Chapter 96
While Ace and Sabo were playing on the mountain, they suddenly heard a voice.
"Hey, Ace, Sabo."
The sudden shout startled them both.
"Who's there? Human or ghost?" Ace immediately grabbed his wooden stick and warily looked around.
Sabo also scanned the other direction.
"Hey, brats—look up."
At this moment, Victor was squatting on a towering ancient tree.
"Who are you?" Ace relaxed a little upon seeing Victor was human, but still stayed on guard.
Sabo stood beside Ace, showing solidarity.
"My name is Victor. I'm guessing you know who I am." Victor said with a smile.
"Victor? You're the Uncle Victor Mom talks about?" Ace shouted in surprise.
"Huh? Who's that?" Sabo really didn't know Victor—he was still a child after all.
"Uncle Victor is super strong. He was my father—Pirate King Gol D. Roger's crewmate, and the strongest one." "But Sabo, don't tell anyone, okay? Otherwise the World Government people might come and take me away."
Ace said generously.
"Don't worry—I'll never tell anyone." Sabo patted his chest.
"Hahaha, good brother." Ace laughed happily.
"You two are still small, but you can start training now." "How about I teach you cultivation? It'll build a solid foundation for your future training."
Victor looked at these two promising kids and couldn't resist wanting to teach them.
"Yes! Yes! I want to get strong—then I'll protect Mom myself!" Ace's eyes lit up as he shouted loudly.
"I want to learn too. When I'm strong, I'll change this country." Sabo's goal and ideals were even grander and clearer.
"Alright then—I'll stay here for a while." "We'll train together. Come on, take me back to see your mom."
Victor looked at the two kids—they were really good.
Soon, Ace and Sabo bounced along happily, leading Victor back home.
Rouge was cooking lunch, waiting for Ace and Sabo to come home for the meal. Sabo now lived at Rouge's house too and called her Auntie Rouge. But Rouge treated Sabo like her own child.
"Mom! Mom! Look who I brought back!" Ace shouted loudly before even entering the door.
"Ace—hurry up and come eat." Rouge's voice came from inside.
"Sister-in-law Rouge, long time no see." Victor entered with a smile and greeted Rouge.
Upon hearing the voice, Rouge turned around in pleasant surprise.
"Victor—you're here." Rouge said with a smile.
"Yeah, just came to see you all." Victor replied with a smile.
Roger really was lucky to find such a wonderful wife.
"Quick, quick—sit down. Food's almost ready." "Ace, Sabo—go wash your faces and hands, tidy up, set the table and bowls, get ready to eat."
Rouge told the two little rascals to do their chores.
"Yes, Mom." "Yes, Auntie Rouge."
The two obediently went off to prepare.
Soon, Rouge's meal was on the table—very abundant. But it still wasn't enough for Victor's appetite.
"Victor, I didn't know you were coming today, so I didn't prepare much. You'll have to make do." Rouge said apologetically.
"What are you saying? With my appetite, Sister-in-law Rouge, you couldn't make enough even if you tried. Haha." Victor didn't mind at all.
"Here—I'll give you all something good. Pure, natural delicacies."
With that, Victor took out a huge pile of food—all from the Baron Omatsuri.
The unique aroma instantly dazed the two little kids.
"Wow, smells so good! Mom, I want to eat!" "Really smells amazing!"
The two kids couldn't hold back—their mouths were watering.
"Hm, it really does smell good. Go ahead and eat." Rouge said gently to the two greedy little ones.
"Yay! Mmm, delicious, delicious—it's so good!"
The two kids immediately devoured the food.
"Sister-in-law Rouge, you eat too." Victor said with a smile.
Then he polished off the table's food in a few bites. This forced Rouge to join the kids in eating—but the food really was delicious.
In the following days, Victor began teaching the two kids basic training. Physical fitness and body strength were, of course, the most important.
Not only that—he taught them how to adapt to hunting, fishing, and wilderness survival. In short, Victor taught them a lot of things.
As the two kids' activity increased, so did their appetites. So Victor took over their meals—his internal space had plenty of food anyway.
He also gave Rouge a large sum of money to buy nutritious supplements and such—no need to save money.
Victor's arrival made Ace and Sabo suffer quite a bit, but they were very happy. Because they were truly getting stronger.
Victor stayed for half a year—the two kids' training had become quite proper. As long as they kept it up, they definitely wouldn't be weak.
Victor had to leave. So, amid the reluctant farewells, Victor turned into lightning and vanished from their sight.
But not long after Victor left, Garp brought Luffy to Rouge to help raise him.
On Shanks' side, he had already formed his own pirate crew. He found quite a few comrades, including Usopp's father Yasopp. He was also an irresponsible husband and father. But Yasopp's marksmanship was excellent—otherwise Shanks wouldn't have taken notice of him.
Now Shanks was making a name for himself—somewhat famous. This guy was also slowly getting stronger—his swordsmanship taught by Roger, Rayleigh, and the others.
Most importantly, Shanks took Roger's dying wish very seriously and was preparing for it. Victor knew, but he didn't mind.
Rayleigh and the others poured resources into Shanks, hoping he could grow quickly. As Shanks continuously defeated other pirate crews, Rayleigh felt very gratified when he saw the newspapers or got news.
Shakky had also opened a small bar in Sabaody Archipelago that "ripped people off." Rayleigh helped out in the bar—driving away troublesome pirates and such.
And in this year, quite a few things happened on Fish-Man Island too. Jinbei, Ryan's subordinate, became the leader of the royal guards.
Shirahoshi was born, and Otohime began her idealistic speeches. But her ideals were doomed to fail.
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