We're Family

The restaurant was quiet. Behind the counter, the owner curiously watched River, Crocodile, and the others.

Instinctively, he felt that this group was not to be trifled with.

Suddenly, Ace, who was slumped over the table, gave a slight shudder, and the snot bubble on his nose burst with a pop.

"Huh? Sorry, sir. I fell asleep just now."

Still bleary-eyed, Ace smiled and apologized.

The owner did not answer, but when Ace raised his head, he spotted the strange man sitting opposite him.

After a moment of surprise, he instinctively nodded in greeting.

"Sir, the bill!"

Then he waved at the owner behind the counter and called out.

"Ace."

Just then, River spoke with a smile.

After a pause, he repeated himself, his tone more emphatic.

"Fire Fist Ace!"

Hearing the stranger identify him by both name and title, Ace narrowed his eyes slightly and took another look at the man opposite him.

"Who are you?"

At the same time, he grew wary.

There was no shortage of people on the seas who sought out powerful opponents and took their heads to raise their own standing. For pirates, danger lurked almost everywhere.

And strangers like this, who knew his identity, were undoubtedly the most dangerous of all.

"River!"

River gave his name with a smile.

"I've been looking for you for a long time!"

As he spoke, he shook his head with a soft sigh.

"The last time I saw you was twenty years ago."

Ace froze at those words. He was exactly twenty years old this year, and this man had seen him twenty years ago? Did that mean when he was a baby?

Wasn't that ridiculous?

"Hahahaha! You really do like to joke!"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way!"

With that, Ace rose from his seat, his gaze sweeping to either side.

One was a strange man wearing a Ghostface Mask, his entire body wrapped in a cloak. The other was pointing his right hand at Ace in an odd gesture.

Without a doubt, these two men were with the man in front of him.

"Ace, I'm not joking!"

River spoke earnestly.

As Ace stood, the golden hook on Crocodile's left hand came into view beside him.

"Sit down, Fire Fist Ace."

A low voice came from beneath the Ghostface Mask.

Meanwhile, Foxy kept his eyes fixed on Ace, and his right hand suddenly twitched.

Bzzzt!

A Slow-Slow Beam shot toward Ace in an instant.

Ace's expression changed, and his eyes abruptly sharpened.

He darted aside, avoiding the incoming beam, then reached straight for River across from him.

To catch the thieves, take their leader first. These three were together, and the man before him was clearly their leader. What struck him as strange, though, was that the man's face looked somewhat like his own.

But Ace knew very well who his father was.

At that instant, Crocodile darted forward, the Golden Hook on his left hand already reaching Ace and colliding heavily with his fist.

Bang!

Ace's expression shifted slightly, and flames ignited around his other fist with a hiss.

The sight made the people in the restaurant, including the owner behind the counter, stare wide-eyed and cry out.

In the next second, Ace threw a punch, and the flames abruptly swelled.

"Fire Fist!"

He held back, keeping the flames roughly the size of a washbasin.

To his shock, however, his opponent swung his other hand out as well, meeting his flames head-on.

Bang!

Sand scattered, and flames swept outward.

Before River, sand and fire collided with a sizzling hiss.

"You're...?!"

Ace's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man wearing the Ghostface Mask, his gaze filled with wariness and confusion.

The only person who could wield the Sand-Sand Fruit was Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai. But Luffy had defeated him, and he had clearly been sent to Impel Down.

Then who was this man before him?

What shocked him even more, and made him even warier, was this.

Even as the two sides clashed, the man named River remained seated calmly, without so much as a change in expression.

That meant he had absolute confidence.

"Sit down and talk, Fire Fist Ace."

The mysterious man in the Ghostface Mask spoke coldly.

At the same time, Foxy's Slow-Slow Beam came flying again and struck Ace.

Instantly, Ace's pupils contracted, and his entire body froze in place. Shock and disbelief spread across his face at a visibly slowed pace.

At that moment, his time had actually been slowed.

Seeing this, Crocodile felt a surge of surprise and glanced at Foxy.

Though the fellow was timid, cowardly, and sleazy, his Devil Fruit ability was ridiculously overpowered. Even Crocodile probably would not fare much better if that beam hit him.

Only after thirty seconds did Ace break free of the slowed state. He drew a deep breath and looked gravely at the three men before him.

"Who exactly are you?"

A mysterious man who wielded the Sand-Sand Fruit's power and might be Crocodile, a strange fellow with power over time, and River, who was still sitting there calmly.

"Ace, you don't need to be so wary and hostile toward us!"

"If there's anyone in this world who would never hurt you, it's me!"

River said with a light chuckle. After a brief pause, he spoke again.

"Because we're family!"

"Family even closer than Newgate!"

Ace froze. Looking at the man before him, he really did think they looked alike.

Could he be a long-lost brother?

"Your name is Portgas D. Ace, correct?"

But soon, the man opposite him began to introduce himself, leaving Ace's mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.

"And my full name..."

At this point, even Crocodile beside him listened intently.

To many people, River was far too mysterious. His background, his strength, and his abilities were all virtually unsolved mysteries.

Now, the chance to learn River's identity, even if it was only his full name and surname, was enough to stir excitement in Crocodile.

"Is..."

"Portgas D. River!"

Once that brief name left his lips, Ace was utterly stunned. Crocodile's pupils contracted as well, and then everything suddenly clicked in his mind.

Portgas!!

River and Fire Fist Ace actually had the same surname?

Then were they father and son?

They shared a surname and were exactly twenty years apart in age, while Ace himself was exactly twenty this year. That interpretation made perfect sense.

"Portgas."

Ace drew a deep breath before looking at the man in front of him with bright eyes.

"Rouge was my older sister."

River spoke again.

Ace was shaken to his core, and his expression grew utterly conflicted.

He would not question the man's identity, because this was an intensely private secret to him. Only a handful of people in the world knew his background.

Unless they were his family!

"So you're my uncle?"

Ace asked gravely.

River smiled and nodded. "Yes."

"I've been looking for you for a long time, Ace!"

Beside them, Crocodile's expression froze.

Not father and son? His uncle?

Then his expression turned strange. That was a lot to take in.

He did not understand!