Chapter 95: Suspicious Points
The Spade, naturally, was the name of Ace’s ship.
Hearing what Ace said, Ian breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Ace was still somewhat different from Luffy; he wasn’t foolish enough to grab the receiver and immediately declare he was the man who would become the Pirate King.
Because of Jimmy’s warning, encountering such an emergency distress signal generally required caution, as you could never truly know whether the person calling for help was genuinely in trouble.
Under these circumstances, Ace’s decision to only state his ship’s name was a clever move. Just the ship name alone wouldn’t reveal too much information.
“Help… help!” A voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, urgent and pleading. “We are a patrol ship from Marine G-3 Branch! Our ship unfortunately struck a reef and sank! Please save us!”
Ian and Jimmy exchanged a glance.
Before answering the call, Ian had been imagining who might be asking for help. He had thought of pirates, merchant ships, but he never expected it to be the Marines.
Ace didn’t respond immediately either; he just stared wide-eyed at Jimmy.
Jimmy rubbed his hands together, frowning. “The route we’re taking does fall under the jurisdiction of the G-3 Branch, so a Marine patrol ship here isn’t unusual. Plus, the next island we’re heading to is a deserted one, surrounded by many hidden reefs. It’s entirely possible for a patrol ship to hit one and sink.”
“So, this distress call should be genuine, then?” Ian asked.
Jimmy shook his head. “I can’t be sure. It could also be pirates pretending to be Marines…”
“If it’s pirates, that’s no problem,” Ace said with a grin. “We’re pirates too!”
Jimmy was about to mention that pirates often preyed on each other, but recalling the strength of Ace and Ian, he fell silent. If they did encounter pirates, it was hard to say who would end up worse off.
In truth, what Jimmy and the others feared most about this distress signal was the Marines, worried it might be a trap set by them.
However, the fact that the caller immediately identified themselves as Marines upon asking for help actually made it seem less like a trap. If the Marines wanted to lure pirates in this way, they wouldn’t claim to be Marines; they’d say they were a passing merchant ship, tempting greedy pirates to come for easy pickups and then ambush them.
Ian’s thoughts aligned with Jimmy’s. If the caller had claimed a different identity, Ian would have been more suspicious. But as it stood, it seemed like a Marine vessel had genuinely met with misfortune.
“Still, I think regardless of whether it’s real or not, we should just ignore them,” Jimmy said, looking at Ace. “Captain, even if they’re genuine, we’re pirates. I’ve never heard of pirates saving Marines.”
Ian said nothing, just watching Ace. This was his ship, and everything was up to him. Ian was just hitching a ride; since he hadn’t agreed to be Ace’s first mate, this decision wasn’t his to make.
Yet, to everyone’s surprise, after tilting his head and thinking for a moment, Ace spoke into the receiver. “Where are you?”
“We’re about a hundred and sixty nautical miles southwest of the island, stranded on a reef. We have no water, no food, and we don’t know how much longer we can hold out,” the Marine on the other end said, sobbing. “Please come quickly.”
Ace didn’t say anything else; he just hung up the receiver.
Ian put the now-dormant Den Den Mushi away and asked Ace in surprise, “You’re planning to rescue them?”
“Of course!” Ace nodded with a smile. “If someone’s in trouble, you save them!”
“But don’t forget, you’re a pirate,” Ian said. “Even though you haven’t been wanted yet, the moment you raised that pirate flag, the Marines became your enemies. And you still want to save them?”
Jimmy chimed in from the side, “Yeah, Captain Ace, think this through!”
Ace pulled down the brim of his hat, slightly shading his eyes, and said in a low voice, “Ian, since you know the old man, you should know who he is. If I let these Marines die without helping, the old man will definitely punch me later.”
The old man—he meant Garp, right? Ian nodded, understanding Ace’s reasoning.
Just like Luffy, Ace wasn’t truly a hardened pirate. He still had his own sense of right and wrong.
