Michael, who had just been tossed out by Rouge, could only awkwardly make his way to the couch and sit down.
Of course, in his mind, he was already plotting when and how to screw over those two old geezers with a serious payback.
However, at this moment, all three of them—Michael and the two old men—were trembling under the weight of Luffy's wailing.
None of them wanted to face that Shura-like demon, Rouge, again.
As the crying gradually subsided and peace was restored, Michael and the two old men finally let out a long breath.
It was absolute torture.
Rouge emerged from the bedroom once more, having returned to her usual gentle demeanor.
"Ah, it's almost dinnertime."
"Ah, speaking of dinner..." Garp suddenly remembered something. "Sweet daughter, there'll be a few folks with big appetites joining us tonight."
"Big appetites?"
"Yeah! Borsalino, Sakazuki, Kuzan... Oh, and Tsuru and Zephyr too." Garp, completely oblivious to the atmosphere, kept counting people on his fingers.
With each name he added, Rouge's previously calm expression grew more and more terrifying.
"Hey! Garp, you old geezer! Shut up already!"
"Can't you read the atmosphere, you bastard?!"
Michael and Sengoku were frantically throwing Garp meaningful glances, but he remained utterly clueless.
"Hehe, sounds like quite a crowd. We're running low on ingredients. I'll have to trouble dear Father to go to the market and buy some."
Her voice was sweet as ever, but the door slammed with a thunderous bang.
Bang!
In the next moment, the two peaks of the Navy and the Secret Special Force leader were all kicked out of the house.
"Uh... so, does this mean we've been kicked out?"
"This is your house," Michael rolled his eyes. "And you're the one who went too far as a father. Be careful—when you get older, your daughter might bring your grandkids to pull your oxygen tube."
"Honestly, whether they pull the tube or not is secondary... Why did I get kicked out by Mom too?!"
Ace stood beside Michael, face scrunched up in sheer grievance.
Grandpa acted up, and the grandson got punished too!
Michael had come to realize that in this household of three generations, the one truly in charge was Rouge.
In every sense of the word, she was a formidable woman.
"Alright, let's get moving." Sengoku sighed. "I don't think Rouge was joking. If we don't bring back the ingredients, we'll probably just get death glares. But as for you, the father? You might not survive."
"Ahahahaha, come on, my daughter is super gentle."
"If you said that without your voice trembling, I might actually believe you."
...
Walking down a path in Marineford, Ace kept pestering Michael with questions.
"Michael-san, are those wings real? Or are they just for show?"
"I heard the seas are full of weirdly dressed people—are you one of them, Michael-san?"
"And, and! Is the sea really full of dangerous strong people, like Grandpa says?"
Ace's little mouth fired off questions like a machine gun.
But Michael patiently answered each and every one of his questions.
After all, he had promised to look after this child—and that promise had come with the reward of an ultimate grade Meito.
Besides...
Ace was an extremely important piece in Michael's plan.
The most critical move in targeting the pirate forces.
The Pirate King's descendant becoming a Marine would deal a massive blow to the pirate community.
Because no matter what, ever since Roger said that line on the execution platform, he had become the spiritual totem of the entire pirate world.
Not just ordinary pirates—even the so-called "Emperors" were no exception.
That was precisely why Michael didn't stop Roger from saying those words.
Before that, pirates had been a completely loose group, making widespread elimination extremely difficult.
But once united, it was a different story.
If you can't beat them one by one, gather them all and crush them in one go.
Using a child like this did make Michael feel a bit guilty.
But no matter how guilty he felt, he would not hesitate to carry out his plan.
At most, he would make it up to Ace more.
For example, the first thing was to make sure Ace never got tied to that cursed Flame-Flame Fruit—he had Ginny eat it instead. That was better for both of them.
Meanwhile, Michael was also searching for other suitable Devil Fruits.
Michael lowered his head to look at Ace, who at just four years old was already built like a little bull, and smiled.
"Ace, you've really grown well."
"Michael-san, why are you saying weird things all of a sudden... it's kinda gross."
"…Have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future?"
"The future?" Little Ace looked a bit confused, but his excitement couldn't be hidden. "Grandpa keeps dragging me to train—he wants me to be an excellent Marine. But I like Grandpa, so being a Marine doesn't sound bad... Oh right! I also want to protect Luffy! That guy's my little brother!"
As they stepped out from the leafy forest path into the sunset, Michael patted Ace on the head.
"Is that so... As long as you never regret it, that's what matters."
...
Watching Michael and the noisy Ace from afar, Sengoku finally let out a long sigh.
"...Garp, how long do you and Michael plan on hiding it from me?"
"Huh? Hiding what? What're you talking about?" Garp's face was the picture of innocence. "...Wait, you're not talking about when we snuck into your cabinet and ate your limited-edition senbei, are you?"
"Don't change the subject. Your acting when you lie is too damn natural. If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd never notice."
Sengoku let out a cold snort.
His eyes as he looked at Garp now held a tinge of chill.
Garp's goofy expression and awkward smile disappeared in an instant. His face turned serious.
The two fell silent.
After a long while, Garp finally spoke with a sigh.
"Ah, can't hide anything from you, huh." He shrugged, his whole posture loosening. "Even though it's not great that you found out, it's honestly been tiring keeping it secret for so many years."
Hearing Garp finally confess, Sengoku couldn't help but let out a laugh.
A laugh of disbelief.
"You and Michael sure have guts, hiding Roger's widow like that—in Marineford, no less, and even letting her give birth here! Using the whole 'hidden under the light' trick... truly impressive. How long did it take Michael to talk you into it?"
"Uh, twenty seconds? Maybe fifteen."
"Hmph! Then you'd better keep hiding it forever."
"...What do you mean? You're not going to take action against Ace or Rouge?"
Sengoku pointed at Ace, who was clinging to Michael in the distance, and gave a bitter smile.
"Looking like that—what exactly do you expect me to do?"
"Looks like you've softened too."
With a sudden burst, Sengoku landed a solid punch on the back of Garp's head.
"I haven't softened!"
"It's just that I trust you..."
"And I trust Michael."
"He's the one who will lead the Navy—and even the world—into a new era."
"So, I believe in him."
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