The moment her words fell, Dadan's underlings, always ready to give face to their boss, nodded seriously one after another and said: "Yes, yes, who is big sis Dadan? She's the boss of the Dadan family. There's no way she worries about those two brats."
"That's right. When Ace was little, once when he got sick and collapsed, big sis Dadan wasn't even the slightest bit nervous. She just impatiently swung a stick to chase us out to get a doctor and then stayed by Ace's bedside all night!"
"Now that you mention it, I remember, when Luffy was little, once he ran alone into the back mountains late at night. Big sis Dadan wasn't nervous either. She just grabbed a spiked club, gritted her teeth, and led us to look for him. She cursed the entire time while searching, and in the end, once we found him, she still had enough strength to smack a huge bump onto his head!"
"Ah, talking about this reminds me of those three little ones..."
As Dadan's boys talked more and more excitedly, Dadan's face turned red with anger.
She glared at them, humiliated and furious. "You bastards, what nonsense are you spouting?! I—I'm only worried about getting beaten up by their grandfather!"
After saying that, she angrily turned away and looked at Makino, who had been listening with great interest behind the bar, and slammed her hand down. "Give me another drink."
Once the helpless Makino poured her another glass, Dadan immediately took it and gulped it down before wiping her mouth and grumbling: "That kid... He's been gone so long and hasn't called even once. Not a single one of them has a conscience!"
Just as her voice fell, the tavern door suddenly swung open. A villager rushed in with an excited expression, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
As everyone was about to ask what happened, the villager didn't hesitate. He took in a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Ace is back!"
EveryoneL "...?!"
Everyone was stunned.
Who did he just say?
Ace?
Everyone finally reacted, excitement flashed across their faces, and they were just about to stand up when the door swung again, and a familiar silhouette stepped into view.
As everyone stared in a daze, that figure removed the hat from his head and gave a slight bow with an elegant smile. "Hello, everyone!"
Those words snapped everyone back to their senses.
Immediately, they all shouted excitedly in unison: "Ace!"
...
"Don't these people know Ace just got back and needs rest?"
"Everyone's just excited because Ace returned."
Makino said helplessly as she watched Dadan angrily chase away all the villagers trying to greet Ace.
She then looked at Ace, who was now sitting and smiling, and said, "Ace, welcome back!"
"I'm back, Dadan, Makino."
Ace, his clothes a little messy, grinned widely.
After greeting the two, he scratched his messy hair helplessly. "Everyone was way too enthusiastic."
"You disappeared so suddenly. Everyone was worried. Later, we heard that Vice-Admiral Garp took you to Mr. Ian. Now that you have suddenly returned, everyone just got excited."
Makino explained briefly. Then, she and Dadan both scanned Ace from head to toe and suddenly remembered something.
"It's a pity Luffy already left. If he saw you now, he would be absolutely thrilled."
"Hehehe."
Hearing Makino's words, Ace's face showed a smile, and he said a little sheepishly: "I originally planned to come back in time to see Luffy off, but I arrived too late. But it doesn't matter..."
He showed a firm expression. "We will definitely meet again on the sea."
Hearing this and seeing Ace's confident and resolute expression, both Makino and Dadan were stunned for a moment.
Before they could say anything, Ace suddenly stood up, removed his hat again, and bowed solemnly to Makino and Dadan. "Makino, Dadan, thank you for taking care of me all these years!"
Those words made the two women freeze on the spot. Their eyes widened in disbelief as they looked at Ace.
But when they saw the sincere, confident smile on his face, they glanced at each other, and both broke into happy smiles.
"You little kid."
Dadan wiped the tears from her eyes, placed her hands on her hips, and looked at Ace. "Looks like you've grown a lot these past few years."
"Vice-Admiral Garp will be so happy when he sees how much you've changed."
Makino placed a glass in front of Ace, blinked playfully, and said with a smile: "You can drink openly now."
The other villagers immediately moved closer, joyfully offering their blessings.
"Ace, you've grown up!"
"Hahaha, you're finally old enough to drink openly!"
"No, no, still a kid, but let's drink together! Ace!"
Seeing their enthusiasm, Ace didn't hesitate. He raised his glass and shouted loudly to everyone in the tavern: "Cheers! Tonight, drink as much as you want! I, Ace, am treating everyone!"
"Oohhh! Now that sounds like an adult!"
"Such manliness!"
"Let's toast to Ace's growth!"
...
Meanwhile, at the same time, on the sea area near the Kingdom of Goa, on a slowly approaching marine warship, a burly figure stood with his arms crossed, grinning broadly as he said cheerfully: "So he has gone to sea, has he?"
…
At noon the next day.
Ace was fast asleep on a bed he hadn't lain on for a long time when he suddenly seemed to sense something.
His eyes snapped open, and his body instantly vanished from the bed.
When he reappeared, he was already standing behind a figure at the bedside, speaking in a helpless tone: "Gramps, what are you doing? I'm still sleeping!"
"The Marines' Six Style? Hahaha, looks like you've been training hard during your time in the West Blue!"
Seeing Ace dodge, Garp wasn't angry; instead, he burst into laughter.
After laughing, he suddenly hammered Ace on the top of his head the moment Ace let his guard down. "But your grandpa's fist of love isn't something you can dodge so easily. Come on, let me see how much you've grown these past few years!"
Ace: "..."
Ace covered his now swollen head with annoyance and glared at Garp. "I haven't even had breakfast yet!"
"You can eat after training. It'll taste even better by then!"
After saying that, Garp dragged Ace without waiting for any reply toward an open area they often trained in.