What had happened was not merely a biological coincidence, but the manifestation of something unprecedented in the turbulent history of the seas.
Monkey D. Garp, the Marine hero who had faced the fiercest pirates and subdued the seas with his fists, stood frozen in place. It was not the infant's cry that stopped him, but that invisible "wave" that swept through the small room, shattering the window glass and sending a cold shiver through the marrow of his bones.
Garp was not surprised that Ace possessed Conqueror's Haki; after all, the blood of Gol D. Roger, the man before whom the world had bowed, flowed through this child's veins. But for the "Color of the Supreme King" to awaken at the very moment of birth? That was pure madness!
Conqueror's Haki is a "will" that takes shape through experiences and conflicts—so what kind of will could a child possess, one who had only breathed the air of the world for mere seconds?
"Is he a king born to rule, or a demon sent to burn the order?"
Garp muttered with a complicated expression, feeling the pressure of the Haki brushing against the skin of his rough hands. Even Garp himself, when he awakened his own Haki amid fierce battles in the past, did not possess this terrifying purity of power. This child was not merely born with the qualifications of a king—he was born carrying the "weight" of an entire era upon his small shoulders.
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At that moment, doubt squeezed Garp's heart. He looked at the small child in his arms, then at Rouge's lifeless body. He wondered silently: Was it truly right to keep this promise? Protecting this child meant raising a ticking bomb that could one day destroy the very world Garp had spent his life protecting.
But when his eyes fell upon Rouge's face, all doubt vanished. She was smiling… a smile of final victory despite the tears that had yet to dry upon her cheeks. She had defeated the Marines, defeated time, and defeated death to grant her child a chance to live. Garp clenched his teeth and tightened his grip around Ace with a tenderness that concealed an iron resolve.
Garp had already arranged with trusted locals to bury Rouge with a dignity befitting the mother of a king; for him, as a Marine hero, to appear at the funeral of the "Pirate King's wife" would have meant a diplomatic and military disaster.
In a corner Garp did not notice, Ace—thanks to his extraordinary perception—cast one final, deep glance toward his mother. It was not the cry of an infant, but a farewell look from a soul that understood the magnitude of the sacrifice.
"Thank you… I promise I will live in a way I will never regret," Ace echoed within himself before Garp carried him away.
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"Swoosh!"
Garp moved with the "Soru" technique at lightning speed, leaving behind the forest and the small hut. He suddenly appeared on the deck of his massive warship, his chest looking oddly and comically puffed out as he hid Ace inside his wide military coat.
"Vice Admiral Garp! You've finally returned!"
His personal adjutant and several officers stepped forward to greet him. They were still staggering and rubbing their heads, while some soldiers were being carried on medical stretchers after suddenly losing consciousness.
"Sir! This is completely unbecoming of a man in your position!" the adjutant suddenly shouted sternly, pointing his finger at Garp.
Garp broke into a heavy sweat and took a step back. He froze, his expression stiffening. Placing a hand over his chest with childlike awkwardness, he tried to suppress any sound the infant might make. Have they discovered it? Did they hear the cry?
"W-What do you mean?"
"How can you release your Conqueror's Haki so recklessly?" the adjutant continued, scolding him angrily.
"A terrifying wave of pressure swept across the entire island! The soldiers and officers couldn't withstand the intensity of your Haki and all collapsed unconscious like children! We're on an official mission, not a stage for showing off power!"
"Phew!"
Garp let out a deep sigh of relief, as if a mountain had been lifted from his chest. It turned out that, in their fortunate foolishness, they had assumed the overwhelming burst of Haki had come from him. Who would imagine that an infant was responsible?
But deep inside, Garp trembled in astonishment. He had just realized that Ace's Haki had not only shaken the room, but had extended far enough to knock out elite officers trained at headquarters, "Marineford." These were not ordinary soldiers from the four seas, but men who had fought in hundreds of battles!
"Idiots! I only wanted to make sure you were alert!"
Garp roared with a fake laugh to cover his unease, then suddenly added with seriousness: "Enough chatter. We're done here. Raise anchor… our destination is the East Blue, Foosha Village!"
Garp quickly entered his private cabin, leaving his officers wondering about his sudden urgency—and about the secret hidden within that "bulge" in the chest of the Marine hero.
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