Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!

This got to be a bit long, but I hope you will enjoy it!

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard sat in the meeting room at his company, Ace with him. It was only the two of them this time, looking over some papers, and if all went by fine, they would soon merge their businesses, which would be great. Ace hummed. "We can make that work, Newgate. I just need to adjust some things." Said Ace as he grabbed the paper and wrote something on it. Whitebeard nodded. "Sounds good. Also, please call me Whitebeard." Ace hummed. "Sounds good, Whitebeard." Whitebeard smiled, glad Ace was okay with that. He knew Ace liked formality, and he felt this was a step in the right direction. Ace then handed the paper back to him. "How does this look?" Whitebeard checked it over, and it looked good, so Whitebeard nodded. "This is perfect. If you're ready, I am ready to sign it." Ace nodded. "I am." Ace then started to sign where he needed to sign, before Whitebeard did the same.

When it was done, Ace smiled at him. "One more meeting, and this merge is in the box." Whitebeard nodded. "I can't wait. We should celebrate with a dinner party. My house?" Ace hummed. "That does sound nice. We will come." Ace then took up his phone and hummed. "We have an open schedule in two days. If it works for you, we can have the meeting in the morning, have it approved by noon, and celebate for dinner?" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. That sounds perfect. Any preference on what you want to eat?" Ace hummed. "For me, not important, but Luffy really likes meat, and Sabo is fond of red fish." Whitebeard nodded. "I will inform Thatch." Ace nodded. "Perfect." Then they said goodbye and Ace left. Whitebeard updated everyone, who was just as happy about this. The merge was soon done, and that would be great.

When they sat in the meeting room again, doing the last bits, with both of their lawyers being there as well, just standard protocol, it luckily all went smoothly, and by 11am, it was official. They were still their own companies, but had merged internally, which would benefit both sides. When the clock was 5pm, Ace and his brothers showed back up at the house, and they celebrated the fact that this had gone by fine. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and they got to know Ace, Luffy, and Sabo more. They all seemed to hit it off as well, which was good. Whitebeard was looking forward to working with Ace and his brothers.

The next months they had a lot of meetings together, and meeting with other, new companies they haven't worked with before as they had a larger variety of equipment together and were even working on a new generator and communication device for large companies. He felt they were getting closer to Ace, Sabo, and Luffy as well, which was good as Whitebeard wanted to be close to them. They were good and honest people, nice people. He had also noticed everyone was opening up to each other, which was good. No one, beside Marco, knew about Ace and his other business, and he wasn't sure if he should tell, as he felt sure not everyone would accept it, or anyone if it was brought up wrong. Then there was Jozu, who was a police officer, and was making his way up the ranks, being a lieutenant now, hoping to become chief of police one day, and he had full faith Jozu could and would manage that. He was worried that if Jozu found out about Ace and his side business, he would feel the duty to arrest him or bring him in to questioning, as Jozu was a good and stern cop, and had a huge sense of justice. But he would cross that bridge when it came.

It also seemed like Jozu liked the three brothers, which was good. He didn't want to lose them or their business. So 2 months after the merge, they were in a restaurant to eat and to speak about some small business, but also enjoy themselves together. For this meeting, it was Whitebeard, Ace, Marco, Jozu, and Namur. As they had gotten through the business stuff, they now were just enjoying each other's company, being only halfway through the meal.

As they were speaking, Whitebeard saw Ace blinking, before he made a motion to one of the waitresses, before he looked at Jozu. "Jozu, you are a cop, right?" Jozu blinked, before he nodded. "Yes. But I am off duty now." Ace nodded. "I know. Are you still able to use your status as a police officer off duty? Make a potential arrest perhaps?" Jozu blinked. "I can if there is a situation. The reason I always have my badge with me, and I am allowed to have a concealed weapon off duty as well. Why do you wonder?" Jozu also moved and took out his badge to show it as he spoke. The waitress was now by them and looked at Ace, asking if he needed anything.

