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The East Blue… that sea the people of the world call "the weakest sea," where the waves are calm and the sea kings are rare compared to the madness of the Grand Line.
In a forgotten corner of it lay **Foosha Village** (Windmill Village), a peaceful little village scented with salt and steady winds. But behind that tranquility hid the birthplace of one of the most terrifying men on the seas.
On this day, **Garp** did not appear in his official Hero of the Marines uniform aboard a massive warship. Instead, he was sneaking like a thief, slipping past the village houses and heading straight for the dense thickets of **Mount Colubo**. There, where ferocious beasts and bandits lived—the very same bandits who trembled at the mere mention of his name.
*Knock! Knock! BAAAAAANG!*
It wasn't an ordinary knock. It was Garp's iron fist striking the wooden door so hard that the planks screamed under the pressure and the entire house shook as if struck by an earthquake.
"Who the hell is the idiot disturbing me at this hour?! Don't you know who 'Dadan' is?! Watch it, or I'll rip you apart and feed you to the wild boars…!"
A woman's rough, defiant, and arrogant voice rang out. She flung the door open violently, a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth, her eyes blazing with fury. But the moment her gaze landed on the massive man standing before her, the blood froze in her veins and the cigarette fell from her lips, landing on the ground in pure shock.
"Oh… looks like I got the right address."
Garp flashed a wide grin and waved casually, as if greeting neighbors on a weekend.
"G-G-GAAAAAARP?!?!"
**Dadan** collapsed onto her backside from the sheer shock and terror. Inside the house, screams erupted from her bandit family:
"Eh?! The Hero of the Marines is here?! Are we done for?! Did he come to settle old scores?!"
To them, Garp's arrival meant only one thing: execution or life imprisonment.
"We haven't seen each other in a while, Dadan. You still got that ugly face full of life, hahaha!" Garp laughed loudly, but to Dadan his laughter sounded like war drums.
"S-Sir Garp, I swear we only stole some crops recently! I really haven't committed any major crimes!" Dadan wailed, tears of terror streaming down her face as she knelt on trembling knees, begging.
"Stop your bawling. I didn't come here today to arrest you… you lot are too insignificant for me to waste my time on." Garp said while picking his nose with his finger in complete indifference.
"R-Really? Then… what is a man of your status doing in a thieves' den?" Dadan asked, trying to catch her breath.
"This little brat is now in your care." Garp lifted **Ace**, who had been hiding inside his coat, and handed him over as if delivering a package.
"Raise him to become a strong man… and don't you dare complain!"
"Whaaaaaat?!?!"
Dadan thought her mind had snapped. She—a mountain bandit boss who terrorized travelers—was now being turned into a "nursemaid"? What kind of hellish joke was this?!
"Sir Garp, we're bandits! We steal, we plunder, we fight… we're not a kindergarten!"
"Is there something wrong with your hearing, Dadan?"
Garp's expression changed instantly. The smile vanished, replaced by a threatening glare that made the air around them grow heavy.
"Or would you rather spend the rest of your life in 'Impel Down'?"
"N-No problem at all! Leave him to me! I'll raise him like my own son!" Dadan bowed so deeply her forehead touched the ground, while her subordinates trembled behind her.
---
Meanwhile, Ace was silently watching the scene. He looked at the large woman with her messy orange hair and plump face. A strange ripple stirred in his emotions. He knew her… She was **Dadan**. The woman who had raised both him and Luffy in the original story.
A memory from his previous life flashed through Ace's mind: how Dadan, despite her fear of Garp, had beaten the hero in a frenzy while crying after hearing the news of Ace's death in the Marineford War, screaming in his face:
"Why did you let him die?!"
Behind that rough criminal exterior was the heart of a mother who had never given birth, yet loved deeply.
"It's all yours now."
Garp handed Ace to Dadan, then turned around and slammed the door shut with a thunderous **BAAAAAANG!** before disappearing from sight.
Dadan let out a deep sigh, her body relaxing. She looked down at the baby in her arms, and suddenly their eyes met. Ace's eyes were pitch black, deep, and shining with an intelligence that didn't match his age. Dadan froze; she felt as if a warm string deep in her heart had suddenly been plucked.
"It's all yours now." Garp handed Ace to Dadan, then slammed the door with a loud **BANG!** and vanished.
Dadan sighed after receiving Ace, but suddenly their gazes met and she froze for a moment. She felt as if a string deep in her heart—one that had never been touched before—had suddenly been plucked.
"Boss, are we really going to raise this little brat?" 'Magra' asked cautiously from behind her.
"Cough! What else can we do? It's an order from the Hero of the Marines, Garp." Dadan coughed to hide her emotional turmoil and spoke in a forced tone:
"Or do you want Garp to arrest us all?"
The bandits shuddered in terror. Garp was the legendary man who had captured the Pirate King; crushing them was no harder for him than stepping on baby chicks.
"No choice… we'll have to raise this little brat." Dadan sighed.
"Boss, why do I feel like you're smiling?"
One of the subordinates asked hesitantly.
"What nonsense is that?! Where's the smile?! Raising this little brat is a guaranteed disaster!" Dadan shouted in agitation.
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Grrr… grrr!"
At that moment, a loud, deep sound came from Ace's stomach. Everyone stared in shock.
"This… is he… h-hungry?" Dadan stammered. "Wait, what do babies even eat? Milk? Where the hell are we supposed to get milk in this cursed mountain?! There are no cows here, only monsters!"
But Ace's eyes weren't looking for milk. They were fixed on a massive piece of **roasted wild boar meat** sizzling over the fire, its skin crisping and oozing shiny fat that filled the air with a mouth-watering aroma.
Ever since his birth on Baterilla Island and the long journey with Garp, Ace had only taken a few sips of water. In the hands of an "idiot" like Garp, simply surviving had been a miracle. If not for the skill **"Ghinbu Breath"** that had slowed his energy consumption, he would have died long ago. But now he had reached his limit.
"Hey, you little brat… are you seriously staring at the meat?" Dadan said in disbelief. "He's a baby—his stomach will explode if he eats that!" Then she added recklessly: "But I don't have anything else… if he dies, don't blame me! It's Garp's fault!"
Dadan brought over the huge piece of meat and placed it in front of Ace. What happened next left the bandits rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Ace began devouring the meat at a terrifying speed, as if his tiny body were a "black hole" that could never be filled. In no time at all, the entire wild boar disappeared into his stomach! Ace's belly swelled to a horrifying size, looking like a balloon about to burst.
"Wait! You little brat! You… you…!" Dadan screamed in panic. If the child died from overeating on his very first day, Garp would definitely kill her!
> **[You have reached the pinnacle of supreme enlightenment; by consuming solid food for the first time and converting it into raw energy, you have awakened the exclusive skill: Complete Absorption!]**
>
> **[Complete Absorption: A supreme metabolic ability that allows you to absorb 100% of all nutrients and instantly convert them into physical strengthening, leaving no waste or strain on the organs.]**
Ace's swollen body shrank back to normal in mere seconds, the bloating gone. At the same time, his skin began to glow with vitality, his height increased by a few centimeters, and he felt raw power surging through his tiny muscle fibers.
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Author's Note:
In this era of short videos, are there still readers who want to read this kind of traditional novel? If you enjoyed it, please support me with follows and ratings. This humble author bows to you!