Chapter 126 Ace: I Have a Dream

"Forget it. G5 has been busy lately. The Navy Headquarters might ask me to go back for a meeting. Maybe next time."

Kevin was about to leave when Roger put his arm around his shoulder.

Turning back, I noticed that Roger had a strange look under his mask.

There wasn't a trace of sharpness, nor the usual cynicism, but instead there was some kindness in it.

what's going on?
"Sir, would you like to chat about Bailey?"

→_→

Kevin rubbed his forehead and said, "You learn these slangs quickly."

Roger spread his hands and said, "Because it comes naturally. After further training in prison, I feel that if I meet Kurokas again, I can make him speechless."

Kevin: "Why your ship's doctor?"

Roger was no longer surprised by his master's ability to predict the future, and he never asked how he knew about the ship's doctor, Kurokas.

"Every time I drink a little, that old guy will show up. He used to be controlled, but now he has no taste when he drinks, and he might even show up."

Roger said and sighed.

At this time, the floating force attached to the two people may end at any time. After all, five large ships need to be maintained there.

After thinking about it, Kevin put his hand on Roger's shoulder, and the next moment the two of them appeared in the stronghold of the town under the Goa Kingdom.

Kevin opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass.

"You should be anxious to see your son after the operation is over, right? What do you want to talk to me about?"

Roger looked at Kevin's glass and swallowed, but it was obvious that he couldn't taste it.

"Although Kaido's combat power is not as strong as Garp and I once were, he is still considered a great pirate in this sea. Sir, you killed him in a one-on-one fight, so to some extent you think you have reached the top level?"

[Note: Kaido is Kaido from 20 years ago in the original work. At that time, there was not even the concept of the Four Emperors. Although his domineering power was strong, it was not as strong as the Four Emperors 20 years later.]

[In addition, the top level that Roger mentioned here refers to him and Garp, or the Golden Lion who has not lost his mind but has not installed a rudder on his head.]

Hearing this, Kevin didn't say anything, but just drank half a glass of wine.

But he understood that his complacency had been discovered by Roger. And this was indeed his problem, a problem that had just emerged in his mentality.

Roger continued, "Perhaps you think that fighting is a competition of levels? Whoever is the top fighter will definitely be able to defeat the ordinary so-called high-end fighters?"

Kevin paused with his hand holding the wine glass.

Seeing this, Roger continued, "The term 'top force' first came from the navy, and the title was given to the admirals, but it just means they are the top force of the contemporary navy. When the new generation rises, the so-called top is completely different from the top."

"Zeffer is an admiral who was in the same period as Sengoku and Garp. I heard that his determination had problems a long time ago, but he is still an admiral, right? He is still the top combat force of the navy."

Kevin spun the glass in his hand.

He was very clear that at this stage, Mr. Zephyr had a certain gap compared to Borsalino, who was still a candidate for admiral, as well as Kuzan and Sakaski.

Clear levels don't mean clear wins and losses...

Is this influenced by the so-called hierarchy concept in the previous life?
It is still twenty years away from the Wano Country arc in our memory, and Kaido is not yet one of the Four Emperors.

"On this sea..."

Roger's eyes turned serious. "There is no such thing as absolute strength or weakness. Even I or that guy Whitebeard will die of illness or be killed by a sneak attack."

"In addition to Haki, there are also fruits in this sea. The superhuman fruit abilities are all kinds of strange. The Split Fruit is immune to slashes to a certain extent, the Slippery Fruit can cut through all attacks, and the Rust-Rust Fruit can make things rusty with just a touch."

"For example, sir's ability to teleport."

Roger and Kevin's eyes met.

"In comparison, the ability of the teleportation fruit does not require coordinates, but it is not as far as sir's, and it will also be restrained by seastone and seawater."

"But if your Observation Haki reaches the level of foreseeing the future, it can restrain this ability. Even if it is your high-temperature flame, if your Armament Haki reaches a certain level and is released without contact, you will suffer."

Kevin drank the wine in the glass and said, "Kaido can also release Armament Haki, and even Conqueror Haki can do it."

