Mr.1

"To be your subordinate?"

The sudden sound startled Ace and Nami, who froze on the spot. Ace was still immersed in his words, but Nami was the first to react, asking blankly, "You, you can talk?"

How can you talk?

Ace stared wide-eyed at the Giant Beast before him, his eyes wide with astonishment.

"This is not a difficult task."

Xia Qiu looked down at the two of them and slowly said, "Ace, what is your answer?"

"Answer?"

Upon hearing this, Ace sighed and asked, "If I don't become your subordinate, you'll kill me, won't you?"

"Your question is invalid."

Xia Qiu said with a cold smile, "If I hadn't shown up, Blackbeard would have killed you. In other words, I'm the one who saved you, and you owe me your lives."

Ace took a breath and said, "You're right."

Without this Giant Beast, I would be dead by now.

Xia Qiu added, "Not only that, if I hadn't sent my men, how could Nami have been rescued? And how could Blackbeard's men have been held back?"

Ace Satori and asked, "So you're the president Mr. Christmas was talking about?"

"Not just Mr. Christmas."

Xia Qiu said coldly, "I also sent extra people. Otherwise, how could your subordinates and Mr. Christmas alone have delayed these people?"

Ace was somewhat surprised, "So that's how it is."

Xia Qiu said, "Without me, you two would surely die, but do you think that's the only outcome?"

"What do you mean?" Nami frowned.

Xia Qiu snorted coldly and said, "Blackbeard's plan is not to kill you, but to send you, Ace, to prison in exchange for a Shichibukai position."

"Being sent to prison is better than death, isn't it?" Ace said with a wry smile.

Nami shook her head and said, "That's impossible. The Shichibukai are already full. Even if we hand over Ace, we can't get that position. Their target now is Jinbe. They plan to join forces with the Fish-Man Island rebels to attack Jinbe, causing one of the Shichibukai to be killed, and then they'll fill the vacancy."

"Are they planning to make a move against Brother Jinbe?" Ace, somewhat surprised.

Ace and Jinbe had an excellent relationship. They became friends after a fight and were both under the command of the Whitebeard Pirates. They were each other's family.

"So Blackbeard really did have this idea."

Xia Qiu nodded and then said, "If they send Ace to Marine Headquarters, he will definitely become Shichibukai."

"Why is that?" Nami asked, puzzled.

Xia Qiu said, "Because Blackbeard and the Navy have an agreement, they will use Ace as bait to publicly execute him at Marineford, attracting Whitebeard to come and then kill him."

"This..." Nami was somewhat incredulous upon hearing this.

Ace shook his head and said, "Dad won't fall for it, and they can't kill Dad either."

"Given how much Whitebeard values you, how could he not come to your rescue?"

Xia Qiu snorted and said, "I admit that Whitebeard is still the World's Strongest Man, but he is old and his strength is no longer at its peak. How could the entire Marine Headquarters, plus the Shichibukai, not kill Whitebeard?"

"But the Four Emperors won't just sit idly by. How could they possibly let them make a move?" Nami asked, puzzled.

Xia Qiu replied, "Big Mom has always coveted Whitebeard's territory. Kaido and Whitebeard have had many conflicts. Only Red-Hair can help, but he will probably be too busy to help himself. Once the war starts, Whitebeard will surely die."

"If they rashly start a war, their losses will inevitably be enormous. I don't believe they will do that," Ace replied.

Nami chimed in, "Your speculations are all based on the highest probability of each guess, but the only problem is that there are too many guesses, and each guess is based on the second guess, which increases the uncertainty. At least the benefits of doing this are too small, and the Marine Headquarters won't go to war with us for it. If Ace is really captured, he will probably be executed secretly, which would both embarrass Father and prevent us from starting a war."

"Yeah?"

Xia Qiu said with a smile, "What if we also added that Ace was Roger's son?"

How did you know?

These words made Ace freeze, staring at Xia Qiu in disbelief.

"This..."

Nami knew this news, but she didn't tell anyone. Moreover, only a handful of people in the Spade Pirates knew this secret.

Xia Qiu snorted and said, "Publicly executing Roger's son and killing Whitebeard, Symbol of the Era, is enough reason for the Marine Headquarters to go to war with Whitebeard."

