Chapter 493: Ace's Decision and the World Connection
With a final, faint click, the last of the Sea-Prism Stone restraints turned to dust and fell away. Ace was free. A broad, relieved grin split his face as he rolled his shoulders and rubbed his wrists, feeling the life flow back into them.
Under the curious gazes of everyone in the restaurant, a plume of brilliant orange fire suddenly erupted around his clenched fist, dancing harmlessly in the air.
Ace threw his head back and laughed, a booming, joyous sound that filled the room. "Hahaha! Fire Fist Ace is back in business! Shopkeeper, I owe you one! Thank you!"
"It was nothing," Ren replied with a calm smile. "Now, eat up before it gets cold."
Ace nodded enthusiastically. He wasn't one for ceremony; he grabbed his chopsticks and dove into the spread of food, devouring it with a ferocity that spoke of long, starved days in a prison cell. He paused once, mid-bite, a flicker of deep thought crossing his features, but he quickly shook it off and resumed his assault on the meal.
Yakumo Yukari fanned herself lightly with her hand, a bemused smile on her lips. "My, oh my... just watching him eat is enough to make one anxious."
Beside her, Yakumo Ran whispered, "He has been imprisoned for a long time, Lady Yukari. He must be famished."
"Shopkeeper! Another bowl of rice!" Ace called out, his mouth still half-full.
"Coming right up!"
The empty bowls began to stack up beside him. After his third, then fourth, refill, Ace finally leaned back in his chair with a deep, satisfied groan, patting his stomach.
Yakumo Ran watched the mountain of porcelain, a little stunned. "What an incredible appetite. I was under the impression that people who have gone without food for so long are unable to eat so much at once."
"Ran," Yukari said with a knowing twinkle in her eye, "you mustn't try to understand the humans from that world with mere common sense."
"Ah, yes, of course!"
Nami's eyebrow twitched. "Um... for the record, I consider myself perfectly normal, thank you very much."
Aoandon tilted her head, her curiosity piqued. "Nami, tell us about your companions. We can set aside your captain, Luffy—he's in a category all his own—and just focus on the others. How... abnormal are they?"
Nami let out a long-suffering sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she began the tally. "Let's see... there's a talking reindeer who's also our doctor... a perverted living skeleton who constantly asks to see my panties... a lecherous cook who fawns over every woman he sees... a swordsman named Zoro who could get lost on a perfectly straight road and bleeds enough to fill a bathtub but somehow never dies... a sniper named Usopp who loves to brag but is a coward at heart... and a cyborg pervert named Franky who runs on cola and rarely wears pants. Then... there's Robin. She's fine. She's normal, like me."
Aoandon processed this for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "I'm not sure how to put this, but it seems that on your ship, you and Robin are the only sane ones. In such a chaotic environment, your very normality is, in itself, the most abnormal thing about you..."
A muscle in Nami's cheek jumped. She covered her face with her hands. "Those idiots... Why do they have to be so weird? They're dragging me and Robin down with them!"
Ace chuckled heartily. "Hahaha! Don't worry, the Whitebeard Pirates are all normal!"
Lucifer snorted from his seat. "I hardly think people who stand over six meters tall qualify as 'normal'..."
A chorus of agreement echoed through the restaurant. "Agreed!"
Ace just laughed it off, unbothered. "Hmm, I feel great after a full meal. Shopkeeper, how long was I eating?"
"Not too long, not too short," Ren answered. "About an hour."
"Is that so..." Ace's grin turned mischievous. "The Marines must be going absolutely crazy looking for me right now! Hahahaha!"
Nami sighed. "You should probably think about how you're going to get back first. Are you going to wait for Zoro with me, or do you have another plan?"
At her question, the lighthearted atmosphere shifted. All eyes turned to Ace. The laughter faded from his lips, and he lowered his gaze to the table, his expression turning serious. A long silence stretched out before he finally spoke, his voice low and measured.
"Shopkeeper... I have a question. Family, money, status, power... which do you value most? Or, to put it another way, which is the most important?"
"Family," Ren answered without a moment's hesitation.
The simple, unwavering reply brought a small smile to Lucifer's lips.
Ace continued, his gaze still fixed on the wood grain of the table. "Then in your eyes, what is war?"
"A means to protect or a means to invade," Ren said. "But in any war, regardless of the reason, it's the civilians who suffer the most. What are you trying to ask, Ace?"
Ace let out a soft chuckle. "Then what's your take on good and evil? Do you think the Marines are good and pirates are bad?"
Ren considered this for a moment. "It depends on what they do. Judging by titles alone isn't reliable. If the Marines are genuinely capturing pirates who bring harm to civilians, then yes, they are doing good. But if they're like that Colonel Nezumi from your past, Nami, then they are anything but good. As for pirates..."
"What about pirates?" Ace prompted, a playful glint returning to his eyes.
"They are called outlaws, but just like the righteous bandits in stories who rob from the rich to give to the poor, their actions define them. I don't know what all pirates are like, but surely there are those who are simply out for adventure. Isn't that right, Nami?"
Nami nodded firmly. "Of course! We're good pirates! We've never plundered a town! I wouldn't have joined the crew otherwise!"
Ace smiled, a genuine, thoughtful smile this time. "A very neutral answer. In that case, I have nothing more to ask..."
He looked up, meeting Ren's calm gaze. The weight of his decision was clear in his eyes, but so was his resolve.
"I can tell you're a good man, Shopkeeper. You have my trust." He took a deep breath. "So... let's do it. Connect the worlds."
Nami's eyes widened in shock. "Ace! You're really connecting our world?!"
Ace turned to her, his smile reassuring. "Nami, do you trust the Shopkeeper?"
She let out a breath, her own smile returning. "Yes! Shopkeeper Ren is a very good person! And he's incredibly powerful! That Admiral Kizaru was no match for him at all!"
Ace's jaw dropped for a second before he burst out laughing again. "Hahahaha! What an unbelievable restaurant this is! Alright, Shopkeeper, what do we need to do to connect the worlds?"
"It's already done."
"Eh?!" A collective gasp of disbelief came from six different people.
Yakumo Yukari looked around, her expression one of pure surprise. "It's... it's done? But there's absolutely no change!"
Aoandon was equally incredulous. "When two worlds connect, shouldn't there be some kind of massive reaction? At the very least, there should be some steps to follow. It was connected with just a single sentence?!"
Ren seemed genuinely perplexed by their confusion. "Why would it be complicated? You all arrived here quite simply, didn't you? Think of it like this: before the connection, a passage already existed between your world and this place. But at the end of that passage was a door. That door could only be opened from your side, allowing people from your world to cross over. No one from here could open it to enter your world. It was locked from our perspective."
Nami's mind raced to catch up. "So connecting the worlds just means one of us has to unlock the door from our side?"
Ren nodded. "That's right. It's that simple."
Nami's mouth twitched. "What?! And here I thought it would be some incredibly difficult process! It's just opening a door!"
Ace shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "That's a truly outrageous power to have. So, Shopkeeper, does this mean I can now choose to be sent back to a random, safe location in my world where no one else is around?"
Ren thought for a moment. "While you can, my suggestion is that you wait for Zoro to arrive. Your identity is... special. If you land in a deserted place, you'll have no ship to find Whitebeard, and no way of knowing where you are. Worse, if you run into the Marines along the way, you'll be in serious trouble."
Ace considered his words, then nodded slowly. "Alright, I understand. That makes sense." He grinned, the tension finally leaving his shoulders. "Then I'll stay a bit longer. Shopkeeper! Another pot of sake!"
"Of course."
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