Grandfather and Grandson

Rodney gazed at Ace and sighed. He knew that this man had already made up his mind. Everyone in the Monkey family was like this. Garp had devoted his entire life to the Marines.

Dragon had spent his whole life fighting to save the suffering masses who lived in misery.

Luffy had spent his entire life pursuing freedom and adventure so he could become the Pirate King.

And Ace... had been led into a pit by Whitebeard... Was it because he lacked a father's love?

People were complicated, and the people of this world even more so. They were simple yet complex, easy to understand yet difficult to comprehend.

Ace loved and respected his mother. She had been a great mother worthy of respect. To bring him into this world, she had used a special method to force herself to carry him for twenty months. Only after Garp appeared did she give birth to him, exhausted to the point of death.

He hated his father because his mother had died because of him. He had clearly been the Pirate King, the man who had conquered the sea, the freest man on the ocean, yet he had been unable to protect his wife. If not for Garp, he might have died long ago himself.

Yet he also respected Roger because he had conquered the sea and completed the unprecedented feat of traveling around the world. By conquering the sea and becoming the freest man, Roger had earned Ace's respect while also inspiring his yearning. Ace wanted to become the Pirate King, prove his strength, prove that he was no weaker than Roger, and prove that he had not disgraced his bloodline.

There was no point saying more. He simply said, "I can help you, but you have to agree to one condition. You must keep this promise! This is a man's promise!"

Ace met Rodney's blood-red eyes with utmost seriousness and said, "Tell me. I will definitely keep it."

"After entering the Grand Line, if you encounter the Whitebeard Pirates, don't join them. Can you do that?"

"How could I possibly join another pirate crew? I set out to sea to become the Pirate King!"

We'll talk after you survive Whitebeard's technique for collecting sons.

"I will definitely be the one to become the Pirate King!" Luffy shouted loudly at a completely inappropriate moment.

But neither of them paid him any attention. Rodney nodded, took out the key to the Seastone Handcuffs, and helped Ace free himself. Feeling the power of freedom after no longer being restrained, Ace nodded and said, "Although I really don't like you, Rodney, you are a man of principle."

"Yeah, yeah! As long as there's money!" He tucked the Seastone Handcuffs into his belt pouch and watched Ace leave, chasing after Garp.

This was all he could do. Ace pursued freedom, while Garp pursued justice. Watching his grandson die before his eyes while being bound by the justice behind him was undoubtedly torture for an old man. Rodney was soft-hearted and couldn't stand such tragic dramas. If Ace was willing to keep their promise, Blackbeard wouldn't capture him, and none of those other damned messes would happen.

If he didn't keep it, then he had only himself to blame. Rodney couldn't stop a man from pursuing freedom and familial love.

He had done all this simply because he didn't want to watch an old man spend the rest of his life suffering from the loss of his grandson.

Garp was a very good man. Whether in the anime or during the time Rodney had spent with him, Rodney knew that he was a truly good old man.

"Hey, hey, Rodney, get me out of here!" Luffy shouted from the side.

Looking at the somewhat loosened soil beside him, Rodney said, "Figure it out yourself. It won't take long."

Whoosh!

He immediately vanished with Soru. At the harbor, flames had already begun to burn.

"Old man, I absolutely won't let you hurt them!" Ace's crew had arrived. They stood aboard the ship, calling out their captain's name and wanting to take their captain away.

"Ha ha ha! Ace, are you trying to stop me? For the sake of your crew?" Garp looked at the wall of flames behind Ace, laughed heartily, and asked with eyes shining brightly and a brilliant smile.

"Of course, old man! I'm their captain!" Ace had already decided to advance and retreat together with his crew. Because he was their captain!

"You can't defeat me." Garp strode forward, the pressure around him as heavy as a mountain. The Marine Hero who had once dared to stand alone before the legendary pirate Rocks might have grown old, but his presence remained as formidable as ever.

Ace took a step back. He knew he couldn't defeat his grandfather. This was the man who had been evenly matched with that bastard father of his. His current self was no match for him.

