Ace pointed at Hera in the newspaper and said proudly, "See? This is my younger sister. My sister is already able to defeat the Golden Lion."
Whitebeard looked at the newspaper and was a bit surprised about Ace's sister: "Oh, Ace, is your sister a Marine?"
Ace nodded: "It doesn't matter if she's a Marine; she was my sister before she became a Marine."
Whitebeard laughed: "Gurarara, let's throw a banquet for Ace's sister! Boys, let's celebrate!"
The captains under Whitebeard also got excited: "Oh, let's have a banquet, Pops!"
Jinbe, who was on Whitebeard's ship, also saw the newspaper and remarked: "Has the little girl from the East Blue become capable of holding her own so quickly?"
Hearing this, Whitebeard asked Jinbe: "Oh, do you know this person?"
Jinbe nodded: "I've encountered her in both the East Blue and the Sabaody Archipelago. She was the one who ended the slave traders in the Sabaody Archipelago."
After saying that, Jinbe hesitated and said in a voice only Whitebeard could hear: "I suspect that the death of the Celestial Dragons in the Sabaody Archipelago is also inextricably linked to her."
Whitebeard laughed heartily upon hearing this: "Gurarara, what an interesting brat. This sea is about to get lively."
Amidst the laughter, however, a hint of worry was hidden.
In the evening, amidst the silence, Ace found Whitebeard.
Whitebeard glanced at Ace: "Brat, is there something else this late? If you want to challenge me, come right ahead."
Ace made up his mind and knelt before Whitebeard: "Please teach me. I want to become stronger."
Whitebeard looked at Ace kneeling before him and laughed: "Gurarara, were you stimulated by your own sister? Very well, if you want to get stronger, then become my son. I will teach you everything I know."
Ace shook his head: "I am the son of Pirate King Roger, the grandson of Garp, and also the older brother of Luffy and Hera. I will not acknowledge you as my father."
Hearing Ace's words, Whitebeard fell into thought. Although he didn't care about Ace being Roger's son, being Garp's grandson made him think for a moment.
If he accepted Ace as his son, wouldn't Garp, who had fought him his entire life, suddenly be a generation higher than him for no reason?
Soon, having understood something, Whitebeard no longer dwelled on the matter of being a father or son:
"Gurarara, brat, do you think I would care if you're Roger's son? As long as you join my Whitebeard Pirates, we are family. Titles and such don't matter at all."
Ace nodded. From Shanks, he had learned many things about his father. The more he understood Roger, the less hatred he felt for his father.
Now, he only wanted to go to the legendary Laugh Tale to understand what Roger's true thoughts were before deciding on his attitude towards Roger.
Seeing Ace nod, Whitebeard's heroic laughter echoed across the sea. He said to the captains who had been woken up: "Boys, Ace has agreed to join us! Let the celebratory banquet continue!"
The pirates who had been woken up started cheering again upon hearing of Ace's joining, and the lively atmosphere lasted right until the next day.
First Division Commander Marco was somewhat worried about Whitebeard's health. Healing Blue Flames crawled over Whitebeard's body as he looked at Whitebeard with a worried expression: "Pops, you need to mind your health."
Whitebeard's hand holding the sake cup paused: "Marco, today is such a happy day with Ace joining, why bring this up?"
However, seeing the persistence in Marco's eyes, Whitebeard finally put down the sake cup: "Fine, fine, fine, I won't drink."
His eyes were full of reminiscence as he looked at Ace: "I didn't expect, Roger, that I would actually have to place the hope of my Pirate Crew on your child."
Watching Ace mingle with his captains, it was as if he saw Roger fighting Rocks back when they were in the Rocks Pirates.
Whitebeard sighed slightly. He knew his body best; illness and old age had significantly worn down the world's strongest man.
"I hope my body can hold out until the children grow up." The loneliness and worry in his expression vanished in an instant, replaced by the heroism and unparalleled aura belonging to the world's strongest man.
On the other side, Garp also mentioned Ace to Hera and sighed: "I asked Sengoku to invite that kid to become a Shichibukai, but he refused. Now he has a bounty too."
Hera nodded. She wasn't surprised by this news. If Ace wanted to join the Marines, he could just go through the regular channels; there was no need for such a roundabout way.
Garp's tone was full of worry: "But that kid seems to be getting very close to both Shanks and Whitebeard. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"
Worry for his grandson and his responsibility as the hero of the marines left the old man somewhat at a loss. Ace had rejected his protection and chosen the path of a pirate, which also made Garp feel a bit troubled.
Hera comforted Garp: "Why think so much? Don't you still have me? As long as he doesn't harm civilians, just pretend you didn't see him."
Garp nodded and laughed: "I heard this kid always eats without paying. I don't know where he learned such a bad habit. Next time I see him, I'll definitely have him taste my fist."
Hera agreed: "Exactly, eating without paying! When I run into him, I'll help you beat him up too, Grandpa."
Garp said indignantly: "And that fellow Shanks, I don't know how he brainwashed Luffy, making him want to be a pirate every single day. Next time I meet him, I'll give him a good thrashing too."
On his pirate ship, Shanks sneezed for no reason and looked at Rayleigh, who was arriving on a small boat with Shakky.
Rayleigh raised his hands innocently: "I wasn't badmouthing you; I just got here."
Shanks said helplessly: "It must be that fellow Garp. I felt a headache when I sneezed."
Rayleigh looked at Shanks's left arm, which was enveloped in Haoshoku, and asked: "Have you still not managed to wear down that mark?"
Shanks nodded: "How could the mark of that person be so easy to deal with? But I've more or less gotten used to it."
Rayleigh remarked with emotion: "As expected of That Lord, even a mark left behind requires Haoshoku to resist."
Shanks saw Rayleigh holding another sword in his hand and asked curiously: "What's this? You didn't just come here to catch up, did you?"
Rayleigh took the sword out of the bundle: "This is Roger's sword, Ace. I searched for a long time before I found it. I want to give this to Ace. Do you know where he went?"
Shanks said: "Then you're a step too late. Ace has already left here to challenge Whitebeard."
Rayleigh was a bit surprised to hear this: "Didn't you try to persuade him? With his current strength, it's still too early to challenge Whitebeard."
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!