"I must say, the food here tastes quite delicious" muttered Yuki while wolfing down the food in front of him at the speed of light taking Luffy by surprise so he ordered more food, and this time he made sure to guard his part!

"Tch, don't worry I won't steal anything from you" Spoke Yuki with a warm smile but Luffy simply shot him a suspicious look and responded "You look like Nami when she's trying to scam someone"

"Eh… Really?" Yuki played it dumb when inside he was thinking 'This guy is smarter than what he shows'

...

As they went back to enjoying their food, someone suddenly came from the hole Luffy made and screamed at them "STRAW HAT! I FINALLY FOU- YOU FILTHY THIEF! RETURN MY JITTE"

Yelled smoker while staring at Yuki and Luffy but especially the weapon on Yuki's back. Meanwhile, Luffy didn't recognize Smoker right away, but Yuki did although he didn't care as he simply said "Oy chief, bring me more meat please"

The boss of the restaurant gulped slightly when he saw Yuki ignore Smoker but Luffy suddenly realized who it was and yelled "AAA it's that smoky guy…" Then, he stuffed his mouth as much he could before he made a run for it leaving Yuki staring at the owner awkwardly

"You better pay for your friend's food"

"He's not my friend" Replied Yuki directly cutting off his relationship with Luffy right then and there shamelessly despite how chummy they have been eating together a few seconds ago.

"OY don't ignore me" Spoke Smoker while poking Yuki with his finger which annoyed the latter but suddenly, someone came from the rubble behind Smoker and spoke "Ah, damn marine, you scared my little brother away"

"Your brother?" Smoker stared in shock at what Ace just said while Yuki calmly observed him 'the 2nd division commander of the whitebeard pirates and the man that will solely cause the heartbreak of many in the future including his brothers… Portgas D Ace huh'

As Yuki was observing Ace, the latter was also observing him and his eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly with hidden happiness 'He's strong... Is he one of Luffy's crewmates?' Wondered Ace before he heard Yuki speak

"Oy Smoker"

"What? Are you going to surrender yourself" spoke Smoker coldly but Yuki simply stared at him like an idiot before he pointed at Ace and said "Isn't it better if you capture this guy here?"

'Eh, is he throwing me under the bus?' Wondered Ace feeling quite smug at his importance especially when Smoker turned to stare at him and said "Of course, I will also capture this criminal"

However, just when he turned his back to Yuki, a certain Jitte instantly greeted the back of Smoker's head…

"Eh, I thought you wanted your Jitte back…" Muttered Yuki who just sneak attacked Smoker shamelessly by throwing the Jitte at him. Then, he simply went to pick it up while Smoker who was barely holding on to his consciousness caught him by the leg and muttered through gritted teeth "You bastard…"

"Eh, you didn't go to sleep yet? Seems like you still want your Jitte back" spoke Yuki with an evil grin that made Smoker feel a chill while Ace watched all of this in amusement but suddenly a girl with glasses barged into the restaurant and yelled "Smoker-san what are you doing? Our men are running after straw hat Luffy and his crew and we need your help to apprehend them"

'This girl should be Tashigi…' Yuki observed her silently but she suddenly realized what was happening and directly unsheathed her sword and yelled "Let Smoker-san go!"

"Ehh, how scary… Fine I will let him go but with only one condition" Spoke Yuki with an evil grin on his face which made countless thoughts flash through Tashigi's mind ' What's he going to ask me to do? Does he want to take me instead of captain Smoker? Fine, I will agree and simply kill myself later if they try doing anything to me'

Resolving herself for the worse, Tashigi responded with a dark look "What do you want?"

"Tashigi, don't listen to anything this pirate says!" Yelled Smoker but Yuki directly smacked him with the Jitte and this time he lost what was left of his consciousness, and maybe a few brain cells as well along with it...

"CAPTAIN!" Tashigi's eyes widened in horror as she tightened her grip on her sword but Yuki calmly let out a sigh of relief as he muttered "Damned Smoker almost ruined my plan… Ahum anyways, my request is simple… Pay for my meal and the repairs for the restaurant and you can get your hopefully not brain-dead captain back"

"Eh? That's it?" Tashigi felt as if her expectations were turned upside down and even Ace was slightly surprised by this before he smiled faintly 'It seems like Luffy's in good hands…'

Tashigi nodded quickly fearing that Yuki might change his mind but he didn't and he simply started leaving the restaurant and as he passed beside her, she couldn't help but ask him "You are a pirate... Why would you want to help this restaurant? and you should know that Smoker-san will keep chasing you right?"

"Eh? Would you rather if I killed him then? Sure, I will go finish him off for you" Spoke Yuki eerily while pretending as if he was turning around which made Tashigi panic and she hurriedly said "No that's not what I meant!"