Ace nodded and motioned to a table close to them. "That table over there. I need you to make up a reason to take the woman's drink away. Remake it or something. A plausible excuse. Because the man she is with just made her look away and put something in it and is trying to make her drink it even though she doesn't seem to like what he ordered for her. Make her a new one, I have an off duty officer with me here, and when he does it again, he will watch and we will film so we have evidence. Also after you take the drink and remake, get your manager to get the footage from your cameras and call the cops as well please."

The waitress nodded and instantly walked up to the table Ace spoke off and looked apologetic at the woman. "I am sorry, Miss. But we just got a customer complaint that the cola in his rum and coke was very flat, so we're remaking every drink from that serving." As she spoke, she took the drink, and the woman looked relieved, before the man spoke. "We have ordered it and we want it. It is probably not that flat." The waitress shook her head. "I am sorry, it is policy to do this. I will have it remade at once." The man nodded. "Yes, you do that." The waitress then left and asked the bartender to make a new one, before she went over to another man and whispered something as she pointed to them and the other table. Probably the manager, who left while nodding.

As the manager left, he heard the woman from the table speak again, saying she should get going, they had eaten and that she would keep in touch. But just as she was about to stand up, the man moved a hand to her wrist and held it. "You can't leave yet. We need to have drinks. I paid for the dinner, so you owe me as much." The woman looked uncomfortable and scared. The man spoke. "You don't want to make a scene, do you? Yell out I am a bad man. Do you know who my father is?" The woman looked scared, and he wanted to intervene, when Ace moved his hand and took Jozu's badge, making a motion with his hand. The way the woman and man sat, the man couldn't see the motion, but the woman could.

When Ace got the woman's attention, he moved the police badge to Jozu up as he mouthed 'we will help', which had the woman settle down and smile a forced smile. "I can probably try one drink." The waitress now came back to the table and put the new drink down. "I am very sorry for this, this one drink will be free." The man huffed. "It better." The waitress then left, while Ace took out his phone and started to record most likely. Not even a minute later, the man pointed out the window, which was almost behind the woman. "Look at that. How someone dares to walk like a slut with a slutty short dress. No man would allow someone to wear that outside." He said as he pointed to a woman who wore a short dress. The woman did look, probably to be able to look away from the man for a few seconds.

But as she did, the man moved his hand and poured something into the drink quickly, so when the woman looked back, the man had already moved his hand back, taking his own drink and lifting it. "Why don't we drink together? If you usually don't like the taste, just drink it as fast as you can." Ace gave a motion to Jozu. "Your cue. Go." Jozu nodded, got up and walked to the table.

When he got there, he looked at the woman. "Hi, Miss. Is this man bothering you?" Before the woman could answer, the man did. "Dude, she is with me! She is taken! Leave!" Jozu gave a look at the man. "She can speak for herself." Jozu then looked back at the woman, who looked at Jozu with relief. "I am about a 45 minutes drive away from home, he suddenly wanted to take me here. We were supposed to head to a cafe 5 minutes from my place. I actually didn't want to come. I have no way to get home." The man huffed. "You wanted to come here! Don't act like a bitch! You know who my father is!" Jozu looked at the man. "Who is your father if I may ask?" The man huffed again. "He is a police deputy chief! He is a huge influence on this city! Deputy T Bone! Soon to be chief of police!"

Jozu nodded and moved a hand to motion to the woman's drink. "I wonder how he will react to the fact you just tried to drug this woman's drink." The woman looked shocked, same with the man, who quickly moved to knock the glass to the floor. "And what proof do you have? The drink accidentally fell to the floor. Shame." Ace stood up and walked over, waving his phone before turning it around. "So, this is not you drugging her drink while you made her look away? While you called a woman a slut." The man blinked. "Who is he gonna believe? You two or his own son! You forged that! It's not me! It's only my back! Voice can be faked!"

