A Return Gift!

Chapter 23: A Return Gift!

Hearing a heavy object land at the entrance, Dadan, who was inside the house, ran out to check.

She gasped.

"Hiss, it's such a big wild bull."

Hearing Dadan's surprised words, Mercer smiled and said to her, "I heard Ace say you like to eat wild beef, and I happened to run into this on the mountain, so I brought it to you. Let's have it for dinner."

Dadan gave Ace a helpless look. "That brat, why are you so talkative? Wild bulls are dangerous. What if your brother gets hurt?"

Ace pursed his lips and looked nervously at Mercer.

"Hey? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Are you worried about me?"

Mercer spun around, completely unharmed, not a scratch on him. He continued, "What are you thinking? For this stupid bull to injure me, it would need to grow another five or six meters."

"You're just bragging. If it grew another five or six meters, it could stomp you flat with one kick."

Ace looked unconvinced.

Mercer chuckled and said nothing more. Instead, he turned to Dadan and said, "Do you have a big basin? I'll dismember this bull."

Dadan waved her hands repeatedly upon hearing this.

"No, no, how can we let you do that, Mercer? Leave it to us."

She immediately shouted to Dogra and Magura, who had followed her out, "What are you two standing around for? Go get your tools."

Magura was a large, burly man with a simple, honest face. The top of his head was bald, with only a tuft of hair resembling a red cockscomb on the very crown.

Hearing her, both men happily went back to get the dismemberment tools.

They didn't get to eat wild bull often.

They were in for a treat today.

Seeing their enthusiasm, Mercer let them handle it.

He walked over to Ace and smiled at him.

After a while, Ace's face turned red, and he roared, "Why are you staring at me?"

"My eyes are on my body, I can look at whoever I want. What's wrong with me looking at you a couple of times?"

"What? Are you a woman and I'm not allowed to look? Or do I have to charge you?"

Mercer's lips curled up, and he playfully retorted.

Just as Ace was about to turn completely red, Mercer patted his shoulder. "Want to go for a walk with me?"

Ace froze.

He hadn't expected Mercer to say that.

He stared at Mercer intently.

Finally, he pretended to be calm and nodded, pouting. "Since you're begging me so much, I'll reluctantly agree."

Mercer slapped Ace on the back, making him wince in pain.

"Are you going to die if you're not tsundere?"

"You stubborn little brat."

"You're calling me names again? You're the stubborn one. Don't go, stop right there."

After the slap, Mercer casually picked a direction and started walking.

Ace caught up, intending to hit back, but he couldn't land a blow. Mercer seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, always dodging at the perfect moment.

The two of them, bickering and chasing each other, disappeared from the house and headed into the forest.

Dadan opened her mouth, wanting to say "The forest is dangerous," but then she saw the wild bull being dismembered in front of her, and the words didn't come out.

They strolled through the lush forest. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground beside them.

As they walked, Mercer occasionally used his axe to clear obstructing branches.

Ace eyed Mercer's peculiar axe with envy, stealing glances at it along the way.

Boys loved to wield weapons.

Especially a cool axe like that.

Mercer pretended not to notice.

The mountain forest was covered in dense foliage.

Species are abundant.

As expected.

Before long, Mercer discovered a type of medicinal herb in the mountains.

This was a depression with a sizeable pond, surrounded by dense reeds.

"Do you know what that is?"

Mercer pointed to the reed patches and asked Ace.

"Isn't that just reeds?" Ace rolled his eyes. "Don't treat me like an idiot, okay?"

Mercer chuckled and walked over, grabbing a few reeds and pulling them out with the dirt.

He pointed to the root, which resembled bamboo joints. "Reed root, a common medicinal herb. It clears heat and detoxifies, stops vomiting, and is a diuretic. Squeeze the juice..."

While Ace looked on, clueless, Mercer threw away the reeds in his hand and continued to wander the mountains with him.

From time to time, he would find common medicinal herbs and clearly explain their effects. As time passed, Ace's face began to show some annoyance.

Finally, Ace grabbed Mercer's arm and glared. "Mercer, what exactly do you want?"

Stopping, Mercer looked at him with pity and shook his head.

"My foolish younger brother, haven't you realized what I'm doing yet?"

Ace's eyes flickered, and he looked at Mercer with a stubborn expression.

Reaching out, he tugged at his face and said amidst Ace's bristling fur, "Of course, I'm teaching you some wilderness survival skills."

"Although the Dadan family can ensure you don't starve, there are some things they can't teach you."

