Chapter 201: An Important Moment
Ian had no ability to stop Ace from joining the Whitebeard Pirates, and in truth, deep down, he didn’t really want to stop it either. (8)
For Ace, Whitebeard the Old Man was a very important figure in his life. Ace was actually quite pitiable, and Ian didn’t want to deprive him of the chance to have a father’s love.
Since he couldn’t stop Ace from joining the Whitebeard Pirates, Ian could only take a roundabout approach. He had to remind Ace to be wary of that man, Blackbeard.
Blackbeard Teach had always hidden himself deeply. His ambition wouldn’t reveal itself until he obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit he dreamed of within the Whitebeard Pirates. Before that, he seemed completely harmless.
After Fujitora came aboard, Ian had also considered whether he could join forces with Fujitora to simply kill Blackbeard and be done with it.
But upon careful thought, Ian realized it was impossible!
Killing Blackbeard outright like that was absolutely out of the question. Teach had been with the Whitebeard Pirates for a very long time—probably around ten or twenty years. He counted as an old-timer in the crew. If Ian killed him, Whitebeard would be the first to refuse!
This Old Man regarded his subordinates as his children and treated them all equally as much as possible. Teach hadn’t revealed his ambition yet. Killing him would mean killing a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, killing one of the Old Man’s sons!
Such an act would be nothing short of a spectacular way to court death. With the Marine side of things still unresolved, provoking another Emperor would force Ian, no matter how formidable, to flee to the ends of the earth…
For these reasons, Ian could only find Ace and personally warn him. Given the bond between them, Ace should be able to listen.
But how seriously Ace would take it, Ian couldn’t say…
He couldn’t just tell Ace outright, “Oh, that guy Blackbeard will kill one of your comrades two years from now and betray the Whitebeard Pirates. When that happens, don’t go after him, or he’ll capture you, hand you over to the Marines, and use you to gain the position of a Warlord.”
He couldn’t say that to Ace. Ian wasn’t stupid. If he said something like that, Ace would be the first to hoist him up and drag him across the world to find a doctor to fix his brain…
And honestly, Ian also secretly guessed that even without Blackbeard, Ace would still be targeted by the Marines. After all, he was the only son of Pirate King Roger. The Marines couldn’t just ignore him. Even without the trigger of Blackbeard, once the Marines learned Ace’s identity, they would do everything in their power to capture him.
Thinking carefully, the cause and effect of this had been planted twenty years ago, when Pirate King Roger died. It wasn’t so easy to change…
So, in Ian’s plan, as a friend, he had the duty to warn Ace about Blackbeard’s danger. But how to deliver that warning depended on the situation. The first step was to meet Ace first.
The territories of the Four Emperors were vast and easy to find. Ian just needed to land on any island and ask around. And when inquiring about the Whitebeard Pirates, there would naturally be informants in the shadows to notify Whitebeard.
However, sailing through the New World was no easy feat. On the third day after setting out, Ian and his crew encountered a rare serpent storm. Massive tornadoes, connecting the sea to the sky, churned up waves like giant snakes, rampaging wildly across the ocean. The entire sea looked like a snake pit, with twisted tornadoes as far as the eye could see.
If it weren’t for Fujitora, Ian and his crew would have been in grave danger. Fujitora lightened the ship, using the wind to weave through the tornadoes.
While Ian and his crew were battling the serpent storm, on a small island far away in the New World, an important scene was about to unfold.
In a bay, a massive ship was anchored. It was a vessel shaped like a whale—the Moby Dick! This was the flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Aboard this ship were members of several divisions of the Whitebeard Pirates. Some scrubbed the deck, others mended the sails—all going about their daily routines.
In the middle of the deck, a man as tall as a giant sat bare-chested in a lounge chair. His imposing physique and crescent-shaped mustache marked him as the captain of this ship. The “Old Man” of the Four Emperors—Whitebeard!
Yet this man, hailed as the “Strongest Man in the World,” was under the care of a group of beautiful white-clad nurses, receiving an IV drip.
Since Roger’s death, the Marines had regarded this man as their greatest threat. But time was a butcher’s knife—it blackened fungus, bent bananas, and also aged this monster, Whitebeard. Now past his prime, he was plagued by illness and pain.
Looking at the IV drip beside him, Whitebeard muttered, “What use are these things? To me, alcohol is the best medicine!”
With that, he lifted a huge bottle of liquor in his right hand and took a gulp.
