck. To the burning sails. To Alvida's broken form half-buried in splintered wood.
Something kindled behind his cracked lenses.
"Yes," he whispered. Then stronger: "Yes!"
"Well then if you want to follow your dreams then you have to stop being a coward and be strong. Without Strength you are nothing at this sea."replied Ace
"Our dream is to be the Pirate King kid.A dangerous path but i know we will make it ther so you also try hard and be a Admiral."
"Pirate King!!!" Cody said with a bit of fear and admiration
"That's right and for that we need more strength than we currently have right now."said Luffy
They stood on their fishing boat as Alvida's ship became a bonfire on the darkening horizon.
Coby clutched the railing, his knuckles white. "Why... why did you save me?"
Luffy watched the flames dance on the water. "Everyone deserves a shot at their dream."
Ace adjusted their course toward Shells Town. "Even if it's a stupid one like being a Marine."
"We will drop you at Shells town Marine base and we will get Zoro there."
"Pirate hunter.....Zoro!!!!....He is an absolutely terrifying guy it is said that he drinks the blood of the pirates he kills and makes clothes out of their skin." Coby trembled with fear.
[Wtf]thought both Luffy and Ace respectively.
"No kid he isn't like that you will know when we get there."said Ace while tying up Alvida.
With that they took off the Captured Alvida and Coby to their boat and sailed off for Shells Town.
(Btw they got the Map for Shells Town and compass in the Calcium Village)
Somewhere ahead, Zoro waited.
And beyond him?
The entire world.
**(Chapter 4 Complete - Word Count: 1,587)**