At this point, Xia Qiu smiled and said, "Of course, this is just an agreement between Blackbeard and the Navy Government. Whether it will succeed or not is another matter. As for the consequences of what Blackbeard is going to do, we can also ignore them. But the important thing is that I saved you, Nami, and Hachi."

Ace understood what he meant, sighed, and said, "So you want me to become your subordinate."

Xia Qiu said, "That's right, I need a subordinate to help me. You are very strong, more than capable of meeting my requirements. So what's your opinion?"

Ace is the most suitable Mr. 1. He has the strength of Shichibukai, and he is young, only twenty years old, and still has the potential to improve.

His battle with Blackbeard was the perfect opportunity for him to get involved.

Xia Qiu doesn't plan to wait for the Summit War. There will be a lot of corpses there, but very few of them belong to the strong. Only Ace, Whitebeard, and a few generals are worth eating.

However, the scale of the war was too large. At the very beginning, the shock caused by Whitebeard caused the entire Marineford tilt, and then Aokiji froze the seawater. The ice blocks that Jozu raised alone were tens of meters high.

Can I break through the ice and get to the top?

Besides, did the people around him allow him to eat those corpses?

Therefore, Xia Qiu resolutely took action to kill Blackbeard, while hoping that Ace would join his ranks.

Ace hesitated for a moment, then frowned and asked, "If I don't agree, are you going to kill us?"

Xia Qiu said with a smile, "I will only make everything go back to the way it was originally."

The meaning of these words was quite clear: if Ace was unwilling, Xia Qiu would kill him, so he naturally wouldn't allow a powerful energy to leave him.

Ace was still hesitant. He didn't know what Xia Qiu was going to do. If he rashly did something for him and it turned out to be something heinous, then Ace would rather die.

Furthermore, the thought of leaving the Whitebeard Pirates made it difficult for Ace to make a decision.

"Four years."

Xia Qiu suddenly said, "You only need to work for me for four years. After four years, if you want to leave, then it's up to you, how about it?"

If it takes too long, Ace might not be willing, and even if he were forced to agree, problems would arise later. Presumably, as long as Nami and Hachi are safe, Ace might not mind risking his life to defend some of his principles.

Most importantly, he needs Ace's wholehearted help.

Four years is enough time for me to complete my plan.

"Four years?"

Ace was somewhat tempted; the timing was acceptable. Ace nodded and said, "I can be your subordinate, but I hope you will agree to one condition."

"What?" Xia Qiu suppressed her joy and looked at Ace.

Ace said, "You must release Nami and Hachi."

"Why?"

Nami paused for a moment, then said, "Ace, I want to stay here, with you..."

"You must leave."

Ace interrupted her, looking at her and saying, "Didn't you say that Blackbeard planned to join forces with the Fish-Man Island rebels to assassinate Jinbe? You and Hachi go back to Fish-Man Island, find Jinbe, tell Jinbe man, resolve this matter, and then you can also have him send you back."

Okay, fine.

Upon hearing Ace's reasoning, Nami felt the matter was also urgent, so she nodded and said, "I will leave with Hachi."

Ace looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "Does Your Excellency agree?"

Xia Qiu thought about it. Nami was an excellent navigator. She was very useful, and with her around, his plans could be completed very well. However, there were other options to replace her.

Xia Qiu said, "I can promise you that they can leave after the treatment is completed. But they must keep my identity a secret and not spread it around."

"I promise you."

Nami quickly said, "I won't reveal your identity to anyone except my father."

Ace looked at Xia Qiu and said, "Also, there are some things I won't do for you, such as killing people indiscriminately or harming innocent people."

Don't worry.

Xia Qiu grinned and said, "Anyone I asked you to kill was worth killing."

Ace then asked, "How should we report this to Dad? What if he finds out...?"

"Tell the truth."

Xia Qiu said, "I killed Blackbeard and saved you. Whitebeard shouldn't stop you from doing this for your benefactor, right?"

"All right."

Ace said somewhat helplessly, "Then I'm willing to be your subordinate."

"Then I look forward to your performance."

Xia Qiu smiled and said, "Don't move yet. I'll have a doctor treat you and get you off this island first. But before that, I have some things to do."

As Xia Qiu spoke, he swallowed Blackbeard's corpse and walked away into the distance.

His men are still fighting, and he doesn't know the outcome.