Sure enough, I was right. If I wanted to deal with Ace, I'd have to use you.
Clap, clap, clap!
Garp clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Okay, that's all in the past now. You can all get back to whatever you were doing."
Easy for you to say. You're a big shot, so you don't care. But how could ordinary people like us not care?
The table in my heart had been flipped over more times than I could count.
Dadan and her two trusted men looked utterly burned out.
Mercer couldn't help but put a hand to his forehead. Then he said,
"Actually, this doesn't have much to do with you. It's been so many years. You can just carry on living like you did before."
That was all well and good, but now that they knew, they knew. The only way around that would be to erase their memories.
Mercer shot Garp a look, feeling a little speechless. How could he be so carefree?
"Grandpa, are we staying here tonight?"
Mercer asked.
Garp thought it over, then scratched his head.
"We'll stay here. After breakfast tomorrow, we'll go treat Slab's grandson, then hang around for a few more days. After that, I'll take you back to Drum Island."
Mercer nodded.
Just then,
Mercer noticed Ace staring in a daze and grinned. "What's the matter? Can't bear to see me go?
"Want to come with me to Drum Island?"
At that, Dadan's body stiffened. She quietly raised her head to look, but didn't say anything.
She felt a little reluctant, but part of her also wanted to avoid the whole thing.
Ace looked around the room, then spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.
"Forget it. I'll stay here. We know who we are. If we stick together and get caught someday, wouldn't they just take us all in one go?
"Besides, I'm pretty comfortable here."
Mercer looked at Ace in surprise. "Come on, kid. You're this smart?"
Ace immediately got annoyed. "Who are you looking down on? Do you think I'm a little kid? You looking for a fight?"
Fair enough. By their actual ages, counting the time they'd spent in the womb, they were nearly five.
That little prodigy in the next story was already pondering life's deepest truths at five.
So it wasn't hard to believe Ace was a little smarter and more perceptive now.
"All right, then. When Grandpa comes back here, I'll come along more often to see you."
"Who asked you to come see me? You were only born a few seconds before me. Don't go acting like you're my big brother."
Mercer smiled. He didn't take Ace's words seriously at all. With a stubborn, prickly kid like him, you just had to take the opposite of what he said.
Just then, a "clack-clack" sound rang out. Mercer looked up and spotted a short, chubby bandit with a cloth sack over his head.
Dogra.
Dadan's right-hand man.
His backstory in the original timeline wasn't clear, but he seemed like a good guy with a story to tell?
Well, he was good to Ace.
Mercer went over and watched as Dogra used a thin metal strip to pick a lock. It only took a few quick clicks before it popped open.
"Not bad! You've got some skill. That looks pretty fun. Can you teach me?"
Lockpicking.
Dogra jumped at Mercer's sudden voice.
He'd just heard a secret that had left him reeling, and at last, picking a lock had helped distract him. He hadn't expected to nearly die of fright.
But when he saw the curiosity in Mercer's eyes, Dogra puffed up with pride.
"No way. This is a family trade. It doesn't get passed on."
Mercer grinned and took his wallet out of his shoulder bag. He pulled out ten ten-thousand-Beli bills.
"Ten thousand Beli in Yukichi bills. If you teach me, this is your tuition."
Dogra fell silent. Ten thousand Beli was nearly a month's income for an ordinary family. With that much, he could buy a few more of the books he liked.
Dogra loved reading, but money was tight.
He snatched the bills eagerly. "Deal."
Garp watched Mercer learn to pick locks from a bandit, his face darkening.
He was starting to regret bringing Mercer along.
"Mercer, why learn that? It's useless. Once you're strong enough, just grab the lock and twist it off."
"I'm free anyway, so I might as well learn a skill. Besides, it didn't cost much."
Garp was exhausted. He decided it was best not to look and turned away with a grumble.
Dogra quietly explained all sorts of lockpicking tricks.
Mercer listened closely.
Things like listening for the pins and being nimble with your fingers.
He learned it all in a flash, grasping every point right away.
Lockpicking might seem difficult if you'd never tried it, but once you knew how it worked,
Mercer took Dogra's thin metal strip and the lock. In just a few quick moves, he picked it open.
Listening for the pins, nimble fingers.
He had Observation Haki.
And he knew dissection.
It was simple for Mercer.
After playing around for a while, Mercer understood the principles behind lockpicking.
And he grew more skilled with practice.
Dogra stared at him, dumbfounded, looking as if he'd taken a serious blow.
"Seriously? I've spent most of my life learning this skill!"
