*Bang*

*Clang*

*Boom*

Loud noises were coming from the bathroom. Alvida had gone in there soon after eating the slip-slip fruit.

She had been inside for a whole hour by now, and constant loud banging noises were coming from inside.

"The hell are you doing, lady?! Breaking the goddam floor?"

"Come out, I want to see how you look. Did the fruit change you or not?"

Ace yelled from the deck. He was waiting for an hour to see Alvida's new look, but she was just wasting time.

Thankfully, after Ace's command, Alvida made some yelping noises before shyly yelling.

"Captain Ace, everything is slipping off my body, including my clothes. I am not able to stand properly; my feet are constantly slipping."

Ace's forehead throbbed, so that's what the loud noises were about. Alvida was falling face first on the floor repeatedly.

Ace knew the slip-slip fruit was hard to master, but this was pretty bad.

"Try to wear some shoes; only your body is slippery. You will be able to stand after wearing shoes."

"As for your clothes, I have no clue. Try to control your power or something."

Ace shrugged; he advised Alvida based on what she had done in the original story.

Beyond that, he had no idea how to use her fruit. She was a Paramecia, and he was a Logia; his experience wouldn't help her.

"But I don't have my shoes; I left them on the deck. Captain, can you bring them to me?"

"I can't go out like this."

Alvida begged Ace; normally, Ace would tell her to piss off, but he was curious about her new looks.

Did the fruit work like it was supposed to? He wanted to know, so he went ahead, grabbed her sandals, and opened the bathroom door.

"I am coming in—holy hell."

Ace's jaw dropped; the fruit had worked alright. Alvida had changed completely. She was absurdly beautiful.

His previous lover, Lola, was good, but shit, this was on a whole other level.

'What happened to Captain Ace? He is looking at me with such wide eyes; does he think I am attractive?! Me? Did the fruit make me more beautiful?'

'No, I just lost a tiny little bit of weight; I was always this beautiful.'

Alvida thought arrogantly before gulping; she was thinking something wild. If Ace found her attractive, did she have a chance to score?

God forbid, no one even looked at her until today. So will it finally happen, at last?!

"Captain Ace, can you help me with my shoes? I am stuck."

Alvida whispered, almost huskily, she was totally giving it a shot. Hearing this, Ace's surprised expression slowly calmed down.

'Alright, she is definitely hitting on me. The question is, am I going to respond right here, in the bathroom?'

"Yes, the answer is yes."

*Bang*

Ace closed the bathroom door with a bang.

Previously, he had told Alvida to stop the loud noises, but somehow, after Ace went in, the noises only increased in frequency.

It was only the next day that the sounds finally stopped. The pirates on the crew were confused when Ace came out of the bathroom with a gorgeous woman.

"Who are you??"

One pirate asked while pulling out his knife, but Alvida just glared at him.

"It's me, Alvida! Did you hit your head?"

The man was taken aback. How could she be Alvida? They looked like two different people.

"Don't think too much; she is Alvida. Now get us some food."

Ace yawned and commanded his men. They looked at each other and decided to take Ace's word for it. Maybe their captain used some secret medicine on her.

Soon, the ship's chef brought food for Ace and Alvida. They started eating together on the deck.

"Ace, dear, what is your dream? I want to know your dream so I can support you on your journey."

"With our relationship, I must know everything about you."

Alvida asked while feeding Ace, and Ace rolled his eyes while chewing on some meat.

"I don't know; maybe I want to become the biggest gangster? Although it's called pirate here, maybe I want to become the pirate king."

'No, that's a pointless goal. The 800-year prophecy isn't about me, nor did the Nika fruit choose me. Even if I find the one piece, I can't do anything with it.'

"I guess I'll choose the next best thing and become a pirate emperor."

Ace rubbed his chin and thought aloud.

"A pirate emperor has wealth, fame, and power. Basically everything a pirate king has except the one piece."

"And the world government doesn't start wars with an emperor. That sounds like something I want."

Ace smiled and decided his dream: he would become the fifth emperor.

Alvida was pretty shocked after hearing Ace's dream. She didn't think Ace would dream this big.

"That's a big dream, but I think you can do it, Captain Ace. I believe you will become an emperor."

Alvida smiled and announced her support for Ace. Ace smiled back and raised his sake cup.

*Clink*

They clicked their glasses together and drank their sake in one gulp.

"We got this, but I can't do this on my own. I need a crew, a fleet, and territories to call my own."

"The first thing I want is someone smart. A strategist is an important part of the crew."

"Do you know someone smart? Like, really smart?"

Ace asked while drinking some more sake, and Alvida thought about this for a few seconds before saying.

"The smartest man I knew was Kuro. He was a pirate with a 16 million bounty, but recently he was captured and killed."

"His crew is still around, though; we can check if they know someone intelligent. Someone comparable to Kuro."

Alvida suggested an idea, but Ace knew something she didn't. Kuro wasn't dead; he was only faking his death.

Ace didn't need to find someone comparable to Kuro; he could get Kuro himself.

That man was supposed to have an IQ second only to Ben Beckman. And Ben Beckman was already an emperor's second in command.

Kuro was definitely quantified to be in his crew.

"Alvida, If Kuro is that smart, he is probably not dead. Maybe he is faking his own death."

"Let's set sail. First, we will find his previous crew and ask if Kuro is still alive."

"Let's go; we will attack the black cat pirates!"

Ace decided on their course, and Alvida quickly nodded and barked some orders. Chuck, the bird, cawed and flew away with his group.

Chuck and his group will search for the black cat pirates, while Alvida will manage their course.