Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!

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Whitebeard looked at the three brothers, who were in the meeting room with him at the headquarters of his company, having a meeting and they needed to arrange maybe the second to last meeting after that. The goal is to merge their businesses and work together. "I know it is on short notice, but will tomorrow work? I've got the entire day free." Ace hummed. "I can come, but Luffy and Sabo are busy." Whitebeard nodded. "You can decide then." Ace looked at his brothers. "What do you say?" Sabo hummed. "Works for me if you want to tackle it." Luffy nodded as well. "Yeah, you're the best at meetings!" Ace smiled at them, before he looked at him. "Tomorrow it is. As long as it is after 1pm, I'm available." Whitebeard nodded. "How about 2pm? If you want to, we can do it over lunch? Either out by a restaurant or cafe, or at my house." Ace hummed. "We can do it at your place. I will be there at 2pm." Whitebeard nodded. "Would you like anything special to eat? Or are you allergic to anything?" Ace hummed. "Everything works for me, I'm not picky." That was good to know.

They then ended this meeting, and the three brothers left. In the meantime, Whitebeard informed the others about this and the following meeting, and while not everyone could join, some could. So it was decided that with Whitebeard, Marco, Thatch, Haruta, and Vista would join. Thatch said he would fix lunch for them, and would have something from here and there, which sounded good. Whitebeard, Marco, and Haruta then made sure they had all the papers needed. Haruta really wanted to become a lawyer, and was hoping to get into a good university when it was time to apply when the summer was nearing. Haruta was only 18, but she was very smart and Whitebeard was sure she would do great and would support her the entire way, and Haruta wanted to get better with paperwork and such, which he got. After all Paperwork can be hard.

When the next day came, Marco got a call from someone they worked with closely that they were a bit in a hole, so they needed to help settle this, therefore Whitebeard sent a message to Ace if they could postpone the meeting until 2:30, as they would be stuck with this for a small while. After half an hour, he hadn't heard back, but he hoped he would soon. Ace usually answered fast. He hoped everything was fine. He knew Ace had a dangerous job.

-x-

Ace sat in the driver seat of his car, Luffy and Sabo with him as they were driving. This was one of his older models, it was from 1990, a regular Volvo. As they drove and spoke a bit, Ace soon took off the main road to a smaller road, drove for a small while, before they stopped by a barn, parking inside it. Then Ace got out, moved to the back of his car, and got out some large cans with gas and diesel, before bags and cooler boxes with food followed. As he got it out, two men came up to them and looked at the containers, making sure they were all sealed and checked the food, before Ace moved and put all his electronics in the car, Luffy and Sabo doing the same , before the two men checked them over, making sure they didn't have any electronics left on them.

Then they started the one hour walk, Luffy being very excited. When they got to the small village, he stopped by the first house, and soon Dadan came and looked at the two men. "Anything?" Jasper shook his head. "No, no electronics, all in the car by the barn. All containers sealed, food checked." Dadan nodded and whistled, which had two more men come and help get the containers away. Ace then looked at Dadan. "Do you need any money?" Dadan gave a look. "I don't need your dirty money." Ace gave a breath. "It is from our business, not my work." Dadan looked at him sternly, before she shook her head. "We're good." Ace nodded. "Okay."

Ace then moved and hugged Luffy and Sabo. "I will be back tomorrow to pick you up. Have fun." Both nodded, Luffy speaking. "We will. I wish you could join as well." Ace smiled at Luffy. "I can't. I have work. You have fun." Luffy nodded, before he ran over to the main house, and Sabo looked at him, on his way to speak, when Ace did. "Don't. I broke the rules. It's okay. You have fun." Sabo nodded, before he walked over to the main house as well.

Ace then looked at Dadan. "We have a new generator, uses le-" Dadan cut him off. "No, ours work well." Ace sighed, but nodded. He wanted to help out. Dadan was the reason to why they started to make generators as they know how it worked, especially Sabo, from fixing the one Dadan had a lot while they grew up, and fixing old ones, and now they were making new and better ones, but Dadan never wanted them, but Ace would always offer.

Ace gave a breath. "I will be by the barn at 6pm tomorrow." Dadan nodded. "Good. I will not be there." Ace nodded. "I know. Hope this gas and diesel lasts a while, I will come with a new shipment in a month." Dadan nodded. "Okay." Then Dadan just left for the main house as well, and Ace walked back to the car.

Dadan lived off the grid, and had for decades. Ace had grown up here, after Garp placed him here, to be safe, a last wish Ace's mother had, before she died. This was where he had met Luffy and Sabo, since being placed here, off the grid with Dadan, had been the safest for them, as Dadan never allowed any electronics, beside a generator for very few electronics like lights, heating in the winter, and water filters. Being off the grid was the safest for them growing up as Dadan made sure no one got too close that wasn't wanted there without a fight, and their village was in a place thought to be deserted, so anyone rarely came here, only when lost or exploring, but Dadan scared them off fast. Ace had been here until he was 15, when he had been found with a cellphone and been banished by Dadan, the leader of the ones who lived off the grid here, but Ace still helped out, but followed the rules now. But Dadan didn't really want his help, which Ace found sad as he truly wanted to help.

