It's been sixteen years and a few months since I was reincarnated and transmigrated to this world as Ace. Shanks, Luffy, Zoro, Roger, Rocks, Ace, if I had any choice in the matter, I would want to be born as one of them. Outside of Shanks, Ace probably would be my second choice.
I mean, just imagine having the sea system as Shanks, things I could copy as a child from Roger, Rayleigh, Gaban, even Kozuki Oden, for about a year. The Red Hair Shanks I know is extremely strong; in fact, he might even be stronger than my father in this world.
With all that being said, I do not doubt in my mind that if I were Shanks, I would be even stronger, and a few more people would be in my crew, like a few of the warlords, like Hawkeye. No offense to Benn Beckman, but he would be my right-hand man.
Not just Hawkeye, but Kuma and Jinbe, and not just those guys. I would like to have people like Ginny Fisher-Tiger, and I would've gone and gotten Zoro, Kuina, and Robin as apprentices to join my crew. I would've also recruited Law after the Doflamingo thing, and in exchange for him joining my crew, I would've taken down Doflamingo at least ten years earlier than Luffy eventually did.
I have a pretty good idea about Shanks's Father and older brother's personality. I wonder if his mother has a similar personality to theirs. Unfortunately, I have not reincarnated as Shanks but as Ace, and my mother in this world sacrificed herself for me, and my father died a year and three months before I was even born.
Sorry, Luffy. I apologize in advance, even though you're one of my favorite characters. I didn't think we would ever get so close. I never had any siblings in my past life. I now consider you and Sabo as my brothers. You guys may be the most precious people I've ever had in both my lives, and I'm grateful to call you guys my siblings.
I say all that to say this: I care deeply about you, even though both your brain and your stomach are made of rubber, along with your body. To be King of the Pirates is not just a birthright; it's my responsibility. The Navy hunted me down day and night to find me and to kill me. Still, their search for me proved to be unsuccessful because, as far as they are concerned, Roger never left any child behind. The reason I'm alive right now is because of what my mother sacrificed to keep me safe, her life. I'm forever grateful to her. I'll be king of the pirates, not as Gol D. Ace but as Portgas D. Ace to honor her memory.
Unfortunately, I don't know much about Ace's original crew members, but I know all about the Straw Hat Pirate crew. Their rate of improvement is impressive, second to none in the One Piece world. Every time they get into a fight, they get stronger. I need a crew that can keep up with me and the system, and I'm confident that those guys will have the best chance of doing so.
Besides, for every action, there's a reaction, which means that because of my existence and things that I've changed, you might have never met a few of them. Besides, because of plot armor, I'm pretty sure you'll meet other capable guys for you to have on your crew.
In exchange, I gave Luffy three points, so when he's in a bind, like when Magellan poisoned him, if he just needs to recover to survive, he'll instantly recover.
"Hey Ace, I'm hungry. What do you wanna eat today?"
"Let's get some ramen today".
"Yay ramen, let's go get some ramen."