Chapter 50: Can We Still Be Friends?
Johnny caught up from behind, shouting excitedly, "Ian, you're a genius! You used that guy skipping out on his bill as a chance to make a run for it too! That way, even if the Sheriff catches us, he'll be the ringleader!"
Joseph chimed in on the other side, "Yeah, yeah! Then we'll just make him, the ringleader, pay for everything!"
Ian was so furious he could barely contain himself. He smacked them both and snapped, "Shut up! I didn't do it just to skip out on the bill, alright?"
Seeing Ace bolt out of the restaurant like that, he was clearly a repeat offender. If Ian had paid the bill slowly and then chased after him, Ace would have been long gone by then!
Now that he'd finally run into Ace here, how could Ian let him get away so easily?
Actually, Ian didn't really need to care this much. Although Garp had given him the mission in exchange for the small boat and the handcuffs, he hadn't assigned anyone to supervise him. Technically, Ian could have just pretended not to see Ace. If Garp ever asked later, he could simply say he never ran into him.
But it wasn't that simple. In the days since leaving Garp's ship, Ian had suddenly realized something: Garp was a Marine Vice Admiral, so he must have considerable authority, right? And since he was good friends with Fleet Admiral Sengoku, he definitely had some pull with the World Government. So, could Ian ask him for a favor—to introduce him to Vegapunk?
It wasn't just to meet the mysterious scientist. Ian wondered if this technological genius, who was said to be 500 years ahead of his time, might have a way to help him wake up Kuina! If Vegapunk could even modify human bodies, could he also understand something about the soul?
If Ian didn't know about these people and events, he might have let it go. But as a transmigrator with knowledge of this world's famous figures, he had to try every possible avenue.
This fantastical world did have souls. The clearest example was Brook's Revive-Revive Fruit! If Vegapunk was truly such a genius, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the soul.
With this in mind, Ian felt he couldn't afford to lose his connection to Garp. But Ian wasn't anyone special to Garp—at best, they were just acquaintances. The only leverage Ian had to get Garp's help was to capture Ace.
That's why he was so desperate to chase after him. He had made up his mind: before Garp left the East Blue, no matter what, he had to catch Ace once and deliver him to the old man.
But... damn it, Ace was fast!
Ian had been chasing him the whole time, staring at his bare back. Ace hadn't joined the Whitebeard Pirates yet, so naturally, he didn't have their tattoo on his back. Ian had set sail three years early, after all, so many things hadn't happened yet.
Ian had no idea why Ace was in Loguetown. He had assumed Ace was planning to head to the Grand Line and had stopped here. But what puzzled him was the timing—it was too coincidental. Just as his grandfather Garp had left for Shells Town, Ace showed up...
"Stop!" Ian shouted at Ace. "Hold up!"
But Ace, probably mistaking Ian and his two companions for the restaurant owner's pursuers, didn't listen. Instead, he sped up and ran even faster!
Johnny and Joseph were panting heavily as they ran alongside Ian. Seeing Ian yell at the guy who had skipped out on the bill, they asked, "Ian... Ian! Are... are you trying to catch that guy?"
"Yeah!" Ian didn't have time to deal with these two idiots and just grunted in response.
Johnny and Joseph didn't say another word and ran even harder.
"Ace! Stop right there!" Ian shouted again. This time, he infused his legs with Nen, increasing his speed and finally closing the gap a little.
But strangely, Ian found that Ace's speed was on par with his own when he used Nen. He was barely keeping up.
Ace looked back and saw Ian closing in. Startled, he said, "Stop chasing me! Even if you catch me, I don't have any money to pay you!"
"It's not about the meal..." Ian said as he ran. "I need to talk to you!"
"What's so urgent that you have to chase me down two streets?" Ace didn't believe him. "And I don't even know you!"
Indeed, in such a short time, Ian had chased Ace down two streets. That showed how fast they were moving. Pedestrians along the way stared in shock as the two of them rushed past like a gust of wind, having no idea what was happening.
And both Ian and Ace were monsters. Ian went without saying, but Ace had honed his physique from childhood by fighting beasts in the mountains and forests. He was no less capable than Ian. After running such a distance at this speed, neither of them was even out of breath.
Knowing that chasing him like this wouldn't work, Ian's eyes darted around as he thought of a plan.
"Stop, Ace! Do you want to know about Sabo!?" Ian shouted.
With a screech, Ace suddenly slammed on the brakes. Ian, caught off guard, crashed into him, and they both tumbled to the ground like rolling gourds.
