"Could these two be the ones who've been looking for me?" Sabo was relatively mature for his age, but he was still a kid. Sometimes his thinking was limited by that.
Most adults wouldn't pay much attention to brats like Ace and Luffy, but Sabo genuinely regarded them as potential enemies to guard against.
"These guys probably want my treasure too. How dare they—do they think I'm nothing?!" Sabo decided to teach Ace and Luffy a lesson.
He didn't hesitate. He reached back and pulled out the Supreme Grade Pipe from behind him, then quietly waited for the right moment.
Of the two brats, Ace was clearly the stronger one. The other kid looked like a total airhead and could basically be ignored.
He waited for Ace to turn his back, then burst from the tree in a flash, raising the pipe with both hands and bringing it crashing down toward the back of Ace's skull!
"Die!"
"Ace, watch out!" Luffy saw him and shouted.
Though Ace hadn't mastered Haki, his body's reflexes were far beyond Sabo's. In the original timeline they'd been the same age, but in this world, Rouge had only carried Ace for ten months before giving birth—making Sabo two years younger than Ace.
The gap between them was still significant.
Even though he noticed late, Ace reacted quickly. He grabbed Luffy by the collar, then hurled them both sideways, dodging the strike.
Thud!
Sabo smashed into empty air. The pipe hit the dirt with such force that it sent up a cloud of dust.
"You actually dodged that—impressive!"
"Who the hell are you?" Ace stared at the ragged yet surprisingly clean and neat-looking boy before him, frowning as he asked.
"Asking that? Aren't you the ones looking for me?" Sabo scoffed. Though his ambush had failed, he wasn't afraid.
The boy across from him looked a few years older—so what? He'd knocked plenty of adults off their feet.
"Weirdo. Fine—you attacked us, so you'd better be prepared for what comes next!" Ace tossed Luffy aside and struck a cool pose.
He did look impressive to the other two kids right now, but looking back on this memory in the future would probably kill him once or twice over.
It was like two kids in a fistfight, with one throwing out what they thought were cool one-liners before the battle even started.
"Hah? What are you talking about? If you want to fight, let's fight!" Sabo had no concept of dramatic posturing. For him, the goal right now was simple—survive at the Refuse Dump, accumulate enough wealth to buy a boat, and set sail before he turned seventeen.
He couldn't stand this filthy, stinking country anymore. He just wanted to escape.
"What I mean is—since you attacked us, you'd better be prepared to die for it." Ace said. "Let me make this clear: I'm a pirate! Pirate battles are cruel—I'll at least take one of your arms!"
This kid seemed to have picked up some bad habits.
Though in truth, Ren didn't just cut off everyone's arm either. The prerequisite was that the enemy had earned his respect.
Ace's words did give Sabo a small taste of Four Emperor-level intimidation, making him realize this was no longer just kids playing house. But he quickly recovered—from the very beginning, hadn't he already been prepared to stake his life?
The distance between the nobles' quarters and the Refuse Dump wasn't that great. If his will had wavered, he would've slunk back long ago.
"Stop posturing in front of me! I'm going to become the Pirate King and change the world!" Sabo wasn't outdone at all, but just as he was trading words with Ace, Luffy suddenly jumped in like a switch had been flipped.
"Me! I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"What? A brat like you—stop dreaming!"
"You're a brat yourself!"
"I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"…"
Watching from the shadows, Ann thought they needed someone to cure them of their King addiction.
Though their best teacher, Coach Kaido, was no longer around, there was still a Thunder King out on the seas whose specialty was quite fitting. It might cost them their hands, though…
The pointless bickering ended quickly. Ace lost patience first and attacked Sabo directly.
This fight had almost no highlights. Sabo at this stage was no match for Ace—he was defeated almost instantly.
Ace planted his foot on Sabo's chest, pinning him down.
"Now you see how strong we are?"
Luffy shouted.
"That has nothing to do with you!" Sabo couldn't break free, but hearing Luffy's shameless claim made him snap.
This little punk—riding someone else's coattails with real skill.
"What's your name?" Ace asked from above.
Though Sabo had lost quickly in his hands, he could sense the kid was actually quite strong—nearly on par with himself at the same age.
Right now, he had Luffy as a follower, but Luffy was sometimes too stupid and actually made him lose face. If he could recruit this person as his underling instead, it would be much more impressive.
"My name is Sabo." Sabo had to concede to Ace. After all, he'd lost fair and square. The other kid was older, but Sabo had the weapon in hand—and somehow, he still felt it was a fair fight.
"Sabo? Not bad. How about it—want to join my pirate crew?" Ace asked.
Before Sabo could even respond, Luffy couldn't hold back.
"Wait, wait, Ace—how can you let him join Shanks' crew? Even I got rejected!" Luffy said urgently.
How could this be?
Making friends or becoming an underling—either way, I was here first!
"No, not Shanks' crew—my own crew!" Ace declared. "I'm not going to stay an apprentice on Shanks' ship forever. Someday I'll sail out on my own, get all the treasure and fame, and become a great pirate!"
"Stronger than Shanks?"
"Of course! When the time comes, I'll beat Shanks first—then make him swab my deck!" Ace said with conviction.
"And of course, to achieve that, I need powerful crewmates!" Ace had his eye on Sabo's talent—that was why he was inviting him.
[
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