Ace: "Pops!"
Whitebeard's words shone into the softest part of Ace's heart.
Compared to Gol D. Roger, the biological father who had given him life and ultimately ushered in an age of chaos with a single sentence, Edward Newgate, who treasured him, undoubtedly fit Ace's image of a "father" far better.
Although they came from different seas, different worlds, the bond he had witnessed through the Memory Copy felt so real.
He had seen another version of himself find a home aboard the Moby Dick, laughing, bickering, and joking with his "family."
He had also seen that brutal Paramount War, where the mountain-like old man had resolutely led the entire Whitebeard Pirates into Marine Headquarters to save his "son." He had fought to his very last breath, still standing tall, his back shielding his "sons" as he carved out a path to survival.
Those images, that determination to protect his family even if it meant making an enemy of the world, were etched deep in Ace's heart.
Even though he had chosen a different path from that "Ace."
He had never boarded the Moby Dick or become the "commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division," yet his "father's" recognition and pride had not faded in the slightest because their paths differed.
Whitebeard recognized "Ace" as a person—his will, his choices, and his great accomplishments—not merely "Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates."
That unconditional fatherly love made even Ace, who had already become a creator of worlds, feel his throat tighten.
A thousand words rose to his lips, only to become the simplest, yet most heartfelt call.
Ace: "Pops."
Whitebeard: "Ace!"
Ace: "Pops!"
Ace raised his voice a little, as though trying to send those feelings across the Chat Group.
Whitebeard: "Ace! Gurararara!"
Whitebeard laughed even more heartily, his laughter seeming capable