Turning our attention to Rayleigh, after Luo Chen left, he stopped after taking a few steps, stroked his beard, and carefully considered the meaning behind Luo Chen's words.
"That guy just said it would be best to go back and have Shakky check Ace's background. What does that mean? Could it be that he's actually involved with me?"
"Fine, since they've said so, I'll just do it that way. It's not a big deal anyway. I'll go back and ask Shakky first..."
Swoosh...
With that, Rayleigh pushed off with his feet and soared into the air as if flying, heading towards Shakky's bar.
Swoosh...
clatter!!
Not long after, Rayleigh arrived at the bar and walked in, but Shakky was faster. Sensing his return, Shakky went to the door to greet him.
Click...
"Wow, you're back so quickly after the coating process?"
Oh right, I remember hearing a lot of fighting sounds just now. Could it be that Kizaru has arrived and someone is fighting with him?!
Shakky opened the shop door and saw Rayleigh carrying his coating tools back. She asked him in surprise.
clatter...
"Haha, it's not what you think. I haven't finished coating the Straw Hat Pirates ' ship yet, and some unexpected things happened. Let's talk in detail after we go inside!"
Upon hearing Shakky's question, Rayleigh burst into laughter and then replied.
"Hmm... Alright then, come in and tell me what exactly happened. The sudden appearance of a powerful aura and the huge tremor nearby, and the sudden disappearance of the Straw Hat crew's aura—tell me all about these things in more detail..."
Shakky stepped aside to let Rayleigh in, then turned back to the bar, picked up a glass, polished it, filled it with wine, handed it to him, and asked.
Glug glug...
"Ah... um, it's like this..."
I'll only come back here after they've all left. I'll have to go check back later to see if what that guy said is true..."
Rayleigh briefly recounted the events to Shakky, giving her a general understanding. Afterward, she picked up her empty wine glass and pondered whether she should ask Luo Chen about what he had just said.
"What's wrong? Since it's already as you said, and you need to double-check, why do you still look so worried? Is there something else you can't figure out? Tell me, and I'll give you some advice and see what I think..."
Seeing his expression, Shakky couldn't help but feel a little curious and asked.
"Hmm, it's something else. Someone told me that Ace and I seem to have a very special relationship. By the way, Shakky, you have a wide range of information sources, could you help me find out about Fire Fist Ace's background? See what that guy is really talking about."
After thinking for a while, Rayleigh saw that Shakky had asked questions, so he stopped hiding it and told her what he was thinking. He also asked her to investigate Ace's background herself to resolve the doubts and questions that were bothering him.
"Hmm... okay, you sit for a while, I'll go ask..."
Shakky went straight into the dark hall and dialed an unfamiliar phone number. He told the person inside his question and asked them to investigate. Soon, the person there investigated and sent over the documents, which recorded everything Ace had experienced since he set sail. Shakky glanced at them briefly and hurriedly went back to get them for Rayleigh.
"Here, this is everything my people have found about Ace, big and small. There shouldn't be any oversights."
Shakky placed a large stack of documents face down on the table, then spoke to Rayleigh.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work... Let me see..."
Rayleigh picked up the document and glanced at it. After browsing through most of the information, he felt that there was nothing related to him that Luo Chen had mentioned. He felt as if Luo Chen had lied to him and was about to put it down when he suddenly heard Shakky's words, which made him pause and pick it up again to check it carefully.
"I really don't know what the point of you investigating his information is. What that Shichibukai named Luo Chen said might not be true. Portgas D. Ace doesn't seem to have done anything particularly remarkable besides his pseudonym 'D.' Oh right, at most he was adopted by Garp from the South Blue, and he's just the Straw Hat's older brother who's more impressive."
Shakky took a drag of his cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and then spoke.
"Um, wait, Shakky, what did you say?"
Just as she finished speaking, Rayleigh seized on the key words she mentioned and pressed her for an answer, his tone becoming slightly urgent.
"Yeah, I said he was adopted by Garp and is the Straw Hat's sworn brother, so what?"
Shakky looked at him, puzzled, and spoke again.
"Not this sentence, but the previous one. You said he was adopted in the South Blue? And his surname is Portgas D." Rayleigh said.
"Yes, I did say that. Is there a problem with what I said?" Shakky continued.
"Hehe, that's a big problem. I remember before we disbanded, Roger went to the South Blue several times. Every time I saw him, he was all smiles, but he would always keep quiet when asked. However, at the very end, he told me something he said while drunk. I took it as drunken ramblings and didn't pay much attention to it. Now that I think about it, it's really..."
As Rayleigh spoke, he looked up at the sky, seemingly recalling the scene from his last meeting with Roger more than twenty years ago.
[Hey, Rayleigh, I have a child!!]
[Huh?! You're drunk, aren't you? Don't talk nonsense. We haven't been apart for long, how could you possibly have a child without even knowing a girl?]
"Hehe, that's the girl I met in the South Blue. She was probably the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. We quickly had a child together, and we even made a promise: the boy's name would be Ace, and the girl's name would be..."
Hey, were you even listening to me? How did you fall asleep?
"Heh, I vaguely remember Roger being quite pleased when he called that woman by her last name, saying it was yet another person with the same last name as him, Portgas D., plus the name Ace!!"
After Rayleigh finished reminiscing, he spoke, unaware that his words shocked Shakky, who exclaimed in astonishment.
"Hey, hey, hey, no way, Rayleigh, could that Fire Fist Ace be your captain...?"
"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it must be his offspring, the only bloodline remaining in the world. Only Garp could protect him."
Rayleigh nodded firmly.
"Hmph... In that case, what will you do? What decision will you make—take action, or stand by and do nothing?"
Shakky exhaled another smoke ring and asked him.
"If I hadn't known his background beforehand, I might have really just stood by and watched. But now that I know about our relationship, I have no choice but to take action. That kid was right; he already knew I wouldn't stand idly by... Now, the most urgent thing is to devise a complete strategy!"
Rayleigh said with a headache, "If I hadn't been so curious to gather evidence, I probably wouldn't have taken action. But now that I know Captain Roger's only bloodline is in danger, it seems unreasonable for me, as the first mate, to just sit idly by."
"Since you've already decided to take action, let me give you a suggestion..."
Seeing that he had made up his mind to take action, Shakky gave him a suggestion.
"What suggestion?" Rayleigh asked.
"You can go to Kuja, which Kuma mentioned, and pick up Straw Hat Boy to go together. After all, he is Ace's brother. Although he is not strong enough yet, he can hold off the most crucial obstacle, the Garp the Hero. As his grandfather, he can't bring himself to harm his own grandson."
Shakky knew that Luffy's background was no less impressive than Ace's: a grandfather named Garp, who held a significant position in the Navy, and a father Dragon, who was a major concern for both the government and the Navy. He thought that if Luffy were to start a war, he might play an unexpected role at a crucial moment.
"Hmm... I originally planned to go find him after the war, but since you've put it that way, I'll go and meet him there! Alright, I need to get going right away..."
After saying that, Rayleigh downed the drinks in the bar, then put the bar down and turned to leave without looking back, heading towards the dock where the ships were moored.