"He's Mascud Deus, my ship's doctor." On the Spade Pirates' ship, Ace was introducing his crew to Linton. To be honest, the Spade Pirates had developed quite well by now. Although they only had one ship, they had more than a dozen crew members, and they seemed pretty capable. After all, they eventually joined the Whitebeard Pirates, which made them high-ranking grunts.
Of course, the crew wasn't too surprised by Linton's sudden appearance. Their captain was quite spontaneous and often recruited people on a whim, so they were used to it. But when it came time for Linton to introduce himself, the crew was shocked.
"I am Gol…"
"Portgas!" Ace quickly interrupted, yelling out to cut Linton off.
"Hm?" Linton glanced at Ace, who urgently signaled him. There was no way he could claim to be a Gol! Did he have a death wish?
"I'm Linton," Linton skipped over his last name and continued, "Anyway, I'm Ace's uncle. I've officially joined the crew, so take care of me."
"Uncle?" The entire crew froze, then looked at Ace for confirmation.
"Uh… he really is my uncle…" Ace scratched his head and admitted, looking like he fully believed it himself.
"Really?" The crew was shocked, and Deus came forward to ask, "How come I've never heard you mention you had an uncle?"
"I only just found out myself," Ace replied.
"Then is he related to Garp?" Deus knew Ace's background.
"Anyway… Linton's now a member of our crew. For now, he'll be a fighter," Ace said.
"Understood," the crew nodded.
"Are all the supplies restocked?" Ace asked.
"Yes, Captain," one of the crew members replied.
"Then let's set sail. This island isn't safe. There's a Marine outpost here. We should leave before they realize we've arrived," Ace ordered.
"I think they already know," Deus commented. "They're just too afraid to come after us. There are too many pirates on this island for the Marines to handle."
At this time in the New World, the Marines' influence was quite weak. Although there were Marine outposts on many islands, they were mostly for show. Pirates roamed freely, and the Marines couldn't control them. Everyone knew that the New World belonged to the Four Emperors—they were the real rulers.
"No matter what, our current target is Whitebeard," Ace said. "Set sail for Whitebeard's territory."
"Oh!" The crew cheered along with him. It was clear they didn't fully understand just how powerful the Four Emperors were. Based on Linton's assessment, Ace hadn't been in the New World for long. They had sailed smoothly through the Grand Line without major setbacks. Little did they know how brutal the New World could be.
Linton didn't bother explaining further. Soon, the sails were raised, and the pirate ship slowly left the port. Linton noticed many people secretly watching them from the shore. As one of the Supernovas entering the New World, Ace had already attracted the attention of many factions. It wouldn't be long before someone came looking for him.
Once the ship set sail, things became a bit boring. Linton didn't know how to sail, so he could only watch the crew work. Fortunately, the sea seemed calm for now, with no immediate danger. Ace, who also didn't know how to navigate, left it to his crew and soon joined Linton for a chat.
"Remember, from now on, you're Portgas D. Linton, not Gol," Ace said. "Even if you're part of my crew, you can't reveal your true identity. You know what would happen, right?"
"What would happen?" Linton shrugged. "Have you heard the Gol family motto?"
"Huh?" Ace was confused.
"Fear nothing," Linton said. "The Gol family never fears anything. Look at you—going off to challenge Whitebeard. That's exactly the kind of thing the Gol family would do. So why should I change my name? What's there to be afraid of?"
"It's not that I'm afraid of being found out. Honestly, I hate that guy. That's why I took my mother's last name," Ace explained. "I don't want to hide who I am; I just don't want others to get caught in the crossfire. Right now, I'm worried about you."
Linton understood Ace's point. It wasn't that Ace feared for himself. If his identity as Roger's son were exposed, he was more concerned about the people who might be affected, like his crew or Garp, who raised him.
"Alright, but I still don't want to change my last name," Linton said. "From now on, just call me Linton. It's simpler when introducing myself."