Roger shook his head slightly: "He is still too young. He reached the level of a great pirate in his thirties. His own race and the enhancement of the Mythical Beast Fruit played a big role in this."

"In the Valley of Gods eighteen years ago, that kid was just a little guy following Charlotte Lingling."

"While Garp, Rocks and I are fighting, Charlotte Linlin, Wang Zhi and the others should just stay away."

"bump."

Kevin put down his glass and exhaled.

As expected, the problem lies in the battle between Onigashima and Kaido.

Twenty years is not enough to put Kaido at the same level as the Four Emperors twenty years later, and there are also issues of intelligence and ability.

Just like it was easy to kill the Chameleon in the Sabaody Archipelago, but after Flying Thunder God and Ryujin Jakka were carefully analyzed by the World Government, Navalta, who had the ability to foresee the future, became much more difficult to deal with.

To a certain extent, this time, if the other party decisively escapes, it will be really difficult to catch him.

"Sir, do you understand?"

Roger's smile returned.

Kevin also understood a lot of things: "There is no such thing as constant strength or weakness. The enemies of the World Government and pirates are different. For such a large organization, after the death of three Celestial Dragons, they will definitely focus on analyzing me."

Roger looked at the bottle of wine beside him again: "I understand. The goal of the Revolutionary Army is not only to overthrow the World Government, but also to change the world. The ideas brought by you are the top priority, so..."

"The future I look forward to... is the future that you envision."

……

When I returned to Windmill Village from Chengxia Town, I found that Garp had been urgently transferred to the sea area where the accident occurred.

Without the old bastard around, Roger can go home to his son in peace.

However, as soon as I entered the door, I found Ace kneeling, and Lu Jiu was holding a wooden stick next to him, explaining the truth with great effort.

"I know you have your own friends outside. If you spend money somewhere, you can tell mom. Some behaviors are absolutely unacceptable."

Lu Jiu's voice remained soft and the stick in her hand had no deterrent effect at all.

As soon as Roger entered the room, he was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What happened? He's still kneeling."

Ace tilted his head and said, "I knelt down by myself. Mother wanted to beat me, so I had to kneel down and take the beating."

Then Lu Jiu said, "The tens of thousands of Baileys under the bed are gone. Although the money is not much, I just took some of it. It was only five minutes before and after."

So it wasn't a thief?
Roger and Ace looked at each other, thought for a moment and asked, "Is anyone in the room?"

Lu Jiu sighed and put down the useless stick in her hand: "There are only Ace and little Nami in five minutes. Bell-mère took Nojigo to the town to buy things, so... I believe in Ace, but..."

Kevin, who came in with him and hadn't said anything, seemed to be thinking about something.

Lu Jiu also bowed to him, but it was obvious that her mind was full of confusion and she didn't know how to deal with it.

After thinking for a while Kevin asked, "Is little Nami asleep?"

Lu Jiu nodded: "He has been much better behaved recently and crawls into bed to sleep by himself." Climb by himself?
Kevin smiled, then walked straight into the bedroom, lifted a corner of little Nami's quilt, and reached in to touch her.

Sure enough, there was something under the cotton wool.

Just as he was about to flip it over and pull it out, he found a pair of big eyes staring at him.

Kevin pulled again, and the result was...

"Wow wow..."

Little Nami burst into tears and used both her hands and feet to hold down her money.

Kevin had no choice but to take his hand back, looked at Roger and his wife and said, "This little money-grubber took it, and it was pressed under the cotton wool. He woke up when he touched it."

Lu Jiu, who had just followed in, was stunned.

Then he hurried out to apologize to Ace.

Roger was very curious and reached out his hand tentatively, but was bitten by little Nami.

Obviously, Bailey regards anyone who dares to touch her as an enemy and will bite her.

"How did you know, sir?"

Kevin looked at little Nami on the bed. She had become much cuter after growing up. He reached out to rub her head, but was almost bitten as well.

"This child grew up to be a money-grubber. I've seen it before, so I wonder if he was like this when he was little."

Roger was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing.

He remembered that there was a red-nosed intern on the ship who was also very concerned about the treasure and his nose.

