One Piece - Heaven Defying Comprehension!

The Dadan Family…

Ace narrowed his eyes as he watched Luffy get shoved aside by Garp.

Even as a child, Luffy seemed totally unreliable…

"Luffy, this is Ace, the one I told you about. Make sure you get along with him," Garp said loudly, pointing at Ace.

"I'll come back and check on you next time I'm on leave."

With that, Garp tossed Luffy to the ground and walked off into the forest.

"You're Ace? I'm Luffy! Let's be friends!" Luffy yelled excitedly, running to the base of the large tree where Ace was perched, grinning from ear to ear.

"Friends? You want to be friends with me?" Ace leaped from the tree, a mischievous smile creeping across his face.

"Yeah!" Luffy replied, his excitement only growing.

Luffy had developed a deep resentment toward bandits after the incident with the red-haired pirates. Other than them, Ace was the only one around.

For Luffy, loneliness was worse than death, so he truly wanted to be friends with Ace.

"Fine, follow me," Ace said, barely glancing at Luffy before jumping and disappearing into the thick forest.

"Ace! Wait for me!" Luffy called, hurrying after him.

---

Whoosh!

After running through the forest for some time, Ace finally stopped at a hidden spot, deep in the woods.

"Ace, is that you?" A blonde boy with a gap between his teeth stood not far away, grinning at Ace.

"Sabo." Ace smiled back.

"Look, Ace! We've saved so much money. We're one step closer to setting sail!" Sabo said as he opened several treasure chests, revealing a variety of loot and stacks of Bailey.

Ace and Sabo had gathered all these treasures by looting the people in Gray Terminal. Given Ace's strength, the Kingdom of Goa posed no threat to him, allowing them to accumulate wealth much more quickly.

But the Gray Terminal was still too poor, and so far, Ace and Sabo had only saved around 10 million Bailey. Ace, however, wasn't too concerned. He planned to rob a noble for 100 million Bailey right before they set sail.

The goal? To become great adventurers.

"Hey! Ace, wait for me! Whew, whew…" A stumbling figure emerged from the forest, gasping for air.

Then, he collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

"Who… who is this?!" Sabo quickly slammed the treasure chest shut and snapped at the boy.

"I-I'm Luffy! Who are you?" Luffy asked, panting as he looked at Sabo.

"My name is Sa... Wait, why should I tell you who I am?!" Sabo yelled.

"Don't be like that! Let's be friends!" Luffy grinned.

"This guy's Garp's grandson. I thought I ditched him," Ace said nonchalantly, looking at Luffy.

"Who would believe that?!" Sabo shouted in disbelief.

With Ace's speed, it was surprising Luffy had managed to catch up. Clearly, Ace had let it happen.

"Hey, Ace, what do we do? He's seen our treasure," Sabo said, his expression darkening.

"He's seen it? Then we have no choice. We'll have to kill him," Ace said, almost casually.

"Yeah… looks like that's the only option," Sabo agreed, trying to look menacing.

"Wait, what?!" Luffy's face paled as he heard them. "No! Don't kill me! We can be friends, right? Just don't throw me in the sea and drown me!" Luffy, exhausted, collapsed, crying out in desperation.

"Drowning? That's actually not a bad idea, but why would he suggest that himself?" Sabo asked, puzzled.

"Go ahead, Sabo. Do it," Ace said with a smirk.

"I-I've never killed anyone before! You do it," Sabo stammered, his hands shaking slightly.

"You're the one who brought it up, so you do it," Ace insisted.

Sabo, shaking, reluctantly approached Luffy, his eyes dark.

"No! Don't kill me! I'm not ready to die yet!" Luffy screamed, shutting his eyes tight.

...

After a long moment with no pain, Luffy cracked one eye open.

"I-I can't do it," Sabo admitted, collapsing to the ground, drenched in sweat.

"If you can't do it, then we'll just have to let him join us," Ace said, patting Sabo on the shoulder.

"What?! Ace, Sabo, if you're not going to kill me, does that mean we can be friends?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Before you join, there's one more thing we have to do," Ace said, a wicked smile crossing his lips.

Hearing this, Sabo shivered as if recalling a terrifying memory.

"I'll do anything, as long as we can be friends!" Luffy declared.

"Then stand still," Ace said, a flash of red gleaming in his eyes.

With that, Ace's fist slammed down.

Boom!

"Ahhh! That hurts!!!" Luffy screamed in pain.

"Not bad. You've got great potential, Luffy. Even my Haki seems to have gotten stronger through that punch."