Shanks held out a hand and steadily caught Ace's fist, the smile on his face not fading in the slightest.
"That punch isn't strong enough, little brother."
"Shut up! Who asked for a pirate's opinion?!"
The rage in Ace's heart swallowed him once more. He was that man's companion, someone who had inherited that sinful bloodline. Hit him. Beat him to death!
Punch after punch, Ace swung at Shanks in a frenzy, every blow carrying the resentment and hatred he felt every day, every night, before every sleep.
"Die! Pirate! Pirate! Pirate!"
Shanks let Ace do as he pleased, stopping Uta with a glance when she tried to speak. He had brought only the girl with him on this trip.
Garp and Zephyr did not move. One looked at Ace with a complicated gaze, while the other silently closed his eyes.
Uta was anxious. She knew Shanks was strong, but she absolutely did not want to see him being hit. She wanted to step forward and stop it, only to be pulled back.
It was Luffy.
"Uta, this is between Shanks and Ace. Let them handle it themselves."
"But!"
Uta tried to shake off Luffy's hand, but when she saw the unprecedented seriousness on his face, along with Shanks's gaze, she ultimately stopped in frustration.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes...
Ace turned into that crazed beast again, and Shanks let him vent.
Only when Ace was too exhausted to raise his hand again did Shanks speak.
"Had enough? Then it's my turn."
Shanks extended a finger and held it before Ace's hate-filled eyes. Aimed at his forehead, he gave it a light flick.
With a bang, Ace went flying and rolling away. He only stopped after slamming into the wall like a fly swatted by a flyswatter.
"If you want to arrest me, a pirate, you're still a long way off~"
Shanks's faintly mocking voice reached him, making Ace flare up again.
"Bastard..."
Ace's voice dropped, growing hoarser and hoarser.
"It's all because of him, because of that guy. What Pirate King? What Great Pirate Era? That man covered in sin... Why did he have to give birth to me? From the moment I was born, I had a criminal's blood flowing through me..."
"Why?! That bastard who just patted his ass and left, he isn't my father!!!"
The resentment he had accumulated over the years burst forth. When Ace had first learned about Roger, he had even been excited by the title of Pirate King.
Until, where he lived, people would curse pirates from time to time, then curse Roger for bringing about the Great Pirate Era. Every word landed on Ace.
Children did not understand right from wrong or good from evil, but they understood best what they liked and disliked.
No one spoke of Ace, but whenever they spoke of children or Roger, to Ace, they were speaking of him.
He hated Roger. Roger had left him without a father, left him constantly being cursed, unable to hold his head high or dare talk to others about family.
No one liked pirates, so no one would like him, the Pirate King's child. Young Ace had always thought that way.
Now, someone who claimed to be Roger's companion, Roger's child, and his brother stood before Ace. All Ace felt was resentment.
Why was the child who had stayed by his father's side not him?!
Boom...
An invisible force erupted, bearing down on the surroundings like crushing pressure. Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Uta's mind went blank, and she collapsed unconscious. Luffy froze for a moment, looked at Ace in confusion, and fainted as well.
The pressure covered the entire Dadan Family, and the sounds of bodies hitting the ground rang out without end.
Only three people remained standing, watching Ace as he roared and radiated that pressure with complicated, unsurprised looks.
"As expected..." Garp muttered. He was somewhat surprised, but only somewhat.
Shanks stared at Ace, his gaze drifting somewhere unknown.
Captain Roger...
"Good potential." Zephyr nodded silently. Conqueror's Haki at ten years old...
"Not a bad presence, but still not enough."
Shanks smiled, and then an even heavier aura surged from his body, crushing down upon Ace.
A small witch meeting a great sorcerer—when Ace's Conqueror's Haki encountered Shanks's, it was like foam meeting water, dissolving in an instant.
At that moment, Ace's rage seemed to be seized by the throat as well. He looked at Shanks with disgust and helplessness, not knowing what to do.
"If you want to defeat me, you're still far from ready, little brother. Keep getting stronger. When the day comes that you have enough strength to stand before me, then you can defeat me and do the things you want to do."
Shanks smiled. Since Captain had entrusted Ace to Mr. Garp, he must have had his reasons. Shanks only needed to lend a hand.
"Remember this. My name is Shanks, Red-Haired Shanks."
As he spoke, Shanks stirred his Conqueror's Haki, intending to knock Ace unconscious. He had already taken a liking to the boy.
But...
Boom!
A newly awakened Conqueror's Haki blocked Shanks's erupting Haki. Zephyr stepped forward and stopped Shanks.
"Let Ace go, Shanks. A well-intentioned lie may be good, but children cannot be allowed to live beneath lies."
Shanks turned back and looked at Zephyr in confusion. Only when Garp stepped forward as well did he shrug, withdraw his Haki, and stop suppressing Ace.
Freed at last, Ace gasped like a drowning fish, his cheeks puffing in and out as he struggled to breathe.
Gritting his teeth, Ace forced himself to his feet and stared directly at Shanks. He would never admit defeat. He would never submit.
"If you truly think of him as your little brother, then speak to him properly. Some things are simple. Don't make them complicated."
Zephyr spoke earnestly, though he was also speaking to Garp.
Garp had long been disappointed in the Marines' justice. Perhaps that was precisely why Dragon, Ace, Luffy, and the others had turned away from the Marines.
Did Garp want Ace to join the Marines for justice? No. He wanted the banner of justice to protect Ace.
"Is that so?" Shanks scratched his head, glanced at the unconscious Uta and Luffy behind him, then walked over and picked up the two children.
He handed one to Garp, then looked Ace in the eye again.
"Then, little brother, do you want to become a Marine or a pirate?"
"I... Why should I answer you?!"
Ace instinctively considered it for a moment, then immediately snapped back in anger.
He did not want to become a Marine with that old bastard, but if he said he wanted to be a pirate, this Red-Haired bastard in front of him would only laugh at him.
"Oh, so you want your own freedom. You want to become a pirate, right?"
Shanks said it plainly, his words like a blade decisively cutting into Ace's heart.
"Shut up! I-I don't!"
Ace became even more flustered and furious. He wanted to leave, but his body did not want to move. If he left this time, when would he see that man's companion again?
Ace resented him and wanted to stay away from him, but when he truly wanted to understand him, he did not want to leave.
Feelings were just that elusive.
"Want to hear Captain Roger's story? You probably only know that Captain Roger was your father and that he began the Great Pirate Era. How much do you really know about what he went through?"
Ace wanted to refute him, but the words reached his lips and would not come out.
Seeing Ace remain silent, Shanks understood. He smiled and patted Uta, then, once the girl groggily woke up, said:
"There's a bedtime story to hear. Get ready."
"Yeah! A story?!"
Uta had not fully woken up, but Luffy woke first. He dashed toward Shanks with a look of longing.
"Hurry up and tell it, Shanks!"
Seeing Ace turn his face away while his ears remained perked up, and Luffy's excited expression, Garp could not help rubbing his fists.
"Hey, Zephyr, is this really all right?"
"Garp, over the past few decades, I came to understand one thing. Justice is neither a profession nor some kind of benchmark. It is an ideal that exists in every person's heart, unrelated to circumstances or anything else."
"When someone sincerely wants to uphold justice, their identity does not matter at all, even if everyone understands justice differently."
"Justice built on deception is inferior to justice chosen even after knowing everything."
"What is it, Garp? Don't tell me you rarely trust children?"
Looking at Zephyr's smile, Garp deflated.
"As expected, you bastard are still better with words."
Before you continue