"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Come out, Dadan!"
Garp pounded forcefully on the Dadan family's wooden door.
Three people immediately emerged from the house, led by the pillar of the family, the "Fist Saint," Dadan.
Two people stood beside her.
One was tall with a rooster-comb hairstyle, named Magra.
The other was small and skinny, with eyes like a fish, named Dogra.
There were other members of the Dadan family inside, but they were unimportant, so let's just call them Extras A, B, C, and D... "M-Mr. Garp, please have mercy on me! Ace is already ten years old; we can't handle him anymore. Take him away!"
As soon as Dadan came out, she started complaining before Garp could even speak, hoping he would take Ace away. Little did she know Garp wasn't just refusing to take Ace; he was delivering two more.
Before Garp could answer, Dadan spotted Luffy and Bai Yun. These days, the sight of any child made her nervous.
"Hey, hey, hey!! Who are these two brats?!"
"Hello, my name is Bai Yun, and this is Luffy."
"Luffy is Mr. Garp's grandson, and I... am just tagging along for food and shelter. If nothing unexpected happens, the two of us will likely be living here with you for a while."
Bai Yun gave a slight bow. Dadan was momentarily stunned, thinking he was a rather polite child, but she lost her composure when she heard the rest.
She immediately looked at Garp, who nodded, confirming that what Bai Yun said was true.
"On top of... on top of Mr. Garp's grandson!! And another... very polite little brat! Mr. Garp, please spare us!!"
Dadan started begging. Ace alone was enough; now there were two more. Were they even supposed to live?
Garp clearly didn't want them to "live," so he smiled and threatened Dadan, asking if she preferred jail or raising the children.
Dadan instantly grumbled. Although she didn't want to be arrested, sometimes she felt jail would be more comfortable than this. Dealing with Ace was already torture, and now she had two more!
She was truly resistant. We can only guess how much trouble the young Ace caused to make Dadan and her gang feel this way.
Just as Garp and Dadan were talking,
Luffy noticed Ace returning and dragged Bai Yun over.
Little Ace was sitting on his trophy—a dead wild bull—carrying a bloodstained pipe, his eyes gloomily fixed on Luffy and Bai Yun.
His greeting gift upon meeting them was two mouthfuls of spit.
Luffy was dumbfounded as the spit landed on his face.
"Ew! Spit! That's gross!!"
"Who are you!"
Although Bai Yun wasn't a germaphobe, he still didn't appreciate being spat on, so he dodged with a sidestep.
Seeing his spit had been dodged, Ace couldn't tolerate it. *I'll keep spitting!* Bai Yun, in turn, kept dodging.
He spat again!
So he dodged again!
"Oh, Ace."
"Oh, Ace, you're back."
Seeing that the adults had noticed, Ace stopped firing his "bullets" at Bai Yun, gave him a glare, and ceased his efforts.
Garp walked over and introduced Luffy and Bai Yun.
"This is Ace, who is three years older than you two."
"You'll be living together for a while starting now, so get along well."
Garp spoke lightly, but Luffy glared resentfully at Ace because of the spit he'd just received.
Dadan also exclaimed from her side.
"Is this really decided just like that?!!"
"Do you have an objection?" Garp's tone became slightly serious.
"Then we will take over the care!"
Dadan claimed this wasn't cowardice; it was knowing when to be sensible... "I hate bandits the most!"
Luffy's impression of bandits was entirely based on Higuma's crew, and he said this without any reservation in front of the Dadan family.
"Who cares what you think, you stinky brat!"
"If you don't want to stay here, then get out! Go live out in the wilderness!"
Dadan yelled harshly at Luffy, while her subordinates quickly tried to calm her down.
Luffy paid no attention; instead, he drooled as he watched Ace take huge bites of meat.
"My meal isn't enough. I want meat too."
Bai Yun smiled helplessly and picked one of the two pieces of meat from his bowl to give to Luffy—a privilege he only had because he was working as the cook.
Ace developed a slight change of heart towards Bai Yun because of his cooking skills, but he still disliked him.
Luffy immediately beamed with joy.
Dadan then fiercely explained the survival rules of the Dadan Family.
"Ace gets to eat meat because that's the wild bull he hunted! I only allow him at the table after he hands over a portion of his catch!"
"As for that Bai kid, he gets meat because his cooking skills are decent, and he took on the job of the chef!"
"Bandits aren't doing well these days!"
"Starting tomorrow, you two better work hard for me: sweeping, washing clothes, shining shoes, cleaning weapons, plus theft, pillaging, fraud, and murder!"
How... fierce. It's baffling why Garp thought the environment here was better than in Foosha Village.
Pointing at Luffy's nose, Dadan shouted while eating meat, but her tone immediately softened afterward.
"Listen up... you absolutely must not tell that Garp guy about anything you do here."
"Mr." to his face, "that guy" behind his back—classic.
"You can only have one bowl of rice and one cup of water a day. You have to figure out the rest and support yourselves."
Honestly, if Bai Yun had been treated and demanded this way at the same age in his world's orphanage, he probably would have cried his eyes out and eventually starved to death on the streets.
But who was Luffy? He was a person who never got discouraged.
"Got it."
Luffy replied calmly, and Bai Yun also nodded indifferently.
Dadan nearly fell over. Her attempt to establish authority had failed spectacularly.
"What do you mean, 'Got it'? You should be sobbing hysterically right now!"