Getting Beaten Up Means No Payment!

After Mo Xingchen finished laughing, he looked at Ace and fell into thought. Should he tell him about his parentage now? It wasn't that he intentionally wanted to hide it, but he was mainly worried that the child was too young and it wouldn't be good for his growth. However, if he didn't say it, Ace would eventually ask and find out sooner or later.

In the end, he decided it would be better to tell him himself, because Mo Xingchen wasn't sure when Ace would ask, nor did he know if Garp or Dadan would be the ones to answer. Thinking about how careless those two were, he figured they wouldn't say anything good. It just so happened that while he was still around, he could guide Ace properly.

So he spoke:

"Ace, have you ever asked your grandpa or Dadan about your parents?"

"I asked Dadan, and she said she'd tell me when I get a little older."

"Then ask whatever you want, Uncle will tell you."

Ace's eyes lit up at this, and he asked expectantly:

"Uncle, do you know where my parents are now? Why aren't they coming to see me!"

"They are already dead, they died, they are no longer in this world, so they can't come to see you anymore."

Mo Xingchen watched Ace, observing his emotional fluctuations. If anything went wrong, he was prepared to give him some physical sleep aid! Fortunately, Ace only showed a slight dip in mood, with no discernible expression of sadness or grievance. He then asked again:

"Do you know what kind of people they were?"

"Your mother, as a mother, was a very great person, but she also caused you to be born with a debt of life. Your father, to his brothers and subordinates, was a hero, a man. For others, it's not necessarily the case, especially as a husband, he was clearly unqualified as a father."

"I don't quite understand."

"Ace, people are complex, multifaceted. You can't simply classify them as good or bad, nor can you just listen to what others say. You need to make your own judgments. You might not understand what I'm saying now, but you must remember my words. Perhaps you'll understand when you're a little older."

Seeing Ace tilt his head, trying to comprehend his words, Mo Xingchen smiled and flicked his forehead, a physical interruption.

"Don't think about it so much now! You're just a little brat, eat meat!"

"Oh."

A child's emotions change quickly. Ace, covering his head with one hand and stuffing grilled meat into his mouth with the other, looked wronged. Luffy, holding a piece of meat bigger than his head with both small hands, gnawed on it seriously nearby, completely oblivious to what had happened.

At this moment, Mo Xingchen vaguely heard someone speaking with a crying voice, and it was quite loud. He looked around and saw Dadan, her face flushed red, holding a wine bottle in one hand and pulling the old village chief of Windmill Village, Slab, with the other, weeping and complaining tearfully about something. Mo Xingchen strained his ears to listen carefully.

"Village Chief Slab, my life is so hard! I'm a young woman, leading this bunch of good-for-nothings, making a living in the mountains. It's not easy, and yet I'm being beaten. That's fine, but especially that Garp! I'm a pure and chaste maiden, I've never even been in love, and he makes me help him raise children! What will people think of me in the future! Waaah waah waah~~"

Mo Xingchen looked at Dadan's mountain-like physique and thought, she truly is a maiden of saintly stature. The men of the Monkey family are all scoundrels. I wonder if she has a brother who can help her vent her anger.

The entire banquet lasted until the next morning. Those who couldn't hold their liquor and got drunk the fastest began to sober up one after another and consciously started cleaning up the venue.

Mo Xingchen called Ace and Luffy over and took them for a stroll around town, planning to visit a bookstore to pick out some children's books. Mo Xingchen walked ahead with his hands in his pockets, while Ace and Luffy, one large and one small, followed behind with ice creams in their hands.

Licking his ice cream, Ace curiously asked:

"Uncle, why did you give those people paper just now?"

"That's called Belly. If you take someone's things, you have to pay for them."

"I don't have any money, so what should I do if I want ice cream in the future?"

Mo Xingchen smiled, turned, and crouched down, taking out a few Belly and putting them in Ace's pocket.

"Here, Uncle is giving them to you, so you can buy things."

"For me? Why?"

Ace turned into a thousand questions. Mo Xingchen, too lazy to explain, bent two fingers and flicked Ace's smooth forehead.

"Ah!!!"

Ace cried out in pain, looking at Mo Xingchen in confusion, unable to understand why Uncle would hit him for no reason.

"Hitting people requires compensation. This Belly is what I'm paying you because I hit you. Do you understand now?"

Ace's eyes lit up, as if he had forgotten the pain, and then he said:

"So, if I don't have money for food in the future, I can just let the boss hit me?!"

At this moment, Luffy, although he didn't understand what they were talking about, saw that Mo Xingchen had given Ace something but not him. He started to fuss and shout:

"I want some too, I want some too!"

Before Mo Xingchen could even correct Ace, he could only helplessly flick Luffy's forehead and stuff a little Belly into his hand. Watching these two "smart" kids gleefully enjoying their Belly, he sighed helplessly. Indeed, education must start from the children!

By the time Mo Xingchen brought the two little ones back to the port, the banquet site had been cleaned up. Soldiers were exercising on the beach, and Dadan's group was nowhere to be seen, likely having returned to the mountains. Garp, sitting on a large rock eating a donut, saw them and shouted:

"Yohohoho, Ace, Luffy, come here and let Grandpa hug you!"

Ace pouted but still walked towards Garp, while Luffy was now Ace's shadow, doing whatever Ace did.

Mo Xingchen dumped the children's books and daily necessities he had bought into Bogard's arms, then stretched his wrists, pointed at a group of soldiers doing weighted running, and said:

"Ace, Luffy, see those people? Go and run with them now."

"Why?"

Ace blinked his innocent eyes, which were not yet tainted by knowledge, and tilted his head to look at Mo Xingchen.

Mo Xingchen drew Chun Jun and casually swung it. A pale golden crescent-shaped sword energy streaked through the air, and a large rock on the shore "boom"ed, shattering into two halves. He then turned the tip of his sword to point at Ace, his expression menacing.

"If you don't run, I'll cut you with the next sword!"

Ace, pulling Luffy, jumped out of Garp's arms with a whoosh and quickly ran towards the soldiers.

Garp watched from the side, chuckling foolishly. He didn't forget to promote his parenting style:

"Yohohoho, kid Mo, your methods are completely lacking in intensity! In my opinion, they should be thrown into Mt. Colubo to fight wild beasts. Back then, Dragon was... ..."

The more Bogard listened, the more sweat dripped down his face. These two children were Vice Admiral Garp's grandsons, weren't they! Was Vice Admiral Garp really trying to kill them?