The beautiful nurses tried to stop him, but at that moment, a figure darted out from behind Whitebeard, raising a large axe to strike him on the head as he drank.
This assassin-like move didn’t draw any gasps from the crew. Over the past month or two, they had seen such assassination attempts many times.
Sure enough, Whitebeard, still drinking, didn’t even turn his head. He raised his left hand, still attached to the IV, and lightly punched backward.
With his strike, the air behind Whitebeard’s head showed visible spiderweb cracks. The next second, a tremendous shockwave rippled outward.
The descending axe collided head-on with this immense force. The axe immediately cracked and shattered, and the assassin’s figure was sent flying, tumbling a dozen times before crashing heavily against the ship’s railing.
Seeing this, a man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle on the ship sighed, hands on his hips, and said, “Still not giving up?”
Beside him, another man in a top hat chuckled, stroking his curled mustache, and said, “Every day like this—he’s really persistent! This must be close to 100 times, right?”
The pineapple-haired man replied, “Almost…”
Having knocked away the assassin, Whitebeard continued drinking as if nothing had happened, his left hand resting on the armrest while the nurses reinserted his IV.
The assassin struggled to get up, but the soreness all over his body made him collapse back down.
Who else could this assassin be but Ace? But now, his earlier confidence was gone. He looked battered, head drooping, panting, silent.
It had been nearly two months since Whitebeard brought him aboard. During this time, Ace had constantly tried to assassinate Whitebeard—whether sneaking up on him while he slept at night or attacking while he ate or drank. He hadn’t succeeded even once. Whitebeard’s strength was so overwhelming it made Ace despair.
And this time, as always, Ace had failed…
Despite the repeated failures, Whitebeard continued to indulge him. Not only did he impose no restrictions on Ace, but even the Whitebeard Pirates treated him with great friendliness. Though Ace felt unwilling, he was slowly being won over.
Dejectedly sitting by the railing, Ace’s stomach growled.
Just then, a bowl of fragrant food was placed with a thud on the deck beside him.
Ace looked up and saw that the person who brought him the meal was the pineapple-haired man. He murmured, “Thanks… Marco…”
But Ace didn’t touch the food. He lowered his head again and suddenly asked, “Why… do you guys call that guy ‘Old Man’?”
“…” Marco, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and a Phoenix, crouched beside Ace. After a moment of silence, he said, “It’s simple. Because he calls us ‘sons’!”
“!!” Ace was stunned by this answer.
Marco smiled and said, “We’re not very liked in this world… so it really makes us happy, even if it’s just a title!”
“…” Ace kept his head down, hiding his expression. Marco’s words had struck a nerve. From a young age, Ace had been burdened with the label of “cursed bloodline,” also someone not very liked.
“You’ve survived this time. Are you still going to keep opposing him?” Marco asked with a smile. “With your current strength, you can’t take the Old Man’s head. Are you going to leave this ship and start over, or stay here and bear the mark of ‘Whitebeard’? It’s about time you made a decision.”
Ace had heard such words countless times on this ship. But from his initial firm resolve to his gradual wavering, his mindset had been changing. Marco’s words finally broke through the last of his defenses.
It was at this moment that Whitebeard stood up, walked over to Ace, and extended his right hand, just like when they first met. He laughed, “Gurararara, become my son!”
“…” Ace didn’t speak, but he collapsed onto the deck, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Though he said nothing, seeing him like this, everyone on the ship burst into laughter. They knew Ace had joined the Whitebeard Pirates for good!
“Gurararara!” Whitebeard laughed loudly and shouted, “Sons, start the banquet! Celebrate Ace’s joining!”
“Whoo!!!” The crew cheered.
Marco wrapped an arm around Ace’s shoulders, pulling him up, and said, “Ace, from today on, we’re family!”
The banquet began quickly. Everyone on the ship found Ace, clinking glasses with him, patting his shoulders, and talking to him. Ace didn’t respond much because he didn’t know what to say. But seeing everyone on the ship laughing joyfully, a warmth filled his heart. Besides Luffy, Sabo, the Old Man, and Dadan, Ace finally had new family—and so many of them at once.
Just then, a familiar figure rushed over, shouting, “Ace, come look at this!”
The speaker was Jimmy, the chef from the original Spade Pirates. When Whitebeard brought Ace aboard, he had brought them along too. Jimmy was now part of the Whitebeard Pirates. In his hand, he held a wanted poster…