"Cough, cough! That hurt! That punch…"
In the middle of the surging sea of fire, Ace coughed a few times while clutching his cheek, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Strands of flame flowed in from all directions, gradually reconstituting his body.
Ace looked up at Rorschach, who was descending from the sky, and his expression darkened.
"What's your relationship with the old man?"
Rorschach clenched his fist, still wrapped in deep blue Haki. "He's my mentor—well, one of them."
"So you're his disciple? No wonder your punches hurt just like his."
Ace slowly stood up from the deep crater and locked eyes with Rorschach.
"Do you really have to fight me?"
"Not necessarily."
"…What?"
Ace blinked, slightly taken aback by Rorschach's response.
"As long as you don't become a pirate, if you return to Windmill Village or come back to Navy Headquarters with me to become a marine, I can spare you—for the old man's sake.
If you became a marine, he'd be genuinely happy."
As he spoke, Rorschach kept his gaze on Ace while using Observation Haki to envelop the entire Magic Valley Town, controlling lightning in the sky to strike down fleeing pirates with pinpoint accuracy.
Over on the sea near the Kirin, Hibari and the others' movements were also within his Haki's perception.
The battle over there was intense, but not dangerous for them.
Aside from Ace, Burgess, and a few others, there weren't any particularly powerful pirates in Magic Valley Town.
After destroying many pirate ships docked at the town's port, the marines began systematically eliminating the remaining pirates.
Since the battle at Queen of Spring Castle, their teamwork had only become more refined.
"Sorry. I'm not going to be a marine. If you insist on fighting, then come! Let me see just how good the old man's marine disciple really is."
Ace clenched his fists and assumed a combat stance.
But Rorschach didn't immediately attack. He simply stared at Ace with a flicker in his eyes.
That gaze made Ace uneasy.
"Hey! Marine—what are you looking at?"
"You, of course. Tell me—why are you so obsessed with becoming a pirate? Are you really that blind to what happened to your unreliable father?"
"You—! The old man told you even that?" Ace's eyes flared with fire, and flames erupted from his fists—his turmoil clearly boiling over.
Rorschach didn't answer. He calmly watched Ace and continued:
"To be honest, I've never liked that whole 'sins of the father' idea.
But when old man Garp chose to save you out of kindness, he bore a huge burden on his conscience for it.
Do you know how many innocent pregnant women and babies were implicated on Baterilla Island in the South Blue, just because the government was hunting down the Pirate King's bloodline?"
"That was your World Government and Navy's doing!"
Ace roared, veins bulging on his forehead, his bloodshot eyes filled with rage. He threw a massive fireball straight at Rorschach.
A roaring wave of flame surged like a fiery tsunami, howling toward Rorschach's seemingly small figure.
Crackling!
Bolts of thick lightning burst from within Rorschach's body. In front of him, they converged into a sizzling, unstable ball of electricity, which shot toward the oncoming fireball.
An orange-red fireball and a silver-white lightning sphere collided mid-air.
Boom!A terrifying explosion ripped through the street between them in an instant.
The massive shockwave swept in all directions. Buildings lining both sides of the street collapsed like papier-mâché, crumbling into debris.
All of Magic Valley Town shook violently as dust rolled up into the sky.
The overwhelming force forced Ace to retreat dozens of meters, landing atop a distant building as he looked toward the explosion's epicenter.
But then—Rorschach's voice came from his right, making Ace tense instantly.
He turned to see Rorschach standing casually on a nearby rooftop just ten meters away. He had no idea when he got there.
"I know… that incident was the Navy's fault.
But still—for the sake of those innocent pregnant women and infants who died, don't you think it's a little cruel to walk the same path as your father and become a pirate?"
"And have you ever thought about why your father entrusted you to the old man?
Was it only for your safety?
He may be dead, but the once-mighty Roger Pirates weren't completely wiped out."
The Dark King Rayleigh is still alive and well, and Red-Haired Shanks has already become one of the Four Emperors who dominate a region of the sea.
"Wouldn't it have been more convenient to entrust you to one of them, rather than betting everything on the conscience of a Marine hero who's spent his life chasing justice?"
Rorschach's calm words struck Ace like a bolt of lightning, freezing him in place, fury halted mid-breath.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Yes… Why did Roger entrust the son of a pirate to a Marine hero?
Before he was captured and imprisoned, he already knew that his wife was pregnant while they were on Baterilla Island.
He had both the time and opportunity to entrust his wife and unborn child to his closest confidants—Rayleigh, Jabba, or others from the Roger Pirates.
Even without their captain, the Roger Pirates were as strong as any Emperor's crew—maybe even stronger.
They had more than enough strength to protect Ace.
And Whitebeard had been Roger's lifelong rival and dear friend. If Roger had asked Whitebeard to shelter his wife and child, would he have refused?
But Roger didn't do that. He chose instead to gamble on Garp's kindness.
That choice led to the tragic events that later unfolded on Baterilla Island.
If Roger hadn't made that choice—if he had entrusted Ace to Rayleigh or Whitebeard—then his wife Rouge wouldn't have had to endure a twenty-month pregnancy, ultimately dying after only glimpsing her son once.
Garp wouldn't have had to bear that unspeakable heartache.
And the innocent pregnant women of Baterilla wouldn't have lost their lives.
Of course, Rorschach couldn't possibly know what Roger was truly thinking back then.
But he had reason to suspect that Roger may have wanted his son to become a Marine.
Maybe, after reaching Laugh Tale, Roger realized that his child would not be the prophesied Joy Boy meant to save the world—so he didn't want Ace to become a pirate like him.
Looking at the now-silent Ace, Rorschach sighed inwardly.
Ace currently bore a Marine-issued bounty.
A bounty of 200 million Berries!
His rise was meteoric—he was the most prominent pirate Supernova of the year 1517.
His bounty came from his Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit ability, and from defeating a Marine Vice Admiral named Dolo in Paradise—one who had been so obsessed with eradicating pirates that he even sacrificed innocent civilians by setting fires.
[Note: This plot point isn't made up—it comes from the official Ace novel personally overseen by Oda. In the novel, Ace also awakens Armament Haki.]
Rorschach wouldn't claim that Ace was innocent.
After all, it was a fact that he had attacked Marines.
But based on the circumstances, his crimes weren't worthy of death—yet.
If he could be brought back from this path, if he could give up piracy, maybe that would ease the heart of old man Garp.
After a long silence, Ace took a deep breath, as if resolving himself, and looked back at Rorschach.
This time, there was no anger in his eyes—only calm.
"Looks like the old man really thinks highly of you. Rorschach, right? I'll remember that name."
Flames began to flicker on his fists as he looked at Rorschach and said earnestly:
"I am Portgas D. Ace. I will never give up being a pirate.
Because being a pirate means being free!
The answer I'm searching for isn't in the Navy, and it's not in the World Government—it's out on the sea, in the freedom of adventure!
Tell the old man… I've let him down. Maybe one day I'll die because of this choice, but…"
"I won't regret it!"
"Come on, Marine Rorschach! Fight me! Let's settle this like pirates—winner takes all! If you win, I'm yours to deal with. But if I win, you can't stop me from going to sea!"
Boiling flames erupted from every inch of Ace's body, sending the temperature in Magic Valley Town soaring, as if even the air itself was about to ignite.
"Freedom again? Answers again?" Rorschach rubbed his temples. "Every time I hear the word 'answer,' I get a headache."
Electric sparks crackled around his body. His polished black military boots crushed the stones beneath his feet as he began to step forward.
"In that case… I'll just drag you in front of the old man myself."
"Fist Bone!""Fire Fist!"
(End of Chapter)
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