" Ace, you know Red-Haired Shanks, right?"
"Yes, one of the Four Emperors of the New World. I even met him once before!" Ace replied.
"What? Ace, you also went to see Shanks?"
Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Yes, I'd heard you mention him before. I happened to hear about him on some island shortly after I went to sea, so I went to see him. We even drank all night, hahaha..."
"I see!" Luffy smiled happily, took off his hat and held it in his hand, thinking to himself:
" Shanks, I will definitely become the Pirate King!"
"So what are you trying to say by mentioning Red Hair?" Ace couldn't help but ask.
"What do you think of Red Hair ' strength?" Xia Chen asked casually.
Ace:???
Upon hearing this, Ace looked at Xia Chen with an expression as if he were an idiot, then rolled his eyes and said:
" Red Hair is one of the Four Emperors, a pirate on the same level as my Pops. What do you think of his strength?"
"So what do you think your chances of winning would be if you faced Red Hair?" Xia Chen asked again.
"Hey, kid, are you looking for trouble?"
Ace was a little dissatisfied. Although he said he was confident in himself, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could rival Red Hair.
You should know that when he challenged his own Pops before, he was utterly humiliated and had no chance to fight back.
Although he believes his Pops is the strongest, even surpassing Red Hair, he is still one of the Four Emperors. If he were to fight him, he would at most be a slightly bigger Lami!
"So, do you know how the Red Hair got that scar on his face?" Xia Chen asked again.
"No, how could I...?"
Ace was getting a little impatient, but suddenly he seemed to have grasped some key information.
With a grave expression, he asked, "You mean the scar on Red Hair's face was left by Blackbeard?"
"That's right!" Xia Chen nodded.
Upon hearing this, Ace's expression instantly turned serious, his previous ease vanishing.
He didn't ask why Xia Chen knew this news; Xia Chen had no reason to lie to him.
The fact that Blackbeard had left the scar on Red Hair' face made him a little unsure of what to do.
If it were him, he wouldn't be confident he could leave a scar on Red Hair like that.
Ace remained silent for a long time, not speaking for a while. After a while, he looked at Xia Chen and said:
"Thank you for the information. I will think about it carefully!"
Xia Chen gave Ace a deep look, but said nothing more.
He had said everything he needed to say, and if Ace still wouldn't listen to reason, then there was nothing he could do.
" Smoke Man!"
Suddenly, Luffy's roar drew Xia Chen's attention.
Smoke Man? Xia Chen was a little confused. The only person Luffy could call Smoke Man" was...
Following Luffy's gaze, Xia Chen saw someone who surprised him.
Smoker?
Seriously? Is he really that persistent? I just took a hit from his Ryuo Haki, and now I'm running into him in this little restaurant?
However, Smoker looked somewhat disheveled at this moment, with most of his body leaning against Tashigi, and faint traces of blood at the corner of his mouth. He also coughed occasionally.
Even in his current state, he still had a cigar dangling from his mouth as always. Xia Chen was genuinely afraid that he might cough and choke to death.
At the same time that Xia Chen and the others discovered him, Smoker also spotted them. There was no way Luffy it; Xia Chen's shout was just too loud.
A hint of joy flashed in Smoker's eyes when he saw Xia Chen and the others.
" Straw Hat Boy, Demon King Xia Chen, Portgas D. Ace, everyone's here!"
The rest of the group shouted, "Aren't we human?!"
(╬▔盘▔)╯!
"What, Smoker, do you think you can capture us in your current severely injured state? That seems unrealistic!" Xia Chen said calmly.
He was well aware of the power of his attack, and with so little time having passed, he couldn't have recovered much. Smoker was probably barely able to stand up!
"You will definitely be arrested, but it won't be me who will do it; it will be someone else."
"Oh, so you're saying you've found some help?" Xia Chen asked with a faint smile, completely unconcerned about Smoker possibly finding backup.
With his current strength, he wouldn't care even if Smoker asked Vice Admiral for help.
Smoker's trip to Alabasta was without prior approval from higher authorities.
He simply didn't believe the other side could find Admiral Candidate or even Admiral.
They're high-ranking officers in the navy, they're all very busy, okay?
"I hope you'll still be laughing later!" Smoker said with a forced smile. He seemed quite confident.
As Smoker finished speaking, a tall but somewhat thin man slowly walked into the restaurant.
Xia Chen's expression changed from indifference to seriousness upon seeing this person.
At the same time, Ace recognized the person who had arrived, and the expression on his face instantly became exactly the same as Xia Chen's.
Only Luffy and the others, who didn't recognize the man, were still confused, but they had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
The air seemed to freeze after the man entered through the door, and even Xia Chen, who usually wore a confident expression, lost his composure.
Seeing this, Zoro couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who is this man? How can he make you make that expression?"
Hearing this, Xia Chen didn't look away, his gaze remaining fixed on the man opposite him. He then said solemnly, " Admiral Aokiji of the Marine Headquarters!"
" Admiral of the headquarters???"
This news was like a bombshell, shocking everyone present. Whether it was Zoro and his crew or the other civilians eating there, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
Only one person looked at the scene before them somewhat bewildered.
Looking at the crowd around him Luffy asked curiously, "What's with all those expressions? Are the Marine Headquarters Admiral that powerful?"
"Could you please remove the 'ma' part?" Nami said irritably.
" Admiral, that's one of the Navy's top combat forces. Do you understand the significance of being one of the top combat forces?"
"Um..."
Luffy stood there thinking for a while but still couldn't understand, so he simply stopped thinking about it and laughed nonchalantly, "Who cares about the strongest fighter? As long as I knock him away, that's enough!"
As soon as Luffy said that, everyone's eyes turned to him.
And they all had the same look in their eyes—the look of someone looking at an idiot.
Even Ace was starting to feel like he didn't want to admit Luffy was his brother. It was too embarrassing!
Seriously, are you that brave? Is it really just ignorance breeds fearlessness?