"Don't worry. We'll head straight to the ship afterward. We're just here for supplies. Once we're on board, we can sail up the river and reach the desert!" Vivi, who knew the area well, said with a confident smile.
"Alright, we'll hold off the Marines. You all get to the ship first!" Zoro unsheathed his swords, ready for battle.
"Phoenix Slash!" Lena, who had been pursuing them, struck at Luffy with a sharp slash.
"A swordsman?" Zoro was momentarily surprised. This was his first time seeing a swordsman around his own age with such skill.
"Flame Commandment!"
Suddenly, flames erupted, clashing with Lena's strike and neutralizing it.
"Lena, hold off for now!" Ace appeared in front of Luffy and the others, blocking the attack.
"Who is this guy?" Zoro asked irritably, disappointed that Ace had interrupted his chance to fight the Marine swordswoman.
"Ace?!" Luffy shouted, surprised, ignoring Zoro's question.
"Luffy, you haven't changed a bit!" Ace turned to look at Luffy with a grin.
"Portgas D. Ace, you'd better step aside, or I won't hesitate to include you in my attack!" Lena glared at Luffy but directed her warning at Ace.
"Lena, it's a misunderstanding! He's my brother, Luffy! Ryu knows him too!" Ace quickly waved his hands to calm her down.
Ace was well aware of this girl's fierceness. She was extremely well-connected in Marine Headquarters, and he didn't want to repeat his father's fate of being chased around the seas by Garp. According to Ryu, this young Marine was incredibly popular—not only did Garp like her, but her mentor, Gion, also held her in high regard. Even the three Admirals had a surprising fondness for her, something that even puzzled Ryu.
After all, the three Admirals weren't the easiest people to approach. Aokiji, though easygoing on the surface, had a strict moral code and would ignore those he didn't find worthy. Kizaru, despite his constant "how scary" remarks, was ruthless in battle and unpredictable. Ryu had sparred with him once and almost ended up in the hospital, left puzzled by Kizaru's cryptic behavior. And finally, there was Akainu, the last person Ryu wanted to get involved with—a man fanatically committed to his version of justice. Unlike most people, Akainu never felt guilt or remorse, viewing his actions as inherently just and blaming others if things went wrong.
Ryu typically kept his distance from these three, but for some reason, they all treated Lena with unusual affection. Even Kizaru, notoriously hard to engage, would spar with her willingly. No one else in Marine Headquarters could get Kizaru to agree to a training session without being severely beaten, only to be carried away by the medical team afterward, as Ryu himself had experienced.
With all this in mind, Ace had no desire to provoke such a ticking time bomb.
"He hurt the captain!" Lena said stubbornly, her eyes blazing with determination.
"That was just a misunderstanding!" Ace said helplessly.
After all, he was a victim too! Ace cast a resentful glance at Luffy.
The others looked on, confused, piecing together that Luffy seemed to have somehow injured Ryu, which had drawn this Marine's ire.
"Me? I haven't even seen Ryu, so how could I have done anything to him!" Luffy shouted, feeling wronged.
"I saw it with my own eyes, and Ace was there too. Are you still going to deny it, you damned pirate?!" Lena, further angered by Luffy's protests, prepared to attack again.
Ace knew that without Ryu here, there was no way to clear up the misunderstanding. He told Luffy and the others to leave while he held Lena back.
"Luffy, are we really going to just leave? Your brother seems to be wary of that Marine!" Zoro asked as they dashed toward the Going Merry.
Luffy had explained Ace's identity to them, so they all understood that Ace was Luffy's brother. They also learned that Ace and Ryu were close friends, having shared a drink in brotherhood, so Ryu treated Luffy like a younger brother too.
"Don't worry, Ace is strong!" Luffy assured them confidently.
The group barely managed to reach the Merry when Vivi handed a letter to Karoo, instructing him to deliver it to the king across the desert. The letter contained clear details of Crocodile's plot.
"Ace might be strong, but I'm not so bad myself now. If we fought again, I wouldn't lose to him!" Luffy boasted with a grin as he leaned against the ship's railing.
"Oh? You wouldn't lose to whom?" Ace suddenly jumped aboard the Merry, grinning at Luffy.
"Ace!" Luffy shouted, delighted to see his brother.