When Ace got to the car, he took his phones up and saw on his main one, he had a message from Whitebeard, who asked if they could postpone the meeting half an hour, which was fine by him, as he had a bit of a drive back, and Ace wanted to shower and change. He got an answer back fast that said thank you, before Ace drove home, giving a breath. He hoped Dadan would one day take their help, beside their shipment of food, gas, and diesel. The generators they had were so much better than the one Dadan had, but he also got it. Dadan was very paranoid of the world, and she had her reasons. Ace then got home when the clock was almost noon, where he went to take a shower and changed, before he checked over the paperwork they could discuss today with Whitebeard. It was a minor detail in their contract, but it could have a huge impact.

That being said, this contract also included everyone who were with Whitebeard, which meant Ace needed to do some background checks, as he wanted to be sure of this. He had already done a small one on everyone, but a few more he felt needed a more thorough check, just to be sure. So Ace went to work. Ace had been an informant for years, and for being 21, he was extremely good at his job. Honestly, starting with it at the age of 7 had helped. As he looked at the clock, he saw he should have enough time, and went to work, checking all he could. As he looked over what he found, there was one thing that had him a bit confused. According to the financial records Ace found, Newgate's company made a decent profit. It didn't make them millionaires or close to that, but they were able to live comfortably. Also Curiel, who was a doctor, had no debt from school, but he found out Haruta had some debt. Granted, it wasn't extremely high, but it was close to 15k. And she hasn't started university yet either.

This made him check around some more, before it made sense. Haruta was young, being only 18, and was in school, seemed to want to become a lawyer, and had taken some extra courses when she could to be prepared to start law school when the summer came, which still was some months away, but it was clear she wanted to be prepared. One look at her credit and debit card use showed she didn't splurge on anything wild, and tried to save everywhere she could. That made sense, as she would need a scholarship to go to one of the better schools, which by the looks of it seemed to be what she was aiming for. While Newgate's company made money, they didn't make enough to put Haruta through law school just like that. They also had a lot of expenses, and Curiel had gotten a scholarship when he went to school, so his education cost little. Ace decided he would keep an eye on this. Just in case.

Besides that, he found nothing on anyone. He did find something that made him chuckle, but wouldn't mention, which was the middle name to Marco, something it looked like he tried to hide, and Ace would help hide it. Then he looked over at the clock and noticed he needed to leave soon, so he made sure he had all the paperwork in order, before he went to drive to Newgate's house, as Newgate had given him his address, not that Ace hadn't already known it from before. He also knew there was a mortgage on the house. Ace hoped the company he and his brothers had could help Newgate and his company grow more.

As he was getting ready to leave, his computer chimed, and when Ace looked at it, he blinked. It was a quick search he had started earlier that was now finished. This showed Newgate had recently made contact with a company that used others and was not on Ace's nice list. He would ask about this when he had the chance. He then left, and when he got to Newgate's home, he rang the doorbell. Marco came and showed him in. It was a nice house, a large home actually. It had 9 bedrooms, as well as 4 extra rooms that were not allowed to be lived in over long periods as they didn't have 2 escape routes, therefore not meeting the parameters of fire safety regulations. Marco did ask if he wanted a tour, and Ace said yes. He knew the layout from a listing when Newgate bought it years ago, but not how it looked now. It was nice and large, and the house had a lot of personality and felt like a home.

They also spoke a bit as Marco showed him around, which Ace didn't mind as Marco was a calm and nice man. As he had gotten the tour, they walked to what once had been a second living room, had become a meeting room. This home had 4 living rooms, one which was actually used as a living room, one which was remodeled into a huge dining room to fit all of Edwards family members comfortably, one as a movie room, and this one, which was a meeting room. Newgate, Thatch, Vista, and Haruta were waiting for them so Ace sat down on a chair and the meeting started. They did see eye to eye on mostly everything right away, beside two topics, but after stating their minds on each, they came to an unison decision that worked, and made some edits here and there until everyone was satisfied.

They also ate as they did this. Thatch, who was a chef, had made food for them, which had tasted really good. There had been various things from different countries, and Ace always liked to eat new kinds of food, and would remember them and make it so Luffy and Sabo could taste them as well. After 3 hours, they were finally on the finish line, and the meeting had gone fine. They needed one last agreement and some signatures, and this would all be done in the blink of an eye, but Ace had one thing he needed to bring up before that , so he looked at Newgate. "If possible, could I get a one on one for a couple minutes?" Newgate blinked, before he nodded and said that was fine, making the others leave.

