The purple light on Bondrewd's helmet flickered, falling on Ace as he remained prostrate on the floor. Silence settled over the reception room for several seconds.
"Please get up first, Mr. Ace."
Bondrewd's voice remained calm and gentle.
"Rather than saying I saved you back then, the truth is that I have some history with 'Mr. Naruto.' However, perhaps I shouldn't be the one to tell you the truth."
Ace's back stiffened before he slowly straightened up. He didn't sit down, merely stood tall.
"Even so, you saved us. That's a fact. And... Naruto is my brother!"
His answer was firm.
The plea in his eyes hadn't faded, but he wasn't the sort to try to "pressure" someone by refusing to get off his knees.
...Though Bondrewd probably wouldn't have fallen for that sort of pressure anyway.
Yet the name "Reg-Two" also lingered in his mind.
Was that Naruto's "real name"?
Ace had once wondered whether Naruto's appearance had been part of a conspiracy.
But Naruto had never let him down, not even once.
Now, it seemed Bondrewd knew Naruto's origins. Apparently... they really had nothing to do with Sabo...
"..."
Marco's gaze shifted between the two.
As the Whitebeard Pirates' second-in-command, he had much more to consider.
Ace was currently Pops' most prized successor, practically the next captain already.
He... wasn't going to get talked into joining Bondrewd, was he?
"As for the 'Sage's Stone'..."
Bondrewd folded his hands on the desk, his mechanical finger guards making a faint scraping sound.
He repeated more or less what he had told Katakuri to the two of them.
The Gold City incident was the best publicity. Despite the World Government's strenuous efforts to cover it up, it couldn't stop powers on the level of the Four Emperors' Crews from learning the