"Now that everyone's back together, let's have a feast—"
"Wait a minute."
On the ruins of Whole Cake Island, Roman reached out to stop Luffy, who was about to "use whatever's available." Not to mention that now wasn't the time to celebrate, but the cake buildings around them... "These are just illusions created by the Red the Aloof. Even if they taste exactly like real cake now, once the illusion disappears, you'll just be eating dirt..."
Then again, considering Luffy's stomach, he could probably digest dirt just fine.
"I'll handle it."
Pudding crouched down and placed one hand on the ruins of Whole Cake Island. "Memory Erasure!"
*Whoosh—*
As Pudding activated her "Memory-Memory Fruit" ability, the surroundings wavered like a mirage in the desert. The towering cake buildings crumbled into moss-covered ruins. The bright sky returned to a peaceful night with a scattering of stars, while Luffy—
"My cake!!"
"Pudding, you owe me—"
"Hey, hey, hey...! Those were all fake, Luffy. If you want cake, Sanji and I can make some for you when we get back to the ship."
"Hehehe, then it's fine~~"
"Anyway,"
Roman rubbed his temples, planning the next move for the Straw Hat Crew.
"Now that we're all together, we could just ignore whatever plans the Red the Aloof has and set sail right away. We didn't really lose anything, and if anything, we actually gained quite a bit."
The truth was, the Red the Aloof had never been hostile toward the Straw Hat Crew. If he had really wanted to, he could have killed them all when he used his "fake companions" trick at the start. If that had happened, only Luffy and Roman would still be standing.
Roman also knew something else: Because of his passive mind-reading ability, the Red the Aloof had very few people he could truly call "friends." In fact, the only ones who qualified were Roger, Whitebeard, and Garp. And all of them, in one way or another, had strong connections to the Straw Hat Crew.
"Hehehe, no way we're just leaving it at that."
Luffy pressed down on his straw hat. "Tonight's adventure was fun, but there's still some unfinished business between us and that old man. Padoon—"
Luffy turned to the small tanuki standing at Chopper's height.
"You have something to say to your 'boss,' don't you? Until you do, I won't accept you as my crewmate!"
"Ah… something to say to the boss… I... tanuki... tanuki..."
"By the way, we've been fighting all night, but—"
Robin rested her chin on her hand.
"What exactly is the Red the Aloof's goal? If we knew that, maybe we could make our move first."
"That's kind of strange. We don't really have any conflict with that legendary pirate, do we?"
Franky joined in on the conversation, while Luffy, jumping around and shouting, "I'm the one who's going to be the Pirate King!" was just part of the usual background noise for the Straw Hat Crew.
"Who cares what his goal is? We'll just find him and ask."
Seeing Zoro's eager expression, Usopp immediately called him out.
"You just got excited because you ran into a great swordsman, didn't you?"
"The boss said he's looking for a 'Devil Fruit.'"
The little tanuki looked up. "But I don't know what kind of fruit it is..."
"Thanks for telling us... But are you sure it's okay to share something this important with us?"
Hearing Brook's question, Padong shook his head.
"As long as I really want to be part of the crew, you guys would let me join, right?"
"If that's the case, I should at least try to help..."
"But even if we know the Red the Aloof is looking for a Devil Fruit, we don't have any clues."
Seeing Nami frown, Roman couldn't just blurt out, "I know exactly what he's looking for: the Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Vampire Form." Instead, he took a more logical approach.
"If we want to know what kind of Devil Fruit it is, the easiest way is to keep tracking the Red the Aloof. But, like I said before, we don't really have anything to lose. We can always just walk away."
"Alright, it's decided! We're going after him!"
"I bet you just want another adventure."
Usopp clutched his chest.
"I have a serious case of 'I-can't-go-on-the-island' disease..."
"Aren't we already on the island?"
Hearing Sanji's remark, Usopp quickly changed his words.
"Then I have 'I-can't-go-deeper-into-the-island' disease..."