That was when the manager came over to them. "We have you on tape with our cameras as well. We got you from 3 angles." The man stood up. "You have no rights to hold me here! I will leave now!" Jozu took out his badge. "No, you will not. I have witnessed it and we have evidence. More officers will soon be here, and I will personally call your father. I have worked with him before." Now the man looked anxious. "You need to read me my rights! You can't just keep me!" Jozu hummed. "You are not under full arrest, as I am not on duty, but I can detain you. Sit down, or I am allowed to use force as you endangered this woman's life and seem aggressive. If you try to escape or use force, it will make this worse." The man sat down. "Call my father then!"

Jozu nodded and gave a look to Ace, who nodded in return and moved to stand on the other side of the man, while Jozu took his phone and called a number, waiting before speaking. "Deputy chief T Bone, this is Jozu Newgate, I am an officer in another district. We have an issue here at Barbossa Restaurant and bar. We have your son on tape trying to drug a woman he's on a date with. He's denying that and other accusations we have proof for, also he's demanding for you." Jozu nodded as the man he was on the phone with answered, but as Jozu was on his way to speak again, the man suddenly grabbed the phone. "Dad, they are lying! They set me up, dad! You need to come here and help me!" The line spoke and the man, who spoke as if he was scared, had a huge grin as he nodded along. "Thank you, dad."

The man then held the phone back. "My father will believe me over the likes of you. You are nothing more than a useless cop who probably tries to frame me to get higher up." It was obviously said to make Jozu mad, but he didn't take the bait, which seemed to make the man more mad instead. When Jozu asked for the man's name and if he could see his license, the man snorted and said he had no grounds to ask for it, he would never show it to a lowly officer.

It was just 10 minutes later that the doors to the restaurant opened and a man came in with a deputy chief jacket, walking over to them. The man stood up. "Dad! They are-" The deputy looked at his son. "Sit down, Eugene." The man blinked. "But, dad! I ca-" The man glared at his son, which made him sit down and look shocked. The deputy looked at Jozu. "Newgate, do you have the proof you spoke off?" Jozu nodded and motioned towards Ace. "This is a family and business friend, he alerted me to this situation. He has your son on video making this young woman look away, before putting something in her drink." Ace nodded and took out his phone. "I also have him on tape speaking down to Jozu, calling him names, and calling another woman a slut. I also have him on tape on how, after Jozu mentioned the fact he drugged the drink, he purposely knocked said drink down, saying we no longer have the evidence." The manager then stepped forward. "I also have all this from 3 different angles in full HD."

Eugene tried to speak, but his father just told him to be quiet, while he watched the video Ace had. While he was watching it, 2 police officers came in, looking a bit shocked to see the deputy chief here. When the man had watched the video, he nodded and looked at Ace. "Could you send me this video to my email? So I personally also have it, but also give it to these gentlemens." He said as he motioned to the two police officers. Ace nodded and got the email address, before the deputy looked at the manager. "If you could give the info and video evidence to my colleagues, I would appreciate it." The manager nodded and took a police officer with him to get the video evidence he needed.

T Bone then looked at the other officer, a female. "I will leave you in charge here, Tasugi." The female officer nodded and went over to Eugene, starting to read to him his rights as she took out some handcuffs. As this was happening, Eugene looked shocked and over to his father. "Dad! You need to let them make me go! I did no-" T Bone turned and looked at his son with a stern glare. "Had we been alone, Eugene, I would have knocked some sense into you. If you want to make mistakes that endanger other people, I will not help you. You are on your own here."

