Corvo Mountain on Dawn Island!

Frowning, Garp steadied Aying, then took the prescription from her hands.

His eyes swept over it.

His mouth twitched.

"Such a long list of ingredients? Isn't this just part of what I give that woman, Doctor Doriel, every year?"

"Eh~ Grandpa, you know her?" Mercer asked in surprise. "That's right. This is a tonic that strengthens the body and replenishes its foundation, making up for deficiencies in the body's blood and energy.

"But its effects are mild.

"It was developed for infants and young children. Doctor Doriel specially formulated it for me back then."

"But we can't afford it." Aying looked completely at a loss. "One dose costs fifty thousand Beli, and you can only take it twice at most. It would take at least a year or two to see any results."

Mercer had thoughtfully added the cost of each ingredient to the prescription, which was how Aying could understand it.

Garp sighed, feeling that he was destined to be short on money and born to work himself to the bone.

"Aying, Slab, you know I'm busy. I hardly have time to look after a baby.

"I came by this time because Slab told me you'd just had a child, Aying. I thought maybe you could help look after Luffy while you were at it.

"As it happens, Mercer has taken that medicine himself. I'll provide the ingredients, and in exchange, you can raise Luffy for me.

"Can you accept that?"

Aying froze, her eyes reddening despite herself. Slab looked at Garp with some embarrassment, but gritted his teeth and said, "I'll agree to it. Thanks, Garp. Don't worry—even without this arrangement, our family would never let Luffy go hungry, not with the friendship you and I share."

Garp breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone was happy, except that his wallet would take a hit.

Wait, no. Hadn't Mercer and the others seized plenty of gold bars from that slave-trading group just a few days ago?

And he was entitled to thirty percent. On top of that, he could use the credit from recovering that Slave Ship to exchange for supplies at Headquarters.

"Hahaha! Looks like I don't need to worry anymore. That money should be more than enough."

Watching Garp amuse himself, Mercer sighed. "Could you get the ingredients ready first?"

"You're not staying here forever, and neither is he. We have to leave in a few days."

Garp's laughter stopped. He looked at Slab and Aying.

"Right. Then I'll leave Luffy in your hands. I'll have someone buy all the ingredients today, and bring them over with Mercer tomorrow."

"Fine. You go take care of your business."

Slab knew that whenever Garp came back these past few years, he always went to Corvo Mountain behind the village. He figured Garp must have something important to do there.

Waving goodbye, Garp left with Mercer. Slab and Aying each held a baby as they watched the two men walk away.

"Dad, we really owe Uncle Garp this time. Otherwise, I don't know what would've happened to Arthur..."

"Yeah. I owe that old rascal another huge favor. I guess we'll just have to raise little Luffy well for him."

"Mm. I'll raise Luffy as if he were my own son."

"Grandpa, are we going to see Ace now?"

Mercer walked along with Garp. "Where is he?"

Garp awkwardly scratched his head. "First, we'll head to the warship and give Bogard the prescription. Then I'll take you to find Ace."

A little while later, Garp handed the prescription to Bogard aboard the warship. Bogard was delighted. Garp hadn't punished him on the way here for teaching Mercer recklessly, and he'd been feeling apprehensive. Now he could use this chance to "make amends."

Ignoring Bogard's delight, Garp merely smiled and said, "Get this matter taken care of today, and we'll call the previous matter settled. Use my commission to pay for it.

"Buy a hundred doses to start."

Bogard thumped his chest and grinned.

"Don't worry. You can count on me."

Mercer smiled, picked up the travel bag he'd packed, and looked at Garp. "Grandpa, let's go. I want to meet him soon, too."

Mercer was quite curious about his younger brother, whom he hadn't seen since the day they were born. He wondered how old he was now.

Probably about the same age as him.

After all, they were born on the same day.

He also wondered what his personality was like now.

Garp smiled and took the bag from Mercer. "Let's go."

Under Bogard's watchful gaze, the two left the warship, followed a narrow path, and climbed the mountain.

The lush forest echoed now and then with the roars of unknown creatures.

Garp led Mercer through the woods. Seeing him look around curiously, Garp chuckled.

"Well? Isn't it beautiful? It's a completely different world from Drum Island. And it's not cold at all, right?"

The deeper they went into the forest, the taller the trees grew. The fresh scent of leaves and grass grew stronger in the air.

