Though Teach showed no sign of backing down, he had actually stopped wanting to wade into this mess the moment he heard the name "Garen."
Shichibukai Garen had been a recent hot topic in the news. Teach naturally knew all about Garen's illustrious exploits: "power comparable to Dark King Rayleigh, identity suspected to be that of a Celestial Dragon."
It was not that Teach feared making an enemy of a powerful man. He was merely worried that provoking someone so troublesome would disrupt his plan to lie low and infiltrate. After all, within the Whitebeard Pirates, he had always been known as "a mediocre but kindhearted nice guy."
Yet Captain Ace was not intimidated by Shichibukai Garen's reputation at all. Instead, this new Shichibukai, who had so many connections to Ace's hometown, the Goa Kingdom, piqued his interest even more.
To play the role of a "trustworthy true brother" properly, Teach could only grit his teeth and follow Ace over to uphold justice.
Fortunately, Ace had no intention of making Teach take the lead. He quickly rushed in front of Teach and shouted at Garen:
"Garen!"
"Release Franky!"
Garen was still shocked by Teach's appearance as a partner of justice and had paid no attention at all to the equally conspicuous Ace.
Only after Ace shouted at him twice did Garen finally snap back to his senses. "Ace?"
Ace was not surprised that the other man knew him. He had already become an extremely famous rising star on the seas over the past two years.
He merely emphasized his demand to Garen again. "Release Franky!"
"Release Franky?"
Garen turned with an amused look toward Franky, who stood beside him, then said to Ace unhurriedly:
"Ask him. Have I restricted his personal freedom?"
"N-no."
Franky answered with a stutter, then said