Eugene looked shocked and started to resist and yell, but T Bone looked at him. "If you do not calm down, Tasugi will need to use force. And do not be fooled by her look, she can take on most. Resisting arrest will only make it worse." That had him calm down and he was led out to the car that Whitebeard could see waiting outside. T Bone then looked at the woman. "I am very sorry about all this. I will make sure this is handled properly. Can you give me your name and information please?" The woman nodded. "Felicia Thompson." T Bone nodded. "Do not be afraid to pursue charges against my son. He has been testing my patience and being more rowdy and rebellious, but never would I have imagined he would stoop this low. Do you want me to call you a taxi home?" Felicia looked a bit hesitant, so Ace spoke up. "If not, I will be more than happy to help you back home." They had taken their own cars, and Whitebeard understood she might be more comfortable with that. T Bone nodded. "I get you might be afraid of me as I am that boy's father. When my other officer, Joachim, comes back, please give him your full statement." Felicia nodded. "Thank you." T Bone shook his head. "It is no issue. I hope you have a good day onwards." Then T Bone left.

As he left, Jozu looked at Felicia. "You are safe now." Felicia looked relieved. "Thank you so much." Jozu smiled and motioned to Ace. "Had it not been for Ace, I wouldn't have noticed it. Just so you can understand all of this better, he drugged your first drink as well, but since we needed evidence, Ace had them remake it so he could get it on video if he tried it again." Felicia nodded and looked at Ace. "I don't know how to thank you." Ace smiled. "The fact that you are safe is more than enough. Please press charges against him and should you need an attorney, I have one and am willing to pay for it all. People like him should not be able to walk freely." Felicia blinked. "You would do that?" Ace nodded and took out a card. "Should you need it, call this number and say Ace gave you their number. After you have given your statement, I understand it if you want to leave at once. I have no issues taking you home."

Felicia blinked. "But have you finished eating?" Ace smiled at her. "You being safe and comfortable is more important, and we are done with the most important things. I am sure they will understand." Whitebeard gave a nod and looked at Felicia. "Your safety is more important than this." Felicia looked grateful. The manager looked at him. "Your meal will be free. I thank you for alerting me and handling it like this." Whitebeard blinked, feeling a bit shocked. Before he could speak, Ace did. "No. We will pay for our meal. You are a business after all." Ace then looked at the waitress. "I would also like to leave a tip for you for handling this like an absolute master and act perfectly to not alert him." Ace then looked at the manager. "She is a very good waitress and handled that as calmly as one could and did everything like a professional." The manager nodded. "I will take your words with me. Leyla is new, she has only worked here for 2 months, but has seemed like a very good person and waitress." Ace nodded. "And I can say she does as well."

They then paid for themselves, before Ace gave a tip to the waitress, and while he couldn't see the exact amount, the waitress looked very shocked and thankful for it, even tried to hand some back, but Ace took none of it. He did get that Ace had some money as 'strawhats international' was doing very well, and the side business Ace had made a fair amount of money as well, as Whitebeard knew since he had paid for Ace's services once, and it was all worth it. He didn't know how large this side business was, he just had a feeling Ace was making quite a lot. And while Ace might be a criminal in the eyes of the law, Ace certainly didn't seem like one and didn't go for just money, Ace did it right he felt like. He only went after those who deserved it. Should there come a time when the others found out about Ace's side business, he hoped they would take it calmly.

-x-

Whitebeard watched as Cillian walked into the tattoo parlor with the cops staying outside in a car. That was bad, because now they couldn't just walk in and get those files back, and the moment Cillian walked out, they were screwed as he was on his way of leaving the country. Thatch gave a swear. "What now?" Whitebeard tried to think, before he got an idea that made him take up his phone and dial a number. As he put the phone to his ear, Thatch looked at him. "Who are you calling?" Whitebeard took a breath. "Our last hope." The others in the car, which were Marco, Thatch, Izou, and Haruta, looked shocked, before Marco seemed to get who he called. Marco was the only one who knew about Ace's side business.