At this point, Ace's impression of Linton was very positive. Even though Linton had forced his way onto the ship, Ace felt like Linton wanted to look out for him. Although they hadn't known each other long, Ace had grown to accept this 'uncle.' Though, the term still felt awkward to him.
"You seem to support my decision to challenge Whitebeard, right?" Ace asked.
"Come on, the Gol family is the rightful holder of the throne. Whitebeard lost to Roger back in the day. He's just a defeated foe of our family, so why would we challenge him?" Linton said.
"…" Ace stared at Linton, speechless.
"Anyway, if you want to fight him, go ahead. You think I'd stop you?" Linton said.
"But… even though I talk big, I'm not really confident when it comes to Whitebeard," Ace admitted.
"Don't worry about that," Linton replied. "I have a pretty good idea of Whitebeard's situation."
"Really?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, based on his strength, if you go now, you'll get your butt handed to you," Linton said.
"???" Ace was dumbfounded.
"Why do you look like you don't believe me?" Linton asked. "It's not that Whitebeard's too strong; it's that you're too weak."
"Wait!" Ace interrupted, "Did you just say I'm weak?"
"Yes." Linton nodded. "With your current abilities, even Whitebeard's grunts could be a danger to you. But knowing Whitebeard's temperament, he wouldn't give you too much trouble if he knew you were Roger's son. So, there's no real danger. You can just go ahead."
"I can't just ignore that!" Ace was really starting to get upset. It was one thing to call him weak, but Linton suggesting he'd need Roger's reputation to get by Whitebeard stung.
"You're not supposed to ignore it. Otherwise, I'd just be wasting my breath," Linton said casually.
"I'm a Logia Devil Fruit user, the strongest type of Devil Fruit!" Ace insisted, thinking Linton didn't realize his strength.
"Logia fruits are powerful, which is why your early journey went so smoothly. You barely met any real opponents," Linton said. "But that has its limits. In the New World, the things you know won't apply anymore. Your current fruit development is pretty weak, and your overall strength isn't impressive. Right now, in the New World, you're at the bottom."
"Sigh…" Ace was frustrated. He was about to say something when Linton waved him off. "But don't worry. With me backing you, you don't have to hold back. I'm the strongest in the world, so whatever you want to do, go for it. Challenge Whitebeard? Announce a war on all Four Emperors? I've got your back."
"I…" Ace was left speechless by Linton's confidence. After a moment of thought, he said, "You're underestimating me. How about we have a fight to settle this?"
"Oh, no problem," Linton agreed immediately. After all, fighting Ace would earn him some points. Plus, he was curious if Devil Fruits could be purchased from the shop and how that process worked. "But let me warn you, I'm really strong. So strong you can't even imagine. If you lose, don't feel too down. It's normal. Everyone else would lose too. I just don't want to hurt your confidence."
"I…" Ace was so annoyed he didn't know what to say. Pointing to a small island ahead, he said, "Let's go there and settle this."
"There's no need to bother with that. I can finish you in a few seconds…" Linton said honestly.
"Stop the ship!" Ace shouted without hesitation.
The crew obeyed and stopped the ship. Ace jumped into the air, using his fruit powers to accelerate toward the island. The crew gathered around, wondering what Ace was up to.
"Come on!" Ace called, gesturing for Linton to join him.
"Are they about to fight?" the crew asked. It seemed their captain was about to face off with his uncle, and the crew got excited.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Obviously the captain."
"But do we really know how strong this uncle is?"
"No idea, but he can't be stronger than the captain. Ace has a Logia-type Devil Fruit."
No one thought they were really fighting out of anger. It was probably just a friendly match, and they were curious to see how strong this new 'uncle' was. The crew even broke out some beer and started placing bets, turning it into a party.
"Alright." Linton jumped
off the ship. The crew was stunned when they saw him land on the water and walk toward the island. Linton, of course, could use simple techniques like walking on water. But the others didn't know that and were shocked.
"How… how is he doing that?"
(End of Chapter)