Looking at Alpha's disheveled figure sprawled unconscious on the ground, Bonney slowly released her Devil Fruit ability and returned to her normal small, adorable form.
"Serves you right for trying to bully me!" Bonney stuck out her tongue at the defeated CP agent and marched confidently onto the deck of the Black Nova in full view of the gathered crowd.
"Brother Jerry! Please, let me sail with you. I want to find my dad!"
It seemed that after reading Kuma's heartfelt letters and listening to Jerry's stories about her father, little Bonney had grown considerably. Being the smart girl she was, she no longer wanted to wait passively for news. Instead, she'd decided to take action and search for her father herself.
Noticing the bewildered stares from his crewmates who had returned from their shopping, Jerry's mouth twitched slightly. "Uh, I don't think Kuma mentioned anything about this in his letters..."
Jerry understood Bonney's feelings completely. To the young girl, Kuma was her closest family member and occupied the center of her small world. But even though he sympathized with her situation, agreeing to take Bonney aboard and help her track down Kuma wasn't a simple decision.
After all, they were essentially a wandering pirate crew whose main goal was exploring wherever their adventures took them. Unless the entire crew discussed and agreed on a destination, they usually didn't deliberately seek out specific places or people.
Jerry patiently explained to Bonney that their pirate crew's unpredictable itinerary wasn't really suited for actively searching for someone as elusive as Kuma, using both emotional appeals and logical reasoning.
However, little Bonney had finally met someone who actually knew her father—someone Kuma himself had said could be trusted. She wasn't about to give up so easily.
"Then I'll just travel with you!" she declared with determination. "Dad always said he wanted to take me on adventures someday! And in his letter, he mentioned he was traveling all over the world. Maybe we'll bump into each other somewhere!"
Little Bonney had solid reasoning and racked her brain to come up with convincing arguments. Her earnest expression and logical points made it hard to refuse.
In the end, Jerry found himself agreeing, partly because Bonney had just knocked down a World Government agent and essentially become a wanted criminal herself. If they left her behind, she'd probably find some way to go to sea on her own eventually—and that could be far more dangerous.
Since she'd specifically asked for his help and made it clear she didn't expect them to change their original sailing plans, Jerry figured there wasn't much harm in bringing her along. At worst, it would just mean having another young girl aboard. With Carrot already part of the crew, he felt this wouldn't cause too much additional trouble. If they happened to encounter Kuma in the future, he could simply reunite them then.
Although Bonney could use her Age-Age Fruit powers to disguise herself as someone in her twenties, she was still fundamentally just a nine-year-old child at heart.
Jerry mentally kicked himself for not exchanging contact information with Kuma during their previous meetings. Due to his sensitive position with the World Government, Kuma probably hadn't wanted to bring up this possibility either.
"Alright, you can come with us," Jerry said finally. "When we find Kuma later, we'll get you back to him."
Carrot, who had been watching the entire scene with excitement, cheered and rushed over with her fists clenched in front of her chest. "Sister Bonney! What was that amazing ability where you grew so big?" she asked with sparkling eyes.
"Whoa!" Little Bonney jumped when the rabbit girl's face suddenly appeared right in front of hers.
But the two quickly became fast friends, whispering secrets to each other and giggling constantly as they bonded over their shared energy and youth.
Jerry exchanged knowing glances with the other crew members before steering their ship away from the harbor.
"Let's set sail for our next destination!" he called out cheerfully.
The sky after the recent rain was a brilliant light blue, with golden sunlight streaming through the clouds and creating a peaceful, fresh atmosphere that lifted everyone's spirits.
On the deck of the Black Nova, laughter and joy could be heard throughout the day.
"Kotatsu, faster! We're almost catching up to Carrot!" Bonney giggled.
"You'll never catch me!" Carrot called back playfully.
Little Bonney rode on Kotatsu's back with a huge smile, stretching out her small hands as she enthusiastically directed the enhanced lynx to chase after Carrot in their ongoing game of tag.
After Bonney joined the crew, the younger members quickly became inseparable, constantly inventing new games and activities to keep themselves entertained.
When everyone learned that little Bonney had grown up essentially alone in the church since childhood yet still maintained such a lively, cheerful personality, they all made special efforts to care for her and show her extra affection.
They hoped Bonney could feel the warmth of belonging to their pirate family, spend happy times with everyone, and eventually find her father to regain her real home.
The crew had initially been shocked by her unusually large appetite—if Deuce hadn't confirmed through examination that she was perfectly healthy, Carina and the others would have tried to limit her eating. Jerry had anticipated this situation and remained grateful that their pirate crew still had decent savings, otherwise food costs alone would have become a serious problem.
"Ace, that island ahead should be our destination, right?" Deuce lowered his telescope and compared what he saw with the nautical chart in his hands.
"Yeah... I'm finally back here. Baterilla Island." Ace gazed toward the approaching landmass, his expression lacking his usual carefree smile and showing instead a hint of melancholy.
Jerry put away his fishing gear and walked over to pat Ace on the shoulder supportively.
Ace hadn't told them exactly why he wanted to visit this particular island, but he'd specifically asked Deuce to include it in their itinerary when they entered South Blue. Even though Jerry didn't know Ace's specific thoughts, he knew the significance of this place and could understand the complex feelings Ace must have about returning here.
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry," Ace said, noticing the concerned look. "This is just an ordinary island to me."
Realizing his mood had become too serious, Ace quickly adjusted his demeanor and put on his signature playful grin, as if all his troubles had simply vanished into thin air.
"That's the spirit. Just relax and do whatever you need to do here," Jerry said, giving Ace's shoulder a firm pat of encouragement.
Deuce nodded silently, expressing his quiet support for whatever Ace was going through.
"Hey! Are you using this as an excuse to get revenge for our last sparring match?" Ace jumped away with exaggerated alarm, pretending to get into a fighting stance. "Come on, it's been several days since we had a proper bout."
During their days sailing the seas, as their crew had grown larger, the opportunities for Jerry and Ace to spar one-on-one had naturally decreased. They now took turns training with Cavendish, Brook, and the other capable fighters.
Due to the limited space aboard their ship, their practice sessions were always restricted to hand-to-hand combat, deliberately avoiding their more destructive abilities. Otherwise, if they weren't careful, the Black Nova might be forced into early retirement.
"Ha! Maybe later," Jerry laughed, pointing toward the island now clearly visible ahead of them. "We'll be landing soon anyway."
At this point, the rest of the crew had gathered together, having noticed that the island was rapidly growing larger in their field of vision as they approached.
"Time to go ashore," Jerry announced.
After docking the Black Nova securely at the small harbor, Jerry watched as Ace shouldered a modest backpack and gave him an encouraging nod.
The others responded and began disembarking one by one. Although they weren't entirely sure about Ace's purpose for visiting this island, they could all sense that something was different about him today.
The most obvious sign was that he hadn't immediately shouted about food and jumped ashore first, as was his usual custom!
This unusual behavior made everyone exchange puzzled glances, but no one showed excessive surprise. They all understood that their friend would share what was on his mind when he was ready.
Stepping onto solid ground, Ace looked up at the clear blue sky and the houses and residents visible in the distance. Despite the complex emotions swirling within him, a genuine, bright smile gradually appeared on his face.
Jerry observed the village they were about to reach and noticed that Ace had become lost in his own thoughts again, that same sunny smile fixed on his features as he stared at his birthplace.
He gently waved his hand in front of Ace's eyes. "Stop grinning like an idiot and come back to reality."
The familiar teasing snapped Ace out of his reverie, and his grin became more natural as he focused on the present moment and the friends who had accompanied him to this meaningful place.