"In the next few years, when you get older, with your personality, you'll definitely go hunting in the forest. But there are many poisonous things in the forest. Teaching you this is just so you can save yourself."

"It's to prevent you from needing it later, encountering a medicinal herb that can detoxify, and not recognizing it at all. That would be incredibly stupid."

Ace fell silent. Mercer sighed and ruffled his head.

"We might not be together for a long time, so you have to live well," Mercer said with a smile. "You're my younger brother. I don't want to suddenly hear news of your death one day."

Ace shook his head, flung Mercer's hand away, and glared with a smug look.

"You're the one who's going to die. Corvo Mountain is very safe here. You're the one who, I heard the Grand Line is a man-eating sea."

"You're the one who shouldn't die."

Mercer nodded and smiled.

"Then let's both live freely and at ease."

Ace nodded heavily, and from then on, he began to listen more attentively as Mercer introduced him to various medicinal herbs.

Time passed.

The sky gradually darkened.

The two emerged from the forest and walked back to Dadan's Home.

Lights were already on inside, and the rich aroma of meat wafted out.

Mercer's eyes lit up, and he said to Ace, "Let's go, we're going to eat meat."

Ace nodded heavily, his face filled with anticipation and joy.

Inside.

As soon as they entered, they saw Garp sitting at the head of the table.

Seeing the two return, Garp took a bite of the beef in his hand and laughed heartily. "Mercer, I heard you hunted that wild bull. Not bad, worthy of being my grandson."

"Ace, you need to work harder too. Didn't I tell you, Mercer is much stronger than you."

Garp laughed heartily.

Ace's face turned red. "You old geezer, why are you talking so much?"

Garp's face darkened, and he pointed at Ace in exasperation. "You brat, I'm your grandfather, and you dare call me an old geezer?"

"Aaaah, you're making me so angry! Mercer, don't hold me back. I'm going to beat this Ace guy up today!"

Mercer found a place to sit, picked up a piece of cooked bone-in meat, and started eating. Without looking up, he said, "Whatever you want, as long as you don't kill him."

Garp became even more enraged.

Ace smugly squeezed in next to Mercer and started eating meat.

"You can beat me up if you want, but let me eat my fill first."

Garp laughed in anger, channeling his rage into his appetite, eating and cursing with a smile.

"Ungrateful little scoundrel. You call me Grandpa when you need something, but an old geezer when you don't."

The joyful time continued for a week. Every morning, Garp would "disappear," only to return again near evening.

During this time, Mercer asked General Garp to return the fishing rod on the ship to the village chief's house.

Every morning when Mercer woke up, he would take Ace for a run, and by the way, help him consolidate his Breathing.

After breakfast.

He then took him into the mountains to teach him various survival skills in the wild, how to use some tools, and find food along the way.

Climbing trees to get bird nests.

Going into the river to catch fish and shrimp.

Various wild vegetables and fruits.

Or edible insects like scorpions found in rock crevices.

Remove heads and tails.

Carbon-grill for sterilization.

With his Appraisal ability, Mercer was practically a walking encyclopedia of the wild.

From morning till night.

Like Garp, he would return in the evening with the prey they had caught.

They would eat dinner together, chat, and then wash up and go to sleep.

A week later, Morning.

After breakfast, Mercer and Garp said goodbye to Ace.

"Grandpa's vacation is almost over, and I have to go back to Marine Headquarters for work. This is where we part ways for now."

"Don't miss me too much, Ace," Mercer said with a smile as he looked at Ace's reluctant eyes.

"Oh, right, this is for you, a gift."

Mercer unbuckled the axe and its sheath from his waist and handed them to Ace.

"For me?" Ace's small face lit up with joy at first, then furrowed his brow. "If you give me your weapon, what will you use?"

"It's fine, it's not some famous sword or anything, just a regular Refined Weapon. I'll just have someone forge a new one later."

Mercer waved his hand. "Keep this multi-purpose axe for self-defense. Don't refuse, take it if I give it to you."

Ace's eyes reddened slightly as he nodded, sniffling. "Okay, I'll see you next time."

Mercer waved goodbye with a smile. "Yeah, see you next time."

He left leisurely with Garp.

Along the way.

Mercer and Garp walked together through the forest, breathing in the natural scents.

"What do you think of that kid Ace?"

Hearing the voice beside him, Mercer thought for a moment and said, "He's sensitive and shy, but sometimes stubborn. Still, he's a good kid."

Garp chuckled, fully agreeing.

"That's right, he's a good kid, but his flaw is his stubbornness, just like your father. He can be exceptionally obstinate at times.

