A week had passed.
After the World Government observers left the Goa Kingdom. The survivors of the fire went back to scavenging like before, as if nothing had changed.
Deep within the forest of Mt. Colubo...
"Here I come, Ace!" Luffy charged forward.
Ling, Ace, and Luffy had resumed their training.
"Gum-Gum... Pistol!"
Ace caught Luffy's outstretched arm with his foot and slammed it into the ground.
Luffy's body followed the momentum, and Ace drove a punch into his stomach, sending him flying into a tree.
"Hahaha! You're no match for me!" Ace grinned.
"You…!" Luffy growled, bouncing back up.
"That was great, Luffy!" Ling cheered from the side.
"Your arm stretched farther than yesterday!"
"Ling…" Luffy looked touched.
"Oi, Ling! You're spoiling him," Ace called out.
"I knew it! I'm stronger than yesterday!" Luffy beamed.
A month later.
Luffy now stood face-to-face with a giant bear that roamed Mt. Colubo.
Ling and Ace watched the fight from the trees above.
"Before we leave at seventeen, we've gotta be twenty times stronger than that bear," Ling said, pointing.
"And at least ten times stronger than that giant tiger."
"That's my plan too," Ace agreed.
"Let's bet how long Luffy lasts."
"Ten seconds," Ace guessed.
"Hmmm… fifteen," Ling countered.
Down below, Luffy dodged the bear's first swipe and leapt into the air, smacking it repeatedly with his pole.
But it didn't even flinch. The bear turned and swung a massive paw.
"Luffy!" Ace shouted, eyes wide.
The claws were about to land until Ling vanished from the tree and reappeared just in time, blocking the strike with a kick.
Another month passed.
Ling, Ace, and Luffy sat on a log in front of Dadan's house when a familiar voice echoed through the forest.
"Hey guys!" an old man called out from atop a crane.
Ling and Luffy lit up.
"Mayor!"
"Ling! Luffy! Ace!" came another voice, Makino's.
Ace stood up quickly, fists clenched, his head lowered.
"Ace?" Makino blinked, puzzled.
Ling tilted his head, watching with amusement. Just the night before, Ace had asked Ling how to show proper respect to others. Ling had only shrugged.
'How could I spoil this? This is gold.' Ling grinned to himself.
"Uhm… how do you show respect to someone?" Ace asked, awkward and flustered.
The mayor chuckled, and Makino giggled.
"What's gotten into you?" she asked warmly.
"I'm Luffy's brother. That means it's me and Ling's job to thank the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates." Ace crossed his arms proudly.
"I want to thank him for saving our little brother."
While the mayor pulled Luffy and Ling aside to catch up, Ling remained quiet, though he wanted to stay and watch Ace's lesson.
He tuned in anyway. While he couldn't sense intent or aura yet, his hearing had improved.
"Ehh?! Hahaha!" Makino burst out laughing.
"Do you have something to say?!" Ace huffed, embarrassed.
"Haha, I'm sorry. Alright, I'll teach you," she said kindly.
"Grrr…"
"Okay, let's start with the basics of how to express gratitude."
"Yeah, let's just get started already!" Ace bowed stiffly.
Luffy returned after speaking with Woop Slap and sat beside Ace.
"Oh! You got it, Ace!" Luffy said with a grin.
"Heh." Ace smirked, proud of himself.
'Pfft… ahahaha…' Ling stifled a laugh from inside the house.
Still being lectured by the mayor for not visiting Foosha Village more often.
"That's not right, Ace," Makino corrected gently.
"In this kind of situation, you should say 'thank you in advance.'"
Ace and Luffy blinked at her.
"Huh? That wasn't right? But it sounded kinda cool," Luffy said.
Makino laughed again.
"Ace wants to learn this so he can properly thank Shanks, right?"
"Now, let's pretend I'm him."
"I'm Ace. Who the hell are you?"
"Boo!" Makino crossed her arms and made an X.
From inside, Ling couldn't help himself and laughed out loud.
"Oi, Ling!" the mayor shouted.
"Didn't you hear what I said? And why are you laughing!?"
Makino's lessons continued for weeks.
Sometime later Garp dropped by.
Almost like a curse, Luffy's timing was always terrible every time Garp arrived, he always ended up saying that he wanted to become a pirate.
Garp always ended up punching Luffy in the head.
As the months passed, Ling, Ace, and Luffy began returning to Goa Kingdom more often.
They'd eat free meals and, in return, show off their manners and offer thanks demonstrating what they'd learned from Makino.
Four months later, Garp visited again. He seemed to appear every four months, staying for a day or two.
One afternoon, he caught Ace mid-sentence.
"We've gotta get stronger if we want to become pirates," Ace said.
WHAM!
Garp's fist slammed into Ace's head.
"Ace!" Luffy cried out.
"What the hell, old man?!" Ace snapped.
"What do you mean, 'go out to sea'?!" Garp scowled.
"You brats really think you can just become pirates?!"
"You're not my father, so stop acting all high and mighty!" Ace shouted.
