Chapter 27: Ace Comes Knocking

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This sword, while slightly lacking in sharpness, was incredibly durable and had unique properties—high resistance to heat and excellent conductivity. Most importantly, it could withstand extremely high temperatures.

Gion tested it by discharging a billion volts, and the sword remained unscathed.

"Wow, this is amazing! Little brother, you're the best blacksmith in the world that I know!"

"Hehe, I'm glad you like it. Now, why don't you give this sword a name?"

"Hmm, the blade has a scale-like pattern, so let's call it 'Dragon Scale.'"

Gion joyfully swung the Dragon Scale sword around. With this new weapon, she no longer had to worry about her sword melting from electrical discharge!

Typically, when Gion fought using her sword, she would channel between ten million to fifty million volts through it. A billion volts was already an extreme, usually unnecessary for combat. Even with a mere one million volts, most swordsmen wouldn't dare to face her. While one shock might not kill someone, multiple shocks—each leaving them numb—would surely wear them down!

Thus, the fourth Dragon Sword came into existence.

Despite Sengoku repeatedly asking Gion about the identity of the blacksmith behind the Dragon Swords, she never revealed anything.

Gion continued her training with the Navy, and thanks to her Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, her strength soared. Even though she was still quite young, she was rapidly promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy headquarters.

Gion, leveraging her speed advantage, began hunting down pirates across the seas.

The Dragon Sword known as Dragon Scale soon became famous as it accompanied Gion on her missions in the New World, capturing and defeating pirates.

Dragon Sense, Dragon Sorrow, Dragon Flight, and Dragon Scale!

Indeed, it seemed that although Ryuusaki was not present in the world, his legend continued to spread far and wide.

During this time, Ryuusaki focused intensely on refining his swordsmithing skills. His blacksmithing level had now reached LV93.

By now, Ryuusaki was over seven years old!

Little Ace, on the other hand, was just over two.

Unlike other children, Ace was notably mature for his age.

Ace was being cared for by Dadan.

But Dadan, despite caring for Ace deep down, maintained a cold and distant demeanor. She provided him with only one meal a day.

Of course, none of this was Ryuusaki's concern.

Ryuusaki had promised Tsuru that he would avoid contact with Ace, and he had kept that promise by neither monitoring nor investigating Ace during this period.

However, to Ryuusaki's surprise, he didn't need to seek out Ace—Ace came looking for him!

"Hey, are you the blacksmith here?"

Ryuusaki looked at the little boy standing at the door of his blacksmith shop, feeling somewhat at a loss for words.

"Yes, I am the blacksmith."

"You're just a kid."

"Hey, you're in no position to call me a kid!"

"Tch, acting all grown up when you're just a kid!" Ace muttered a few complaints before declaring, "I want you to make me a sword."

"Oh? And what do you need a sword for?"

"Hmph, I'm going to be a pirate, so stop talking and just make me a sword!"

"Sure, making a sword is no problem. But what about the payment…"

"Hmph, I'll pay you later. I'll repay you in full one day."

Ryuusaki was speechless. Ace, at such a young age, already knew how to buy on credit!

Not bothering to argue, Ryuusaki simply grabbed the little brat, tossed him out of the shop, and watched as he flew through the air in a perfect arc.

"Damn it—!"

You had to admit, the kid was persistent. He came back and tried to fight Ryuusaki.

Naturally, Ryuusaki beat him up.

As a lesson, Ryuusaki even took Ace's pants and sent him home with his backside exposed.

This was probably the most humiliating experience of Ace's young life.

Ryuusaki thought this would teach Ace a lesson, that the boy wouldn't cause any more trouble. But to his surprise, just two or three days later, Ace returned!

This time, Ace was carrying a stick, clearly looking for a fight.

Ryuusaki was eating in the blacksmith shop, with Makino there delivering his meal.

Seeing Ace approach with a stick, Makino asked curiously, "Ryuusaki, who is that child? Did something happen between you two?"

Before Ryuusaki could respond, Ace answered first.

"That bastard pulled my pants down last time!"

Makino, puzzled, looked at Ryuusaki. With no other choice, Ryuusaki explained what had happened.

"Oh my, so Ace wants to be a pirate but doesn't have money to buy a weapon!" Makino chuckled.

"Damn it, what are you laughing at?"

"Ace, that's not good. You should always pay for things."

"Hmph, I know that, but I don't have money right now. I'll pay him later."

"Well, then, Ace, you must be hungry. Come and eat."

Ace was indeed quite hungry, especially since Dadan only provided one meal a day.

Seeing the delicious food on the table, Ace swallowed hard, then threw his stick aside and sat down without hesitation, gobbling up the meal.

Alright, for Makino's sake, Ryuusaki decided not to beat him up again.

But the brat seemed to get used to freeloading, returning the next day for more food!

"Don't think I'm just going to eat for free. Hmph, I'll work to pay you back."

"Oh, you're a responsible kid!"

Ryuusaki, deciding not to argue, pointed to the backyard of the blacksmith shop. "Then go chop some firewood."

"Hmph, I got it. I'll do it after I finish eating."

Ryuusaki chuckled, not saying anything more. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and sipped tea while reading the newspaper.

Reading the paper was necessary—after all, as a spy, one had to stay informed.

"Hm? The world's greatest swordsman, huh?"

Seeing the headline, Ryuusaki laughed. It seemed that Mihawk had firmly secured his title as the world's greatest swordsman!

There was also another big piece of news: the Seven Warlords of the Sea system had been established!

However, the specific members had yet to be determined.

"What are you reading?"

"The newspaper."

"What does it say?"

"Read it yourself."

"I…"

"Wait… I get it. You can't read, can you? Hahaha…"

Indeed, Ace was only two years old. Though he was mature for his age, he was still at the level of just learning to talk and walk.

Ace's face turned red. He quickly stuffed a few more bites of food into his mouth and then went to chop wood!

Two hours later, Ace returned.

"Hey, I've chopped the wood!"

"Oh? That fast?"

Ryuusaki went to check and was speechless. "What kind of chopping is this? It's all over the place."

"So what? It's just firewood."

*Sigh*—Ryuusaki sighed, picked up the axe, and said to Ace, "Watch closely, kid. This is how you chop wood."

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