But I absolutely can't let the old man hurt everyone!

Flames roared around him as an invisible aura burst forth from his body, making Garp raise an eyebrow. The Marines and ordinary villagers around him collapsed before that invisible pressure, with only a rare few still managing to hold on.

Had Ace's Conqueror's Haki awakened?

Garp clenched his fist and took a great stride. Moving at nearly teleportation speed, he arrived before Ace. Ace didn't even have time to react before he took a full blow from the Fist of Love!

Bam!

Ace's body was sent flying by Garp's punch. He smashed through the wall of flames and landed straight on the Spade Pirates' ship, where the crew caught him securely.

"Ace!"

"Captain, are you all right?"

"Captain!"

"Deuce, the ship's doctor! Hurry and check whether Captain Ace is hurt!"

The crew crowded around Ace, deeply moving him. Although Garp had punched him, Ace knew that Garp hadn't used much force. Rather than beating him, it was more like Garp was helping him fulfill his wishes!

"Enough talking, Duke. Turn around! Hurry!"

"Yes, Captain!" The helmsman Duke received the order and excitedly turned the ship around. Suddenly, the seawater beside them exploded, sending up enormous waves that pushed the ship forward and accelerated its departure from the harbor.

"Tsk, tsk. Missed. Rodney, boy, shells! Shells!" Garp had somehow already reached the warship. Rodney hurried over to him.

Rodney wore a helpless expression as he handed Garp two lead shells the size of ostrich eggs, one in each hand.

The warship and pirate ship were only a few hundred meters apart. With Garp's strength and accuracy, how could he possibly have missed?

But Rodney didn't expose Garp. He simply helped from the side, watching Garp use his own way to send his grandson out to sea.

Garp was only angry that Ace had gone out to sea without saying a word or even notifying him. He had also been joking around with Rodney, never expecting Rodney to actually bring Ace back. But that was fine too. It let him loosen the reins on his grandson a little.

"Meteor Fist!"

The shell was fired with the speed of a cannonball tearing through a barrel. It struck one side of the pirate ship without deviation, aiding the crew's departure as though pushing the waves along.

"Brat, don't let me catch you!" Garp laughed heartily as he watched the pirate ship sail away.

"Grandfather! Thank you for taking care of me all this time!!!"

Ace knelt on the ship and slammed his forehead against the deck in Garp's direction!

Hearing Ace finally call him "Grandfather," Garp's burly body trembled slightly. He merely laughed and said, "That brat never listens! I told him to become a Marine, but he refused. He insisted on becoming the Pirate King! Honestly, what's so good about that thing? Rodney, boy, don't become a pirate."

"I don't think I will. As long as no one forces me, I think being a pirate hunter would be pretty good." Rodney shrugged without exposing the old man's feelings and simply asked, "Vice Admiral Garp, do you really have no regrets?"

"Regrets? I've never regretted anything I've done! I wanted him to become a Marine, but he refused. I couldn't exactly tie him up here and prevent him from pursuing his freedom for the rest of his life, could I? I couldn't do that."

"Is that so?" Rodney knew that Garp couldn't bring himself to act against Ace. It was clear from the original story. If he had been willing, he could have taken people out to capture Ace when Ace made a name for himself in the first half of the Grand Line. But he hadn't. Instead, he had quietly watched his grandson sail across the sea in pursuit of his own path.

"Ha ha ha, enough about that. These new recruits were knocked down so easily! From now on, I have to train them properly. Marines can't be this weak!"

Rodney silently prayed for those Marines. Just then, Luffy hurried over, stood on the warship, and shouted, "Ace!! Wait for me!! I absolutely won't let you have the Pirate King title!!"

Garp's expression darkened. "Luffy!!"

Bam!

The Fist of Love struck Luffy on the head. Garp dragged him off the warship with one hand and said, "Looks like I really have to train you properly!"

"Aaah! Grandfather, let go of me! Grandfather!!"