At this moment, the two greatest contributors of the war Whitebeard had recovered with the help of medication.
Renji had also awakened thanks to Marco's treatment.
Because there were simply too many wounded and critically injured people within the Whitebeard Alliance, their fleet had been traveling at a slow pace the entire time.
Even now, half a month later, they were still drifting across the sea.
Of course, they had already returned to the New World.
The forty-three pirate crews allied under Whitebeard, along with the elites from his territories, islands, and affiliated nations, had already dispersed and returned to their respective homes to recover.
At present, only the main Whitebeard Pirates crew of over one thousand people remained, along with the thousand or so prisoners Renji had brought back from Impel Down.
This battle although none of the division commander-level fighters suffered major issues, the casualties below that level were devastating.
Out of the sixteen vice-commanders across the divisions, nine had already been replaced.
"It feels like it's been a long time since things were this peaceful."
Leaning against the side of the ship and feeling the sea breeze brush across him, Renji revealed a relaxed smile.
The main reason he had fallen unconscious was because he had overused his power.
Both his stamina and mental energy had been drained to the limit.
After half a month of recovery and Marco's medicine, he had more or less returned to normal.
Looking at Ace standing before him, Renji suddenly raised his hand and smacked him.
"What the hell are you spacing out for, brat?"
"You bastard!"
Getting slapped for absolutely no reason immediately caused Ace to explode in anger.
Endless flames erupted around his body.
A terrifying aura spread outward from him.
Just as Renji had previously judged, Ace's strength had indeed increased tremendously after surviving death.
He had already reached a level comparable to Marco.
"Fire Fist!"
As Ace shouted the name of his attack, a massive fist made entirely of flames blasted toward Renji.
Renji showed no intention of backing down either.
Cracks spread outward from his hand.
The vibrations of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit directly intercepted the Fire Fist and shattered it apart.
Bang!
A muffled explosion rang out.
Renji's fist collided directly against Ace's.
[You picked up a Devil Fruit growth experience!]
[You picked up a comprehension experience for Armament Haki!]
Hearing the system notifications in his mind, Renji smiled faintly.
"Feeling better now?"
"More or less."
Ace shrugged.
His thoughts were still stuck on everything that had happened during the Summit War.
Too many people had sacrificed themselves for his sake.
"It's just… I feel kind of lost."
Ace's voice was filled with confusion and uncertainty.
Even now, he still did not know whether everything he had done had been right or wrong.
"It's normal to feel lost."
Renji stood up.
"That's just how life is. Nothing ever goes smoothly forever."
"What we need to do is try our best to make ourselves happy!"
As he spoke, Renji seamlessly blended into the party taking place behind him.
"Brothers, cheers!"
Grabbing a mug of beer, Renji drained it in one gulp!
"Now that's what I call straightforward!"
"As expected of our instructor!"
"That was only one cup. Who are you fooling?"
"Another one! Let's see how much you can actually drink!"
For a moment people trying to force drinks on him, people flattering him…
Everyone crowded around Renji.
Their goal was extremely clear.
They wanted to drink Renji under the table!
"Hold it!"
After downing five or six more cups in a row, Renji finally called for a stop.
"What's wrong? Can't drink anymore?"
"You chickening out already?"
The moment Renji spoke, someone immediately jumped out to provoke him.
The meaning was obvious they were afraid Renji would stop drinking, so they intentionally tried to rile him up and keep him going.
"You think I'm scared of you people?"
Renji's response was incredibly firm.
He swept a disdainful gaze across the crowd.
"Then drink!"
A fresh cup of alcohol was shoved directly in front of Renji.
Everyone around him looked at him with provocative grins.
"Just me drinking is boring."
The moment Renji said that, Ace immediately had a bad feeling.
"Didn't you notice there's another guy over there just watching the fun?"
As Renji spoke he pointed directly toward Ace.
"Just as I thought…" Ace rolled his eyes.
He knew it.
"Captain Ace!"
Renji's intentions were crystal clear.
He was dragging Ace down with him.
And these pirates were exactly the type who loved making a scene bigger.
They immediately crowded around Ace.
Completely ignoring rank or status, they casually threw their arms over Ace's shoulders.
Then they shoved a mug of alcohol right to his mouth.
Without caring whether he wanted to drink or not, they poured it straight in.
"Drink!"
"Wait!"
Ace looked utterly helpless.
He snatched the mug away.
That shout even attracted pirates farther away, all of whom turned to look at him curiously.
"I'll drink it myself!"
Ace directly drained the beer in one gulp.
At this point how could he still have the mood to think about anything else?
He immediately got swept up in the atmosphere.
The crowd immediately started shouting again.
"One cup doesn't count!"
"You joined late, so at minimum you owe us three cups!"
"Three cups?"
Ace grabbed a barrel of alcohol and shook it.
"There's at least five cups worth in here."
"Today I'll show you what I can really do."
As he spoke, Ace lifted the entire barrel.
Tilting his head back, he began chugging straight from it.
"Amazing!"
"Damn strong!"
Very quickly the crowd began banging on anything nearby that could make noise.
Under everyone's gaze Ace directly drank every last drop from the barrel.
With a casual toss, he threw the empty barrel into the sea.
A faint flush appeared on his face.
Looking proudly at the Whitebeard Pirates around him, he declared:
"I'm the user of the Flame-Flame Fruit."
"The alcohol gets burned away the moment it enters my stomach."
"You people aren't even qualified to compete with me in drinking."
"Keep bragging!"
Someone immediately refuted him.
Looking at Ace's slightly unsteady legs, the pirate laughed.
"Captain Ace, look at yourself already."
"I'll generously assume that barrel held seven cups."
"But that's still nowhere near enough to drink us under the table."
Once one person stepped forward, others quickly followed.
"Captain Ace, don't tell me you actually can't drink?"
"Come!"
One pirate directly opened another barrel.
With an overbearing swagger, he walked up to Ace.
"Since Captain Ace can supposedly drink so much…"
"How about we drink straight from the barrels?"
Meanwhile the culprit who had dragged Ace into this drinking disaster had already slipped away to the very top of the Moby Dick.
Sitting cross-legged atop the ship, one hand supporting his chin, Renji watched everything happening below with amusement.
Drink?
Get forced to drink?
Impossible!
"Wait a second…"
After being tricked into drinking yet another barrel, Ace finally regained a tiny bit of clarity.
With sharp instincts, he immediately sensed something suspicious about the entire situation.
Looking around, he shouted,
"Where did that bastard Renji go?!"
----------
Advance 30 Chapters: patreon .com/StrawFic