"My reckless little brother has been in your care! Thank you all!" Ace greeted Luffy's crew with a polite nod, a level of courtesy that seemed almost out of character for Luffy's older brother.
"Indeed, he has!" the crew replied, nodding in acknowledgment.
"Ace, what are you doing here?" Luffy asked curiously.
"Hm? Didn't you get my letter? Ah, never mind, it wasn't anything important," Ace said, scratching his head. "I happened to be nearby on business, and when I heard you were around, I decided to come see you. So, what do you say? How about joining the Whitebeard Pirates? Your crew is welcome too!"
"No way!" Luffy rejected without hesitation.
"Haha, I figured you'd say that. Don't worry, forget I even brought it up!" Ace laughed.
"Whitebeard? So that tattoo on your back is real?" Usopp asked, surprised.
"Yep, it's my pride! I'm helping him become the Pirate King, not you, Luffy!" Ace said with a grin.
"No problem. We'll just have to fight it out when the time comes!" Luffy replied confidently.
Ace chuckled, saying nothing more.
"Come inside for a chat. I've prepared some tea," Sanji offered, carrying a tray.
"No need to be so formal; it's not a big deal. The Marines have already backed off, so there's nothing to worry about!" Ace said, crouching on the ship's railing with a smile.
"Speaking of the Marines, what's the story with Ryu? He said he shared a cup of brotherhood with you," Luffy asked curiously.
The others leaned in, listening with interest—they were intrigued by the idea of a Marine and a pirate becoming sworn brothers.
"Him? He's quite the character. I met him back when I first set sail. He wasn't a Marine back then; he was a bounty hunter and had this intense passion for hunting down criminals," Ace recalled. "Later on, he met the Old Man and made a promise to him—to capture me!"
"Grandpa?" Luffy asked, surprised.
"That's right. In Loguetown, he set a trap for me and Smoker and actually managed to catch me! We spent some time together then, and we got along well, so he didn't want to hand me over. But he was so determined to keep his promise that he turned me over to the Old Man anyway, only to break me out again. The Old Man was so mad he punched him into a severe injury. After that, I heard he was taken back to Marine Headquarters!"
"Luffy, your grandpa's a Marine?" Nami asked, piecing things together.
"Yep!" Luffy nodded.
The crew was speechless. Their grandpa's a Marine, yet both grandsons ended up as pirates?
"A while back, he finished training at Headquarters and started hunting pirates. He's strong, so he quickly made a name for himself. We met again in the New World, had some good talks, and eventually shared a cup of brotherhood. He's a brilliant guy with big ideas!" Ace said with admiration.
At first, Ace found Ryu's dreams to be outrageous, but eventually, he was captivated by the grand vision. Though he still doubted Ryu's chances of success, deep down, he hoped to see Ryu achieve it someday.
"Oh, I see!" Luffy nodded, pretending to understand.
"Here, take this." Ace handed his Vivre Card to Luffy.
"A Vivre Card?" Luffy asked, surprised.
"Huh? You actually know what it is?" This time, Ace was the one surprised. The Vivre Card was rare in the New World, so Luffy, who hadn't been there, shouldn't know about it.
"Ryu gave me one too and explained how to use it!" Luffy grinned.
"I've got a pretty reckless little brother, so I'm a bit worried. You all have your hands full with him, I bet? Anyway, I'll leave him to you!" Ace said, waving to Luffy's crew before jumping back onto his small boat.
"You're not staying longer?" Luffy called out.
"No, I've got business to take care of. I'm hunting down a certain criminal—a former member of Whitebeard's second division who killed a comrade and fled. As his captain, it's my duty to bring him to justice. I'll see you next time at the pinnacle of piracy, Luffy!" Ace said with a smile.
"Haha, I'll be there in no time!" Luffy shouted confidently.
"Is he serious? Luffy's brother is actually so level-headed? He's nothing like him!" Nami said, astonished.
"I thought he'd be even more of a fool than Luffy," Usopp said, equally surprised.
"This sea is truly amazing; anything's possible here," Sanji nodded, as if he'd just grasped the vastness of the world.
Though they'd met Ryu before, they hadn't thought much of it since he wasn't Luffy's biological brother. But Ace was different—they had expected him to be just like Luffy because of their blood connection, making his composed demeanor all the more surprising.
..............
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