Jace

"I can let you go and keep this secret for you, but I have three conditions."

Ross raised three fingers, unhurried and calm.

He knew Garp would compromise.

Or rather, Garp had always been the kind of person who compromised when things could not be done.

Garp had vowed to capture Roger, yet he had only caught Roger because Roger turned himself in. Chasing him all that way had basically been for show.

After Roger surrendered, Garp had even caught up with him as a friend and agreed to look after his descendants.

Garp had wanted to raise his son into an outstanding Marine, yet Dragon defected and founded the Revolutionary Army.

Garp had never personally captured Dragon and brought him back. He had merely tacitly allowed him to remain out there.

Garp clearly had his own convictions and justice. Refusing promotion to Admiral because he could not stand the Celestial Dragons was itself a form of compromise.

Garp had wanted to raise Ace as a Marine, yet although Ace clearly hated Roger, he still went to sea and became a pirate.

After becoming a pirate, Ace had no intention of returning. Garp only regretted it after Ace was captured.

Garp had wanted to raise Luffy as a Marine, yet Luffy aspired to become the Pirate King. When they met again along the way, Garp still chose to let him go free.

Garp had wanted to save Ace, yet he hesitated. He neither fulfilled his duty as a Marine nor saved Ace.

In the end, he had not gone after Akainu, who killed Ace, and once again chose compromise.

Other than strength and reputation, hesitation, failure, and compromise had defined the latter half of Garp's life.

It was precisely because of this that Ross dared to conclude Garp would compromise this time as well.

"Let's hear them."

Garp's expression darkened, but with Zephyr present, he did not dare make a move.

He could not kill Zephyr in a short time, which meant he could not make everyone who knew about this die.

The only thing he could do now was stake his life on a one-for-one exchange with Ross.

But if he did that, whether he died or not was uncertain, while Ace would certainly die.

Even the people on this island might be buried alongside them.

Even he could think of that, so naturally he could not do it.

Either way, Ace would die. There was no point.

Since Ross was willing to make demands, what did compromise matter as long as Ace could leave safely with him?

After being a Marine for so many years, had he not seen enough of the World Government's evil?

Had he not suppressed his anger every time and chosen to ignore it?

"First condition: you will give your all for me three times in the future. Don't worry, your opponents will definitely be evil people. I won't make things difficult for you, Hero of the Marines." Ross raised his index finger and waved it.

"No problem!"

Garp agreed without hesitation.

Dealing with evil people was part of his duty to begin with.

His expression improved considerably. At least Ross's demand was reasonable and did not seem intended to deliberately make things difficult for him.

"Second condition: you can take the child away, but he must change his name. He will be called Gol D. Jace."

Ross raised two fingers and waved them before Garp.

Truth and falsehood were common in the Pirate World.

He did not care about Jace's future. If Jace made it, that would be one more source of amusement; if he died young, there would be nothing to regret.

Life was long. As a Celestial Dragon, Ross had to learn how to find a little entertainment for himself.

"As you wish."

Garp's expression shifted slightly, but he still agreed.

He did not want Ace... Jace, to inherit the Gol surname.

But upon further thought, naming him Ace had not made much difference anyway.

There was more than one Gol. As long as Jace joined the Marines in the future, it presumably would not cause too much trouble.

"The third condition will not be difficult for you either. I watched Jace being born. Although I was only interested in Rouge, I have still raised him for all these days."

Ross paused slightly. He sounded casual, but when he saw Garp's enlightened expression, he knew those words had been useful.

Whether Garp was genuinely simple-minded or wise enough to play the fool, there was no need to make him overthink a casual explanation and cause unforeseen changes to the plan.

Even if Garp did not believe him, it did not matter. Even if Garp knew Ace had been switched, could he really charge into the Holy Land and do anything to him in the future?

Now came Ross's favorite part.

"Vice Admiral Garp, the third condition is simple. Punch yourself once, enough to suffer a light injury and cough up blood, then kneel before me and admit defeat," Ross said calmly.

He had finally gotten a chance to complete an S-class Defeat. He did not want to miss it.

An S-class Defeat was equivalent to killing an A-Class powerhouse.

There were not many A-Class powerhouses in the entire world. They either belonged to the World Government or hid away in the New World, making targets difficult to find even if he wanted to kill them.

After confirming it several times, he found that a defeat reward only required the target to cough up blood after being injured and verbally admit defeat. The conditions were quite simple to fulfill.

"Tch, you Celestial Dragons really do have twisted tastes!"

Hearing that demand, Garp burst into laughter instead.

The incident of Sakazuki kneeling and admitting defeat had spread through the upper ranks of the Marines under the World Government's deliberate publicity.

That was exactly the result Ross wanted.

He wanted to create an image of someone who enjoyed seeing the strong admit defeat. That way, even if he made powerhouses admit defeat whenever he encountered them, it would not cause unnecessary trouble.

Perhaps later on, World Government powerhouses would even take the initiative to seek him out and admit defeat.

After all, he would not ask just any stray cat or dog to admit defeat.

One S-class powerhouse admitting defeat was worth five A-Class Defeats, fifty B-rank Defeats, or five hundred C-rank Defeats.

The World Government had no fewer than ten S-class powerhouses, but it probably could not gather five hundred B-rank ones.

Rather than have B-rank fighters line up to admit defeat to him, he might as well only accept A-Class and above, then actively seek out S-class targets and build his reputation first.

Perhaps later on, after clashing with S-class pirates, they would also be willing to do him a favor.

Of course, if they were hostile S-class enemies, he would definitely crush them to death if he could. Only if he could not kill them would he consider the defeat reward.

"Agree, and you can leave after you do it. Refuse, and you know the consequences." Ross was noncommittal.

"I don't care about such empty reputation."

Garp laughed loudly, scooped Jace up with one arm, and slammed his other fist into his chest.

"Pwah!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Garp did not care in the slightest, as though he had merely been scratched.

For a powerhouse like him, even serious injuries would not make him utter a sound, much less a minor injury like this.

Then Garp dropped to both knees and said in a deep voice:

"Saint Ross, I lost today. Next time, I definitely will not let you stop me!"

He spoke those words sincerely.

This time, Ross and Zephyr had stopped him. He had indeed lost.

If Ross had pressed the matter and directly informed the Five Elders, he would not have had even the slightest chance to turn things around.

But losing this time did not mean he would lose next time!

Garp silently rose to his feet, carried Jace past Zephyr and Ross, and rushed aboard the prepared ship.

Alone, he quickly raised sail and set off.

S-class Defeat Complete!

Strength +500000

Special Reward: Marine Rokushiki (A-Class)

Marine Rokushiki was not a bad reward...

Ross smiled as he watched Garp sail away, until he vanished from sight.

"By the way, Zephyr, you checked the ship, right? It seems there was only meat, liquor, and fresh water on board. Do you think Garp might raise Jace to death?"

"That is actually possible." Zephyr's expression turned strange. "But he should seek help on a nearby island. The nearest island is less than a day away."

"Little Jace can only suffer for now. I just hope Garp acts like a human being and does not raise him to death."

Ross smiled and turned toward the island's interior.

Having collected the biggest reward, there should still be a smaller reward waiting for him to claim when he returned.