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And things being what they were, Ace could only fight back.
Smiling, he stretched his body and arms while looking at Garp. "If that's the case, then I won't hold back. I'm really strong now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, without even a moment of hesitation, his body vanished from where he stood.
In just a blink, he appeared right in front of Garp.
Ace charged in.
Ace raised his fist.
Ace lay on the ground.
Ace got beaten up.
After only a short while, the bruised and battered Ace lay on the ground, gasping for breath while staring resentfully at Garp. "Gramps..."
"Hahaha, I'm your grandfather! Of course, you have still got a long way to go!"
Faced with Ace's resentful gaze, Garp planted his hands on his hips and laughed.
Then he sat cross-legged beside Ace with a smile. "But you've definitely been training hard. The way your punches feel has changed a lot!"
Ace: "..."
Ace looked speechlessly at Garp, but before he could say anything, Garp glanced at the clarity in Ace's eyes, then turned his head toward the sun, smiling as he asked: "Not going out to sea?"
Hearing that, Ace also smiled and sat up beside Garp.
Pressing down on his hat, he looked forward.
Then, while answering Garp, he grinned. "Gramps, what are you talking about? Didn't I already set out to sea?"
Garp: "...?!"
Garp froze for a moment, then burst into loud laughter.
Ace, still smiling as he listened to him laugh, continued: "I've seen too many strong people now. Whether or not I go out to sea doesn't matter anymore. It's not like I'm that desperate to become King of the Pirates. Hey, Gramps, what are you doing!"
His neck was suddenly grabbed, and Ace stared speechlessly at the happily laughing Garp.
Before he could react…
"Makino was right, you've really grown up!"
Garp said as he roughly rubbed Ace's head with a grin. "Back then, you were always troubled about something. Seriously, what kind of burdens did a kid your age even have? But now..."
His tone softened with emotion. "You can face everything openly."
"I've just heard it too many times and got tired of it, that's all."
Grap: "...?"
Before Garp could respond, Ace escaped his grip, adjusted his hat, then looked at him with curiosity. "Right, since you're back, there are a lot of things I want to ask you!"
"Ask me? What do you want to ask?"
Garp said in confusion, then laughed. "Don't tell me you still have something on your mind that needs your grandpa for psychological counseling?"
"No need to trouble you with that. What I want to ask is..."
Ace's eyes sparkled. "About Roger, the King of the Pirates."
Garp: "...?"
Garp froze, then his expression immediately turned stern. "Why are you asking about that guy? What's there to ask? And as a marine Vice-Admiral, I can't just casually reveal information about him!"
"Ah, really?"
Upon hearing that, Ace instantly showed a disappointed expression.
"Then never mind. I wanted to ask about how the King of the Pirates tried to steal his brother's girlfriend. I asked Shanks last time, but he refused to talk!"
The moment he finished, just as he was getting up, a hand suddenly wrapped around his neck again.
Before Ace could react, Garp's cheerful laughter rang out once more.
"Hahaha, you only want to ask about that? Something like that..."
Garp seemed overjoyed, more than Ace even.
"Of course I'll tell you! No one knows that guy better than me!"
Then, with a mysteriously smug expression, he added: "Let me tell you, your father not only tried to steal his brother's wife, but there was also a woman who really liked him back then! Too bad she's an old hag now."
Ace: "...?"
Ace, who had been trying to escape, froze at once. With a serious expression, he said, "Details!"
"Let me tell you!"
As the breeze passed by, the empty clearing was soon filled with laughter and shocked gasps.
Surely no one would expect that on a certain island in the East Blue, two people were gossiping enthusiastically about the long-dead King of the Pirates.
...
Back to the West Blue.
At this moment, Ian was attending the ceremony awarding his daughter her doctorate in archaeology.
That's right, before anyone realized, his daughter, who was only five years old, had already earned her doctorate, making even him, her old father, feel proud.
After all, his wife Robin had earned her doctorate at the age of eight, and his daughter was at the age of five!
She reached Robin's old milestone at only five years old.
Of course, Ian understood that the Tree of Knowledge in Ohara was gone, so everything Aria had learned was from Robin's teachings. Back when the tree still existed, Robin had definitely read far more books at the same age.
But as a father, he was still incredibly proud.
Watching Robin on stage presenting their daughter with her degree certificate, while Aria accepted it with a serious expression, Ian couldn't help but smile as he clapped.
It was only a simple ceremony; with the Tree of Knowledge destroyed, this wasn't the real Ohara, and there were no longer many scholars on the island.
But Robin still tried her best to recreate the ceremony she once received.
Even the doctorate certificate was specially crafted, perfectly replicated one-to-one.
And the academic gown… Ian nodded with satisfaction at Robin wearing the traditional Ohara scholar's gown.
He was still too far to see clearly. He planned to take a closer look later.
And just as the ceremony was nearly finished…
"Hahahaha!"
A bold laugh rang out, immediately drawing everyone's attention. Even Aria, who had been serious on stage, broke into a joyful smile.
She looked toward the source of the sound and happily ran over. "Grandpa Zephyr!"
"Good, good, good!"
Zephyr picked her up with a hearty laugh. "Amazing! Such a young doctor in archaeology, our Aria is definitely the most genius little doctor in archaeology in Ohara's history!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a gift from his coat. "Grandpa brought you a present. You're definitely going to love it."
But just as he was about to hand it to Aria, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the gift, leaving Zephyr staring unhappily at Ian. "Hey, hey, hey, why are you snatching the gift I prepared for Aria?"
"It's not that."
Ian ignored Zephyr's complaint and instead stared blankly at the fruit in his hand. "Where did you get this Devil Fruit?"
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