Despite Ace’s habit of dining and dashing, he wasn’t a bad person at heart. Could he not defeat those chefs with his skills? Of course not. But every time he skipped out on a bill, he just ran away; he never bullied the chefs by beating them up. Instead, he’d politely thank them and then bolt.
Though he always grumbled about the old man, Ace deeply respected his grandfather, Garp. As a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, these Marine soldiers could be considered Garp’s subordinates. Saving his grandfather’s men was an easy decision for Ace.
Having quickly grasped Ace’s mindset, Ian didn’t argue further. If Ace wanted to go, let him. Those stranded Marines posed no real threat to him anyway.
With Ace’s decision made, Jimmy and the others had no choice but to follow. Ace was the captain, and his authority had to be upheld. So, the Spade Pirates crew emerged from the cabins, adjusted the sails, and changed course toward the reported location.
About three hours later, as dusk was falling, they finally reached the spot the stranded Marines had described.
Though it was near the next island, it was still too far to see land. However, as the ship drew closer, Ian spotted several exposed reefs above the water.
He had asked Jimmy earlier about the upcoming island. The sailors called it Maze Island, or Whirlpool Island, because it was notoriously difficult to approach. The waters surrounding it were filled with various visible and hidden reefs. When currents flowed through these reefs, they were broken apart and then recombined, with a single current often splitting into dozens of smaller streams. Countless reefs created a chaotic, maze-like pattern of ocean currents, also triggering whirlpools.
Adding to the danger, there was almost no wind around the island. This area was called the Mini Calm Belt. Any ship trying to approach couldn’t rely on sails; they had to use oars. Once they entered these waters, the chaotic currents would make steering nearly impossible.
One wrong move, and a ship could be swept away by a current, crash into a hidden reef and be destroyed, or get pulled into a whirlpool and sink to the bottom.
In short, it was a perilous island, but it was unfortunately situated right on this route. To store their Log Pose readings, sailors had to land on it.
Every year, countless ships sank in the waters around this island. Only under the guidance of a truly skilled navigator could a ship find the correct path and land. This island was a true test of a navigator’s abilities.
The Spade Pirates’ navigator was a bald man, somewhat older, named Spriley. He seemed experienced. After assessing the surrounding waters, he immediately ordered the Spade to slow down and approach cautiously.
Since Ian couldn’t see underwater, he didn’t fully grasp the danger of this area. But after Spriley explained it to the crew, Ian realized the peril. He asked curiously, “If it’s so dangerous, why would a Marine patrol ship come here?”
Spriley shrugged. “Who knows? But I’ve heard that this turbulent sea area is a natural barrier. Maze Island is supposedly a base for some pirate crew. Maybe the Marines came for them.”
Ian frowned. “You mean the patrol ship encountered pirates here, chased them, and was lured into the reefs and sank?”
“That’s possible,” Spriley said. “Honestly, sometimes pirates have better navigators than the Marines.”
Ian fell silent, but he still felt something was off. The Marines had to know how dangerous these waters were. How could they be foolish enough to be lured here by pirates?
The only way to find out was to locate the stranded Marines.
While Ian and Spriley were talking, Ace was crouched at the bow, scanning with a telescope. But by now, it was almost dark, and a light fog was rising over the sea, making it hard to see clearly.
Just then, Ace exclaimed in surprise, “Ah, I found them! Over there!”
Ian grabbed the telescope and looked. Sure enough, about two nautical miles ahead, a large reef jutted out from under the water. Several figures stood on it, frantically waving torches as signals.
Ian could vaguely make out that they were wearing Marine uniforms.
But something still felt wrong to him.
Then, a sudden flash of insight struck him. He asked, “If their ship sank after hitting a reef, they must have fallen into the water, right?”
Spriley nodded. That was obvious.
“Then how did they light their torches?” Ian asked.
Spriley was stunned into silence.