Mercer couldn't help relaxing. He quietly sensed the subtle connection between himself and nature.

Observation Haki rippled around him as he sensed the auras of the various creatures in the forest.

Mercer slipped free of Garp's hand. As they walked, he breathed steadily, and his aura gradually changed, as if he were blending into his surroundings.

A serene, ethereal calm seemed to radiate from his whole body.

Garp's eyes suddenly widened, and his mouth fell open far enough to fit a balloon. He stared at Mercer, feeling as if the boy were about to disappear before his eyes.

The aura around him seemed to be merging with the environment. It was uncanny.

"Devil Fruit ability?"

"No, no. Mercer isn't one."

Mercer quietly savored the "breathing" of the trees around him, controlling his own breath as he drew closer to them and became one with them. He imagined himself as a tree, a leaf, rooted in the earth and growing freely in the wild.

His body relaxed, letting nature take its course.

He steadily brought the rhythm of his breathing and his aura into harmony with the frequency he sensed all around him.

They continued on their way.

After a long while, Mercer emerged from that state of communion with nature and withdrew his Observation Haki. A smile touched his lips.

He looked at Garp beside him.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?"

Garp blinked and examined Mercer closely. The feeling that he was about to disappear had vanished.

"What was that just now?"

Mercer smiled. "Just an ordinary way of breathing. A method of regulating your body and cultivating your health."

Mercer wasn't lying. That breathing method had indeed been developed from breathing.

Garp looked utterly speechless. "You think your grandpa's an idiot? If breathing could do what you just did, don't you think I'd know how?"

Mercer grinned. "Then you're just too stupid, Grandpa."

Garp's eyes bulged with anger, his mustache bristling. He felt his fists clench.

He was about to make a move.

But then he heard Mercer speak.

"Grandpa, do you want to learn? I can teach you."

Garp's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, then sighed. "I'm not learning. I doubt you came up with it by yourself. That woman, Doctor Doriel, probably had a hand in it."

As they continued walking, Mercer looked at him in surprise.

"That's right. Doctor Doriel developed this special breathing method by studying how I breathed."

Realization dawned in Garp's eyes.

A breathing secret art like this was practically a special inheritance. It must have taken a lot of blood and sweat to develop. He couldn't just learn it from Mercer without permission. That would be taboo.

Clearly, Garp wasn't that kind of person.

Seeing Garp's expression, Mercer understood and said with a smile,

"Although Doctor Doriel put the Breathing Technique together, I'm the one who comes first in line. I have the right to teach it to others."

"Doctor Doriel won't object or care about it. I asked her, and she said I could do whatever I wanted."

"As long as you promise not to pass it around, Grandpa, I'll teach you."

Garp looked at Mercer suspiciously. "Really? You're not lying to me?"

"Believe it or not. Learn it or don't. I'm not lying, and it's your loss if you don't learn. I'll just consider myself a good Samaritan who got kicked in the teeth."

Garp's eye twitched, and his teeth ground together with a loud "crack."

"You little rascal, are you calling me a stupid donkey?"

"I didn't say that. I didn't. You figured that out by yourself."

"Argh! You little brat! You're still claiming you didn't say it!"

Seeing Garp hopping mad, Mercer realized he couldn't keep going, or he'd get beaten up before long.

So he asked,

"Grandpa, do you want to learn?"

Mercer asked again.

Garp sighed in resignation. "Fine, I'll learn. And I promise I won't teach it to anyone without your permission."

"Good!"

They talked as they walked, with Mercer explaining and Garp asking questions.

To make it easier to teach him, Mercer also had Garp use his Observation Haki to carefully study the rhythm of his breathing.

As Garp began to understand it, his breathing started to change.

From shallow to deep.

His habitual breathing slowly began to transform.

Mercer also used his Observation Haki to observe the changes inside Garp's body. At first, something seemed to obstruct his view, making it hard to see through. But after Mercer explained what he was doing and Garp cooperated, everything became much easier.

After a while,

Mercer saw that Garp had grasped the basics of breathing. He smiled. "Not bad, not bad. You're pretty clever, old man."

Garp's face lit up at once. He laughed heartily and thumped his chest.

"Of course! Do you know who I am? Do you think I could be your grandpa if I were no good?"

Mercer gave Garp a strange look and said coolly, "Shameless."

