Taro sat on the castle roof for half the night before finding a random room to sleep in.
When he woke up again, it was because he was hungry!
"Morning, Dr. Kureha!"
Taro snuck over to Kureha's place again, ready to freeload a meal.
Kureha seemed to have anticipated this. She pointed her long, crossed leg towards the opposite seat, where a breakfast was laid out.
"Sit down!"
After Taro sat down, she spoke with a hint of surprise,
"Hahahaha, kid, after just one night's sleep, it seems you've figured out a lot?"
Taro swallowed the food in his mouth and chuckled,
"How could I figure it out that quickly? It's precisely because I thought about it for too long and realized I couldn't figure it out that I decided to stop thinking about it!"
Seeing Kureha look somewhat startled, he seemed to explain, yet also mumbled to himself,
"Anyway, since none of you are going to tell me everything, I'll just follow my own ideas!"
Kureha paused, then a smile appeared on her face as she tilted her head back to drink.
"Hm hahahaha, interesting kid!"
Taro also chuckled, not continuing the conversation.
After mooching a breakfast, Taro also swiped a bottle of plum wine.
"Dr. Kureha, I'll be leaving directly after I see Ace. I won't come back to say goodbye!"
Kureha lay back with the bottle, unconcerned.
"If you want to go, go. Why say goodbye? So much nonsense!"
"Hehe, then goodbye!"
...Besides the Drum Kingdom's main palace castle at an altitude of 5000 meters, the Sakura Kingdom actually has six other peaks that are almost identical in shape, just slightly lower in altitude.
Ace was training near the mountain peak in the northern part of the island.
There was a small town called Kesteda there, but it had been destroyed during the Blackbeard Pirates' nation-destroying operation!
Taro landed near the lake beside the town, and his Observation Haki spread out, searching for Ace's whereabouts.
Then, he lightly tapped his feet and flew away.
Several rabbits wearing Kingdom soldier helmets and holding black maces darted out from the snow.
They were the carnivorous rabbits unique to the Sakura Kingdom—Lapahn.
"Woo woo~"
The Lapahn bared their teeth, their crimson eyes full of hostility.
Taro stopped in time, no longer advancing.
In the distance, on the snowy ground, the snow trembled slightly.
"Whoosh~"
Snow scattered everywhere, and a person emerged from the snow.
Ace seemed a bit dazed. He looked around before noticing someone in the distance.
"Taro? What are you doing here?"
Taro stared at Ace, sizing him up and down.
Ace was shirtless, with a large burn scar stretching from his shoulder to his abdomen. Other than that, there weren't many significant changes.
Oh, right, and his tone was very calm, not the furious one he had imagined.
"Sorry for interrupting your training, Ace!"
Taro felt a bit ashamed, thinking he had interrupted Ace's training under the snow.
Unexpectedly, Ace grinned, revealing a bright smile.
"No, I wasn't training! I was buried in the snow!"
"I fell asleep earlier!"
Before he finished speaking, Ace suddenly curled into a ball.
He rubbed his arms, and flames erupted from half of his body.
"Hiss, so cold!"
Taro hadn't expected their reunion to be like this.
His mouth twitched wildly, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
The rising flames dispelled the cold, and only then did Ace raise an eyebrow and ask,
"You're here for...?"
Taro waved his hand, "I'm here for something else this time, not specifically for you!"
"Now that I've confirmed you're all right, it's time for me to go!"
Ace, however, transformed into a streak of fire and appeared in front of Taro, frowning.
"Wait a minute, my brothers, how are they doing now?"
Taro heard the concern in Ace's voice for Sabo and Luffy and smiled, saying,
"I haven't seen them recently, but they're doing well, you don't need to worry. Just focus on your training!"
Such a dismissive response was clearly not what Ace wanted.
He took another step forward, just about to speak, when Taro spoke first.
"I wasn't planning to see you this time, so don't ask so many questions!"
"All three of you now have excellent mentors. Sabo and Luffy have made great progress, so you, as the elder brother, need to work even harder!"
"Also, some people have recently started suspecting you didn't die. Try to be careful and don't bring trouble here!"
Taro actually didn't know how to communicate with someone as obsessive as Ace, so he wanted to leave quickly after saying a few words.
Ace frowned tightly at his words. However, he didn't seem as impulsive and reckless as before.
"Taro, who exactly are you? How do you know so much? And what do you want to do?"
Facing Ace's string of questions, Taro just smiled and shrugged.
"Who I am isn't important. Haven't you always been searching for the meaning of living in this world? I'm pretty much the same!"
Ace's eyes flickered, as if he understood, yet also as if he understood nothing at all.
Taro, however, didn't linger. He waved goodbye, "I'm off!"
After circling a few times in the air, Taro flew towards Alabasta.
He had too many questions about Devil Fruits recently and needed to find someone knowledgeable to ask.
Since he couldn't rely on a professional like Vegapunk, Taro could only pin his hopes on Alabasta, which had over 4000 years of history.
Alabasta has always had two Devil Fruit Ability users, in the forms of the jackal and the falcon, serving as the Guardian Gods of the Kingdom!
The ancient statues of the Guardian Gods and the murals in the royal tombs all indicate that the Guardian Gods of the Kingdom have always been these two types of ability users!
Taro didn't believe that Pell and Chaka could live for over 4000 years.
In the original story, after the thing Caesar created died, a nearby fruit turned into a new Devil Fruit.
This might explain how Devil Fruits are passed down, but what is the essence of this principle?
The essence of the Devil!
Taro hoped to find the answer through the Legacy of Alabasta's Guardian Gods!
The Sakura Kingdom and the Drum Kingdom are on the same sea route and not far apart.
A few hours later, Taro had already appeared in Capital City Alabasta.
King Cobra seemed very enthusiastic upon hearing of Taro's visit.
Even though he looked unwell, he cordially took Taro's arm and led him into the great hall.
"King Cobra, I'm here this time to..."
Because of his previous discussion with Vivi about marriage, Taro felt a bit awkward seeing Cobra this time. He wanted to get straight to the point.
However, Cobra had no intention of giving Taro a chance.
"Hmm, I've heard about your and Vivi's decision. The date for your engagement..."
"Cough, cough!"
Taro coughed twice, even more awkwardly. "Your Majesty, I..."
"Cough, cough!"
Cobra also coughed twice, but his coughs were real, very loud, and his breathing became much more rapid.
"Taro, you're not going to tell me that was a misunderstanding, are you?"
Taro quickly shook his head.
"No, how could that be! King Cobra, the... the engagement date, Vivi can decide, I... I'm fine with anything!"
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