"We're already deep inside the island."
Jinbe, ever the straightforward one, added his comment, making Usopp tear up.
"Then... Then I have 'I-can't-go-near-the-Red-Count' disease..."
"Seriously? That's way too specific."
Roman rolled his eyes and pointed ahead.
"Everyone else already left. If you don't want to move forward, just stay here."
"Nooo! Wait for me!"
You couldn't really blame Usopp for going back to his old ways. The Red the Aloof's sword strike and kick earlier had been so powerful that even the Straw Hat Crew's strongest fighters couldn't handle it. As for Usopp, a squishy—no, a marksman-type fighter, he definitely didn't want to take a hit for no reason.
Unfortunately, the group ahead, full of excitement, completely ignored his complaints.
——————
"Where is this?"
"No idea..."
"I don't know either."
"Never seen this place before."
"This looks unfamiliar to me too."
"That's weird. How come none of us recognize it?"
The previous 'stages' they had gone through were all based on events from the Straw Hat Crew's past, places and enemies they had faced before. Just one glance was enough to figure out where they were and who they'd be up against.
"Ah! This place is—"
"Luffy, do you know this place?"
With everyone's eyes on him, Luffy, who was visibly surprised, nodded.
"Yeah, this is where I grew up: Foosha Village in the Goa Kingdom of East Blue."
With a nostalgic expression, Luffy led the crew on a 'tour' of his hometown. Even though his family was no longer here, the familiar sights alone made him talk nonstop:
"This is Makino's bar. I used to come here a lot and listen to pirates tell their stories. Usopp's dad, Yasopp, would talk about him all the time..."
It wasn't a big bar, but it carried Luffy's childhood dreams.
Without those wild pirate stories, filled with adventure and exaggeration, would Luffy have ever thought about setting out to sea?
"This dock... This is where Shanks gave me this Straw Hat back then,"
Luffy took off his hat and looked at the now-empty dock, a rare serious and nostalgic expression on his face.
"I once stood here and said that I would gather a crew as strong as Shanks' and find the greatest treasure in the world—"
The voice of the young boy echoed at the dock, just like it did back then.
"I'm going to be the Pirate King!!"
"Well then—"
Putting his hat back on, Luffy turned around with a big grin, looking at his crew.
"Guys, how do we compare to the Four Emperors now?"
"...Do you even need to ask?"
"The only Pirate King I recognize is you!"
"We're going to be the greatest crew in the world!"
"Of course! That's the goal we've been chasing all this time..."
Everyone standing here had no doubt that Luffy would reach the top!
And because of that, top talents from different fields—even Roman—were willing to join his crew. Luffy might have a ton of bad habits, but when it came to his dreams and his friends, he had never once wavered!
And that—
Was more than enough.
"Hehehe, next, I'll show you the place I called 'home' when I was little!"
As they climbed up a mountain near Foosha Village, Luffy introduced the area as they walked.
"This is Mt. Colubo. It's where I first met Ace and Sabo."
It was just an ordinary mountain, but it held Luffy's happiest childhood memories. This was where he had his purest dreams and where he made a promise—to become the freest person in the world.
"Ace?"
Hearing the name, the little tanuki, Pat, looked confused.
Chopper explained, "Luffy's big brother. Two years ago..."
"No, it's nothing."
Following Luffy's lead, the group arrived at—
Roman's eyes landed on a tree stump with three cups of sake sitting on top.
In an instant, he realized what this place was.
"Ah, this is where Ace, Sabo, and I became brothers."
"A sake ceremony to become sworn brothers?"
Hearing Zoro's words, Roman had already guessed it.
"So, that means our next opponent is—"
He looked up at the tree beside them.
There, between the branches, was a small wooden hut.
But more importantly—
"I've been waiting for you, Luffy~"
!
"Ace?!"
