Garp's distinctive voice was easily recognizable. However, his sudden emergence startled not only Ace but also Crocodile, who had just dealt with a group of small fires near the dock.
Why on earth was the Marine Hero there in Alabasta? Ace wondered if his plans had been exposed. Even if that were the case, Garp shouldn't have to come here personally, considering how many soldiers Marines had, right?
In any case, since Garp hadn't mentioned his name, Ace decided to hide and watch as the commotion unfolded. He didn't want anything to do with Garp, as nothing good come out from it.
"Stop going after me, old man! I'm not going back with you!" Ace shouted as he dashed frantically through the streets. Garp was chasing after him with a horde of Marine soldiers. The interesting part was that, Giotto ended up running with Ace.
"Oops, this is gonna cause a big misunderstanding. Why did you drag me to this?" Giotto said. When Ace had grabbed him earlier, Giotto was too slow to react, and now he found himself in this situation.
In Garp's eyes, it probably looked like Giotto was trying to abduct his beloved grandson, a situation similar to Shanks abducting Luffy.
"Hey Giotto, you bastard! You dared to lay a hand on my precious grandson just because I teased you earlier? Our relationship isn't that bad, is it? Besides, it's not a big deal that you were..."
As expected, Garp recognized Giotto at this point and started shouting. He even nearly mentioned what he saw in the sea earlier.
"Damn it, Garp! Shut your foul mouth. If you mention what happened before, I'll kidnap your grandson and take him to New World whether you believe it or not! Moreover, this is a misunderstanding. If I stop, can you refrain from chasing me?" Giotto quickly stopped Garp from continuing. He didn't want to discuss his and Aeliya's private matters in front of everyone.
"I wouldn't have chased you if you didn't run!" Garp joked.
"Would I run if you weren't chasing me?!"
Seeing Giotto and Garp bickering, Ace felt like he wasn't the main character in this chase anymore. It appeared that the person he just met knew Garp to some extent.
Wait a minute...
Ace's suspicions intensified and asked, "Hey, mister, you didn't bring the old man here to arrest me, did you?" He couldn't help but wonder as Garp soon chased after him not long after Giotto talked to him.
However, that didn't seem to be the case. Otherwise, why would Giotto run alongside him?
If Giotto had the ability to read people's minds like Aria, he would definitely beat Ace up and hand him over to Garp. After all, Ace was the reason he was running away from Garp with him!
Oh well, since things had come to this point, Giotto decided to help Ace, even though he didn't think Garp could catch him.
With that in mind, Giotto suddenly stopped and fixed his gaze on Garp. He imbued his fists with powerful Color of Arms Haki, but he didn't enter Dying Will Mode.
After all, he only wanted to stop Garp briefly, not engage in an all-out battle.
"Old man, you won't catch me! Sandstorm Fist!"
Ace suddenly leaped into the air, and yellow sand swirled around him, forming a massive fist that he used to smash his grandfather.
However, Ace's technique looked quite strange no matter how Giotto looked at it. In the anime, Ace was Flame-Flame Fruit user and often used techniques like Fire Fist, but since Giotto beat him to it, it seemed that Ace had eaten another Devil Fruit, the Sand-Sand Fruit, upon his arrival in Alabasta.
Giotto couldn't help but wonder if Ace had killed Crocodile and consumed the Sand-Sand Fruit. How else could he explain Ace's control over the sand?
"However, this doesn't seem like the power of Sand-Sand Fruit. It's more like..."
Giotto looked at the enormous sand fist and realized that it was Float-Float Fruit ability, which used to belong to Shiki! It seemed that after Shiki's death, Float-Float Fruit returned to circulation and Ace somehow got it. This was an unexpected turn of events. He was Roger's son, Garp's grandson, and had Shiki's power. Perhaps Ace's future would be completely different from the anime.
"But why is this Sandstorm Fist getting bigger and bigger?"
As Giotto contemplated this unusual turn of events, he couldn't help but notice that he was within Ace's attack range now seemed to be increasing. It seemed that Ace had some control issues with his new power.
"Fist of Love!"
"Dying Will Armament: Bone Crusher!"
The situation immediately changed. At first, Giotto planned to help Ace and kept Garp at bay, but suddenly, he found himself on the same side as Garp. Giotto's right hand was now imbued with a bit of Dying Will Flame, and he drove it towards Ace's incoming Sandstorm Fist!
At the same time, Garp also used his "Noble Phantasm for his grandson", also known as the Fist of Love.
"Boom!"
Giotto and Garp both launched seemingly casual attacks, with no intention to harm Ace. However, even their casual attacks produced an intense shockwave. The seemingly overwhelming Sandstorm Fist disintegrated in an instant due to their powerful attacks.
Even Shiki wouldn't be able to fend off his and Garp's attack, let alone Ace, who had only obtained this power recently. It was evident that Ace was still inexperienced with this new power.
"So, you really came to catch me with the old man, mister!" Ace shouted when he saw Giotto helping Garp to fend off his attack. It was a very reasonable statement, and Giotto was momentarily at a loss for words.
It seemed that everyone in Garp's family was a moron apart from Dragon!