The Torino Kingdom, Giant Tree Square.
The steady southern breeze rustled through the massive canopy of the world tree, scattering loose leaves across the wide wooden clearing.
Chopper accepted the yellowed photograph and the dense stack of clinical files from Kuma's massive hands, his little hooves trembling slightly under the weight. Adjusting his heavy goggles down over his eyes, his large, round pupils scanned every line of the medical charts with an absolute, unyielding focus.
The photograph captured a seven-year-old girl with long, vibrant pink hair and a brilliant, uninhibited smile. Yet, along the edges of her fair arms and cheeks, a series of glaring, eerie structures resembling blue jade scales had manifested.
As Chopper read through the diagnostic records, his posture shifted from strict academic concentration to a state of absolute shock, his head lowering as a heavy sense of frustration settled over his frame.
"What a horrific affliction..." Chopper whispered, his voice catching slightly as the tips of his hooves turned cold against the parchment.
"What do the sheets say, Chopper?" Ace asked, walking over to look down at the image.
"Ace... this isn't a standard toxic exposure or a common bacterial infection," Chopper said, his eyes rimmed with red as he looked up at his captain and the silent giant. "It's a systemic, catastrophic genetic defect! The notes indicate that whenever her skin interacts with natural sunlight, these jade-like scales are triggered. What's infinitely worse is that the calcification doesn't remain on the surface—it migrates inward, systematically hardening the muscle tissue and forcing the internal organs into total failure!"
A small sob escaped the reindeer's throat.
"Every cell in her body is programmed to self-destruct at the baseline level. With the medical library I've filtered so far, I can't locate a single compound capable of halting this genetic breakdown. Forcibly cutting the scales away will only accelerate the tissue collapse. I'm sorry... with my current skills, I... I can't preserve her life right now..."
Hearing the physician's tearful diagnosis, Kuma's massive frame shuddered, his boots grinding slightly against the timber.
Though he had endured the identical declaration from dozens of renowned specialists across the blue, hearing the same conclusion from the ship doctor of a vessel packed with the oldest medical knowledge on the seas caused the final, lingering spark of hope in his gaze to dim.
"Is that the boundary? Even the ancient lore preserved on these branches is toothless..." Kuma's voice was incredibly gravelly, stripped of all resonance. He slowly extended his massive, padded right hand, his fingers tracking across the table to reclaim his daughter's photograph. "I apologize for consuming your hours."
"Hold your stride," Ace said. His large hand came down flat over the stack of medical charts, pinning them firmly against the wood.
"Just because Chopper's current library lacks the answer doesn't mean the world is stripped of a solution." Ace looked directly into the giant's round lenses, his tone level and measured.
"If this child had simply ingested a foreign toxin or contracted a localized plague, my Vermilion Bird fire could utilize its endless vitality to incinerate the corrupted cells, allowing her flesh to be reborn. But this is a systemic curse etched directly into her lineage factor. Every strand of her DNA was coded for execution the moment she drew breath. My fire can delay the clock temporarily, but it cannot purge an instruction written into her genes."
Hearing Ace's clinical breakdown, Kuma's lenses flared, his head snapping up in a rare display of raw, unadulterated shock. This young outlaw had not only identified the cellular nature of the disease at a single glance, but he spoke with a working knowledge of genetic treatment theories.
"Since your insight cuts so deep... do you know the identity of the man who can preserve her?" Kuma asked, his characteristic composure shattering completely as an urgent, pleading tone took his voice. For Bonney's sake, the Tyrant would have bowed his neck to the dirt before any power on the sea.
"I know him perfectly," Ace said.
Every word that followed fell across the clearing with the weight of a heavy hammer hitting iron: "The single entity on this ocean capable of rewriting a cellular curse is the man whose intellect is logged five centuries ahead of our era—Dr. Vegapunk."
Kuma's pupils contracted sharply behind his frames. "Dragon mentioned his name during our operations... but his coordinates are entirely scrubbed from our network." His chest rose and fell in heavy, ragged expansions.
"He is currently operating within the high-security perimeters of Punk Hazard, deep in the New World," Ace stated, making zero attempt to conceal a piece of intelligence that would have sent a shockwave through Marine Headquarters.
"This Sapphire Scale mutation cannot be managed by ordinary pharmacology or standard surgery. The only viable vector is utilizing Vegapunk's primary Lineage Factor technology to cultivate her own uncorrupted stem cells, followed by a total, long-term cellular and blood matrix replacement across her entire body. It is technically equivalent to rebuilding half of her biology from scratch."
Kuma stood motionless, his mind reeling under the technical definitions.
Punk Hazard. Lineage Factor. Stem cell replacement. The concepts cut through the desperate darkness of his years of aimless wandering like a bolt of lightning.
"Of course, a life-altering procedure of that magnitude consumes an astronomical volume of rare elements and resources," Ace continued, his voice dropping into a cold, realistic register. "The total expense would easily drain the treasury of an entire kingdom. Furthermore, if you attempt to cross the threshold of the Marine's central research asset to beg for treatment, do you believe the politicians within the World Government won't capitalize on your desperation? You are a former Revolutionary officer; they will demand terms designed to break your spirit."
Each sentence struck Kuma's deepest fears with surgical accuracy.
The giant fell into a heavy silence. He knew precisely what kind of humiliation awaited his signature the moment he set foot within the Government's territory. As a survivor of the Buccaneer race, he had spent his youth in the chains of the World Nobles; he understood the twisted, sadistic malice of those who called themselves gods. If it were for the high ideals of the Revolutionary Army, he would have let them flay his skin before he yielded—but for that small life that cuddled into his chest and called him 'Daddy,' he had no pride left to protect.
"As long as Bonney draws breath... even if the ledger demands my life, even if I must accept the collar of a slave again and surrender my identity as a man..." Kuma's massive fingers tightened over the leather of his Bible until his knuckles turned white and shook under the strain.
"Your life carries too much mass to be wasted on politicians who treat humanity like livestock," Ace interrupted, his voice cutting through Kuma's tragic declaration.
Standing on the boarding ramp of the Eclipse, Ace let the full, uninhibited weight of his Conqueror's Haki unroll across the square. The kingly pressure descended like a physical shadow, shaking the leaves of the world tree.
"As I said before... instead of begging those high and mighty masters, you're going to sign a ledger with me." Ace locked his gaze onto Kuma's lenses, his voice booming across the timber like a thunderclap.
"The Eclipse Pirates will fund that astronomical medical account down to the last berry! As for the weight of the World Government and the Marine Admirals—as long as my hull is in the water, no hand will ever dare touch your daughter's head!"
Ace's eyes burned with an intense, absolute ambition.
"In exchange..."
"You board my ship, and you use those paws of yours to clear the path for my purposes!"
"Bartholomew Kuma, accept my terms. I will chart our course directly to Punk Hazard and force Vegapunk to reconstruct your daughter's cells!"
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