It was answered after a couple of rings. "Hello, Whitebeard, what may I do for you?" Said Ace on the other line. They had worked a lot with Ace lately, he was a good help and knew a lot, and how to handle stuff. Whitebeard nodded his head a bit. "I need a favor. We're on the East side of town, Longfield street, black car, could you drop by within an hour?" He heard a hum. "I am available. On my way." Whitebeard gave a relieved breath. "Thanks." Ace hummed. "No issue." Then Ace hung up and he put his phone down. Izou looked at him. "Who was that?" Whitebeard nodded. "Ace. Maybe he knows what we can do." Whitebeard then looked at Thatch. "We need to fill him in." Thatch didn't look too sure. "Will he be able to help?" Whitebeard nodded. "Ace is a man of many talents, give him a chance." Whitebeard didn't want to tell what Ace was, even though now might have fit, he felt another time might be better. Thatch nodded slowly, not seeming to like this, but they had no other hope.

After maybe 10 minutes, Ace arrived on a motorcycle, parking it a bit away, before he took off his helmet as he walked over to the car where he was let in so he could sit down. "What do you need?" Whitebeard was on his way to speak, when Thatch shook his head. "No. My issue, I can fill him in." Whitebeard looked at his son, who looked worried, probably because he knew that by now Ace really was their last hope, so Whitebeard just nodded. Ace looked at Thatch. "What's up?" Thatch took a breath. "Someone stole something we need back. If we don't, our company will be shut down. I don't know if you can help." Ace nodded. "What is it?" Thatch took one more breath. "It's because of my… biological parents…" He got why Thatch was unsure and didn't want to tell him about them as they were really bad people, and Thatch was ashamed to have been born to them or to be thought to be with them. Whitebeard hoped Ace would help them and not think Thatch still had contact with his old family.

Ace hummed as Thatch was silent for a second. "You mean your parents Theo and Tilla Malsugi? Or your siblings, Treach, Trish, Tritch, Thalia, or Thania? Or your aunt, Thea?" Thatch looked utterly shocked and horrified. "Y- you know? How?" Ace nodded. "I know who you are, yes. I am good at gathering information. But I don't get what those have to do with your company. A lawsuit?" Thatch shook his head. "No. A guy stole some documents, nothing bad with them, but he forged more papers with them. It looks like we used drug-, slave-, and blood money to fund stuff and other horrible things to fund and advertise our company with. That I used the ties my biological family has." Ace nodded. "That would not be good. Who has it?" Thatch blinked. "You don't… care? That they are my family?" Ace hummed. "Why should I? They aren't. You got a new family, a good one. You left it behind. Apart from your biological family, you have a brain and conscience." Thatch looked shocked, but also relieved.

Ace hummed. "So, who and where?" Marco sighed. "He's now in the tattoo parlor there, yoi." Ace nodded and looked. "And I can see there is a cop car there, as well as two feds in a car further down the street." Whitebeard blinked and looked out, noticing a black car with tinted windows. He didn't know that they were here as well. Whitebeard nodded. "He turned into a rat and said he needs help to escape to live and if he gets out of the country alive, he will share a lot of stuff. He blackmailed us, lied and tricked us." Ace nodded. "Name?" Whitebeard nodded. "Cillian Miller." Ace hummed. "Irish. Mid 30s. Blond hair. Drives a Mercedes that's dark green and has plates that spell out Dubland?" Whitebeard blinked. "Yes. Do you know him?" Ace hummed. "You can call it that." Ace then grabbed a pair of small binoculars from his motorcycle jacket pocket and looked over and through the window.

After a few seconds, he hummed as he put them away. "What does he have? Documents? Pictures? Something else?" Thatch gave a breath. "Documents." Ace nodded. "On him?" Thatch gave a small nod. "I think so. He called this morning, said he had them and would turn them in as he left the country, he would just get a tattoo. He leaves after this. He won't share it if we give him 20 million." Ace nodded. "Sounds right. He is a rat, a liar, and a traitor." Ace then took up his phone and dialed a number. Thatch blinked. "Are you calling him?" Ace shook his head. "No. Quiet while I take this call." Thatch nodded and they were quiet.

After a couple seconds it was answered and Ace spoke. "Hi, Chip. It's Ace Portgas. I'm gonna need that favor you owe me." The other line spoke and Ace nodded. "I know, you don't need to leave. The guy on your table now, give him a reason to go to the bathroom in a couple minutes. You do that, you have paid me back the favor you owe me for when I saved your daughter." The other line spoke and Ace smiled. "Good." Then Ace moved the phone down and hung up, before he looked at them. "Whitebeard, Thatch, Marco, you can join. Make sure we get the right papers." They nodded and then went out of the car.

Ace then started walking to the right, which he found odd as the entrance was to the left. "Where are you going?" Ace hummed. "Feel free to go through the main entrance and paint a target on your back for the cops and feds, I am not. Backway." Smart. Whitebeard nodded and they followed. They then walked into a small alley and through a door that Ace had the code to, before they were in what looked like a beatdown public restroom. This wasn't the restroom the tattoo parlor used, and he felt shocked. "Why are we here?" Ace hummed. "You'll see. In here, be quiet. Come out when I call." He said as he opened the door to a large stall. They went in and Ace halfway closed the door, then he heard Ace walk a bit, before he stilled.

After maybe a minute, he heard a door open, before it banged shut and he heard Ace speak. "Hi, Cillian." He heard a startled breath before Cillian spoke. "A-Ace. I am leaving today." Ace hummed. "But don't you remember the deal? You should have left, at the latest, Sunday. And what is today?" Cillian swallowed. "Wednesday." Ace hummed. "Yes. But not only that, you broke the deal we had." Cillian swallowed again. "I didn't! I left your brothers alone!" Ace hummed. "You did, yes. But, the deal wasn't only with my brothers, but those I care about." Cillian swallowed. "I haven't messed with anyone! I promise, Ace." Ace hummed, before he gave a small whistle, and he took that as his cue so he opened the door and walked out. Cillian looked shocked, before he looked at Ace. "I had no idea. I promise. You need to believe me. I didn't know you were with them."

Ace hummed. "The deal was that you would leave at once, you said you needed a couple days to gather your stuff, the reason I gave you until Sunday. Not to get blackmail and threaten people, Cillian, that wasn't the deal." Cillian swallowed and quickly moved to open his jacket, taking out a large envelope and handed it to Ace. "Here." Ace handed it to Thatch, who opened it and nodded. "This is it." Ace looked at Cillian. "Copies?" Cillian shook his head. "No copies. I promise. I needed the original to get out fast." Ace nodded. "Yes, with the feds, also not the deal." Cillian breathed hard, on his way to speak when Ace did and motioned to them. "Leave. I'm right behind." They nodded and went out, and as they were outside, they halted a bit as Thatch made sure it really was everything, and after some seconds, he heard a gunshot. He felt horrified, before he understood Ace shot Cillian.

Whitebeard walked on and made them go back to the car, as Ace told them to leave first for a reason, to not see or hear it. As they got to the car, Izou blinked at them. "How did it go?" Thatch showed the envelope. "Got it all..." Izou nodded. "Then why do you look so pale?" Thatch swallowed. "I think Ace… killed him." Izou blinked. "What? Why?" Thatch shook his head a bit. "He… had a deal with Ace, and he broke it. This was the consequence..." Izou blinked. "He killed a guy?" Thatch nodded and looked shocked, and Izou blinked. "We need to call the cops!" Whitebeard held up his hand. "No. We don't." Izou blinked. "Why not? He is a murderer!" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. But he doesn't just kill to kill. He doesn't just kill since he gets paid or told to kill someone."

