Hey!"
He raised his head and suddenly grinned, revealing bright white teeth beneath the freckles on his cheeks.
"Of course what I said earlier was a joke… but Deuce… and everyone… what we're about to face from now on is the Grand Line. We could die at sea at any moment. Are you ready to bet your lives on me?"
Bang!
Before the words even settled, a fist smashed directly into his face.
Ace flew backward and rolled across the sand.
He stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and looked at the nearly three-meter-tall man in front of him.
Masked Deuce.
The first man he met after leaving Dawn Island.
At this moment Deuce's eyes were filled with tears.
Behind him, the previously wailing crew had returned to their crying and sniffling expressions, staring at him with aggrieved faces.
Deuce suddenly raised his long sword and shouted loudly:
"Ace, what nonsense are you talking about? Our lives were entrusted to you the day we set sail!"
Ace pressed the brim of his orange hat down, hiding his slightly wet eyes.
"…Yeah."
He took a deep breath.
Then his voice rang out clearly across the shoreline.
"I, Portgas D. Ace, declare here today… the Spade Pirates are officially formed!"
He lifted the brim of the hat again, revealing a face that was smiling yet trembling.
Looking at Deuce and the others behind him, he shouted:
"From today onward, we sail the Grand Line together! Are you ready to live and die with your captain?!"
"OOOOOOOOH!!"
The cheers exploded instantly.
Weapons, bottles, boots, and random junk were thrown into the sky.
On a nameless island at the entrance of the Grand Line, a pirate crew that would one day shake the seas was born.
"Then… idiots… let's party!"
Ace threw his hat upward and laughed loudly.
At this moment, the otaku from another world completely let go of his former self.
From now on—
He was Ace.
A living Portgas D. Ace.
Not the man fated to die at Marineford.
But someone who would rewrite that ending.
…
Three days later. Night.
Ace lay on a large rock, staring at the stars above the sea.
The Grand Line sky looked clearer than anywhere he had ever seen.
Yet confusion lingered in his eyes.
"I was completely swallowed by those emotions…"
He folded his arms behind his head, recalling the moment earlier when the crew confronted him.
The surge of feeling had not been his own.
Those emotions belonged to Ace.
The original owner of this body.
Fortunately, they were memories and instincts, not another personality. Otherwise, his consciousness might have been erased entirely.
"Still… the benefits are unbelievable."
Suddenly—
A silent pressure spread outward.
The air trembled slightly.
Nearby birds resting on trees collapsed unconscious.
The pressure vanished instantly.
Ace sat up.
"Conqueror's Haki… Haoshoku."
He clenched his fist slowly.
In the manga, Ace awakened this power when he was ten years old in Gray Terminal to protect Luffy.
Now the instinct existed inside him naturally.
Not learned.
Inherited.
According to Rayleigh's explanation, Haoshoku could not be trained directly. It was the manifestation of a king's disposition.
And its strength depended on spirit.
If it were his old self, he would never possess it.
But Ace's will…
Burned like fire.
"Ace really was a monster…"
Although the story never clearly showed his Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku during early travels, a man who later fought Jinbe for five days and became Whitebeard's Second Division Commander obviously possessed both.
Plus—
The bloodline of Gol D. Roger.
And the Mera Mera no Mi.
Compared to Luffy at the same age, Ace's starting point was absurdly high.
"The emotions he left behind changed me… but not completely."
He sighed.
If not for those emotions, his first thought after transmigrating would have been hiding somewhere safe, avoiding the New World forever.
But now—
The desire to grow stronger kept rising uncontrollably.
To surpass Whitebeard.
To surpass Roger.
To prove his existence.
Even knowing Ace once rejected his father's name, that instinct still burned deep within his body.
He shook his head helplessly.
"No choice… I'll have to become strong."
He looked at his palm.
Flames ignited and danced.
"The fastest improvement right now is mastering the Mera Mera no Mi."
Awakening was unrealistic for now.
But at minimum, he needed power equal to Ace during the battle with Blackbeard.
Only then could he survive the New World.
As a former reader, he remembered many theoretical applications people discussed: combustion acceleration, propulsion, explosive compression, concentrated fire bullets.
If used correctly, his flame abilities could exceed the original usage.
But Devil Fruit alone wasn't enough.
"In the New World, Haki is everything."
He smiled slightly.
"And I already know the best teacher."
Whitebeard.
Edward Newgate.
The strongest man in the world.
Joining him wasn't humiliation.
For Ace, it became family.
Yet this time…
He would join not out of defeat.
But choice.
He stretched his arms and laughed quietly.
"My blood… feels hot."
For the first time in his life, he felt genuine excitement toward the future.
"From today on… I'm not some useless shut-in."
Flames flickered around his fingers.
"I am Portgas D. Ace."
At that moment—
Footsteps rushed across the beach.
"Captain Ace!! Something's wrong!"
A crewmate ran over in panic.
"Unknown pirates are approaching our ship! They're flying a Heavenly Yaksha-style Jolly Roger!"