As everyone looked up, they saw a man crouching on a tree trunk, shirtless. He pressed down the cowboy hat on his head, which had two badges—one with a smiley face and the other with a sad face. His freckled face carried a grin.
"Tch, so it's still about Devil Fruits, huh?"
Sanji snorted in annoyance. Even facing a Four Emperor was better than dealing with this guy. "Not fighting... doesn't seem like an option, does it?"
As Nami flipped open a book, Ace, standing beside the treehouse, nodded.
"Yeah."
"Luffy,"
Electricity crackled around Nami as she started thinking of ways to counter 'fire.'
"We'll handle this fight—"
"No, I'll do it."
"But—"
Nami was about to say more, but Roman stopped her. "Luffy already said he'll handle it. Let him go."
Besides… the fact that Ace was still alive wasn't something Roman was intentionally keeping a secret—it was Ace who had asked him to keep it quiet. But… it wouldn't be long before Luffy got a surprise, right?
Just as Roman got lost in thought, Ace jumped down from the tree. As he landed, he took a fighting stance, and flames erupted from his arms.
"I'm going in, Luffy!"
"Yeah. I won't lose to you."
Ace, I may have never beaten you before, but now it's different. For my crew, for the dream of becoming the Pirate King—
"Gomu Gomu no Hawk Rifle!"
"Fire Fist!"
As their fists clashed, Roman created a floating platform to lift the others away so they could watch from a safe distance. After all, this was a forest… and Ace's ability was fire.
This fight wouldn't just be a simple "forest fire"—it would be a raging inferno!
In the midst of the towering flames, Ace and Luffy fought evenly. But then—
"Luffy's going to win," someone murmured.
In battles in the New World, Haki was always the key. Strong Armament Haki could make someone nearly unshakable, and sharp Observation Haki could help them dodge attacks, read their opponent's movements, and even—
See the future…
"Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!!"
Falling behind in the fight, Ace leaped high into the air and gathered a massive attack. A fireball, as huge as a second sun, formed above the mountain, blazing with intense heat and light.
The Straw Hat crew, watching from afar, were instantly drenched in sweat—only for it to evaporate immediately. The Mink Tribe members and Zoan users were panting, their tongues nearly dragging on the ground.
"Luffy, watch out!"
As the giant fireball came crashing down, Luffy instantly shifted into Gear Fourth, taking a fearless stance with his fist raised.
"Bring it on—!"
"Gomu Gomu no King Cobra Cannon!!"
BOOM—!!!
The explosion was like a solar flare, leaving only blinding white light and scorching flames in everyone's vision. The intense heat burned vibrant colors into their retinas, lingering even after they blinked.
Under the impact of this earth-shattering clash, the entire "Golpo Mountain" had transformed into the "Golpo Crater." As the fire and smoke cleared, in the middle of the molten pit—
"Luffy won."
There was no doubt. Luffy stood tall as the victor, while Ace, head lowered, sat slumped on the ground. The massive crater behind him was proof of the force he'd endured.
"I don't understand..."
Chopper stared at the scene, but not because he was surprised by the battle's intensity.
"That guy… he's really important to Luffy, isn't he?"
"Then why was he able to fight him so seriously…?"
"It's because he's important,"
Roman said casually as he lowered the paper platform.
"That's why you have to fight seriously. Isn't that how men communicate—with their fists?"
"Because it's important, you take it seriously...?"
"Stop worrying about others all the time, Pato."
Nami crouched down and patted the little raccoon on the head.
"What about you? Do you really not care that a 'copy' has taken your place by the side of the person who matters most to you?"
"Boss... the place by his side..."
Memories of joyful days at sea flashed through his mind—talking about dreams with Roger, drinking with Whitebeard...
"You say that because you don't really understand the boss at all!"
"Yeah, we don't understand him."
Luffy stepped forward and looked at the little raccoon. "But out of everyone here, the one who knows him best... is you!"
So, will you face your true feelings, or will you keep running away?
(End of Chapter)
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