Izou blinked. "How do you know that for sure?!" Whitebeard sighed. "If he just did it since he got paid to do so, I would have been killed by him." Everyone looked shocked. "What!?" Said Thatch. Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. That's how I know Ace. He came to me, a bit before Teach stole our stuff. Teach hired Ace to kill me. But Ace ran a check on me and came and warned me that someone wanted me dead and that he got sent here to kill me but he found out that what he had been told were lies. He informed me of this, and told me to watch my back. And if I needed to, to call him, before he just left again. When Teach stole our stuff, I called him for help. He fixed it." Everyone blinked, before Marco looked shocked. "Teach didn't kill someone, yoi?" Whitebeard shook his head. "No. Ace framed him. I told Ace to make it so Teach could never hurt anyone again, especially us. But I didn't want him dead." Namur blinked. "But there are gangs in the prison? And a large cartel. If Teach speaks with them, tell him what happened, you are dead. They have so many ties and work from prison!"

Whitebeard shook his head. "No. The one Teach was framed for killing, was with them. Ace covered everything and Teach isn't allowed to live a calm prison life because of this." Everyone blinked, Thatch looking shocked. "Wait. Oh my God. That one time in town! That human trafficker!" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. That was also Ace. He wanted to show the world." Everyone looked shocked. Whitebeard sighed. "Ace isn't someone who will just kill if you have the money, he researches. And he doesn't just research a name, he researches you." Thatch blinked. "That's why he is okay with me, I left." Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. Ace is a good guy." Everyone nodded. Ace then came out and looked like himself. "All done, he won't follow you. If you need me, call." Whitebeard blinked. "You don't want anything?" Ace hummed. "Friends help friends since they are friends." Whitebeard blinked, before he smiled. "Thank you, Ace." Ace hummed. "No issue."

Ace then started to leave, walking away, when Thatch spoke. "Also, you forgot my uncle. He has laid low lately, it seems like for the last 2 years, but he is dangerous as well, he is-" Ace hummed. "No. Theodore is dead." Ace then turned his head and smiled slyly. "I made sure of it myself." Then Ace turned his head back and walked on as he lifted his hand. "Speak later." Then Ace took on his helmet, started his bike as he sat down and waved once more before he drove off. Thatch blinked. "He killed… my uncle? But he's not mad at me? I mean, he had to have a reason to kill him, right?" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. But as I said, Ace does research. You're not a bad man, son." Thatch nodded, looking shocked. Whitebeard then hummed. "No one tells anyone about Ace's side job, okay?" Everyone nodded, and that was good.

They then left, and an hour later, Izou blinked as he was on his phone, before he looked at him. "Pops, it hit the news now. Top of the page on the web news." Whitebeard nodded and took up his phone to see for himself and it was the main large headline, which read Man killed in tattoo parlor, affiliated with gangs. Whitebeard clicked in on it to read it, and it did say it was being updated as they got new information. It said a man had been found killed at a tattoo parlor, shot in the head. He had papers on him with information about different gangs in the area and state, this obviously being the information he would hand over to the cops in exchange for their protection while he fled the country.

It also said that because of that, this was most likely a gang matter and the regular population should not be worried about a murderer going around, this was only dangerous for you if you were in that gang environment, and said to stay away from that kind of environment. It also said the bullet used and gun found, was connected to the Mexican cartel, who therefore were to blame, which fit with the documents found on the victim. Ace was very good at his job, to be able to hide your tracks like that... But this was good, it meant they were safe, and Whitebeard was glad he was on Ace's side. He was glad Ace was a good man at heart.

-x-

Ace hummed as he walked into his home, having just returned after helping Whitebeard with the issue of Cillian. He was a low rat, and Ace had had a deal with him, if he left peacefully, Ace would have left him alone. And he hadn't followed it. He had waited a bit before he shot him, hoping the others wouldn't hear it, but when he got back to the car Whitebeard had, it was clear they had heard it, and Ace had overheard some words. But it seemed like they took it fine, at least for now. He would keep an ear out in case they had any issues with this, which many usually did, so it wouldn't be anything new, but he hoped for the best. He liked them, both as business partners and friends.