He looked utterly dejected.
Mercer wasn't paying attention to him at that moment.
The light screen was projected onto his retina.
He gritted his teeth and used one point of merit in the Gifted Abilities section to distill his life history and experiences. Right after that,
[Lockpicking]
Another brand-new Gifted Ability appeared, almost as if it couldn't wait to show itself. It was gray, though, not yet fully manifested.
"Heh, interesting."
Should I manifest this ability for real and give it a try? Mercer thought. Hmm, I feel like I'm still missing a spark of inspiration. Never mind. I'll let things take their course. I'll practice hard over the next few days and try to manifest it for real.
As a little everyday trick, it was already somewhat useful to Mercer.
More importantly, locks in this world were generally pretty basic.
Most of them were extremely crude and primitive.
Kids were growing, so they needed to get to bed early. Mercer and Ace bathed in a big tub in a room upstairs.
They slept on the same bedroll.
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Mercer half-closed his eyes and focused on his body using his breathing method.
He paired it with Observation Haki to sense his body, following his breath deeper and deeper as he trained his mind and will.
Then Ace spoke from beside him.
"I can't sleep. We're the same age, so why are you so much stronger than me?"
A few seconds passed, but Mercer didn't answer. Hearing his faint breathing beside him, Ace felt a little annoyed.
"Did you fall asleep?"
"Guess not."
Mercer spoke calmly. "It's the way you train. Do you know what training is?"
"Eating, running, and punching."
"That's what that stinky old man taught me."
Hearing him, Mercer curled his lip. "How crude!"
Ace abruptly sat up and threw off the blanket.
"You called me crude? Want to fight?"
"Why are you getting so worked up? Look at you, getting worked up again. You can't even beat me."
Mercer propped himself up on his left elbow and turned to look at Ace's indignant face. Grinning, he said,
"Call me big brother, and I'll teach you how to train."
Ace snorted. "I'm not calling you that."
"Then I'll learn how to train, and I'll keep getting stronger. You'll never be able to beat me. You'll be stuck as the little brother forever."
Ace's eye twitched. He clenched his fist and turned his face away. A few seconds later, he mumbled, "Bro."
Mercer smiled. "Didn't hear you. Louder. Like a girl. You're no fun at all."
Mercer watched Ace's body tremble. After a moment, Ace spoke louder.
"Bro!"
"Louder."
Ace's face turned bright red. He whirled around, grabbed Mercer by the shoulders, and pulled him up, then took a deep breath.
"BRO!!!!"
A mighty roar rang out.
It seemed to shake the entire house.
In an instant, Mercer heard a commotion downstairs.
At the same time, a furious roar came from below. Dadan's voice thundered,
"Ace!! Why aren't you asleep at this hour? Are you trying to bring the roof down?! Keep it down, or I'll throw you outside to sleep!"
Bang!
"What's all that racket? You trying to get yourself killed by staying up all night?"
Garp slapped the floor and roared, "Everyone, quiet down!"
The house fell silent at once.
Mercer looked at Ace, who wore a smug expression, and said calmly, "We'll talk tomorrow. Go to sleep for now."
With that, he fell back, pulled up the blanket, and went to sleep again.
In less than three seconds, he was snoring softly.
Ace was left staring wide-eyed.
The next day.
The morning air was exceptionally fresh, and dew covered the lush grass along the road.
Mercer jogged down the path, with a little tagalong close behind him.
He kept his pace steady, making sure Ace was just about to catch up, but never quite could.
He listened to Ace's rough, panting breaths.
After a while,
Mercer slowed down.
Ace shot past him.
A few seconds later, Ace turned around and saw Mercer had stopped. Mercer began walking slowly.
Ace came over, looking furious.
"Why'd you stop running? I was just about to pass you."
"That's your imagination."
Mercer answered calmly.
Ace raised an eyebrow, ready to flare up.
Mercer continued at a leisurely pace. "The so-called way to train is just breathing."
At those words, Ace instantly quieted down. He wasn't stupid; he could tell that Mercer was much stronger than him.
His refusal to give up was just that—refusal to give up.
Mercer explained the principles of breathing, how to breathe, and how to learn, speaking clearly so Ace could follow.
He even guided him step by step.
Just like he'd taught Hancock the other day, he inserted Silver Needles into the points where Ace's breathing caught.
He guided him one step at a time.
After breakfast, Ace kept coughing from time to time.
Only Garp knew why.
Everyone else just thought Ace might have caught a cold.
