Boom! Boom! Boom!
Waves surged endlessly, crashing back toward the island and quickly filling the massive gap that had been blasted open.
"Pffft..."
Suddenly, Luffy burst from beneath the sea's surface, one hand gripping the unconscious Ace, the other clutching Naguri, his body now misshapen from the earlier clash.
"Sigh... what a mess this turned out to be."
On the shore, Luffy wrung the seawater from his soaked clothes, gazing down helplessly at the two figures sprawled on the ground.
He shook his head again.
When anything outside of fighting came up, Luffy, useless at everything else, would always turn to the one person who had helped raise him.
Back in Foosha Village, that meant the kind-hearted Makino. But up here in Mt. Colubo, that could only mean one person: Dadan, one of the top ten most infamous mountain bandits in the Goa Kingdom.
"Guess I'll take them back to Dadan's place first..."
─────────🏴☠️─────────
Three days later, at the port of Foosha Village,
Ace stood beneath Luffy's massive warship, looking at the crowd gathered to see him off.
His own hand-crafted ship, the one he had painstakingly built, had been utterly destroyed in the aftermath of that fierce battle before it ever had the chance to set sail.
So Luffy gave Ace his own ship, one specially reinforced with Seastone.
In Luffy's eyes, only that ship was worthy of carrying him. But now? That vessel, meant to be replaced, was the perfect gift for Ace's journey.
"Luffy! Makino! Village Chief! Everyone!"
"I'm setting sail!!!"
Standing at the water's edge, Ace raised both hands high above his head and shouted, his voice echoing out not just to those around him, but across the kingdom, and into the world.
"Ace!"
Luffy looked at his brother calmly and said:
"The world out there is incredible, but it's also dangerous.
Even though you're strong, never let your guard down.
Don't underestimate the powerful people out there..."
Luffy spoke as someone who had seen the wider world firsthand, his tone filled with honest concern.
What worried him most was the idea of Ace rushing headlong into battle, blood boiling, and picking a fight with a Yonko.
If it was Shanks, maybe that would be fine. But if Ace landed in Big Mom or Kaido's territory... Luffy wasn't sure if he could survive it.
At his current level, Ace could take on pirates worth three to five hundred million with ease, but if he ran into one of the commanders under a Yonko, things could get very dangerous.
Luffy didn't want to hear someday that Ace had vanished at sea.
"Yeah, yeah... I got it..." Ace said, scratching his cheek awkwardly, his face turning a little red.
Getting a lecture from his younger brother was... embarrassing. It even dulled some of the excitement he felt about finally setting off.
"Oh! And one more thing!"
Luffy suddenly laughed and added playfully:
"If you ever get in serious trouble, don't go shouting my name!"
"You might get yourself killed!"
"Ahahaha... is that so? Got it."
Ace pulled his sunhat low over his eyes and laughed along with Luffy, then added:
"Then let me go out there and wipe out your enemies for you!"
"Is that so? Heh, that might be a lot of work…"
Their short reunion was already coming to an end, and Ace's grand story was just about to begin.
Luffy didn't know yet whether Ace would still choose to serve under Whitebeard. But one thing was certain:
His life was going to be far more remarkable than before.
"Ace… here. These are just some ideas of mine. Maybe they'll help you."
As Luffy spoke, he took a notebook from Robin's hands.
After much hesitation, he had decided to write down how he had unlocked Gear Second through Gear Fourth, the techniques from the original timeline.
Even though Gears 2 and 4 came with serious drawbacks, Luffy knew that Ace would eventually figure out similar techniques on his own. His brother's talent in combat was second to none.
"What's this?"
Ace took the notebook and opened it curiously.
He had barely flipped through two pages before his pupils shrank sharply. He was stunned.
Moments later, he slowly closed the notebook, took a deep breath, and looked at Luffy.
"You're still amazing, Luffy. Trying to catch up to you puts so much pressure on me..."
Of course, Ace didn't know that Luffy had long since mastered the Gomu Gomu no Mi. To him, it looked like Luffy had come up with all this in just a few short days of experimentation.
And if he could master even a fraction of what was in that notebook, Ace's strength would immediately double, if not more.
But Luffy wasn't interested in the praise. Instead, he looked worried:
"Ace, I've written down all the drawbacks of each technique in that notebook too.
I didn't make this to give you all the answers.
I just want you to have some way to protect yourself when things get really bad.
These are just one path to power, not the only one.
Please, Ace, don't lose yourself chasing strength."
"Don't worry."
Ace looked Luffy in the eye, serious now:
"I'm not as fragile as you think. And don't underestimate me either!"
He tucked the notebook into his pack and smiled again:
"But... thanks, Luffy."
The brothers grinned at each other and raised their fists, bumping them together in the air.
"Stay safe!"
"You too!"
With that, Ace leapt aboard the ship in one graceful motion.
"I'm off, everyone!!"
As the warship slowly pulled away from the port of Foosha Village, the crowd watched in silence.
A new legend was about to begin.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Haaah... Achoo!"
As Ace's ship vanished beyond the horizon, Luffy let out a long yawn and stretched. He turned to his crew and said:
"Let's head out too. It's time we found a proper place to settle down…"
Luffy had grown.
With Robin and the others by his side, he couldn't keep imposing on Makino and the kind villagers forever. It was time to find a more stable home.
"Robin? Robin?"
He took a few steps forward, then turned back with a confused look. Robin hadn't moved, still standing quietly where she'd been.
For some reason, she had seemed distant these last few days. Luffy couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something felt off.
"Huh? Oh! Coming!"
Robin snapped out of her daze and quickly caught up, offering her usual gentle smile.
"Let's go."
"Mhm…"
Luffy quietly tucked his worry away and began walking toward Mt. Colubo.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Dadan! I'm here to pick up Zoro!"
As he stepped into Dadan's house, Luffy shouted cheerfully.
He found Dadan huddled in a corner of the room, trembling silently.
Nearby, her bandit gang recognized Luffy and quickly rushed over, making exaggerated gestures, trying to explain through wild hand signals just how badly Dadan had been crying.
Luffy understood their meaning, but didn't react. Instead, he kept smiling:
"Ace's finally set sail. It won't be long before his name spreads across the seas…"
He continued talking about Ace, completely unaware of the emotional weight of the moment. Oddly enough, the more he spoke, the more Dadan's trembling seemed to ease.
For a mother, parting with a son was painful, but knowing that son had a bright future ahead?
That made all the difference.
Besides… Luffy had come home too.
After a while, Dadan wiped her tears and composed herself.
Before she could speak, a hoarse voice came from inside the house.
"Ace... has he left?"
It was Naguri, lying in bed.
"Yeah…" Luffy replied, turning toward him.
"He asked me to tell you... That since he's gone, you can have his bedroom."
"His bedroom?"
Naguri looked confused, then sighed.
"Too bad. That room was destroyed in the battle. There's no bedroom left..."
That room had held all the memories between him and Ace.
"No," Dadan chimed in.
"Ace meant this house. Before he left, he asked me to take care of you…"
"You're Ace's master. From now on, we're family."
Naguri's body trembled, and two tears silently slipped from the corners of his eyes.
"Sigh… I must be getting old. My tear ducts are getting weaker…"
"Ace… he's a good kid."
Dadan watched the tears slide down Naguri's face and murmured softly.
Only Luffy stood there, feeling just a bit awkward.
For some reason… he didn't think Naguri was crying out of emotion.
Maybe Ace had tricked him into something here...
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