...
"Ace!"
Luffy's heart-wrenching scream pierced through all the clashing metal and furious roars of battle on the Marineford battlefield, slamming hard into everyone's hearts.
The despair contained in that voice made the noisy battlefield seem to have its mute button pressed for a brief moment.
Blood—warm and viscous—kept pouring from the hideous hole in Ace's chest, soaking Luffy's palms and staining the shattered ground beneath their feet red.
The faint flames Ace had ignited with his last strength to cover Luffy's escape had now completely extinguished.
Luffy could clearly feel Ace's life force slipping away like sand through his fingers—rapid, irreversible.
A bone-chilling cold began from his limbs and slowly but relentlessly spread toward his heart.
Yet in this gradually devouring chill, Ace's consciousness remained strangely clear. Countless fragments of the past surged into his mind like a flood…
Forming one long, vivid revolving lantern of memories.
That ultimate question that had haunted him throughout his entire childhood and adolescence resurfaced deep in his mind, distant yet incredibly clear:
"Was it really a good thing for me to be born into this world?"
The floodgates of memory burst open.
He saw his small, wounded self hiding in the shadows, listening to the drunken ramblings of men in the tavern.
Those words pierced his young heart over and over.
"Gold Roger? That demon's son!"
"A bloodline like that shouldn't even exist in this world!"
"He'd be doing the world a favor by dying!"
…
The hatred and curses of the world had been heavy shackles, binding his soul tightly from the moment he could remember.
Ace had once screamed silently at the night sky; he had once wept facing the vast sea.
How could a child unwanted by anyone, denied any right to exist by the entire world, find the courage to keep living?
"No one ever wanted me to exist…"
Deep in his consciousness, that lonely child whispered: "I… never even wanted to live…"
Ace's voice grew weaker and weaker at the boundary between reality and memory; his body temperature plummeted rapidly.
If there was any unfinished attachment left, it was that he would never get to see this crybaby little brother beside him fulfill his dream of becoming the Pirate King.
But strangely, that regret didn't feel so heavy—because deep in his heart, he firmly believed Luffy could do it.
After all, this was the little brother acknowledged by Portgas D. Ace!
At the same time, in God Valley, Gol D. Roger—the Pirate King who once shook the entire world—was watching all of this through the light screen…
And at this moment, he could no longer maintain any trace of his usual boldness.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes, tracing down his resolute face.
He clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug deep into his palms; his body trembled slightly from overwhelming grief and powerlessness.
He had given this child life—and along with it, the heaviest "original sin" in the world.
Beside him, Garp collapsed to the ground. The Navy Hero famed for his iron fists seemed to have all his strength drained in an instant.
He silently wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes—tears mixed with sorrow for Ace's passing, heartbreak for Luffy's breakdown, and helpless pain from the conflict between his duty and his blood ties.
He had guarded Ace's secret, yet in the end, he couldn't guard Ace's life.
Everyone else present was deeply moved as well.
Gloriosa and Stussy had tears shimmering in their eyes. Though they were pirates, the fall of this young life still filled their hearts with indescribable bitterness.
Even the usually manic Big Mom—Charlotte Linlin—fell into an unusual silence, her expression exceptionally grave.
Looking at how the world hated Ace on the light screen, a question rose in her mind: "Will my children… in the future… also be loathed by the world like this?"
A pang of sympathy for a fellow "outcast" leader quietly passed through her heart.
At that moment, the scene on the light screen abruptly switched.
It brought everyone back to that peaceful coast where windmills turned, on the outskirts of the Goa Kingdom.
Under the sunlight, young Ace stood on the cliff's edge with hands on hips, chest puffed out, gazing at the boundless sea.
His body was covered in scars from training and fights, but his eyes shone brilliantly—full of yearning and wild freedom for the future.
Little Luffy sat on the ground behind him, comically wearing that straw hat that once belonged to Roger.
"Listen up, Luffy!"
Young Ace's voice carried the clear, firm tone of youth: "We have to live without regrets! One day, we're going to set sail and live exactly as we please!"
