Thirteen Years Old

Time flew by, and the leaves on Mt. Colubo withered and turned yellow three times.

Three years later. On the outskirts of the Goa Kingdom, at the Terminal.

This was the most squalid place in the entire country, where trash piled up into mountains and the air was thick with a pungent, foul stench. Yet, at this very moment, a burst of arrogant, wild laughter erupted from within an abandoned, dilapidated ship deep inside the Terminal.

"Hahaha! Brat, even if your bones are tough, now that you're shackled in Seastone, you can't use your rubber powers anymore, can you?"

Bluejam, a great pirate of the East Blue with a bounty of 14.3 million berries, held a flintlock pistol, its muzzle pressed firmly against the head of a ten-year-old boy wearing a straw hat.

Behind him stood dozens of pirate underlings, brandishing swords and guns with ferocious expressions. Scattered across the ground around them lay over a dozen pirates, bruised and battered.

Although ten-year-old Luffy was chained to a pillar, his eyes remained as fierce as a young wolf's. After three years of Ace's inhumane special training, Luffy was no longer the crybaby snot-nosed kid from the original story. If not for Bluejam using a net gun to ambush him, combined with Seastone handcuffs obtained from who knows where, this bunch of trash would never have been able to capture him.

"Pah!" Luffy spat out a mouthful of blood, his gaze devoid of fear. "You bunch of weaklings who can't even beat me—once Ace and Sabo get here, they'll definitely beat you all to a pulp!"

"Ace? Sabo?" Bluejam acted as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, using the barrel of his gun to pat Luffy's cheek with utter contempt. "Are those the two brats who have been making a name for themselves in the Black Street lately? I am a great pirate destined for the Grand Line! If they dare to show their faces, I'll take care of them too..."

"BOOM--!!"

Before Bluejam could finish his sentence, the heavy iron door of the wrecked ship was struck as if by a cannonball, shattering instantly with a deafening roar!

Twisted metal, mixed with a terrifying blast of air, shredded the four pirate underlings standing at the entrance, sending them flying like broken sacks of rags as blood sprayed everywhere.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, two slender figures slowly stepped over the ruins and walked inside.

The boy in the lead no longer looked like a thirteen-year-old in terms of physique. He stood nearly 1.8 meters tall, wearing only an open red vest, his exposed muscles sculpted like chiseled stone, perfect and brimming with explosive power. Beneath his slightly curly black hair, his deep eyes were filled with unyielding defiance.

Beside him walked a blond boy in a blue tailcoat and a top hat. He carried what looked like an ordinary iron pipe, but the end of it had been ground down until it was as smooth and sharp as a blade.

"Yo, Luffy."

Ace, his hands tucked into his pockets, looked at Luffy tied to the pillar and laughed loudly. "To think you got caught by such low-life trash; it looks like your pressure training tomorrow needs to be doubled."

"Ace! Sabo!" Instead of being afraid, Luffy shouted excitedly, "Watch out, the guy with the pirate hat is strong!"

"So you're the two brats who don't know the meaning of fear?!"

Bluejam's expression darkened instantly as he looked at the destroyed door. As a great pirate with a bounty as high as 14.3 million, he hadn't survived on these seas by being soft-hearted.

"Fire! Turn these two brats into beehives!" He waved his hand violently, roaring hysterically.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang--!"

Dozens of flintlocks fired simultaneously, a dense rain of lead bullets pouring out and instantly sealing off every possible escape route at the entrance. The pungent smell of gunpowder filled the abandoned ship's hold.

"Sabo, the left side is yours."

"Got it, Captain. Make it quick; I don't want my clothes stained with the blood of this trash."

Just as the lead bullets were about to tear the two of them to shreds, a dull, explosive sound erupted from beneath Ace and Sabo's feet—"Bang!"

The sturdy wooden floor shattered inch by inch, and before everyone's eyes, the two figures transformed into blurred afterimages, vanishing from their spots in an instant!

"What?! Where are they?!" The pirate underlings' eyes widened in horror.

"Right behind you, idiots."

Sabo chuckled, his form cutting into the crowd on the left like a phantom. His iron pipe whipped up a fierce gust of wind, and with a few crisp "cracks," five or six gunmen had their jaws shattered before they could even scream, sent flying backward.

On the other side, Bluejam's pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks. An incredibly dangerous gust of wind was bearing down on his face!

"Don't get too cocky, brat! I am Bluejam!"

Bluejam roared, the ferocity of a ten-million-berry pirate fully unleashed. He yanked out the heavy, wide-backed machete at his waist, stained with dark red dried blood. With veins bulging in his muscular arms, he swung it horizontally toward the incoming afterimage with a shriek that tore through the air!

The strike was heavy and powerful; even an adult elephant would have been cut in two instantly.

Yet, facing this lethal blade, Ace didn't even attempt to dodge; a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes.

"Kami-e!"

Just as the blade was about to touch his chest, Ace's upper body suddenly went limp like a piece of paper devoid of weight, leaning backward in an eerie motion along the airflow created by the blade. The wide edge of the sword grazed his nose, slicing off a few strands of his curly black hair.

"He dodged it?!" Bluejam was horrified, but his extensive combat experience allowed him to react immediately. He didn't retract the blade; instead, he flipped his wrist, and the massive sword changed trajectory, hacking down viciously toward the backward-leaning Ace!

"Nice reaction, but this soft, pathetic strength is far worse than old man Garp's!"

Ace let out a wild, arrogant laugh. Without Haki, he relied solely on the monstrous strength he had forged over these three years between waterfalls and giant beasts!

He kicked off the ground, his body snapping straight like a coiled spring. Instead of retreating, he lunged forward. He clenched his right hand into a fist and, meeting the descending machete, struck out with a straightforward, unadorned punch!

Flesh and blood clashing against tempered steel!

"BOOM--!!"

The moment the fist collided with the back of the blade, a visible ring of shockwaves erupted.

The already rotting wooden floor of the cabin collapsed under the massive recoil, and wood splinters sprayed in all directions like hidden weapons.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Bluejam felt the terrifying counter-shock force traveling up the hilt; the web of his hand tore instantly, blood streaming down. He couldn't believe his eyes—a thirteen-year-old brat, using only a single fist, had actually blocked his full-force strike head-on?! What kind of monster was hidden inside that body!

"Where are you looking, old man?"

Ace grinned slightly, the power in his fist erupting suddenly. Bluejam felt an irresistible, overwhelming force surge from the blade, forcing him to stumble back five or six steps, each footfall leaving a deep imprint in the wooden floor.

"Damn brat... don't get too carried away!"