The next morning, sunlight spilled across the deck of the Eclipse.
"Wipe the left, wipe the right. Damn it, why does this great Buggy have to clean windows here?!" Grumbling to himself, Buggy polished the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living quarters until they gleamed.
At the other end of the deck, Sabo sat beneath a parasol, reading the newspaper. Ace sat cross-legged on the deck, holding a bottle of premium sake he'd dug out of the temperature-controlled wine cellar.
A pirate ought to drink sake by the mouthful. Ace couldn't agree more.
Ace poured two cups of sake. He downed one, then turned to look at Buggy, who was still scrubbing the windows with all his might.
"Hey, Buggy, come have a drink." Ace casually called to him, raising the other cup, filled to the brim.
Buggy froze and swallowed hard. After being put through the wringer for most of the night, his mouth was parched. He edged over carefully and accepted the cup, eyeing Ace warily. "Captain, what're you up to this time?"
"Sit." Ace patted the deck beside him.
Buggy sat down nervously. He'd just raised the sake to his lips when Ace suddenly asked, "Back on the Oro Jackson, who got beaten up more, you or Shanks?"
"Pfft—!"
The sake Buggy had just taken into his mouth sprayed out. His eyes flew wide as he scrambled backward, pointing at Ace and stammering, "H-how did you know I used to sail with Captain Roger?! That's top-secret information in the East Blue!"
Even Sabo, who'd been reading the newspaper nearby, lowered it and looked over in surprise. He'd known Buggy was a pirate from the East Blue, but he hadn't expected the Red Nose to have such an astonishing past.
Seeing Buggy looking as if he were facing down an enemy, Ace's lips curled into a gentle, easygoing smile.
He didn't keep him guessing. Raising his cup and watching the clear liquor, he answered in a perfectly natural tone, "Isn't it normal for me to know? After all, the man who wore a straw hat and grinned all the time was my biological father."
For a moment, even the sea breeze seemed to stop.
"Clunk."
The wooden cup slipped from Buggy's hand and hit the deck, spilling sake everywhere.
He froze as if someone had cast a spell on him. His beady eyes fixed on the black-haired young man, his mind completely blank.
"Your biological father?" Buggy's voice trembled. "Y-you mean the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?!"
"Yeah. My mother was Portgas D. Rouge. I took her surname, but by blood, I'm that bastard's son." Ace nodded. Unlike in the original story, there was no disgust or bitterness about his heritage in his voice. Instead, he spoke with the candor of someone who had fully accepted it.
"That can't be. Captain Roger had already..."
Buggy shook his head frantically. But when he really took a careful look at Ace's face, he suddenly went still.
The shape of his eyes and brows, that fearless gaze, even the carefree smile he'd worn while chasing Buggy through the sky yesterday—so maddeningly carefree it made a person hate him and yet feel helpless.
The fragments of memory in Buggy's mind crashed together.
The mighty figure who'd once stood at the bow, laughing into the howling wind and rain, now overlapped perfectly with the young man before him.
"No wonder. No wonder you seemed so familiar last night."
Buggy's eyes suddenly reddened. Huge tears poured out like a bursting dam, mixing with snot and smearing the clown makeup across his face.
"Waaaaah! Captain! Captain, you had a son after all!!"
Buggy collapsed onto the deck and sobbed without a shred of dignity. He might have been greedy and afraid of death, but as an apprentice of the Roger Pirates, his feelings for Roger had been genuine. Now, seeing the old captain's son alive and grown into such a powerful monster, Buggy's defenses crumbled in an instant.
Ace watched Buggy bawling on the deck like a several-hundred-pound child, but didn't interrupt. He poured himself another cup of sake and drank in silence, a trace of warmth in his eyes.
This was one of the reasons he'd wanted Buggy aboard. On this sea, aside from the retired old-timers like Rayleigh, the only people who'd treat him like family just because he was Roger's son were probably Shanks and the Red Nose in front of him.
After crying for a good ten minutes, Buggy finally looked up, sniffling, and wiped his face with a careless swipe.
"Young master—no, Captain Ace!" Buggy's form of address changed in an instant. Most of the fear in his eyes had vanished, replaced by fanatical loyalty. "Since you're Captain Roger's son, shouldn't we go find the One Piece and inherit the old captain's title of Pirate King?!"
"Pirate King?"
Ace set down his cup, chuckled, and shook his head.
"Buggy, I'm not interested in whatever treasure that old man left behind. If we ever pass by Laugh Tale, I might as well take a look. But I didn't set sail to follow the same path he did."
Ace stood, his tall frame facing the rising sun. He stretched out a broad, solid hand, tempered by Haki, as if he meant to grasp the entire sea in his palm.
"I'm going to be the King of the World—the one who overthrows the World Government and establishes absolute order."
Buggy sucked in a sharp breath, his jaw nearly hitting the deck.
Overthrow the World Government? Become the King of the World?!
If anyone else had said it, Buggy would've laughed himself silly. But looking at the monster before him, who had such terrifying strength and presence in the East Blue at just seventeen, Buggy couldn't help thinking it might be more than an empty boast.
This young captain was even more reckless and ambitious than Roger had been!
"Well, in that case, I suppose I'll deign to assist you! I do owe the old captain a favor, after all!" Buggy put his hands on his hips and sniffed haughtily, as if he were already the greatest contributor to the future empire.
"Good."
Ace turned to look at the smug Buggy, a sunny smile curling his lips—though it sent a chill down Buggy's back.
"You used to sail with Roger, and now you're one of my crew. You can't bring shame on the Eclipse Pirates."
Ace walked over and clamped a hand on Buggy's shoulder, then pointed at Sabo, who'd set down the newspaper and was rolling his wrists.
"Starting today, you'll train your body every morning and work on developing your Devil Fruit in the afternoon. I'll personally teach you how to awaken both types of Haki."
"Huh?!" Buggy's smug expression instantly froze. He shook his head frantically. "No, no, no! I'm a brains-over-brawn kind of guy. I fight with my wits and Buggy Balls! Besides, my Chop-Chop Fruit works passively. It's perfect as it is—I don't need to develop it!"
"Objection overruled."
Sabo came over with a smile, lightly tapping his Alloy Staff against his palm. "Buggy, your Fruit might passively make you immune to slashing attacks, but without Observation Haki to anticipate your opponent's moves or Armament Haki to increase the destructive power of your separated body parts, you won't last three days in the New World."
"I'm not going to the New World! I'll stay in the East Blue and be a big shot—aaah!"
Before Buggy could finish screaming, Ace picked him up one-handed like a chick and tossed him into the open space in the middle of the deck.
"Run five hundred laps around the deck to warm up! Sabo, keep an eye on him. No breakfast until he finishes!" Ace ordered with a grin.
"Help! This is abuse!"
That morning, the Eclipse rang with the Red-Nosed Clown's piercing yet energetic screams.
Ace raised his cup and leaned against the ship's rail. Watching Sabo chase Buggy around the deck, he drained the sake in one go.
The sea breeze was cool, but at last the Eclipse had the lively, homely feel of a real pirate crew.
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