Chapter 151: Cross-Dressing (Part 1)
"How do you know Sabo's name? Do you know him?" Ace asked solemnly. "And what do you mean by avenging him?"
"Just what it sounds like."
"What exactly do you know? Speak up!" Ace was about to charge forward again.
"Bang!"
Unexpectedly, Dadan grabbed his head from behind and slammed him to the ground.
"What are you doing? Dadan, let go!" Ace struggled desperately beneath her grip.
"What are you trying to do?!" Dadan shouted angrily at Ace. "Do you have a death wish?!"
"Dadan…" Luffy stood to the side, looking a little lost.
"With your current strength, you can't beat him. You'd only be throwing your life away!"
"Oh? So you still want to fight me later, huh?"
"No, no, you're overthinking~" Dadan suddenly stood up, rubbing her hands together in a submissive posture.
Ace climbed back to his feet, dissatisfied. "Who the heck is this guy anyway? Why are you so scared of him?"
Dadan then introduced him gravely: "He's the captain of the Eric Pirates, the one who slaughtered Celestial Dragon Charlmak Saint in the Sabaody Archipelago, fought a Navy Admiral to a standstill, and repelled ten warships!"
"What?!" Ace was shocked. "Just this guy?"
"Your manners don't seem very good. You were much more polite at Makino's bar. Now you're just calling people 'this guy'?"
"Ah, I'm really sorry." Ace straightened up and bowed in apology. "Wait no—tell me about Sabo!"
"Give me a proper bow and I'll tell you. Also, I didn't fight the Admiral alone—it was with my crewmates."
"Then we'll just capture you—"
"Divine Punishment."
"Bzzzt!"
Blue electricity surged past the group, carving a two-meter-wide path through the dense forest.
Dadan and the others immediately raised their hands in surrender.
Sweat dripped from the side of Ace's face. 'Can't win.'
"Hmph," Eric clearly didn't want to waste time with the two kids. "I remember that a year ago, Celestial Dragon Charlmak came to the Goa Kingdom and sank a small boat at the port, right?" He glanced at the short bandit wearing a headscarf.
The bandit nodded rapidly.
"It was that Celestial Dragon who personally fired the cannon at Sabo's little fishing boat. And just last month, I ran into that scum on Sabaody Archipelago and killed him mercilessly. So, would you say I'm your benefactor?"
Ace fell silent for a moment, then bowed deeply. "Thank you!"
"But I still have a question. Why is it that when Luffy hits you, it hurts him and not you?"
"Oh? Trying to fish for intel now, clever kid?" Eric laughed. "Well, want to know?"
"Mhm, mhm!" Ace and Luffy both nodded furiously, and even Dadan's bandits perked up to listen in.
"Too bad I'm not telling you! Hahahaha…"
Luffy jumped in protest. "What's the big deal! So stingy!"
Ace, a bit calmer, asked, "Then what will it take for you to teach us?"
"Hmm…" Eric stroked his chin. "If you wear women's clothing, I'll tell you why Luffy, a rubber man, can still feel pain."
"I'm not wearing a dress!" Luffy jumped up in protest.
"How do you know Luffy ate a Devil Fruit and became a rubber man?"
"I know a lot. Isn't Vice Admiral Garp your grandfather?"
Luffy asked innocently, "You know my grandpa?"
"Never met him in person, but I've seen him in the news. And…" Eric looked seriously at Ace. "Your father is the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."
"I see. So you're here to avenge him?"
"Revenge? No. I have no grudge against you. Why would I take revenge on an innocent child? Attacking someone who's done nothing wrong—that's the act of a weakling."
Eric shrugged. "So? Put on the dress and I'll teach you how to become stronger. Good deal, right?"
He began enthusiastically provoking them. "How about it? Wanna try attacking me?"
"You said it yourself!" In a flash, Ace moved with the unnatural speed and motion that betrayed his royal bloodline.
Ace jumped high, swinging a steel pipe horizontally at Eric.
"Bzzzt!"
"What?!" There was no impact—Eric's head had turned into blue static.
"Hehehe…" The electrical charge jittered, reforming into Eric's head. "Devil Fruits aren't all the same. If you don't learn this power, you'll never even touch me."
"You're planning to set out to sea when you grow up, right? You'll face many strange and powerful foes. Are you confident you can beat them and become the Pirate King?"
"I'm the one who'll become Pirate King!" Luffy shouted defiantly.
Eric grabbed the steel pipe from Ace's hand. "Electromagnetic Smelting!"
"So hot!" Ace cried, letting go instinctively.
The pipe melted into glowing orange metal, then under Eric's magnetic control, floated into the air and turned into small steel balls.
"Railgun."
Under magnetic acceleration, the steel balls shot straight at Ace from point-blank range.
"Ace!" Luffy screamed and tried to run to him, but Dadan held him back by the arm.
When the dust cleared from the impact, Ace stood unharmed in the middle of a ring of small holes.
"Scared you, huh?" Eric kept teasing. "So, want to learn Haki or not?"
"Is Haki what caused Luffy's pain?"
"…" Eric felt like slapping himself. He'd slipped.
"I'll count to three. Decide whether you'll wear the dress. But first, let me give you a little demonstration…" Eric's eyes turned sharp like lightning, completely different from his earlier carefree expression.
"Buzz~"
Several of Dadan's followers passed out from Eric's Conqueror's Haki.
Luffy shouted, "Hey, are you guys okay?" The still-standing Dadan quickly shook her comrades, trying to wake them.
"You have this power too, Ace. You just can't control it yet."
Ace's face was hidden, head lowered, deep in thought. He remembered his encounter with the Bluejam Pirates. All the underlings had fainted—only Bluejam remained standing.
"If I wear a dress, you'll teach me Haki? Is that true?"
"Of course!"
"I'm going to be a pirate someday. I might end up your rival. Are you sure you want to train me—train your own enemy?"
"Hahahaha! Pirate King sounds impressive, but it's not my goal. My ambition is to conquer the entire world!"
"Also, if you both wear women's clothing, I'll tell you a secret—a secret about Sabo. I bet you'll want to know."
"What secret?" Luffy asked with sparkling eyes as he ran over.
"I'll only tell you if you both dress up. I'm counting—One…"
Ace's shoulders trembled, his face red with shame. He whispered, "Fine, I agree…"
(END CHAPTER)
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