As they walked down the mountain,
Garp observed Mercer's breathing rhythm. He hadn't paid much attention to it before, so it hadn't seemed like anything special. Now that he was paying attention, the more he looked, the deeper it seemed.
He breathed in his own distinct rhythm, and his eyes grew more and more amazed.
Before long,
they arrived at the warship.
After collecting the medicinal herbs Bogard had bought, Mercer and Garp went to Slab's house. As soon as they stepped inside, Garp cheerfully took Luffy into his arms.
He cradled him in the crook of his arm, playing with him.
Mercer went inside and used a small medicine pot to show Aying how to boil the medicine.
After demonstrating the process once,
he also wrote out detailed instructions for her.
Once the herbal decoction was ready,
Mercer looked at the naked baby in front of him and precisely inserted a silver needle into an acupuncture point in the baby's navel.
He gently worked the needle with a special twisting technique.
The baby's face visibly turned rosy, and he began wailing.
Once the baby had stopped crying, Mercer slowly fed the warm decoction into his mouth through a straw.
After a simple demonstration, he had the baby's mother, Aying, do it herself.
The whole process was complete.
Another hour or so passed.
It wasn't physically tiring, just troublesome.
Seeing that he was no longer needed, Mercer went outside.
With one of Slab's fishing rods in hand, he headed to the beach not far from the courtyard to pass the time.
There was a stretch of rocks nearby that he'd heard was a good place to fish.
Mercer was always eager to try new things like this.
Since it was a coastal village, as long as he headed toward the sea, he'd eventually reach the shore no matter which way he went.
At a rocky beach, Mercer sat on a rock close to the water. He baited the hook with fresh bait, then gripped the rod and cast with a motion he remembered. The hook landed perfectly in the sea.
Watching the float, made from a reed stalk, drift on the surface, Mercer sat peacefully on the rock and gazed out at the boundless sea.
He listened to the waves and felt the sea breeze against his skin.
The sea felt different here from how it did aboard the warship.
On the warship, he always felt like an unsettled duckweed drifting on the water.
But here, sitting on solid ground, he felt rooted and steady.
Mercer savored the feeling. At ease, he breathed in and out, sensing the rhythm of his breath in the sea breeze, the rhythm of the waves, and the rhythm of the rocks along the shore.
Unity of Heaven and Man.
He felt the beauty of nature.
His breathing rose and fell slowly, like that of a rock.
Gradually, it felt as if his whole being had fallen into rhythm with his surroundings.
He emptied his mind and imagined himself as a rock, his thoughts tranquil.
Ahead, the float rose and fell with the waves on the distant water. Blue sky, white clouds, beach, rocks, and a man fishing.
Everything felt so natural.
No fish took the bait.
So Mercer simply sat there, quietly lost in thought.
Until—
Seeing the float stranded on a rock, Mercer came back to himself, feeling a little helpless.
"I picked a spot where the water was deep enough, and it still got stranded because of the low tide."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Mercer grumbled helplessly.
"Pfft! Hee-hee-hee, little brother, you're so funny!"
A sweet, clear laugh rang out beside him. Mercer didn't turn around. A moment later, the newcomer let out an annoyed little "hmph."
"Little brother, big sister's talking to you!"
Then a finger poked toward him. Mercer leaned back just in time, and a slender, pale index finger appeared before his eyes.
Mercer turned to look.
A girl of about twelve or thirteen stood there.
She looked about the same age as Hancock.
Her dark green hair was tied back with a bright yellow spotted bandana. She wore an orange checkered sleeveless shirt and knee-length, off-white shorts.
She was barefoot, with a pair of sandals on her feet.
Now she stood there with puffed cheeks, looking at him.
She reached toward Mercer's head with her right hand, fingers spread.
"Big sister isn't a bad person, you know. Are you here alone? Where's your family?"
The girl asked curiously.
Mercer raised his fishing rod just enough to block her outstretched right hand.
"By the way, who are you? And people who say things like that are usually kidnappers. We don't know each other, do we?
"This place is huge. Did you come over here for a reason?
"Also, don't go touching people whenever you feel like it. We're not close."
Mercer looked at her calmly.
"Heh, little brother, you really are interesting. I've been watching you for quite a while. You've been sitting here fishing like a wooden statue."
"And you look unfamiliar, too. Did you just come to our Foosha Village?"
"Oh, right! My name's Makino. What's yours, little brother?"
A knowing look flashed in Mercer's eyes as he gazed at her, and she gradually merged with the friendly neighborhood girl from his memories.
"Mercer. My name's Mercer."
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