At that moment, one of his comrades asked, "What's wrong, Sabo? You look strange."
Sabo was reading the newspaper while gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. He remembered. The comrades beside him were still saying, "Who would've thought Ace was Gol D. Roger's son? To the Marines, he was the greatest threat, so they wanted to eliminate him no matter what."
"Apparently, Ace's body was pierced through by Akainu."
Sabo remembered. In a forest, Ace had told them, "You know, once you drink sake together, you can become brothers." Then Ace poured three small bowls of sake atop a tree stump. Luffy had asked from the side, "Brothers? Really?"
Ace said, "When we become pirates, we might not be able to sail on the same ship, but the bond between us brothers will always keep us connected." He picked up one of the cups and said, "No matter where we are or what we do, this bond will never break."
The other two also picked up bowls of sake. "Then from today onward, we're brothers." The three of them clinked their bowls together and drained the sake. That was when they became sworn brothers. Sabo remembered everything, and he was utterly shocked as he cried out in agony.
The people beside him asked, "Are you okay, Sabo?" Everyone looked at him.
After letting out that cry, Sabo collapsed backward. Everyone around him shouted and rushed to catch him. Then Sabo remembered. That's right. The one who died wasn't some insignificant pirate whose name was made up. He wasn't a dangerous element of the pirate era that ought to be removed. Ace was my brother. Sabo fell backward completely. Only then did he remember. He remembered the memories from twelve years ago.
He remembered what Ace had once