He turned around, eyes blazing, and looked straight at Luffy, word by word making the most solemn vow between brothers:
"More than anyone else… we'll be free!"
That voice crossed the barrier of time and, at the moment his life was about to burn out, rang clearly once more deep in Ace's mind.
The scene cut back to reality.
Cold body, desperate cries, the spreading smell of blood… but at this moment, the corners of Ace's mouth struggled to form an extremely faint yet utterly genuine smile.
"I have no regrets anymore…"
Yes—Ace suddenly understood.
What he truly longed for had perhaps never been fame that echoed across the world, nor proving his strength to anyone.
All his life—wandering, drenched in blood, fighting desperately—what he sought was simply the answer to the question that had haunted him since childhood…
"What I really want… doesn't seem to be fame. Was my birth really a good thing?"
"Actually… I just wanted to know the answer to that…"
Blood kept spilling from the corners of his mouth; the wound on his back still dripped steadily. Yet in these final moments, his muddled thoughts became clearer than ever before.
Ace saw Luffy's completely unguarded smile—full of reliance and trust…
He remembered the moment Whitebeard embraced him, giving him "family" and a "home."
He felt Marco, Izo… all his crewmates who had fought with everything they had to save him…
All these pieces, like a scattered puzzle, finally came together before the end—giving him the answer he had sought for decades.
The deafening sounds of battle around him seemed to fade away in an instant; the world was paused.
With the very last of his strength, Ace pressed his voice extremely low—weak enough that only Luffy, who held him tightly, could hear.
He asked Luffy to pass on his final words to those who loved him deeply—and whom he loved deeply in return.
Tears mixed with blood slid down his dust-covered cheeks. Crying, he spoke his last words left in this world:
"Pops… everyone… and Luffy…"
"Up until now… for someone as hopeless as me… you've shown me so much love…"
The instant his words fell, far on the other side of the battlefield, Edward Newgate—Whitebeard—who was locked in fierce combat, suddenly shuddered violently.
As if sensing something, he abruptly turned his head.
What met his eyes was one red bead—originally strung on Ace's necklace—that had rolled across the blood-soaked ground after the cord snapped, tinkling along until it finally stopped at his feet.
Trembling, Whitebeard—whose fingers could split the earth—now picked up that bead still warm with Ace's lingering heat, with incredible gentleness and care.
Scorching tears could no longer be held back; they surged from the eyes of the world's strongest man.
With his final strength, Ace completed his thanks. His voice was as light as a sigh, yet heavy as a mountain:
"I'm… truly grateful…"
After saying those last words, the sad lines on his face completely relaxed. His mouth struggled, yet lifted upward in pure joy—freezing into a smile of release and fulfillment.
All obsessions, all pain, all unwillingness—everything found complete liberation and peace in that moment.
The last fragment of Ace's life card scattered with the wind, signifying that every flame of his life had burned out.
His body lost all remaining support and slowly slid from Luffy's rigid embrace, collapsing softly onto the cold ruins.
Before his consciousness fully sank into darkness, he took one last look at this cruel yet warm world, at the comrades who had risked everything for him, at that towering back like a true father's…
Then, slowly, he closed his eyes.
Portgas D. Ace, 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, "Fire Fist" Ace,
In this way…
In the arms of his little brother Luffy, ended his short yet blazing life.
…
"What a… cruel future…"
In front of the light screen, Roger watched his son fall. His emotions were complicated beyond words.
Anger, sorrow, guilt, powerlessness… all tangled into a massive net, binding him tightly.
He wanted to roar, to vent—but found he couldn't even produce a sound.
Scopper Gaban instinctively moved to comfort him, but Rayleigh beside him reached out and stopped him.
Rayleigh gently shook his head.
At a time like this, words were pale. Some pain had to be endured and digested by Roger alone.
Young Garp remained seated on the ground, looking as though he had aged ten years in an instant.
He no longer tried to wipe his tears; he simply let them flow freely, quietly staring at the frozen, heartbreaking final image on the light screen.
...
[~(¯▽¯~)~]