With the Air Door: Shrinking Gate, the distance inside the alternate space had now reached about 200 meters. That meant for every 200 meters Ryuuzaki traveled within it, he was covering 2000 meters in the real world.
Ace had been entrusted to the female bandit Curly Dadan by Garp.
Dadan lived on Mt. Colubo, and frankly… Ryuuzaki had a bit of a headache about her whereabouts. No one in the village seemed to know the exact location, so he hadn't been able to ask around for details.
Still, he knew the general direction.
Whatever, he thought. I've got the Shrinking Gate, distance isn't a problem.
Under the night sky, Ryuuzaki explored area after area.
"Found it."
Dadan's home was in a secluded area. Judging by its distance from the village, it was clearly meant to be out of sight and out of mind.
Well, that made sense, she was a bandit after all.
Ryuuzaki didn't step out. He stayed within the subspace created by the Door-Door Fruit, observing from the inside.
That was another perk of the fruit: you could open an alternate space and see out of it. Compared to the Clear-Clear Fruit, the Door-Door Fruit was way more effective for spying.
Even top-tier Observation Haki users wouldn't be able to detect someone inside the door-dimension.
"This little guy must be Ace."
Ryuuzaki looked at the baby sleeping beside Dadan. He was almost certain, it had to be Portgas D. Ace.
Ace's fate was both tragic and fortunate.
Tragic, because the World Government deliberately targeted him, just because of who his father was.
It was like… ancestral sins falling on future generations.
But that same bloodline made Ace's talent outrageously high.
At this stage, Ace didn't show many stats, but the ones that appeared already stunned Ryuuzaki:
Talent: Basic Stamina (121)
Talent: Basic Strength (124)
Holy crap. If Ace had lived, even if he didn't become Pirate King, he'd definitely be one of the top Four Emperors-level powerhouses.
From the Navy's perspective, Akainu killing Ace was an enormous merit.
From a pirate's perspective… his death was a tragedy.
Ryuuzaki rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
Based on the original story, the World Government knew about Ace but wasn't 100% sure about his identity.
They suspected, but lacked evidence.
If Ryuuzaki hadn't existed, the government probably would've sent someone else to investigate, but they would've failed. No matter how much they dug, they wouldn't have found proof.
Of course, the World Government was no stranger to killing innocent people just in case.
But Ace had a big problem, Garp.
Killing random civilians was easy for them. But Garp's ward?
Even the Five Elders would hesitate.
Garp wasn't just a Vice Admiral, he was a living symbol of naval justice and an icon of an entire era.
Killing someone under his care wasn't about whether Garp would rebel, it was about the ripple effect.
If Garp's people could be killed, what about everyone else?
Vice Admirals, Admirals… even the top brass might lose confidence. Morale could crumble. Hell, the Navy might even turn on the World Government.
So if they wanted Ace dead, they had to be absolutely certain who he was.
"No wonder Roger left Ace to Garp."
It made perfect sense. Only Garp could protect him.
If Roger had entrusted Ace to Rayleigh or Whitebeard, the World Government would've killed him without hesitation.
Accusation first, confirmation later.
Yup, that's how the World Government operated.
They wiped out Ohara, what's a mere baby compared to that?
They didn't need reasons. Didn't need to explain. And if brute force didn't work, they'd go the sneaky route.
Assassins. Poison. Suicide bombers. They had options.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Ryuuzaki had observed for about half an hour from the door-dimension. He memorized the surroundings, then silently withdrew.
The Next Day
As usual, Ryuuzaki woke up early, helped Makino move some supplies, then headed to Old Man Samol's forge to continue his blacksmith training.
This peaceful lifestyle made Ryuuzaki wonder, could he one day marry Makino and spend his life quietly in Foosha Village?
But that was just a fleeting thought.
He knew it was impossible.
His records were in the World Government's files. If he ever rebelled, they'd hunt him down like a dog.
That path would lead him to piracy.
And once you became a pirate, even if you didn't want to fight, you'd have no choice.
Ryuuzaki didn't like being led by others.
If anyone's going to decide when war starts, it's me, not you.
He wanted to be the one in control, not a pawn.
Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
After half a month of training, Ryuuzaki's Blacksmithing Level had reached LV44.
He could now independently forge knives and simple weapons.
Old Man Samol was delighted, lying on his rocking chair sipping liquor with a content smile. His legacy would live on.
"Hey, Samol, how do you forge a Supreme Grade sword?"
"You wanna forge one of those?"
"Yup. What, don't tell me you don't know how?"
"You brat! Don't underestimate me!" Samol threw his wine gourd, which Ryuuzaki caught with ease.
"Hehehe… come on, Master. If you know, teach me."
"Hmph! Right now, you can barely make kitchen knives."
Ryuuzaki was speechless. Ouch, that's harsh.
"But," Samol continued, "forging a Supreme Grade blade isn't something you master overnight. And besides… we don't have the materials."
Regular iron simply couldn't forge a weapon of that caliber.
Right, Ryuuzaki thought. I forgot that even if you have the skill, you still need the right materials.
After all, you can't cook a feast without ingredients.
"Just focus on making solid kitchen knives for now!" Samol said, closing his eyes for a nap.
These days, all the forge's orders were handled by Ryuuzaki anyway, good practice.
Clang, clang, clang!
Inside the tiny blacksmith shop, knife after knife was forged and quenched.
Ryuuzaki picked up one of the blades and gave it a light swing.
A thick wooden plank split clean in two.
"Tsk tsk… my forging technique is pretty badass. Slices hair, shaves iron. Hyaa~!"
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Support me by adding this fic into your library!
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter