"Long time no see, Luffy. You haven't changed a bit."
Ace walked over, carrying his pack, grinning broadly.
Saying he hadn't changed... but it seemed he had changed a lot.
That little kid who always followed behind him and Sabo had grown up enough to defeat a Warlord of the Sea?
As for the Warlords themselves, Ace didn't have much feeling about them. Not long after he set sail, he received a notice from the World Government inviting him to become a Warlord. Strictly speaking, he had been at that level very early on.
He could fight a fellow Warlord like the "Knight of the Sea" Jinbe for days on end.
"Hahaha, I haven't seen you in ages either! Was that a Devil Fruit ability earlier? Who were you fighting?" Luffy asked with a laugh.
During his fight with Crocodile, he had seen huge pillars of fire and smoke. He'd sensed two powerful presences, but hadn't expected one to be Ace.
Ace couldn't help but smile, a flame appearing in his hand. "It's the Mera Mera no Mi."
"A Logia-type Devil Fruit user?"
"An acquaintance?"
"It looks like it."
Zoro and the others gathered around.
Then the two brothers simply lay down, interlocked their hands, and started arm wrestling.
"What are they doing?"
"Some kind of greeting ritual?"
Nami walked over to Vivi and finally noticed Vivi's mood seemed off. "What's wrong? Wasn't Crocodile defeated?"
"I... I know. It's another matter." Vivi's gaze drifted, really not wanting to talk about it.
Who knew what she'd been through?
"Crocodile? Luffy did defeat him, but he seems to have escaped. A Marine captain, a smokey guy I fought earlier, went after him," Ace said, his expression gradually showing strain.
Aside from Luffy, everyone else was surprised.
"Smokey guy? That Marine named Smoker? I fought him in Loguetown," Luffy said, looking increasingly confident.
In terms of raw strength, he was surpassing Ace now!
Who could understand?!
When they were kids, Sabo and Ace were a few years older. Luffy didn't seem better than them at anything except his Devil Fruit ability... No, wait, that was his special thing. They never wanted to pee together with him.
Now it was different.
"You're still as headstrong as you were as a kid," Ace said through gritted teeth.
"You're the same! The Devil Fruit was a surprise, but otherwise you haven't changed a bit. Remember when you ran into a watermelon field, ate a hundred watermelons, then spat out the seeds like cannonballs and ran away?!" Luffy's face started to contort with effort.
"That wasn't me, that was you!"
"Didn't you get a huge bump on your head in the end?"
"That was you too! I laughed my head off watching!"
Crunch...
The sand beneath them gave way.
The contest's result was destroyed by external factors.
But both Ace and Luffy knew how it would have ended.
"You're something else, Luffy."
Ace was naturally shocked, but more than that, he was proud—this was his little brother, after all.
Luffy surpassing him in strength? After obtaining the Mera Mera no Mi, he had focused more on developing his Devil Fruit abilities. But for Luffy to reach this point meant he had worked incredibly hard.
"Hey, Luffy, how about joining the Whitebeard Pirates?" Ace tossed his sake flask to Luffy, extending the invitation. "With your strength, you could easily be a division commander on our ship."
Luffy took a big gulp and refused outright. "No way."
Nami and the others weren't surprised by Luffy's refusal.
Vivi, however, looked shocked at the mention of the Whitebeard Pirates. "You mean... the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Ah, sorry, I haven't introduced myself properly."
Ace laughed heartily, giving a slight bow to everyone. "I'm this idiot's older brother. My name is Portgas D. Ace. Currently, I'm the commander of the 2nd Division of the Whitebeard Pirates. Nice to meet you all. Thank you for taking care of my little brother."
He's so polite?
Nami and the others instinctively returned the gesture. "Oh, not at all."
"Well, this guy's a bit lacking in manners. He must be a handful, right?"
Their expressions unchanged, Nami and the others waved their hands. "Not at all."
They were a bit surprised that Luffy had such a famous pirate for an older brother.
Of course, they were even more surprised that this brother was so well-mannered.
"Are you all thinking something rude right now?"
Luffy scanned the group, surprisingly perceptive.
They all averted their eyes.
"By the way, Ace, why are you here?" Luffy asked.
If the Whitebeard Pirates were Emperors of the Sea, they should be in the New World right now.
"I thought you might have gotten my message from Drum Island... Never mind. Actually, I came here on official business to see you."
Ace pulled a piece of paper from his clothes and handed it to Luffy. "And to give you this. A Vivre Card. A little trinket from the New World."
Luffy took it, looking puzzled. "What's it for?"
"Pretty much every pirate in the New World makes Vivre Cards. You tear off pieces and give them to your nakama. The pieces will point towards the owner's location. They can also show the owner's current condition."
Ace explained with a smile. "You'll come to the New World, right? When you do, I'll introduce you to Pops.
That's the man I intend to support to become the Pirate King. He's your rival.
Who knows, you might even be charmed by Pops' personality. Of course, your crewmates can join too."
Luffy waved his hand.
That was impossible.
The one who would become Pirate King could only be him!
More importantly, while talking to Ace, Luffy was about to lose control. He hurried over to Vivi. "Vivi, is there anything simple I can learn? Teach me something quick!"
Ace watched thoughtfully.
"Uh... did you know our captain is very... studious?" Zoro didn't know how else to explain it.
Studious?
Ace had a sudden realization.
He had arrived before Zoro and the others. From a distance, he had seen what Luffy did with that woman dressed all in black.
He'd thought he was seeing things.
Turns out he wasn't.
A fatherly, approving smile spread across his face.
Ace's gaze lingered on Nami and Vivi for a moment, then he pulled Luffy aside and whispered, "Which one do you like?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Still playing dumb with me? Ah, well, you are at that age."
Ace burst out laughing, slapping Luffy's shoulder hard enough to make him wince.
That explained it.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Ace walked over to Nami and Vivi, bowed very formally, and said, "Please take good care of Luffy from now on."
"Huh?"
"Oh... sure."
An indescribable sense of absurdity washed over them.
Luffy also looked at Ace with a strange expression.
So what was that all about? He felt like he'd just been sold off.
***
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