"Yo, Luffy! Long time no see!"
The young man who pushed the door open wore a cowboy hat decorated with one smiling face and one crying face. His upper body was bare, and a string of red beads hung around his neck. On his lower body, he wore denim shorts, with a dagger tucked at his waist.
On his back was a tattoo of crossed bones, with a huge skull printed over them. The white crescent-shaped mustache was its symbol.
It was the mark of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And this person was none other than Luffy's sworn elder brother — Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace!
"Ace!!!"
Luffy's arms rapidly stretched out, grabbing Ace by the shoulders. Then his whole body slammed directly into him.
Ace clearly had not expected Luffy to pull something like this. Before he could react, Luffy had knocked him to the ground.
The two brothers looked at each other, then burst into loud laughter.
"Oh? Unless I'm mistaken, this should be the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, the great pirate Fire Fist Ace. So our captain actually knows someone like this?"
Ann lowered his fist and spoke in confusion.
Beside him, Zoro also withdrew the katana he had been drawing from his waist.
Seeing the two brothers chatting more and more excitedly, then suddenly starting an arm-wrestling match on the table without warning, everyone could only watch until the entire table was smashed apart by their immense strength. Only then did they finally calm down for a moment.
"Hey! Ace, let me introduce you! These guys are my crewmates!"
Luffy pulled Ace by the hand and introduced Zoro and the others one by one. He looked exactly like a younger brother showing off to his elder brother.
From beginning to end, Ace listened with great patience. Only after Luffy finished the introductions did Ace give everyone a slight bow.
"With a little brother like mine as your captain, I'm sure he's caused you all plenty of trouble. Thank you for looking after him."
"You're too polite!"
Ace was different from Luffy. He was extremely gentle and well-mannered, and everyone quickly developed a favorable impression of Luffy's older brother.
After everyone sat down, Luffy finally noticed the tattoo on Ace's back.
"Ace, where are you now? Do you want to come aboard my ship?"
Luffy planted his hands on his hips, looking unbearably proud of himself.
"Me? I'm with the Whitebeard Pirates now! Luffy, I've already given up on becoming the Pirate King. Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever met. My goal now is to make Whitebeard the Pirate King! Oh, right, Luffy, do you want to join the Whitebeard Pirates? Of course, your crewmates can all come too!"
With the might of the Whitebeard Pirates, this was practically a chance to rise straight to the top for a small pirate crew like Luffy's.
But what kind of person was Luffy?
Everyone knew perfectly well.
He rejected Ace's invitation without the slightest hesitation. After all, the one who was going to become the Pirate King was him!
After that, Ace explained the purpose of his journey to Luffy and the others.
When they heard that a guy named Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, had actually killed a crewmate over a Devil Fruit, everyone was filled with righteous anger.
As they continued talking, Ace suddenly said,
"Hey, Luffy. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you guys talking about the New World just now. I think you also mentioned Crocodile's name?"
"Yeah. That guy's in Alabasta right now. We're going to go beat him up next!"
Luffy said it very calmly, as if he were describing something perfectly ordinary.
But Ace's expression changed.
"Luffy, I advise you to give up. Crocodile is not someone rookies like you can handle! That guy's bounty is almost seventy times yours. More importantly, the man standing behind Crocodile is terrifying beyond belief!"
Seventy times!
Even someone as carefree as Luffy was shocked.
After all, Luffy's current bounty was 30 million Berries . In the East Blue, he was already a famous pirate with a real reputation. But Crocodile's bounty was actually two billion?
Why did it feel like they had just left the beginner village and immediately run into the final boss?
Vivi's expression was terrible.
First, the knowledgeable Ann had disrupted her plan. Then Ace had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She knew that her plan might come to nothing. Even the final sliver of hope she had been clinging to was gone.
"So what? I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King! A bastard like Crocodile? I'll definitely send him flying!"
As expected of Luffy, he was as stubborn and fearless as ever.
Ace's expression showed that he had expected this. One could only say that this was exactly the little brother he remembered — still utterly fearless.
"Luffy, Big Brother Ace is right. Crocodile is a pirate from the New World. He can't be compared to the pirates we usually run into! And more importantly, there's the man behind Crocodile!"
Ann added from the side.
Ace could not help but glance at him a few more times. That head of purple hair, combined with Ann's somewhat familiar face, made Ace think of a certain man.
However, that thought only lasted for an instant.
Impossible.
How could that man's son have run off to a place like Paradise?
"What's with you guys? One after another, you all sound really scared of the guy behind Crocodile."
Luffy pouted as he muttered.
"You don't understand. Crocodile is certainly a top-class powerhouse, but the man behind him stands at the very peak of the entire sea. After all, even with a bounty of two billion, Crocodile is only one of that man's officers!"
Ace gave a bitter smile.
To be honest, even though Ace worshiped Whitebeard to the extreme, even his father, powerful as he was, showed deep wariness in his eyes whenever that man was mentioned. That alone was enough to prove everything.
A bounty of two billion, yet he could only be an officer?
Those words shocked the other Straw Hats badly.
Especially Nami.
Two billion Berries . What kind of absurd, astronomical figure was that? Someone like that should already be an overlord-level figure, right?
"So who exactly is that guy?"
"Fate Roldy!"
Ace and Ann spoke at the same time.
"Gahahaha! I seem to have heard someone calling my name?"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789