"Who are they?!"
Seeing four people suddenly appear, everyone on the Moby Dick was shocked and prepared to attack.
Whitebeard's scolding voice rang out: "Stand down, all of you!"
Then, the tornado dispersed, revealing Lucas and the other three.
A smile appeared on Whitebeard's face. "Gurararara! You're finally here!"
It was Rin's first time seeing so many people. Hearing Whitebeard's voice, she looked towards his position.
"Wow!! Pops Whitebeard, you're so tall and big!!"
Rin looked amazed. It was her first time seeing someone so tall.
Erica and Kanae were also shocked by Whitebeard's towering stature.
Indeed, Whitebeard's height of over six meters, approaching seven, combined with his burly physique and scars, gave off an intense sense of oppression.
"Gurararara!! Is that Little Rin? Let me take a look."
Whitebeard's mood instantly improved upon seeing Rin.
Rin skipped over to Whitebeard.
"Pops Whitebeard, happy birthday! This is a birthday cake Rin made with her own hands. But it seems too small for you, Pops."
Rin took the cake out of her backpack, but looking at it, it seemed smaller than one of Whitebeard's fingers, which made her a bit depressed.
Whitebeard took the cake and tossed it directly into his mouth.
"Delicious! The cake Little Rin made is delicious."
Then Whitebeard picked Rin up and sat her on his lap, looking very doting.
Erica and Kanae also presented their gifts, though compared to Whitebeard's massive size, the gifts appeared exceedingly petite.
"Gurararara! It's enough that you came. Getting birthday gifts makes me happy enough."
Whitebeard was very happy about this.
Ace asked curiously, "Pops, who are they?"
Not just Ace, but the others in the Whitebeard Pirates were also very curious. They had been by Pops' side all along and had never seen Lucas or these three before.
Two young girls and a boy were one thing, but there was also a child clearly under eight years old.
Whitebeard said cheerfully, "They are all sons and daughters I've adopted. Hearing it was my 70th birthday today, they came specially to celebrate with me."
Hearing this, and recalling what Pops said earlier, Marco realized Pops was so happy because of these few people.
Pops had delayed the start until now just to wait for them.
Marco stepped forward and smiled. "Hello, I'm Marco, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Please sit here."
Marco led Lucas and the other two to sit in the front row.
"Thank you. My name is Lucas."
"My name is Kanae Kocho."
"My name is Erica Blandelli."
The three of them introduced themselves.
Marco looked very similar to his anime appearance, with a golden pineapple head and the Whitebeard Pirates tattoo on his chest.
Marco smiled. "No need to be polite. Since Pops adopted you as son and daughters, then you are brothers and sisters of the Whitebeard Pirates. Make yourselves at home."
Then Marco raised a large bowl filled with sake and shouted, "Today is Pops' 70th birthday! Let's raise our glasses and wish Pops good health and a long life!!"
"Wishing Pops good health and a long life!!!"
Over fifty thousand people in the Grand Fleet raised their glasses and shouted in unison. The momentum shook the sky, and then they drained their drinks.
"Wow!! Pops is so majestic!!"
Rin was extremely excited seeing so many people congratulating Whitebeard together. She had only seen scenes like this in movies.
"Gurararara!!"
Whitebeard was very happy hearing Rin's words. Gathering such a big scene for his seventieth birthday was partly to see these few people, and partly to show them how majestic their Pops was.
Rin satisfied Whitebeard's vanity greatly.
"I declare! Let the banquet begin!!"
Whitebeard raised the large bowl in his hand and drank the sake in one go.
Everyone else did the same.
Soon, the performers responsible for entertainment on the Moby Dick began singing and dancing.
After all, for Whitebeard's 70th birthday, Marco had arranged the entire process clearly.
"Pirates?"
Piracy was rampant in Erica's world, so she didn't find these people strange, but it was Kanae's first time seeing pirates.
Lucas explained, "Yes, pirates. But don't worry too much. Pirates in this world are actually similar to organizations like the Demon Slayer Corps."
"A group of people pursuing freedom, wealth, and fame. In the territories they occupy, they act more like an army, responsible for protecting the land and people."
"Of course, there are also some very despicable pirates who burn, kill, and loot, committing all kinds of evil. But under Pops Whitebeard's management, such situations generally won't happen."
"A pirate's enemies are only other pirates and the Marines."
"Eh, you know quite a bit about pirates!"
A young man walked over.
Lucas looked up and saw a person around seventeen or eighteen years old, with black hair, freckles on his cheeks, shirtless, wearing a yellow hat.
Lucas recognized his identity at a glance: Portgas D. Ace, son of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger.
Also the protagonist Luffy's brother, the direct cause of the famous Summit War.
Back then, Lucas thought Ace was too impulsive to cause such a thing.
But thinking about it carefully later, was Ace really wrong? No, he wasn't. His subordinate killed a fellow crewmate and defected from the Whitebeard Pirates.
For Ace, fulfilling his responsibility as a commander, capturing him and bringing him to justice was how a responsible man should act.
After being rescued, he clearly had a chance to escape but chose to turn back, wasting the lives Whitebeard and many others sacrificed to save him.
But how many people could endure someone insulting the father they respected most?
When Lucas was a child, if someone insulted his family, he would definitely go up and slap them.
Because of this, Lucas's parents were called to school quite often when he was young.
Now in Fairy Tail, if anyone dared to insult the old man, Lucas guaranteed they wouldn't see tomorrow's sun.
So Lucas admired and liked Ace very much.
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100 power stones= 1 Bonus Chapte
advanced chapters available on{P@treon/Anna_N1}