Meeting Ace

"I didn't recognize her identity."

Noah quickly ran through the response he had just formulated, then put on an expression of astonishment, "Didn't you bring it up yourself at the time?"

"Hm?"

Shizi was taken aback, realizing that seemed to be the case, and asked with confusion, "Then what were you trying to say back then when you were holding the photo?"

"She looked familiar," Noah said honestly. "Like I had seen her somewhere before, especially those eyes."

"..." Shizi's gaze narrowed slightly. "What do you mean, where?"

"I can't recall for the moment." Noah scratched his head, feeling as though his acting skills had improved once again. "More importantly, Major General Shizi, may I ask you a question?"

"Don't change the subject." Shizi frowned, but still relented. "...Go ahead, what is it?"

"Why on earth are you and Mr. Garp..." Noah noticed Shizi's expression darkening, so he quickened his pace. "It's like this, Mr. Garp is not only a hero I respect, but he was also the one who recommended me for the Elite Training Camp at headquarters."

"Logically speaking, as comrades-in-arms for many years, your relationship should be very close. Why has it turned out like this? To the point where you don't even want to hear Mr. Garp's name?"

"Is that kind of thing important?" Shizi countered.

"Yes." Noah nodded earnestly. "Please, you must tell me. It might help me remember the owner of those eyes."

"..."

Shizi gave Noah a meaningful look, then suddenly lowered her head and whispered to Hina, "Go upstairs and sleep, Hina. It's getting late; if you don't rest, you won't be able to get up tomorrow morning."

"No, I'm not going."

Although Hina was very sleepy, her attitude this time was unexpectedly firm. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I've already heard this much, does Grandma Shizi still want to hide everything from me?"

Shizi stroked her little head, hesitated for a moment, then sighed. She didn't insist further, letting Hina continue to lie in her arms as she looked up at Noah.

"You think the reason I left Marineford three years ago has to do with that guy Garp, don't you?"

"Just a small guess."

Noah did not deny it.

"Then you guessed right."

Shizi said flatly, "Whether it's the breakdown of my relationship with Garp or my resignation from Marine Headquarters, there is only one reason for both: the death of Rouge three years ago."

"I mentioned it to you before, right? After the execution of the Pirate King Roger, Marine Headquarters launched a manhunt for his family and descendants. It was only then that I learned Rouge was Roger's wife."

"When I found out, I took the initiative to ask headquarters to be in charge of the matter. Perhaps it was indeed for selfish reasons, but regardless, as the only family Rouge had in this world, I couldn't just watch her get captured by the Marines and suffer the same fate as scum like Roger!"

"However, Shiki had just wreaked havoc at headquarters at the time, and half of the towns in Marineford were destroyed. With reconstruction work keeping everyone busy and Tsuru unable to handle it all, I had to focus my energy there first."

Noah nodded silently; he was naturally aware of this incident.

After Roger turned himself in, Shiki could not believe that his rival had been captured, so he single-handedly stormed Marine Headquarters to demand answers.

Although he was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Garp and Sengoku and thrown into Impel Down, he still caused unprecedented damage to Marineford.

"And by the time I regained my composure and finally had the time to take over the pursuit of Rouge..."

As Shizi spoke, her emotions became unstable, and her thin frame trembled slightly. "I heard that Rouge's tracks had already been exposed in the South Blue, and that Garp had already led a fleet to the South Blue to surround and hunt her down."

Hina sensibly hugged her waist, pressing her face tightly against her chest, which helped her feel a bit better and gradually calm down.

"You're young, so you might not understand the grudge between Garp and Roger. He hated that guy immensely, especially after he said those words before his death, ushering in the chaotic Great Pirate Era and bringing endless trouble to the Marines."

"So, upon learning the news of Roger's pregnant wife, that guy didn't even bother to stay at headquarters to recover from his injuries. He went out personally, all to nip the Pirate King's bloodline in the bud."

"He succeeded." Shizi's expression was gloomy. "Just two days later, headquarters received the report he sent back: Rouge had fallen into the deep sea and died while being pursued by him, and the Pirate King's unborn son had died in the womb as a result."

"And that is the answer to the question you wanted to know."

She looked at the silent Noah and said self-deprecatingly, "Of course, Garp didn't do anything wrong. From the perspective of the Marines, if it were me, I wouldn't easily let go of the descendants of scum like Roger either—at the very least, I would have kept them under close surveillance."

"But regardless, Rouge died at his hands. I felt I couldn't face Garp with my previous attitude, yet I had no reason to blame him for anything. I could only choose to endure it, avoid him, leave headquarters, and return to my hometown to escape everything."

"So," she glanced at the hung-up Den Den Mushi and shook her head, "you should understand now how unrealistic it is for you or Gion to try to complete the mission assigned by headquarters and convince me to return to Marineford, right?"

"..."

Noah, who had been listening quietly to Shizi's account without interrupting, finally looked up and stared directly into her eyes.

"Do you really think Vice Admiral Garp is that kind of person?"

"What? Hunting down a pirate's family?"

Shizi shook her head. "Normally, Garp wouldn't do such a thing, but Rouge's situation was too special. That was the Pirate King Roger..."

"Even so, I don't believe Vice Admiral Garp would do that. You were his comrade for so many years; you should know his character better than I do."

Noah interrupted her. "Besides, did Vice Admiral Garp know about your relationship with Rouge?"

"No. Zephyr and Sengoku didn't know either. I never mentioned it at headquarters."

Shizi's voice was dry, her gaze somewhat lost. "Perhaps I should have let him know beforehand. If I had, Rouge wouldn't have..."

"What if Rouge didn't actually die?"

Noah said suddenly, "Don't you think that series of actions by Mr. Garp was too strange? He completed the manhunt in just two days? And he claimed Rouge died in the sea without bringing back a body? Could it be that he specifically staged this to protect Rouge..."

"I've thought about that, too."

Shizi said coldly, "But unfortunately, little one, that is impossible. My private phone number has never changed. If Rouge were still alive, there is no way she wouldn't have called me even once over all these years."

That was because Rouge, that great mother, had stubbornly delayed her pregnancy for over a year to protect her son, eventually dying of exhaustion only after giving birth to Ace...

Noah sighed inwardly, but he couldn't bring himself to spell those words out; there would be no way to explain the source of such information. Faced with Shizi's gaze, he chose to steer the conversation back, dropping the deep-sea bombshell he had prepared:

"I said earlier that the photo of Rouge from her childhood looked familiar, especially the eyes. I felt like I had seen them somewhere before."

"Hmm?" Shizi narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Now I remember."

Noah took a deep breath and said calmly, "A year ago, when I was traveling from the East Blue to Marine Headquarters on Garp's ship, we stopped at an island, and I witnessed him handing over an infant only a few months old to the local residents to raise."

"That baby was very well-behaved and didn't cry at all, so it left a deep impression on me."

Watching Shizi's expression change abruptly, Noah smiled and said, "And he looked just like Miss Rouge, especially the eyes—they were practically cut from the same mold."

Second update, please vote. PS: The protagonist is not lying; all information provided to Shizi is verifiable, and even a confrontation with Garp would hold up. The foreshadowing regarding the timeline was planted from the very first chapter, so there is no need to worry about the logic.