After bringing Zoro back to Dadan's house, Luffy found a random spot to settle him down and gave Dadan a quick rundown of the situation.
Over the past few days, his relationship with Dadan and the others had improved a lot. After all, Luffy wasn't exactly a problem child, at least not one who ignored reason.
Still, seeing yet another kid in her house, Dadan frowned so hard it looked like she could squash a fly between her eyebrows.
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It was a clear, sunny day.
Ace, as usual, woke up early and headed off to his secret base to meet Sabo.
"Hey, where are you going?" Luffy, who had been waiting by the door, stepped forward as he saw Ace silently walking into the woods.
Ace glanced at him coldly but didn't answer.
When Luffy tried to follow, Ace suddenly turned and kicked down a thick tree. The massive trunk crashed between them, its thick foliage forming a natural barrier.
Luffy could only shake his head with a helpless smile.
"Looks like it won't be that easy, huh…"
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After crossing the northern side of Mt. Colubo, a desolate zone came into view.
It was a place where all abandoned things were dumped, whether objects or people.
Lawless and unregulated, it had no doctors, no justice. Crime and disease festered here.
The air was always filled with a foul stench.
Towering heaps of garbage rotted under the sun, with smog and smoke curling into the sky.
This place was known as the Gray Terminal.
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Ace wove through the trash heaps and ran deep into the forest on the other side.
"Sabo! Sabo! Are you here?" He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out loudly.
Perched lazily on a tree branch nearby was a boy.
"Oh! Took you long enough, Ace!" With a cocky grin, the boy looked down from the tree.
He wore a tall top hat, a blue British-style dress suit, and expensive high-top leather shoes, though the dirt and grime on him, along with the iron pipe in his hand, made it clear he was no ordinary noble.
"Sorry I'm late," Ace said flatly, not sounding the least bit sorry.
"You are late! I already pulled a job in town while I was waiting."
Ace smirked. "Is that so? Actually, I did too!"
─────────🏴☠️─────────
Deep in the Gray Terminal's forest stood an enormous tree, so tall and dense it blocked out the sky.
Ace and Sabo sat on a thick branch, nestled in a fork of the great tree.
The bark had been sawed open to form a large square opening, and the heartwood inside had been hollowed out.
Sabo was counting their loot while Ace watched in silence.
"Whoa! That's awesome! You've got more than me!" Sabo exclaimed as he sorted the money.
"Where'd you get all that?"
"Snatched it off a bunch of thugs at the town gates," Ace said proudly.
"Man, I lost again today…" Sabo muttered, frustrated.
"Doesn't matter who wins. It's all for our future pirate fund."
"We've been saving for five years now… it's been tough."
Sabo looked longingly at the hidden treasure inside their secret base: glimmering gold coins, dazzling gems, and thick stacks of cash.
"I wonder how long it'll take before we can afford a pirate ship?"
Ace leaned back and said dreamily, "No idea… Maybe tens of millions… or even a hundred million."
"We're still a long way off."
Seeing Sabo still staring at their treasure, Ace suddenly grew cautious.
"Better cover it up. If someone finds this, we're screwed."
"Right!" Sabo quickly grabbed the piece of bark to hide the stash.
Then, a voice.
"You guys wanna be pirates too?"
It hit like a thunderclap.
Ace and Sabo's heads snapped toward the sound.
Sitting casually on a nearby branch, smiling as if nothing had happened, was Luffy.
His bright eyes sparkled, like sunlight breaking through the clouds, utterly unaware that he'd just discovered their biggest secret.
The leaves above swayed gently, not from wind, but as if light itself had brushed across them.
Ace's face turned serious.
"How did you find this place?"
"I followed you, of course!" Luffy replied with a carefree grin.
"Damn it!" Ace clenched his jaw in frustration.
"Who is he?" Sabo asked anxiously.
"He's the kid I told you about, the one staying with me at Dadan's." Ace answered, a hint of regret in his voice.
"I told you to stay here instead of climbing back and forth through the mountains for training," Sabo said. Then, glancing back at Luffy, he added grimly,
"He knows our secret. If we let him go, he'll blab for sure."
"Let's take him out," Ace said bluntly.
"Yeah, let's do it!"
Both boys grabbed their iron pipes and slowly advanced toward Luffy, who continued smiling without saying a word.
"Come on, Sabo, hit him!" Ace called out nervously when they got closer.
"What are you talking about?! You hit him!" Sabo retorted, stunned.
"I've never killed anyone! I don't even know how!"
"Me neither!!"
"Pfft, HAHAHAHA!! You guys are hilarious!" Luffy burst out laughing as the two began bickering.
"SHUT UP!" Ace and Sabo yelled in unison.
"Hey, let's be friends!" Luffy said, ignoring their shouting.
"I'm Luffy, captain of a pirate crew!"
"C-captain of a pirate crew?!"
Ace and Sabo's eyes lit up instantly, full of admiration, tiny stars practically sparkling in their gaze.
"Wait a minute, no way!" Ace suddenly snapped out of it.
"You live at Dadan's just like me. How can you be a pirate already?"
Luffy grinned confidently.
"Because I'm strong enough."
He raised his right fist, pulled it back, and punched the air.
A shockwave exploded outward, spiraling like a sea conch.
The forest behind him howled, as if a thousand wolves were howling at once.
Trees bent and groaned, their branches whipping like they were trying to break free.
Leaves scattered, grass flattened, and the wind howled like a beast on a rampage, ready to destroy everything in its path.
Ace and Sabo stood frozen, mouths hanging open like they'd been smacked on the head with a club.
Their iron pipes slipped from their hands, rolled off the branch, and fell to the forest floor.
Seeing their stunned expressions, Luffy's smile widened just a bit.
With a cool, serious face, he nodded inwardly to himself.
Not bad at all. Totally worth using a bit of Conqueror's Haki to show off.
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