But you, Mercer, are different. You're not as stubborn as they are."

However, for you, Mercer, you don't really care about anyone or anything other than what you hold dear.

Garp thought silently.

Garp wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing.

His sense of right and wrong was a bit weak.

Like those researchers, life was just a number to him.

Unaware of Garp's thoughts, Mercer watched the forest "recede" around them.

At one moment, a flash of brownish-gray color appeared in his eyes, and his figure suddenly stopped.

He released his Observation Haki.

Mercer precisely pinpointed a presence.

Instantly, he scanned his surroundings, spotting a palm-sized stone. Mercer bent down and picked it up.

Breathing.

He entered the Unity of Heaven and Man state, his aura becoming tranquil.

Garp, standing beside him, was also surprised by Mercer's change.

Just as he was about to ask, he noticed Mercer's unusual behavior.

He saw Mercer tiptoeing and moving towards the side.

He immediately stopped talking.

Mercer slowly raised his right arm, staring at a deer in the bushes not far away.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

Fifteen meters.

He crouched slightly, put force into his feet, and at ten meters, his entire body sprang forward.

The sudden burst startled the deer within ten meters, and it leaped up.

"Now."

Mercer grunted, his Observation Haki locking onto it, predicting its movements. He rotated his arm inward, adjusted the angle, and the stone whistled out with a gust of wind.

Bang!

A dull thud sounded on the deer's head. Its body was knocked askew in mid-air, losing balance, and it fell into the bushes.

Mercer quickly rushed to the deer's side, grabbed its head with both hands, and twisted. With a "crack," its neck was broken.

Mercer released the deer's head.

A dozen seconds later, the deer died.

A small, irregular crystal, the size of a grain of rice and shimmering with a mysterious luster, appeared.

[Obtained F-rank Soul Crystal * 1]

Garp walked over at this moment, asking in confusion, "Is this extra food for lunch?"

Mercer shook his head and said, to Garp's surprise:

"A return gift."

"Someone treated me to lunch a few days ago. I'm leaving today, so this is a return gift for her."

Garp's mouth twitched.

"Your gift is quite something, a whole deer."

"Tell me about it, let Grandpa hear, whose guy is it that you have such a good impression of?"

He said this because he knew Mercer too well; the kid usually didn't bother with just anyone.

Whether he bothered with someone or not depended entirely on his mood.

For example, out of everyone on the warship, only Bogard had been able to chat and laugh with him over these days.

As for the others, from Colonels down to the deckhands, few could exchange more than a few words with Mercer.

Looking at the deer in front of him, which was even bigger than himself, with a body length of at least 1.6 meters, Mercer thought for a moment and looked up at Garp.

"Grandpa, if I tell you, will you help me carry it down the mountain?"

"Tell me or don't," Garp's face darkened. "You hunted it yourself and you're not even giving me any to eat, and you want my help? Unless..."

"Then never mind."

Garp's face stiffened.

I haven't finished speaking yet?

Mercer didn't look at him anymore. Instead, he glanced around, then found a thin vine hanging from a tree and pulled it down forcefully.

He wrapped the deer tightly with the ten-meter-long vine, leaving two shoulder straps on either side of its body.

Like carrying a backpack, he slung the entire deer horizontally on his back, raised his head to raise an eyebrow at Garp, and walked down the mountain without looking back.

Garp followed behind, his mouth twitching, a strange look on his face.

A kid carrying a deer bigger than himself. If the deer's head wasn't hanging down, one wouldn't know who was carrying whom.

Silence all the way.

Less than half an hour.

Mercer and Garp arrived at Foosha Village.

Ignoring Garp, Mercer followed the familiar path, weaving through alleys, and arrived at the back door of a house.

Knock, knock, knock!

He knocked hard.

A few seconds later, a clear voice, like a mountain spring, came from inside.

"Who is it? Who are you looking for?"

"It's me. Makino."

Then he heard hurried footsteps from inside, and an eager voice saying, "Wait for me, I'm coming right out." A few seconds later, the door was opened from the inside.

Seeing Mercer carrying the deer, Makino's face froze, and she covered her mouth. "Little Mercer, what is this?"

Rolling his eyes, Mercer pushed Makino aside and walked in.

The deer was placed in the courtyard.

Clapping his hands, Mercer spoke to her, "This deer is a gift for you, a return for you treating me to a meal that day."

Makino's eyes twitched. This gift was too valuable. Just as she was about to refuse, she noticed another person enter the courtyard.

"Huh? Mr. Garp? What brings you here?"

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