Thirteen Years Old

Time flew by. The leaves on Mt. Colubo had turned yellow and fallen three times.

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

This was the most lawless place in the entire kingdom. Garbage piled up like mountains, and the air reeked of a stench that made you gag. At that moment, deep inside Terminal, a derelict ship echoed with a burst of arrogant laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Kid, no matter how tough you are, once you're chained up in Seastone Handcuffs, you can't use your rubber powers, can you?"

Bluejam, a notorious East Blue pirate with a bounty of 14.3 million Beli, held a Fire Pistol, its muzzle pressed firmly against the head of a ten-year-old boy wearing a Straw Hat.

Behind him stood dozens of vicious-looking pirate underlings armed with knives and guns. Scattered across the ground around them were more than a dozen pirates, their faces bruised and swollen.

Though ten-year-old Luffy was chained to a pillar with thick iron links, his eyes were still as fierce as a little wolf's. After three years of Ace's inhuman training, Luffy was no longer the crybaby he'd been in the original story. If Bluejam hadn't ambushed him with a net gun and Seastone Handcuffs he'd somehow gotten his hands on, this bunch of trash never would have caught him.

"Ptooey!" Luffy spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva, his gaze fearless. "You bunch of weaklings can't even beat me! Once Ace and Sabo get here, they'll beat every last one of you to a pulp!"

"Ace? Sabo?" Bluejam looked as though he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world. He sneered and tapped the barrel against Luffy's cheek. "You mean those two brats who've made a bit of a name for themselves on Black Street lately? I'm a great pirate bound for the Grand Line! If they dare show up, I'll take them out too..."

"BOOM—!!"

Before Bluejam could finish speaking, the derelict ship's heavy iron door was hit head-on like a cannonball fired from a gun. It exploded into pieces with a deafening crash!

Twisted sheets of metal and a terrifying blast of air tore into the four pirate underlings standing by the doorway, sending them flying like torn sacks as blood sprayed from their mouths.

Through the billowing dust, two tall figures slowly walked over the wreckage and into the ship.

The boy in front looked nothing like a thirteen-year-old anymore. He stood nearly six feet tall, wearing nothing but an open red vest on his upper body. His exposed muscles were chiseled to perfection and brimming with explosive power. Beneath his slightly curled black hair, his deep-set eyes were full of defiance.

Beside him walked a blond boy in a blue tailcoat and top hat. He carried an ordinary-looking iron pipe, its end ground smooth and sharp as a blade.

"Yo, Luffy."

Ace had his hands in his pockets as he looked at Luffy, bound to the pillar, and laughed. "Getting caught by trash like this? Looks like you'll have to double tomorrow's endurance training."

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy yelled excitedly, not the least bit afraid. "Watch out! That guy in the pirate hat is strong!"

"You two brats really don't know your place, do you?!"

Bluejam's face darkened at the sight of the destroyed door. As a great pirate with a bounty of 14.3 million, he hadn't survived on the open sea this long by being softhearted.

"Open fire! Turn those brats into pincushions!" he roared hysterically, swinging his arm.

"BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG—!"

Dozens of pistols fired at once, a downpour of lead instantly sealing off every possible avenue of escape by the entrance. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the abandoned ship's hold.

"Sabo, the left side's yours."

"Got it, Captain. Make it quick. I don't want these losers' blood on my clothes."

Just as the bullets were about to tear them apart, a muffled blast erupted beneath Ace and Sabo's feet—"BANG!"

The hard wooden floor shattered beneath them. Before anyone's eyes, the two had become a pair of blurred afterimages, vanishing in an instant!

"What?! Where'd they go?!" the pirate underlings cried, eyes wide with shock.

"Right behind you, idiots."

Sabo chuckled and darted into the crowd on the left like a specter. His iron pipe swept up a fierce gust of wind. A few sharp cracks rang out, and five or six gunmen had their jaws smashed. They were flung away before they could even scream.

Across the ship, Bluejam's pupils shrank to pinpoints. A terrifying gust of wind rushed straight toward his face!

"Don't get cocky, brat! I'm Bluejam!"

Bluejam roared, revealing the ferocity of a pirate with a bounty in the tens of millions. He yanked a heavy, broad-backed cleaver from his waist, its blade caked in dark red, dried blood. The muscles in his arms bulged and veins stood out as he swung with a shriek that tore through the air, slashing hard at the oncoming afterimage!

The strike carried such force that it could have sliced an adult elephant in half.

Yet Ace didn't even try to dodge the deadly blade. A spark of excitement flashed in his eyes.

"Kami-e!"

Just as the blade was about to touch his chest, Ace's upper body suddenly leaned backward, as weightless as a sheet of paper and moving with the airflow in a way that defied belief. The broad blade skimmed past the tip of his nose, cutting off a few strands of his slightly curled black hair.

"He dodged?!" Bluejam was horrified, but his years of fighting let him react at once. He didn't pull back his blade. Instead, he twisted his wrist, changing the huge blade's course and chopping down hard at Ace as he leaned backward.

"Not bad. But that limp strength of yours is nothing compared to old man Garp!"

Ace let out a wild laugh. He had no Haki—only the monstrous strength he'd forged over three years between waterfalls and giant beasts!

He drove both feet into the ground. His body snapped upright like a wound-up spring, and he charged forward instead of retreating. Clenching his right hand into a fist, he met the descending broad-backed cleaver with a straight punch!

Flesh and bone against a steel cleaver!

"BOOM—!!"

The instant his fist struck the back of the blade, a visible ring of air burst outward.

The already-rotten planks in the ship's hold collapsed beneath the tremendous force, sending splinters flying in every direction like hidden weapons.

"H-How is this possible?!"

The terrifying recoil through the hilt tore open Bluejam's palm, and blood streamed from it. He could hardly believe his eyes. A thirteen-year-old brat had stopped his full-power strike with nothing but one fist?! What kind of monster was hiding in that body?

"What're you looking at, old man?"

Ace grinned. The strength in his fist suddenly surged. Bluejam felt an irresistible force travel up the blade, driving him back five or six steps. Each step left a deep footprint in the wooden floor.

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