Ian was dizzy from the fall, but before he could recover, he felt Ace grab him by the collar.
"What did you just say!?" Ace twisted Ian's collar anxiously. "How do you know about Sabo!? Isn't he... isn't he dead!?"
"Let go first!" Ian said irritably, slapping his hand away.
"Sorry, I got carried away. My apologies!" Ace said urgently. "Tell me quickly!"
Ian picked up his hat, checked the Den Den Mushi inside, and seeing it was fine, put the hat back on. He said to Ace, "Who told you Sabo was dead?"
In his desperation to stop Ace, Ian had thought about using Garp's name, but that probably wouldn't have worked. Ace would have run even faster at the mention of Garp. So Ian had no choice but to bring up Sabo. He knew Ace would stop.
He didn't mind letting Ace know about this. In fact, ever since he saved Kuina, Ian had realized that his intervention had inevitably caused some changes to this world's history. So telling Ace that Sabo was still alive wasn't a big deal.
As for whether Ace would go looking for Sabo after hearing the news, that was out of Ian's hands. In the original timeline, Ace never got to see Sabo again before he died. Maybe Ian's appearance could help make up for that regret?
"He... he's not dead? That's great... really great!"
After hearing Ian's words, Ace burst into tears, repeating the phrase over and over: "If Luffy knew, he'd be so happy..."
Ian didn't say anything. He just quietly watched Ace. He understood the bond between the three brothers, so he could naturally grasp what Ace was feeling right now.
After crying for a while, Ace suddenly remembered something. He grabbed Ian's shirt and wiped his face with it, leaving tears and snot all over Ian's clothes.
Before Ian could get angry, Ace suddenly sat cross-legged on the ground and bowed deeply to Ian, saying, "Thank you! This is the best news I've heard since I set sail. But please tell me, if Sabo isn't dead, where is he now?"
"Honestly, I don't know where he is now," Ian said, shaking his head. "That was many years ago. I was just a ten-year-old kid back then. The ship that saved Sabo docked in our village, so I knew about it! If I remember correctly, it was the Revolutionary Army that saved him."
"Is that so? The Revolutionary Army?" Ace broke into a smile. "Then it seems that besides the person who saved Luffy, I have one more person to thank."
Ian felt something was off about this and quickly corrected him, "Hey, hey, the Revolutionary Army is an organization, not a person! Don't get it wrong!"
"Is that so? No wonder. I thought the name was weird..." Ace was taken aback. "Then where can I find the Revolutionary Army?"
"How should I know?" Ian glared at him irritably, then suddenly had a bad thought. He lowered his voice and asked, "Hey, you're not thinking of joining the Revolutionary Army, are you?"
"No way! I still want to be a pirate!" Ace said with a laugh.
Ian breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want his appearance to make Ace give up on being a pirate and join the Revolutionary Army instead. If that happened, Garp would probably kill him. The old man had always wanted Ace and Luffy to become Marines...
The two of them sat there on the street chatting, drawing strange looks from passersby.
Just then, Ace suddenly thought of something. He tilted his head and looked at Ian with a puzzled expression, asking, "Strange. No matter how hard I think, I can't remember ever meeting you! What's your name? How do you know about me and Sabo?"
Ian had no good way to explain this. He couldn't exactly say he was a transmigrator and knew them from that. So he just mumbled vaguely, "Don't worry about it. Just think of it as fate. We're about the same age. Just call me Ian."
"That sounds so profound!" Ace burst out laughing. "Since you don't want to say, I won't ask!"
Ace was only occasionally a goofball, not an idiot. Although he found it strange that a complete stranger like Ian knew about him—not just his name but also Sabo's existence—he could tell Ian wasn't lying to him. That was enough.
He reached out his hand to Ian and said, "Nice to meet you, Ian. From today on, we're friends! Thank you for the good news!"
"Don't thank me yet!" Ian shook his hand but said, "You might curse me later."
"Why?" Ace asked, confused.
"Because of this..." Ian said, reaching behind his waist with his left hand and pulling out the Seastone Handcuffs. With a click, he locked them around his own wrist and Ace's, binding them together.
"..." The sudden shift in tone was too much for Ace. He stared blankly. "Wh... what does this mean?"
"Simple. Someone hired me to catch you," Ian shrugged. "That old man, your grandfather Garp!"
"Eh!!!???"
Ace's shocked cry echoed throughout all of Loguetown...