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•———•———•———•———•
Chapter's Events:
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"I hate mountain bandits!!" Luffy remembered the rudeness of the previous bandits towards Shanks and his crew, and he expressed his hatred for all mountain bandits in front of Dadan and her group.
"Shut it, you damn brat! Looking after you is a pain in the ass for us too!!"
"If you don't want to be here, that's fine by me!! Get out of here and go starve to death!!"
Dadan snapped at Luffy since Garp had already left.
"Calm down, Boss." It turned out that Dadan was the leader of these bandits.
"I'm still hungry! I want some meat!!"
After eating a bowl of rice and drinking a cup of water, Luffy only felt hungrier, while Ace was devouring the meat voraciously, and the same was true for Dadan.
"This meat is all from a buffalo that Ace caught!! He puts a portion on the table, and we do too! Times are tough for bandits right now." Dadan continued gnawing on the meat and said,
"So starting tomorrow, you'll be working to death too!! Cleaning, laundry, shoe shining, and polishing weapons! Plus, theft, looting, swindling, and killing!!!"
"And listen!! Don't mention a word of this to Garp!!" Dadan continued listing the tasks Luffy would have to do from now on, stressing that he should tell Garp nothing about it.
"Once a day, you'll get one bowl of rice!! And one cup of water!! That's all we'll give you!"
"If you want anything else, you'll have to get it yourself!!! And don't grow anything without permission!!"
"Got it." Luffy nodded in understanding, which left Dadan slamming her head into the ground in shock.
"What the hell!!? This is where you start crying!!!"
"Grandpa used to throw me into the jungle. There's a bunch of stuff I can eat in the forest, like earthworms, frogs, and mushrooms. I'm going to be a pirate someday!! I've got to be able to do this much!!" Luffy didn't think what Dadan said was a big deal and quickly stood up upon seeing Ace leave.
"Hey… where's he going?"
"Where are you going!!? And did you say you're going to be a pirate!!!" Dadan was more and more shocked.
•———•———•———•———•
Sorbet Kingdom:
"Are you throwing my son to bandits to take care of him when I entrusted his responsibility to you? You're such a shameless grandfather!"
Dragon glared at his father with contempt at that moment.
Garp nonchalantly had his pinky finger in his nose, "What's wrong with that… It's better than letting him mix with more dangerous pirates like Red-Haired Shanks."
"Besides, my counterpart wanted Luffy to live with Ace…"
"Now I understand why my son Luffy isn't very smart even after growing up! He grew up with mountain bandits! Damn you, you pig of a grandfather!"
Boom!
Even under Garp's overwhelming power, the art store's table remained unaffected. If they were outside, it would have turned to dust under that punch.
"Are you calling your father a pig?!" Garp was furious.
Seeing his father angry, Dragon backed down and continued reading the manga, following the exciting flashback events.
Crocodile looked at the duo with a deadpan expression before quietly returning his gaze to the volume. The more he saw how Luffy persistently chased after Ace, the more he admired Luffy.
At some point, Ace's behavior became unbearable… If no one already knew Ace, they would have thought he would never soften with such a personality.
"Buwahahaha! It's good that my grandson learns not to give up from this small lesson."
Garp was happy because he understood the purpose behind his counterpart bringing Luffy here.
"Dadan seems like a funny character. Could she really be Miss Dan from the art store?"
Bonney heard a few sighs of astonishment from the random store's goddesses in the art store, most of them talking about Dadan.
"In our world, a person's appearance can change drastically as they age. With your Age-Age Fruit, you know that better than I do, don't you, my dear?"
Kuma said with a smile.
Hearing that, Bonney nodded. She knew that very well.
Her fruit allowed her to change her appearance significantly by manipulating her age.
"This is the timeline where Miss Dadan lost herself and allowed many negative factors to change her life into this version of herself… Unlike her, Miss Dadan from our timeline is in a completely different situation where she met Rob-sama in her youth and gained the status of an art store goddess instead of becoming a mountain bandit."
Bonney was clear about this.
"So that's it… That explains everything." Ivankov nodded with an enlightened expression.
Inazuma felt the same way too.
…
Marineford:
"That sneaky bastard Garp… So this is where he was hiding Roger's son."
"No wonder my counterpart in the manga couldn't find him all this time! What a clever bastard."
Sengoku admired Garp's intelligence in the manga, but at the same time, he felt regret.
All that effort to protect Ace and the desire to prepare him to become a Marine alongside his grandson went to waste when those boys rebelled and did what they really wanted. That's what Sengoku regretted.
"Gray Terminal…!"
"Is there such a place on Dawn Island?" Zephyr asked curiously.
"I've heard about it… There's an additional art store on Dawn Island called Gray Terminal. When it opened, that place was exactly as it appeared in the manga."
Borsalino said, looking at Zephyr and then at Sakazuki, who was lying on the hospital bed.
Sakazuki was also reading the manga, even though it was difficult to do so in his condition.
"Tsk… I don't want to see more of these childish stories. When will the story get back on track? I want to see my strong counterpart honored with the Fleet Admiral seat quickly."
Hearing that from Sakazuki, who was in a semi-conscious state, Sengoku felt anger… As expected, Sakazuki was very ambitious.
Kuzan was also annoyed, feeling that his counterpart would never accept Sakazuki as Fleet Admiral no matter what. After all, this admiral was too extreme.
But the stunning display of power Akainu showed against Whitebeard was still fresh in everyone's minds, including Kuzan's. In terms of strength, Sakazuki definitely deserved it.
…
Jaya Island, the back of the island:
"Zehahahaha! "
"That kid Ace is terrifying! If I were Luffy, I wouldn't have been able to handle him."
Teach laughed mockingly.
The emotional flashback for One Piece fans was just a children's story to Teach and his crew.
"Luffy really never gives up, even from a young age," Shiryu commented with a smile.
"He really kept chasing him for three months! Gahahaha! Weird, I don't really understand how kids think."
Avalo Pizarro laughed sarcastically.
"He was greatly influenced by Shanks, fufu~" Seeing Shanks in the background as Luffy recalled his reaction when the sake bottle was broken on him, "Even in this matter," Catarina Devon also mocked.
"Zehahaha! The following chapters are even more entertaining. It seems these trash lived among trash, which is why they became so soft when they grew up."
"Gray Terminal… So there is such a place in the Goa Kingdom."
"Sabo? Who is this kid? Why is Ace smiling with him?"
The Blackbeard Pirates were curious after seeing another kid who seemed to be Ace's friend… considering that Luffy had been chasing Ace for three months and still hadn't become his friend despite all his efforts.
"Hmm? Interesting." Teach grinned wickedly.
…
Goa Kingdom:
In the newly named art store called the Green Garden, formerly known as Gray Terminal, the people reading the manga were amazed.
The reason was that the place where this flashback was taking place was exactly where they were now.
Among the astonished readers was a certain nobleman with his pregnant wife.
"Did he say Sabo?" Outlook III said with some surprise.
The same surprise was etched on the face of Didit, his pregnant wife standing beside him.
The reason for their surprise was that they had just decided on their son's name, Sabo, the day before, and now a kid with the same name had appeared in the manga.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 787: Luffy, Ace, Sabo.
Chapter 788: The Birth of Brotherhood.
Chapter 789: I Have No One Else.
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