Ezra's eyes swept over the two boys.
"Luffy and Ace, huh."
The boys immediately furrowed their brows as they noticed his clothing it was the same uniform as Garp's!
"This guy… just like Grandpa… he's a Marine!" Luffy shouted.
The sheer fear on his face made Ezra's lips twitch. What on earth had Uncle Garp done that seeing this uniform would scare him so much?
Before Ezra could react, Dadan appeared silently behind the boys and delivered a sharp punch to Luffy.
"Luffy! Call him Uncle Ezra!"
"Ow! That hurts!"
Luffy hadn't met Shanks yet and naturally had no Devil Fruit powers. Even a normal punch packed a noticeable impact.
Ace, standing beside him, shivered at Dadan's words.
"Y-You're… Ezra? Ezra D. Vale?!"
Luffy covered his head in confusion.
"Wait… Ace, you know him?!"
Ace nodded slightly.
"He's one of the highest-ranking Marines, the top Admiral Residual Fire!"
"What?!" Luffy's jaw dropped.
"…Uh, Ace? What's an Admiral?" Luffy asked, bewildered.
Ace, Ezra, Dadan, and the village chief all shared a moment of silent exasperation.
The village chief cleared his throat.
"Ezra, Luffy and Ace are in your hands. I'll leave now."
Ezra gave a slight nod.
"Thank you, Chief."
The chief waved it off, leaving Dadan's house as Ezra turned to the two boys.
"Long time no see… well, technically this is our second meeting."
Both boys tilted their heads, confused.
"When… did we meet before?"
Ezra smiled.
"When you were newborns, I met you both once."
"Ah! I get it!" Luffy and Ace's eyes widened in realization.
"All right, enough small talk. I'm here on Uncle Garp's orders to train you two to become Marines."
"I don't want to!"
"I'm not joining the Marines!"
They shouted, immediately protesting. Ezra pinched his chin, contemplating.
"This won't do," he said.
"Why must we join the Marines? I want to be an adventurer! I want to sail! I want to be a pirate!"
Hearing them chatter, Ezra's lips twitched. Then an idea struck him.
"Hmm… how about we make a bet?"
The boys froze.
"A bet?"
Ezra's face curved into a sly, almost mischievous smile.
"If you can touch me even once, I won't force you to become Marines. Deal?"
Luffy's eyes lit up, ready to accept, but Ace immediately covered his mouth.
"Idiot! Didn't I just tell you? He's an Admiral! How could we possibly touch him without being strong enough?"
Ezra nodded slightly, acknowledging Ace's words.
"That's right. I am an Admiral. You weaklings have no chance of touching me."
Luffy: "What?! Weaklings?!"
Ace: "No way!!"
How dare he call them weaklings? That was unacceptable.
"All right! We accept!" Ace shouted.
"Good. Then from now until sunset, the rules are simple there are no rules!" Ezra raised his right index finger.
The boys charged at him, fists swinging.
"Oi! Going straight for my face, huh?" Ezra muttered with a smirk.
Whoosh! Ezra moved instantly.
Their fists struck empty air, hitting nothing.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Ezra taunted, stretching out his hand.
"Come on, keep going."
"Damn it!"
"Keep hitting!"
The sun sank slowly. By the time evening fell, the two boys sat exhausted, gasping for air.
All day, without food or water, they had attacked Ezra relentlessly but still hadn't touched him not even during his meal!
"Uncle Ezra, just you wait! Tomorrow, we'll come back!" Luffy shouted, dragging Ace toward their secret base.
Ezra raised an eyebrow. These two… have they still not realized that Sabo already left?
"Well… I'll just tell them the truth when the time comes." He shrugged and returned to the tavern, where Makino was waiting.
The next morning, Ezra was eating breakfast when the door burst open. Of course, it was Luffy and Ace.
"Uncle Ezra! Something's wrong! Sabo's missing!"
"Yeah! He hasn't come back all day! All he left was a letter!"
Ezra calmly finished his breakfast, then looked at them.
"No worries. He's already set out to sea."
"Out… to sea?!"
"You mean Sabo went ahead to become a pirate?!"
Ezra shook his head.
"That term isn't entirely accurate, but that's not the point. Don't worry, he was taken by Luffy's father."
The boys froze.
"Luffy's father?!" Ace's face was full of shock, while Luffy muttered in confusion,
"Father… what's that?"
Ezra rubbed his forehead. He realized staying there longer might fry his brain these two were thinking in ways that could turn anyone crazy.