Ling, seeing where this was heading, quietly walked away.
"Why would I listen to you, old man?" Ace muttered.
"Call me Grandpa," Garp said, glaring.
"Old man."
Garp gritted his teeth and raised his fist again.
"You want another taste of my Fist of Love?!"
Luffy giggled.
"Grandpa! I'm gonna get stronger and set out to sea with Ace and Ling!"
WHACK!
Garp's fist landed squarely on Luffy's head.
Ace stepped in front of him, shielding him from another hit.
"Don't hit Luffy, you damn geezer!" Ace growled.
"Ling! Let's take down this old man!" Ace called.
He looked around.
"Ling?!"
His gone.
Another four months passed.
It had now been one full year since Ling arrived in this world.
That evening, the four of them Garp, Ace, Luffy, and Ling sat around a firepit, enjoying dinner.
"Listen up. You never know when you'll be thrown into battle," Garp said between bites.
"So when you eat, eat as much as you can!"
"This is another important part of being a Marine. Got that, you three?"
Ace scoffed, shoving meat into his mouth.
"What do you mean Marine? That's not your decision to make!"
"What was that?!" Garp snapped.
"I'm gonna be a pirate!" Ace grinned defiantly.
Their argument flared up again, the usual back-and-forth.
Until…
Snore…
They looked over to see Luffy sound asleep, his stomach bulging and all the food gone.
"If Luffy ever becomes a Marine, he'll eat all the provisions on the ship in one day," Ace joked.
"He might be more dangerous than enemy pirates," Garp laughed.
Then he turned to Ling.
"Call me Grandpa," he said.
Ling was caught off guard.
"You three are brothers, right? That makes me your grandpa too," Garp grinned as he stood and stretched.
He headed toward Dadan's house to sleep.
"You three should become Marines!" he called out one last time before disappearing inside.
The next day, Garp left.
Training resumed.
One year later, Ace was strong enough to defeat the giant bear alone.
Two years in, he took down the tiger.
That same year, Luffy managed to beat the giant bear.
Four more years passed before Luffy could finally bring down the tiger.
They had come a long way.
Ace had finally turned seventeen. Luffy was now fourteen.
Ling, Luffy, Makino, the Mayor, and the Dadan Family gathered together to see Ace off.
Ling towered over everyone his height now absurdly tall.
"Take care, Ace!" Luffy called out, waving frantically.
"I'll set out in a couple of months. See you at sea!" Ling added with a grin.
"Yeah! See you, Ling! You too, Luffy! I'm going now!" Ace waved back from his small boat.
The three had decided to set out on their own individual journeys. Since they gathered 50 million berries, each of them had 15 million berries, with the extra 1.6 million going to Dadan.
"Yup! I'll be a lot stronger when I leave here in three years!" Luffy beamed.
"Just you wait! I'll defeat you and Ling!"
Everyone offered their goodbyes.
One by one, the others began leaving.
Over the past six years, the trio trained daily. Ace suggested to train on their own, so they mostly met up at sunset to spar.
With Luffy being three years younger, Ling and Ace checked on him now and then.
But when it came to Grey Terminal, Pirate Coves, or Edge Town they always go together.
Ling quietly turned and began walking toward Dadan's house.
Luffy remained standing where Ace had sailed off, staring at the horizon a little longer.
'I'll be setting sail soon,' Ling thought.
'And damn… I'm huge now. I'm 265 cm tall.'
He chuckled inwardly.
'I mastered basic Armament Haki three years ago. I still haven't reached advanced levels, but I can imbue objects with my haki. That's good enough for East Blue and Grandline.'
'I'll master advance before going to the new world.'
'I feel like I'm at a wall. I can sense I'm close to the next level… but I need to figure out what I need. My journey will help me find the answer.'
'As for Observation Haki, I can sense presence clearly so much better than seven years ago. I can read intent, gauge someone's strength, feel emotions.'
'Still can't see the future, though. But with my predictions and my Time-Time Fruit, I can track movements and react faster than most.'
'Conqueror's Haki… I've learned to control it. I can choose who to target. But that's about it for now. Advanced Conqueror's is still a dream.'
'It seems my strength is on par with timeskip Luffy or stonger, though just a guess.
He glanced at his hand, clenching it into a fist.
'My Devil Fruit abilities… for 'Forward' I can accelerate healing now, and age someone as long as they're weaker than me.'
'And I can use 'Pause' efficiently now. I can freeze objects or even people also like bullets, cannonballs, or swords mid-swing.'
'I also developed a move called Slow. I slow down what I see, making it easier to read patterns in an enemy's attacks. And slow down someone but its stamina consuming.'
'I've mastered all the Rokushiki techniques… except Kami-e. I can kick ten times in an instant, and add five more easily.'
'Same with my hands my punches power doubles. It doubles my raw strength.'
'I can use moonwalk to fly now, no more worrying about falling into the sea. Just like every technique, 'Shave" is fully mastered.'
Ling exhaled deeply.
"All in all… I'm ready."