Once, Shanks accidentally ate a devil fruit, and almost collapsed in despair after learning that he could no longer swim.

Because then the treasure under the sea would have nothing to do with him.

By the way, Shanks, that kid, will come back here after he finds a companion to travel with? After all, Ace is here, and there is a future that I have entrusted to him.

In the end, no one could take those Baileys, and only Ace went over angrily, but he was given a few Baileys instead.

In this situation, Ace met little Nami's cute big eyes and for a moment he completely forgot the purpose of his rushing in.

You know, even Nojigo and Aunt Bellmère couldn't get a Bailey.

This specialness made Ace pat his chest and guarantee that in the future, every bite of food he had would definitely be eaten by little Nami.

He is the older brother and he will definitely protect his younger sister in the future.

……

After having a meal at Roger's house, Kevin also left. After being urgently dispatched, Garp did not come back for vacation. It is very likely that he was scolded by Sengoku and sent back to the Navy Headquarters.

Without the old bastard, Roger naturally went home every day to take care of his wife and children.

But Ace is used to it, and now he and Sabo are searching for treasures in the garbage dump.

He wasn't saving money to buy a boat to go out to sea, he just wanted to have fun with Saab.

After a day of garbage collection, the two men lay on the ground in the secret base to rest.

Sabo closed his eyes and said, "The heavenly gold from the Kingdom of Goa was paid a few days ago."

After a pause, Ace waited for him to continue.

"That's a lot of money, so much that most people may not be able to count it, but I can't count it at least."

"An old woman in Chengxia Town died. She stabbed her head with a pair of scissors. Because she was afraid of the pain, she hesitated, so she fixed the scissors on the table and hit it head on."

Ai immediately sat up: "Why?"

Sabo exhaled, "Because there are five people in their family, if one dies, they only need to pay the Heavenly Gold for four people. The taxes of the Kingdom of Goa and the payment of Heavenly Gold left the old man with no choice but to do so."

After that, Ace fell silent.

He didn't understand much about these things because his mother and unreliable father had never talked to him about the gold in the sky.

“I want to go to sea!”

Sabo stood up and said, "I feel suffocated every minute here. I want to go out to sea, even as a pirate, to find true freedom."

Uh……

Ace was still a little confused by the jumping conversation.

But the pirates...

"Pirates are not good Sabo."

Sabo looked over and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Ace lay down again: "If you just want freedom and adventure, there is no need to be a pirate. There are too many bad guys in this sea who burn, kill and plunder in the name of pirates."

"But I heard from the people in the tavern that the freest person on this sea is the Pirate King Goldo Roger."

"Freedom does not mean recklessness, Sabo. If freedom is achieved by everyone being reckless, then is there any way for people like that old woman to survive in this world?"

After he finished speaking, Sabo lowered his head, frowned, and remained silent.

Freedom does not mean being unbridled. Pirates represent evil, not so-called freedom.

"For ordinary people, order is the most important thing. Although the current order is very distorted, they cannot survive without it."

Ace said, opening his eyes.

These were all the words from that unreliable father, but he could understand the logic behind them. After all, his father would explain them bit by bit.

Therefore, he does not have a very good impression of pirates, but at the same time he also has a disgusted attitude towards the navy and the world government.

"What about you Ace?"

Sabo asked, "What do you want to do when you grow up? Or what is your dream? Stay in Windmill Village forever?"

Ace jumped up with a smile, "Of course not! I want to see the world just like you. Father has told me about many wonderful islands, and I want to see them all. Of course, I won't become a pirate."

"But if you're talking about dreams..."

"Sabo, I want to make sure that what happened to the old woman never happens again. At least, she won't end her life because she can't live anymore."

At this point, Ace looked at Sabo and said, "Is this dream a bit too big? I know it's difficult because those vested interests my father mentioned would want to skin me alive."

"But if no one resists, if no one is willing to stand up, then my dream will only be a dream, or even a pipe dream."

After the words fell, Sabo stood there in a daze.

For the first time, he felt that his friend had different thoughts from his peers.

……

(End of this chapter)