When they were gone, Newgate looked at him. "What is it?" Ace hummed and took out a piece of paper he had printed, showing it to the other man. "I found this when doing a check, have you done business with 'The Green Interface'?" Newgate took the paper and looked at it, before he nodded. "Yes, but this started only recently. Nothing is done yet, they have some communication supplies and interfaces we could use. How do you know about this?" Ace hummed. "I know a lot. Now, while I can't deny you doing anything, but should you accept this deal, 'Straw Hats International' will withdrawal our support and no longer want to merge with you, as 'The Green Interface' is not a good company, does lot of shady business, and scams many, and neither I, nor my company, want to be affiliated with them in any way."

Newgate blinked, before he nodded. "I had no idea. I believe you are not just making this up But what we got about them has seemed legit." Ace hummed. "Double check the bank number they want you to send your money to, and you will notice it is an offshore account and not a local one as they claim. I can also send you some papers and more to check for you to notice they are trying to scam you. I know on trustpilot, they have a high rating, this is also faked." Newgate nodded. "I see. If you could send this, I would appreciate it, and based on what you said we will not do any business with them. I have no intention of being scammed. It all looked legit." Ace nodded. "Yes, they are good at what they do. And they do scams." Newgate nodded. "We will end all present and future business with them. Would you like to wait to sign our contract until I have done this?" Ace hummed. "No need, I will keep myself updated on it, and if you are not following through about ending current and future business, we will withdraw all of 'Straw Hats International' support, merging, and business, which includes that all equipment you have gotten will get taken back, as well as I will ban you from ever doing business with us, or any of the companies we do business with."

Newgate nodded. "I understand that, and I will cease all current and future meetings, plans, and business with them as soon as I can." Ace nodded. "Good. Should there be any reason they don't take that kindly, which might happen based on previous ones who have ended their business, you have my number, and I would like that call so I can help you with this. They are known to be rash and brash. I can also give you contract info to businesses that offer the same as them, only legit." Newgate nodded. "I will keep that in mind, thank you. And would like that." Ace shook his head. "No issue, I want to see this merge happen, but I will not work with them." Newgate held a hand up. "No, I get it. I had no idea about this, thank you for informing me of this." Ace was glad the man took this seriously, as Ace did take this seriously.

Ace then hummed. "I have no issue signing these papers then. Should we get the others in? We do need at least 2 witnesses." Newgate nodded and the others came back in. They then signed the papers, which had everyone glad. After that, they ended the meeting and Ace went on his way home to relax for the evening, before he would go and get his brother tomorrow.

-x-

Whitebeard gave a breath as Ace left feeling glad it went fine, the others seemed to feel the same way, and Haruta did ask what Whitebeard and Ace had spoken about, to which Whitebeard said it was nothing special, just something Ace wanted to discuss with him about this merge, as they were the ones who were owners. The others seemed okay with that response, but Marco did look at him- the only one who knew what Ace was, that he was also an informant and hitman. So when evening came and Whitebeard was in his office, Marco came in, closing the door after him, asking what Ace and he had really spoken about.

Whitebeard gave a breath. "Ace did some checking, and found out we had recently done some business with 'The Green Interface', which apparently is basically a scam business." Marco blinked. "What, yoi? Are you sure?" Whitebeard sighed. "I do believe Ace, and he gave me some things to check so we have the needed proof to end our pending contract and future contact, and should they take this bad, which they most likely would, Ace is willing to help. Should we, however, not stop our business with them, we will lose 'Straw Hats International' for good, all their help and support, just like every company they work with." Marco blinked. "So, we either lose Ace and his business, or 'The Green Interface business'?" They would lose one, and Whitebeard knew which one he didn't want to lose.

Whitebeard nodded, and Marco did as well. "We will choose to do business with Ace and his company I hope, yoi. We would benefit much more from them." Whitebeard nodded. "We will choose them, and Ace is willing to give us names and contact info to other good businesses who offer the same as them, only legit." Marco blinked. "He will?" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. Ace wants to see this merge happen as well." Marco nodded. "Ace does seem like a rational person who wants the best for his company, and does a thorough job of researching. I didn't know anyone knew we had started doing business with them, yoi." Whitebeard hummed. "Ace is not a normal person, you know this." Marco nodded. "Yes, he certainly is not. I am glad he does a thorough job, yoi." Whitebeard nodded, he was as well. And he was glad Ace seemed to mix well with his family, just like he was glad Marco didn't seem to mind that Ace was what he was as well. It was something that already had but also would obviously helped them in the long run.

Whitebeard also hoped they would get to be friends as well, and not just colleagues and business partners. But only time would tell.

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!

I hope this chapter made sense and was a nice read

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