The Pirate King's Bloodline, A Bond Across Two Generations

The next morning, sunlight spilled across the deck of the Eclipse.

"Wipe the left, wipe the right—damn it, why does this great me have to be the one scrubbing windows here!" Buggy clutched a rag, muttering under his breath while scrubbing the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living quarters until they shone like mirrors.

On the other side of the deck, Sabo sat under a parasol reading a newspaper. Ace sat cross-legged on the deck, holding a bottle of top-tier sake he had unearthed from the temperature-controlled cellar.

A pirate should drink sake in hearty gulps; Ace was deeply convinced of this.

Ace poured two cups, downed one in a single go, and turned to look at Buggy, who was still frantically scrubbing away.

"Hey, Buggy, come over and have a drink." Ace held up the other wooden cup, filled to the brim, and called out casually.

Buggy's movements faltered, and he swallowed hard. After being put through the wringer for most of the night, his throat was indeed parched. He approached cautiously, took the cup, and eyed Ace with suspicion. "Captain, what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?"

"Sit." Ace patted the deck beside him.

Buggy sat down tremblingly. Just as he brought the sake to his lips, he heard Ace ask a sudden, sharp question.

"Back on the Oro Jackson, between you and Shanks, who took more beatings?"

"Pfft—!"

The sake Buggy had just taken into his mouth sprayed everywhere. His eyes widened in shock as he scrambled backward, pointing at Ace and stuttering, "H-how do you know I was on Captain Roger's ship?! That's top-secret information in the East Blue!"

Even Sabo, who had been reading nearby, lowered his paper, looking over in surprise. He only knew Buggy as an East Blue pirate; he hadn't expected this red-nosed man to have such an astonishing history.

Ace watched Buggy's defensive reaction, a soft, carefree curve touching the corners of his lips.

He didn't play coy. Instead, he raised his cup, gazed at the clear liquid within, and spoke with natural ease. "Isn't it normal to know such things? After all, that man who wore a straw hat and grinned from ear to ear all day... was my biological father."

The sea breeze seemed to stall at that moment.

"Clatter."

The wooden cup slipped from Buggy's hand, spilling sake all over the deck.

He stood frozen, as if struck by a paralysis spell. His small eyes stared fixedly at the black-haired youth before him, his mind a complete blank.

"Biological father?" Buggy's voice trembled uncontrollably. "Y-you mean the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?!"

"Yeah. My mother was Portgas D. Rouge. Even though I took my mother's surname, by blood, I am indeed the spawn of that bastard." Ace nodded. His tone lacked the hatred and distortion regarding his lineage seen in the original history; instead, it carried the openness of someone who had fully accepted his reality.

"That's impossible, the Captain, he already..."

Buggy shook his head violently, but when his gaze truly settled on Ace's face, he suddenly froze.

The contours of the brows and eyes, that fearless gaze, and even the reckless, heartless smile that had made him both hate and admire the youth while being chased through the sky yesterday.

All the fragments of memory in Buggy's mind slammed together.

The majestic back of the man who once stood at the bow, laughing into the howling wind and rain, overlapped perfectly with the young man before him.

"No wonder... no wonder I felt so familiar with you last night."

Buggy's eyes suddenly turned red. Large tears gushed out like a bursting dam, mixing with snot and smearing his clown makeup into a complete mess.

"Waaaaah! Captain! Captain, you actually had a son!!"

Buggy collapsed onto the deck, wailing without a shred of dignity. As an apprentice on the Roger Pirates, no matter how greedy or cowardly he usually was, his feelings for Roger were genuine. Seeing the old captain's bloodline not only alive but grown into such a terrifying monster, the defenses in Buggy's heart collapsed instantly.

Ace watched Buggy, who was sobbing on the ground like a giant child, and didn't interrupt. He poured himself another cup of sake, drinking silently with a hint of warmth in his eyes.

This was one of the reasons he wanted to bring Buggy on board. On this vast sea, aside from old-timers like Rayleigh who had retired, probably only Shanks and this red-nosed man would treat him like family just because he was Roger's son.

After crying for a full ten minutes, Buggy finally looked up, sniffling, and wiped his face haphazardly.

"Young Master—no, Captain Ace!" Buggy's form of address shifted instantly. The fear in his eyes had mostly vanished, replaced by a fanatical, burning loyalty. "Since you are the Captain's son, does that mean we're going to find the One Piece and inherit the title of Pirate King?!"

"Pirate King?"

Ace set down his cup, chuckled, and shook his head.

"Buggy, I have no interest in whatever great treasure that old man left behind. If we happen to pass by Laugh Tale one day, I might stop by to take a look. But I didn't set sail to walk the same path he did."

Ace stood up, his tall frame facing the rising sun. He stretched out a palm, calloused and thickened by the tempering of Haki, as if he intended to grasp the entire ocean in his hand.

"What I intend to become is the King of the World—the one who can topple the World Government and establish an absolute order."

Buggy gasped, his jaw nearly hitting the deck.

Topple the World Government? King of the World?!

If anyone else had said such things, Buggy would have laughed until his teeth fell out. But looking at this seventeen-year-old monster who possessed such terrifying combat power and presence in the East Blue, Buggy actually felt that this might not be empty talk.

This young captain was even crazier and more ambitious than Roger had been!

"In that case, this great me will reluctantly assist you! After all, I owe the old captain a favor!" Buggy put his hands on his hips, sniffing arrogantly as if he were already the first hero of this future empire.

"Good."

Ace turned around, looking at the smug Buggy, and a sunny smile touched his lips—one that made a chill run down Buggy's spine.

"Since you were on Roger's ship and are now my crewmate, you naturally can't bring shame to the Eclipse Pirates."

Ace stepped forward, pressed a hand onto Buggy's shoulder, and pointed toward Sabo, who had put down his newspaper and was currently warming up his wrists.

"Starting today, you'll have physical training every morning and Devil Fruit development every afternoon. I will personally teach you how to awaken both types of Haki."

"Huh?!" The smugness on Buggy's face froze instantly, and he shook his head frantically. "No, no, no! I'm an intellectual fighter! I rely on my brain and Buggy Balls! Besides, my Chop-Chop Fruit is a passive ability—it's already perfect, it doesn't need development!"

"Protest denied."

Sabo walked over with a smile, his alloy staff tapping lightly against his palm. "Buggy, although your fruit grants passive immunity to slashes, if you don't master Observation Haki to predict attacks in advance, or use Armament Haki to increase the destructive power of your detached parts, you won't survive three days in the New World."

"I'm not going to the New World! I want to stay in the East Blue and be a mountain king—ahhhhh!"

Before Buggy could finish his scream, Ace grabbed him by the collar like a chick and tossed him directly into the open space in the center of the deck.

"Run five hundred laps around the deck to warm up first! Sabo, keep an eye on him; no breakfast until he finishes!" Ace commanded with a laugh.

"Help! This is abuse!"

The morning air on the Eclipse echoed with the Red-Nosed Clown's incredibly shrill yet energetic wails.

Ace raised his cup, leaning against the ship's railing as he watched Buggy scurrying all over the deck under Sabo's supervision, and downed the sake in one gulp.

The sea breeze was slightly cool, but at this moment, the Eclipse finally felt like a real pirate ship, full of life.