"Hahahaaha How cute… don't worry, I'm just joking, as for why… hmmm, well I don't care if he chases me or not and I liked the food here that's all, Oy owner, can you give me a discount next time I come by?"

The owner who was rubbing his hands in happiness directly replied with a smile "Please visit us any time you want"

Hearing this, Yuki patted the shocked Tashigi on the shoulder before he made his way out while ace followed after him silently.

"Oy weirdo, why are you following me?" asked Yuki since he didn't want to reveal that he knew about Ace's relation to Luffy, and Ace politely bowed and said "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, my name is Ace, I'm Luffy's older brother"

"Ehh, really? You are so polite…" Ace seemed to find Yuki's reaction expected and ended up simply smiling before Yuki replied "I'm Yuki, I just recently joined Luffy's crew, although I can tell you he's quite the character"

"Hahahaha, well he wouldn't be Luffy otherwise" Replied Ace before they started making their way to where the rest of the crew were which was probably the ship, and Ace watched in amazement how Yuki's pockets kept growing bigger and bigger along the way…

'What kind of sorcery is this?' Wondered Ace as he watched Yuki's masterful thievery at work as he even stole a little girl's lollipop without even batting an eye and was currently enjoying it...

On the way there, they talked about many things including Ace's life with the white beard pirates as well as what Yuki knew about Luffy and his crazy antics and before long, they arrived at the shore where the ship was previously docked and they could see that it hasn't sailed far yet.

"Come, I will take you there with my raft…" Spoke Ace and Yuki nodded before following to a hidden place where Ace hid his striker.

It was a special raft made to work with the power of his devil fruit allowing him to travel at a terrifying speed in the ocean and it took them no time to get to the going merry only to overhear Luffy say "HAHAHA Luffy's face was priceless when I ran away with all the food..."

Ace grinned slightly before he jumped into the ship right behind Luffy and said "Yo Luffy, still causing trouble?"

"ACE!" Yelled Luffy before rushing to hug his brother but someone suddenly landed a kick on his head before he yelled "Where's ma money man?" It was of course Yuki…

The crew found it hard to believe that Ace was Luffy's brother from how polite he was and he instantly won them over with his charisma, a complete contrast to Yuki…

However, Ace made the encounter brief and he eventually turned to Luffy and asked "Would you like to join the whitebeard pirates? Your crew can come as well"

"Nope" Replied Luffy with no change in his expression and ace eventually said "Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I have ever met, I'm going to make him the pirate king, not you Luffy"

"Don't care, I will just beat you then" Spoke Luffy still without a change on his face which brought a smile to Ace's face as he thought 'He didn't change at all…'

Then he threw him his vivre card and after some small talk, he explained to them why he came here in the first place… in search of a man called Blackbeard before preparing to leave but Yuki suddenly stopped him and whispered something in his ears…

"Oy Yuki, what did you say to Ace?" Asked Luffy curiously as he noticed the shocked look on Ace's face that was full of doubt when he heard Yuki's whisper, but Ace eventually simply nodded at him and jumped on his striker and took his leave, although some stupid pirates wanted to claim his head and they soon came to regret it as Ace showed them the terrifying power of his devil fruit!

"Nothing, I hate doing things for free but this time is an exception… I just hope your brother acts smart" After saying this, Yuki stared silently at the destruction Ace caused while the rest of the Strawhats crew stared in awe at Ace's power…

Meanwhile, the man in question had a frown on his face as he recalled what Yuki said to him 'Careful of Blackbeard, the scar on Shanks's eye, it was caused by him…'

"Where did he get such information? Is he lying? No, he doesn't seem like someone who would lie about such a thing… I always wondered how Teach killed Thatch… It seems like it wasn't a mere coincidence" Muttered Ace before he made his way with faster speed back to Alabasta while leaving behind him a bunch of destroyed ships which Yuki so kindly jumped in and started collecting any treasure they had…

…..;

Meanwhile, back at Nanohana, Smoker had just woken up and noticed Tashigi standing not far from him while he was on one of the beds in their base "What happened? Where are the Strawhats and Ace"

Tashigi had a wry smile on her face as she responded "They escaped… Or it best to say that they spared our lives…"

Smoker noticed how hard she was hugging her sword and frowned slightly before he lit up a cigar and asked her "Do you have any clues about where they are heading or why they came here?"

Tashigi shook her head but she suddenly frowned and said "We don't know where they are going but one of our men spotted a girl with them when they were chasing their crew, and they suspect that it's Vivi, the princess of Alabasta!"

Smoker's eyes widened slightly and he couldn't help but mutter "Are they related to the rebels that are trying to bring down the current king of Alabasta?"

Feeling the danger of the situation, Smoker instantly wore his jacket and prepared to move into action, the situation was getting more and more complicated!