"Please, as if we'd just tell you something like that," Sabo scoffed, folding his arms across his chest.
The mere idea was ridiculous. The Marine knew they were pirates, yet they still expected them to cooperate?
Sabo was already preparing to make up an excuse, thinking of a way to smoothly extract themselves from the situation without giving away any information.
But before he could even open his mouth, Ace, in true Ace fashion, spoke up without a care in the world.
"Of course, I came here to challenge stronger people and make a name for myself," Ace said nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Sabo's face immediately darkened.
"Hey, Ace, you idiot," he growled, grabbing the collar of Ace's jacket with one hand, shaking him slightly.
If they weren't in public, he swore he would have smacked some sense into him.
Meanwhile, Kujaku nodded thoughtfully, not particularly surprised by Ace's straightforward answer.
"Oh, so you're here to challenge the strong, huh?" she mused, glancing at him with mild amusement.
Ace hadn't specified exactly who he planned to challenge, but it wasn't difficult to guess. If he was aiming to make a name for himself in the New World, then his targets had to be some of the most notorious figures—people who were more monsters than men.
Kujaku internally shook her head. These two rookies really had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They were walking straight into the lion's den.
But it wasn't her problem.
She wasn't their babysitter, and she had no obligation to warn them about the dangers of the New World. Let them learn the hard way.
Besides, though they were wearing marine uniforms, they weren't truly Marines. They were still pirates at heart.
If it weren't for their connection to Luffy, she wouldn't have even bothered talking to them—let alone cared about whether they lived or died.
With nothing more to say, Kujaku continued leading the way in silence.
Ace and Sabo quickly realized there was no point in pushing the conversation further, so they too fell quiet.
The three of them walked without another word, heading toward a private room on the fourth floor.
When they arrived at the door, Kujaku didn't bother knocking. She simply pushed it open and strode inside without hesitation.
"Luffy, I brought them," she announced casually.
Ace and Sabo stepped into the room behind her—and then they both froze.
"Luffy?!"
The two of them spoke in unison, their voices laced with surprise.
Only now did they remember why they had entered this restaurant in the first place.
They had heard rumors that Luffy might be here, so they had decided to drop in for a meal while waiting to see if he would show up.
And now, here he was, sitting right in front of them.
Sabo inwardly cursed.
Damn it, I completely forgot! I was so distracted by Ace's antics that I didn't expect them to recognize us first and bring us straight to him.
For a brief moment, he regretted being so careless.
But that regret was quickly overshadowed by his curiosity.
Ever since he had set out to sea, he had been looking forward to meeting the so-called "legend" of the younger generation of Marines.
He once meet with Ace and hang out when they were little, before going back with Garp.
And evetime the old man would come back, he had constantly mentioned Luffy, using his achievements as a way to lecture both him and Ace.
So now that he was finally standing in front of him after all this time, Sabo couldn't help but be intrigued.
His eyes quickly scanned the room, taking in the other occupants, before locking onto the young man seated in the middle.
Luffy was holding a Den Den Mushi in his hands—the camera-type model, to be precise.
"Wait… a camera Den Den Mushi?"
Before Sabo could question it, he suddenly heard the distinct clicking sounds of multiple photos being taken.
Ace, who had initially been excited to see Luffy again, tilted his head in confusion.
Instead of greeting them, Luffy had immediately started taking pictures of them.
"Hey, Luffy, what the hell are you doing?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.
Luffy simply grinned.
"Nothing much. I just saw your Marine uniforms and thought I'd take a few photos. Gonna send them to an old man—thought it'd make him happy."
With that, Luffy put away the Den Den Mushi and stood up.
Ace's expression instantly changed.
"Wait… old man?" His face paled slightly. "You don't mean—"
Even Sabo tensed up at those words. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"You didn't tell him we were here, did you?!" Ace asked hurriedly.
If Luffy had actually reported their presence to him…
Sabo didn't even want to think about what would happen next.
Luffy waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, nah, I wouldn't do something like that. I'm not that cruel."
Hearing this, both Ace and Sabo visibly relaxed, letting out a collective sigh of relief.
"Don't scare me like that, dumbass," Ace muttered, shaking his head.
Then, his face broke into a wide grin again. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and pulled Luffy into a hug.
"You bastard, don't joke around like that the moment we see each other again," he said, laughing as he patted Luffy on the back.
Luffy chuckled but didn't resist. When they finally pulled apart, Ace's eyes widened slightly as he got a proper look at his younger brother.
"Huh? Since when do I have to look up at you?" Ace muttered in disbelief.
It took him a second to register the difference in height. Luffy had grown—a lot.
Before he could voice his complaint, Luffy turned to Sabo and extended a hand.
"You must be Sabo," he said with a grin. "Old man Garp's mentioned you plenty of times. Too bad I didn't get to see you last time I was in Goa Kingdom."
Sabo hesitated for only a moment before shaking his hand.
"Let's not bring up Garp as soon as we meet," Sabo said, smiling wryly. "Before I even left for sea, I already got plenty of lectures from him."
Luffy laughed. "Hah! Same here. He used to punch me every time he wanted to teach me something."
Sabo shook his head, but there was amusement in his eyes. "Yeah… I know exactly how that feels."
After a firm handshake, Luffy casually draped an arm over Ace's shoulder and turned back toward the group in the room.
"Alright! Let me introduce you guys properly."
With that, he proceeded to introduce Ace and Sabo to the others—one by one.
The brothers, in turn, politely greeted the women in the room, their behavior completely at odds with the expectations usually associated with pirates.
The girls, most of whom were members of the Marine and CP, had never interacted with pirates in such a cordial manner before. It was a strange experience, but given what they knew about Luffy's relationship with these two, they refrained from making any judgments.
Even if there was a bit of awkwardness at first, it was soon pushed aside.
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