With Return of Life, he could control his body with ease. It was like taking the high ground and looking down on everything, yet Garp still thought he was clever. Mercer had only said it to be nice, and Garp had actually believed him. What a shameless man.

Garp's face twitched.

He pretended not to hear.

Just then, Mercer asked, "Grandpa, why was it so hard for my Observation Haki to penetrate your body just now? It felt like something was resisting it. What was that?"

Sure enough, Garp answered at once.

"Hehahaha! You want to know? Then your grandpa will tell you. It's another kind of Haki, called Armament Haki. You can use it like invisible armor, and it can also repel things trying to get inside your body.

"Impressive, huh?"

Mercer nodded.

"Mm. It is impressive, but how do you awaken it?"

Garp glanced at Mercer and stroked his chin. "You're still a little too young. Awakening it too early wouldn't be good for your body. Wait a few years."

"It wouldn't be good for my body?" Mercer asked curiously. "Does it have something to do with life force? Or your vitality, blood, and energy?"

Garp's expression stiffened. He looked at Mercer helplessly. "Doctor Doriel told you, didn't she? What doesn't that woman tell you?

"You're right, but don't deliberately try to awaken Armament Haki yet. It won't do you any good."

"Enough of that. Look, we're here."

They had just crossed a low hill when Garp pointed to a wooden building at the end of a path.

"That's it."

The surrounding forest was lush and green. The wooden house stood on a flat stretch of mountainside, hidden away in the woods.

As they followed the path down, Mercer released his Observation Haki to sense what lay ahead. Garp raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"There are quite a few people here." Mercer raised his brows. "Grandpa, what's that?"

Garp's eye twitched, and he sighed. "You'll find out in a moment. But let me say this first: those people have a bad reputation, but their leader, Dadan, is a good person."

Mercer narrowed his eyes. Of course he knew Dadan—a woman who would risk her life for Ace.

A woman who had raised Ace.

A good person with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.

Garp felt awkward about having bandits raise a child, or whatever you wanted to call it, but he didn't say anything more.

When they reached the building's front door, Garp immediately started pounding on it. Bam, bam, bam!

A long string of knocks rang out.

Watching dust fall from the crack in the door, Mercer had a feeling it was about to collapse.

Footsteps sounded inside the house, followed by an angry roar.

"Who is it?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Can't you knock properly?!"

"Creak!"

The door swung open.

A middle-aged woman with orange hair reaching her waist poked her head out, a cigarette in her mouth. When she saw who was there, her eyes suddenly widened.

"Garp—no, Mr. Garp?"

As if she'd seen a monster, she backed away again and again. "W-what are you doing here? Are you here to see Ace again?"

Garp grinned. "You seem full of energy, Dadan."

Dadan looked utterly aggrieved.

"What are you talking about? I'm exhausted! That brat Ace kept me up all night."

"Really? Hahaha! Ace has so much energy, huh? Looks like you've been taking good care of him."

Dadan looked helpless, her heart full of sorrow. "That brat's getting hard to handle. He's as strong as an adult, and he's especially mischievous.

"Why don't you take him away? My little place can't take much more of his destruction."

Mercer watched the two of them chatting, quietly bypassing Dadan and walking inside.

Upon seeing Mercer, Dadan's eyes bulged, and she stammered, "G-G-Garp-san, wh-wh-who is this brat?

How does he look a bit like Ace? Could he possibly be?"

Garp laughed heartily and said, "His name is Mercer, my grandson, Ace's twin older brother."

Dadan felt her vision darken, her mouth twitching as she asked, "Then why did you bring him here?"

No, please don't, absolutely don't, please don't make me raise another one. One Ace is already more than enough for me to handle, and if another one comes, I'm really going to kick the bucket.

Garp replied, "Don't worry, you don't have to raise this one. Someone else is raising him."

Hearing this, Dadan let out a sigh of relief, wearing an utterly exhausted expression.

Entering the house,

Mercer looked at the interior layout: smooth wooden flooring, a spacious room, and several partitioned areas separated by blue curtains.

Toward the left side of the floor was a hearth, with an iron chain suspended in midair, dangling a kettle over it.

At that moment, the kettle was being heated by the charcoal fire in the hearth.

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed, and Mercer turned his head to look.

The sound came from the stairs leading to the upper-level partition.

Then.

A black-haired little boy, about a meter tall, walked down.

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