As he was home, his phone rang and when he saw it was Mika, he answered. "Yes, Mika?" Mika hummed. "Did you kill Cillian?" Ace nodded. "Yes, he broke our deal. He tried to blackmail someone my company is working with that I am also close with. As well as he had some interesting files, I will be by to deliver them later today." Mika gave a breath. "Good. This means we don't need to leave for Ireland, but at the same time, I would have liked that." Ace nodded. "Yeah, it is a nice place, and I know you've never been there. Now, I have some things to do." Mika was silent for a second, before she spoke. "Have you found out anything?" Ace shook his head with a sigh. "No. Not yet. He is truly gone without a trace still, but I refuse to give up." Mika sighed. "Same. He can't be far away. It will soon be a whole year." Ace nodded. "I know. Bye for now, Mika." Mika gave a bye, and Ace went to his computer and continued the search he had been doing for almost a year now. One of Ace's work friends, in his mercenary/informant work, was missing and Ace had tried hard to find him, but no luck yet, which he found odd. There was always a trace, but this time, none. He didn't like it. And Ace knew everything about him, all the aliases, what and where to search…

As he was searching, Sabo came into the room. "Hey, how did it go? You left fast." Ace nodded. "Yeah, Whitebeard needed some help with a situation. Someone who was blackmailing them and about to flee. But good and bad news, we will not go to Ireland." Sabo nodded. "Luffy will be sad, he wanted to go." Ace smiled. "We can go at a later time, Luffy did like Ireland." Sabo nodded and looked at him. "He also saw an ad for Saint Petersburg on Tiktok… He wants to go…" Ace stood up and walked over to Sabo. "Just know we will not go there if you don't want to. But if we go, you will be safe." Ace moved a hand to Sabo's head. "I will always keep you safe." Sabo smiled. "I know, but it is just… I know he is looking for me…" Ace nodded. "And he has no idea you're here. I will never let anything happen to you." Then Ace hugged Sabo.

Ace got Sabo was worried. Sabo's mother had been a maid in Russia, working for many, but one of them was an influential and dangerous politician, who ended up forcing her to have sex with him, and she got pregnant. She knew who he was and how dangerous he was, and therefore she ran the moment she knew. She managed to get to the border to Norway, before she snuck over and gave birth there. She did her best to never leave a trail, but somehow the politician found out she had had a son, and it had to be his based on his features. Sabo had been 3 years old. So they ran again, only to run into a mafia group, who took her as she and her son in, even though they were Russian and that mafia group wasn't fond of them, but they had heard her out, and when the woman told her story, the leader said he would keep her son and her safe, as they didn't have good ties with Russia, which she was thankful for.

But the Russian politician found them and his mother was killed soon after. It had been clear that a war between that mafia and the Russian politician would happen, so the leader, Dragon, sent the child to Garp, who happened to be Dragon's father and an international detective, high in rank. He took in Sabo and placed him in the safest place possible; off the grid with Dadan. Being placed with someone who doubted everyone and was paranoid of the world was a place no one would find Sabo. That was where Ace had met him and they bonded very fast. Ace knew the Russian politician still searched, but had no name or anything for Sabo, thankfully. The mafia leader was someone Ace at rare times also worked with, as while yes, they were mafia, their leader, Dragon, did it right in his mind. He did have some bad eggs now and then, but they were quickly taken care of. Dragon also happened to be Luffy's father, which Luffy didn't know. Luffy was placed with Dadan to be safe as well, as his father was a mafia leader. Garp had checked on them now and then, and Ace was thankful for his help.

As he was hugging Sabo, his phone vibrated and he took it up to see a message, which was from Marco, which had a curious question. This could be interesting. Ace looked at Sabo. "Things will go fine, Sabo." Sabo nodded. "I hope so." Ace smiled at his brother. "I know so." Sabo couldn't help but give a chuckle to that. Ace hummed. "Now, let us go watch some Tv before I have to leave for a meeting." Sabo nodded. "Sounds good." They then went and watched some Tv with Luffy, Ace answering the text as he did, and now, Ace had something to look forward to.

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!

A lot happened in this one, and I hope it was good and you found it interesting!

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