【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 264 The Troubles of a Farm Girl

Ace was a little surprised, he didn't remember why he fell into the water, he shook his head and recalled, his memory came back instantly, after he landed on the island he had been wandering around the city, replenishing supplies and tracking down clues of Blackbeard, he didn't hold out hope of finding clues of Blackbeard on this island, after all he hadn't found any news about Blackbeard in all the islands he had passed through in the past few days.

Either there was no news at all, or there was wrong news. He almost walked around half of the town on the island until he was hungry. He went into a small restaurant, and when the waiter asked him to pay, he realized that his Bailey was all gone. He had no choice but to repeat his previous operation.

After escaping the chef's pursuit, he continued his unfinished business and searched the other half of the town. Finally, he got a news about Blackbeard. He successfully found a local, a black-bearded man with a thick black beard and black curly hair. From the back, his back looked very much like Teach, so he kicked him directly.

Ace covered his face in embarrassment, hoping that he didn't really hurt the doctor whose back looked like Blackbeard. He realized it only after he kicked him. Then he was surrounded by angry villagers. Even though he tried his best to explain, he couldn't escape and was kicked into the river. Only at this moment, he was extremely glad that Lucci was not with him. After all, this was not something to be proud of.

About eating a free meal... mistaking someone for someone else... and then being caught and kicked into the river by angry villagers? And not being able to activate his abilities in time at the critical moment because of the rain.

This was totally unlike what had happened to him; it was more like something that would happen to Luffy, so he didn't want anyone who knew him to know about it, or else he would definitely be laughed at, especially by Lucci, who would definitely enjoy it.

"What's wrong with you?" Moda asked puzzledly, looking at Ace's frowning brows.

"No, I'm fine." Ace quickly shook his head "By the way, thank you for saving me!"

"You're welcome!" The girl smiled warmly.

"How did you save me?" Ace asked doubtfully. After all, the girl looked very frail and it was unlikely that she could pull him out of the water, unless she had hidden her fruit ability. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine the pitiful scene of the girl using her frail body to drag him out of the water and carry him into the house.

"Oh, I used my cow, it's my best cow." The girl pointed to a photo on the wall, in which the girl and her cow appeared.

When Ace realized what the girl said, he covered his face in embarrassment. Really, this must not be known to anyone. He looked around, trying to find anything that could distract him. He needed to forget all this. At this time, he noticed that it was unusually quiet outside and couldn't help asking, "Are you alone here?"

Almost the moment Ace finished speaking, the smile on Moda's face disappeared. She lowered her head with a lonely look, staring at her clasped fingers and said, "Yes, there is only me here. My parents are both chefs. They are now at sea."

"How long have they been gone?" Ace put on the sandals that Moda had left for him at the foot of the bed, they were very similar to his brother's favorite pair and it was easy to put them on.

Ace walked to the window and looked out at the vibrant green fields, listening to Moda's story. It was not surprising, it was not just pirates and sailors who went out to sea to make a living.

"About a year. I'm not sure when they will come back next time." Moda shrugged and then smiled and said, "But it doesn't matter. The cows are very obedient. Most of them can take care of themselves. It's just..."

"What's wrong?" Ace asked, then looked at the sky outside the window. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, and hoped that he didn't miss anything.

Moda sighed, "If only I could find other customers to buy milk besides the people in town, then my parents wouldn't have to work so hard, and the waste of milk would be greatly reduced."

"waste?"

"Yes, the farm has too much milk to sell." Moda bit her lip nervously and said with some guilt, "My parents always told me that waste is shameful. I also know that I should try to do more to change this situation, but I don't have the courage to go to the base yet."

"Base?" Ace repeated. "A naval base?"

"Yes, there's a naval base just off the coast," Moda explained. "I thought maybe they needed milk, but I haven't received any responses to the letters I sent."

"And I haven't mustered up the courage to go to the naval base. Although I know I should try, those marines look a little scary." Moda lowered her head and shyly tapped the floor with her toes. "Every time they come to town to replenish supplies or go on shore leave, they always behave violently. I'm a little scared."

Hearing the news about the naval base again, Ace's heart sank. He was not worried about the existence of those navy, but about Teach. Lucci once said that Teach basically stayed in places that avoided islands with naval bases, which meant that Teach could not appear on this island. The route he was tracking was wrong again.

……

"Gu..."

Flocks of seagulls flew across the sky, and a ray of morning sunshine shone on Meli. After a thrilling day yesterday, Meli was sailing freely on the sea again as usual.

The first shout of the morning broke the quiet atmosphere "Sanji~Breakfast!!"

"Hey, hey, got it. Go catch something first before I make real food." Sanji's voice came from the restaurant.

"Let's go fishing!" Luffy shouted excitedly to Usopp and Chopper.

"Come on, fishing in the morning might be a good idea." Usopp picked up the fishing rod in the corner and walked towards Luffy.

"Don't we need bait or something?" When Usopp arrived, Chopper looked at the fishing rod in Usopp's hand in confusion, without any bait.

"Do you know who I am? I am the great Usopp, the legendary fisherman who can fish without any bait!" Usopp said confidently. The fact was that they did not have enough food and had nothing to make bait.

"So awesome!" Chopper looked at Usopp in admiration.

“Hahaha, of course!” Usopp, who was immersed in Chopper’s admiring eyes, suddenly realized that something was wrong. Where is Luffy, who usually follows Chopper in praising him?

Usopp turned around in a hurry to look for it, and then noticed that Luffy had picked up the Vibrator in the corner and drove it towards the sea...

"Really? Why would you want to drive a Viper on the sea?" Usopp complained as he pulled Luffy who fell into the water onto the boat.

"I thought that even though it might not work in the empty sea, it might be possible in this sea..." Luffy cried out, it was so hateful, why didn't it work.

"Even in the sea here, only Nami and Qi can drive." Usopp looked at Nami who was driving the Viper on the sea and comforted her, "Don't even think about it."