Luffy carefully scooped up the half-eaten pudding left on his plate and stuffed it into his mouth.
With his other hand, he fiddled with the broken porcelain pieces on the table, then turned to Ace, pointing at him mercilessly.
"With your current strength, you're as fragile as this porcelain plate—one touch, and you'll shatter. Especially against someone like Hancock."
He chewed for a moment before continuing, his voice carrying a slight mocking tone.
"Do you really think all the Shichibukai are weaklings like the one you defeated before? You just got lucky and ran into the worst of the bunch. If you had met someone like Mihawk, you'd have been dead in one strike."
Ace's expression darkened instantly. Even though Luffy was a sworn brother he deeply respected, he would never allow himself to be looked down upon so blatantly.
A sudden wave of irritation surged through him. He clenched his right fist, and in the next moment, searing flames burst forth, licking at his knuckles.
"Don't underestimate me," Ace said, his voice firm, his amber eyes gleaming with determination. "I'm not the same person I was when we first met. I ate the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit. I'm no longer the ignorant rookie you and the old man used to call me."
As he spoke, he smirked confidently and extinguished the flames in his hand.
"And besides, it's not Boa Hancock I'm aiming for."
His grin widened as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
"If I'm going to fight, I'll take on the strongest. My goal is the Four Emperors. Once I defeat them, my name will spread across the world."
Luffy stared at him, at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, but where would he even start?
This guy really didn't do his homework…
Ace seemed to believe that a Logia ability made him invincible, just like how things worked in the first half of the Grand Line. So, he was recklessly charging forward without understanding how the New World worked.
If he ran into any pirate who had mastered Haki—especially one who had spent years battling in the New World—he would get beaten into the ground in no time.
But more than Ace's recklessness, Luffy was puzzled about something else.
Isn't Sabo supposed to be the smart one here?
Sabo was the future Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army in the original timeline. Was it possible that even he hadn't thought this through?
With that in mind, Luffy turned toward Sabo, giving him a skeptical, questioning look.
At that moment, Sabo was quietly sipping his tea, observing the discussion with mild amusement. He noticed Luffy's gaze and tilted his head in confusion.
After a brief pause, he placed his teacup down and, mistaking Luffy's meaning, smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, we've already discussed it."
Luffy raised an eyebrow.
"Discussed what?"
"Well," Sabo continued, "at first, Ace wanted to challenge Whitebeard."
Hearing this, Ace frowned and rubbed his temples, as if recalling a past debate. After a few moments of deep thought, he sighed and turned toward Sabo—their so-called "strategist"—for support.
Sabo nodded.
"But after considering the situation carefully, we decided there was no need to be so impatient. It would be safer to start with the weakest one first."
Luffy suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
"The… weakest?" he muttered under his breath, his stomach sinking.
Sabo grinned, flashing a set of perfect, white teeth.
"That's right."
His voice was full of conviction, as if he were stating an undeniable truth.
"We're going to challenge Red-Haired Shanks since he has the lowest bounty!"
PFFT—!!
Luffy nearly choked on his own saliva. He coughed violently, struggling to process what he had just heard.
His brain short-circuited.
These two idiots… wanted to challenge Red-Hair?!
He slammed his hands on the table and practically screamed.
"WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS?!"
His voice echoed through the room, startling even the waiters passing by.
"You're telling me you'd rather fight Shanks than Whitebeard?! Are you out of your minds?!"
Ace and Sabo, who had been full of confidence just moments ago, suddenly froze.
They exchanged confused glances, clearly not understanding why Luffy was reacting so strongly.
To them, it was simple. Whitebeard was called "The Strongest Man in the World," while Red-Hair was just a "newcomer" who had only recently risen to become one of the Four Emperors.
"Why is he more afraid of Red-Hair than Whitebeard?" Ace whispered to Sabo, his brow furrowed.
Luffy rubbed his temples in exasperation. He wanted to facepalm so badly.
Looking at the two clueless idiots before him, he sighed deeply. He briefly considered calling Garp to come pick them up before they did something truly suicidal.
If Ace really followed Sabo's plan, he wouldn't even need to wait a few years for Marineford—Shanks could just hand him over to the Marine in pieces right now.
Taking a deep breath, Luffy decided to break it down as simply as possible.
"Tell me the truth—have you two really been sailing in the New World this whole time without knowing anything about how it works?"
The two brothers glanced at each other again, then looked back at Luffy with innocent, clueless expressions.
Their blank stares made Luffy feel even more exhausted.
"I can't believe this…" he muttered under his breath before letting out another sigh.
Finally, he asked the most crucial question.
"Have you ever heard of Haki?"
Ace and Sabo blinked.
"Haki?" Sabo repeated, tilting his head in thought. He rested his chin on his hand and furrowed his brows.
After a moment, his eyes brightened slightly as if he had recalled something.
"Now that you mention it, when we first entered the New World, we did hear a defeated pirate captain mention it once," he said.
Ace, intrigued, turned to Sabo.
"What did he say?"
Sabo crossed his arms.
"He said that if he had mastered Armament Haki, Ace wouldn't have been able to beat him so easily."
Luffy's eyebrow twitched.
"Hah! If even his captain didn't have Armament Haki, then he was just a rookie who had barely survived in the New World," Luffy scoffed.
Sabo hesitated for a second before nodding in agreement.
According to their later investigations, that pirate crew had only entered the New World two months before them.
Feeling an ominous chill run down his spine, Sabo turned back to Luffy and asked, his voice unusually serious:
"So what exactly is Haki? And… if someone masters this so-called Haki… could they really defeat Ace?"
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