Thanks to Ace's intervention, everyone was able to escape, so with Vivi's instructions, they all ran towards the Going Merry.
"Get on the ship?! Are we going to leave the island?" Usopp asked her while holding a sack of food.
"No, we're going to go upriver on the ship and then to the desert. We only came to Nanohana for supplies" Vivi explained to him.
They started giving instructions to quickly board the ship.
Everyone had already started arriving at the Going Merry, but Luffy looked back to see if Ace was coming.
"Wow! I never thought Ace would be here!" Luffy said happily.
"Luffy, get on already!" Usopp yelled at him, alarmed that the Marines would arrive.
"Okay" Luffy said, getting on the ship.
"Wait! Karoo! I have a very important mission that only you can accomplish." Vivi told him, grabbing her pet to start filling his small water barrel around his neck.
"Go north, towards Alubarna, and give this letter to my father. It talks about Crocodile's conspiracy and Baroque Works. Igaram and I compiled this information, it's all very clear" She placed a letter in a small pocket.
"And tell him I'm alive in Alabasta with a group of very strong friends. Can you do that? You'll have to cross the desert all by yourself" She asked, worried about his well-being, but Karoo made a sign that he was fine. "Go and tell my father that we can save this country!"
Karoo nodded and ran off while starting to drink the water from his barrel.
"CONSERVE YOUR WATER!" Vivi yelled at him, worried he would finish it too fast. "Be very careful..."
"He's going to be fine. He grew up here, right?" Oliver asked her.
"Yes" Vivi said, watching Karoo disappear from her sight.
"Don't even think about drinking all the water!" Sanji yelled at Luffy, who was drinking a whole barrel.
"Idiots! That is our precious water!" Usopp yelled at them, since Sanji kicked Luffy, causing him to spill a lot.
"We better get on the ship before the Marines arrive" Oliver said, hitting both of them.
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Now they were at sea heading to the river when Luffy said who it was that helped them.
"YOUR BROTHER?!" Almost everyone yelled so loudly that the Going Merry rocked.
"That pirate is really your brother?!" Nami asked him in disbelief.
"Yes" Luffy said with a smile.
"And he has a tattoo like this" Elegg said, remembering seeing the tattoo on Ace's back.
"Well, it doesn't surprise me that you have a brother, but... What is he doing here in the Grand Line?" Zoro asked him.
"He's a pirate who's looking for the One Piece. Ace is 3 years older than me so he left the island where we were 3 years ago" Luffy told them.
"And what were the chances that both of you would eat a Devil Fruit?" Sanji wondered upon seeing that both brothers have Devil Fruit powers.
"I know, I'm surprised too. HAHAHAHA" Luffy laughed. "He hadn't eaten any fruit the last time we saw each other and even so I was never able to beat him in a fight. Ace is really strong!"
"You couldn't beat him even once?! Not even when he was a normal person?!" Nami asked him, surprised.
"The monster's brother is a bigger monster" Usopp said.
"Yeah. He always kicked my ass. But surely now I can beat him! HAHAHA!" Luffy laughed again.
"That's a baseless statement" Zoro said.
"Who are you saying you could beat?"
Ace arrived jumping onto the ship and leaning on the railing, causing Luffy to fall and roll over.
"Ace!" Luffy yelled, happy to see his brother.
"Hello everyone, thank you for taking care of my brother" Ace said, taking a bow.
"You're welcome" They said, returning the bow.
"Why are you here, Ace?" Luffy asked him.
"What? You didn't get my message in Drum?" Ace asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"In Drum?" Luffy asked him, unaware.
"Well, altogether it wasn't important. Anyway, I'm glad to see you. I'm here for some business and I thought we could meet up" Ace explained to his younger brother. "Luffy, would you like to join Whitebeard's crew? Along with your friends, of course"
"No" Luffy answered him bluntly.
"Hahaha! I already expected that, but I wanted to ask you anyway!" Ace said with a smile.
"W-Whitebeard? S-so the m-mark on your back is real?" Usopp asked in fear.
"Yes, it is a pride for me. Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I have met in my life and I want him to be the Pirate King and not you, Luffy" Ace said.
"Very well, in that case we'll have to fight, since I will be the Pirate King" Luffy said.
"Why don't you go inside and keep talking? I'll make you some tea" Sanji said.
"Oh, don't worry about me. It will only take us a minute" Ace said.
"Don't you guys think we should get out of here before the Marines come" Elegg said, looking around.
"It's not necessary. I stopped them with my Flame Flame Fruit" Ace said. "Here, I wanted to give you this"
Ace tossed a piece of paper to Luffy, who grabbed it and looked at it curiously.
"Always keep it with you" Ace told him.
"It's a piece of paper" Luffy said, looking at it all over.
"Yes, that piece of paper will allow us to meet again" Ace said.
"Wow" Luffy said unenthusiastically.
"You don't want it?" Ace asked him, reaching out to take it away.
"Of course I want it!" Luffy said, avoiding letting him take it.
"It's normal for the older brother to worry about his clumsy younger brother. He might cause you a lot of trouble, but please take good care of him." Ace said with a smile before jumping into his small boat which was tied to the Merry.
"What?! You're leaving already?!" Luffy asked him, watching him get ready.
"Yes" Ace answered him, getting ready.
"You can stay around here a little longer, it's been a long time since we saw each other!" Luffy said, trying to convince his brother.
"I told you, I only came to give you that" Ace said, finishing getting ready to become more serious.
"I'm looking for a criminal, lately he has been calling himself Blackbeard, but previously he was a member of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, one of my men, but he committed the greatest sin, he killed a nakama and abandoned the ship. Since I am the commander of the division, I have to find him and finish him off. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have returned to this part of the world" Ace said, dropping that tone.
"The next time we see each other, it will be where the strongest are" Ace told him with a smile.
Ace left in his boat, leaving him with the Straw Hats.
"It can't be. How can someone so sensible be Luffy's brother?" Nami asked in disbelief.
"I was sure he would be just as irresponsible as Luffy" Usopp said.
"What a great man, he cares about his younger brother" Zoro said incredulously.
"Brotherhood is such a beautiful thing" Chopper said crying.
"It's incredible. The sea is such a mysterious place" Sanji said.
"Maybe Luffy will be like that when he matures and stops eating so much" Elegg said.
"I don't think that's possible, maybe the brothers were born being antagonistic in personality" Oliver said.
"Please, guys..." Vivi said, trying to stop them.
"See you later!" Luffy yelled.
As Ace was leaving, he noticed that the Billions were coming straight at him.
"Let's go, Billions! We outnumber him 50 to 1! Let's see if he can get rid of 50 ships!"
Seeing that, Ace went head-on to take a leap, passing over the ships and propelling himself with his fire he bypassed each Baroque Works ship while they shot at him without being able to do anything to him.
Upon finishing, he landed right in his intact boat to then prepare an attack.
"Hiken!!/Fire Fist"
He delivered a powerful fire fist that destroyed every Billions ship without any problem, leaving every member of the crew shocked.
"Come, Luffy. Come to the summit" He said, adjusting his hat with a flame.
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