Chapter 5: Completely Absorbed!  

In the East Blue, there was a small, ordinary village known as Foosha Village. This village lay in the weakest of all seas, but it had one claim to fame—it was the hometown of Marine hero Garp.

However, Garp wasn't in the village this time to bask in his heroic status. Instead, he found himself on Mt. Colubo, just outside Foosha Village.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Garp's iron fist pounded against the wooden door, causing it to creak loudly.

"Who the hell is banging on my door like that? Do you even know whose territory this is? You better watch it, or I'll—!"

A rough female voice growled as the door was yanked open, revealing Dadan with a cigarette hanging from her lips. Her face, initially filled with fury, froze in shock.

"You…"

Garp greeted her with a smile and a wave.

"G-Garp?!!"

Dadan collapsed to the ground, horror-stricken.

"Why… why are you here?!"

Inside the house, the rest of the Dadan Family erupted into panicked screams. The Marine hero Garp himself had shown up at their door—weren't they all as good as dead?!

"Long time no see, Dadan. You seem lively as ever," Garp grinned.

But to Dadan, that smile looked more like the grin of a predator eyeing its prey.

"G-Garp, sir! I swear, I haven't done anything wrong recently!" Dadan blurted, tears and snot running down her face.

"I'm not here to arrest you today," Garp replied, pinching his nose.

"R-Really?! Then… why are you here…?"

Dadan asked cautiously, her voice trembling.

"I'm leaving this brat with you. Raise him."

Garp hoisted little Ace from his arms and handed him over to Dadan.

"W-What?!!"

Dadan felt like she had misheard. She was a bandit leader—why on earth would she be entrusted with raising a baby? Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Any problem with that?" Garp's expression suddenly darkened, his face twisting into a sinister grin.

"N-No! No problem at all! Leave him to me!" Dadan immediately bowed, panic-stricken.

As Dadan took Ace into her arms, she glanced down at the small boy. Ace's eyes flickered as he looked at the stout, orange-haired woman with a face full of food crumbs.

Dadan… the very woman who would go on to raise Ace for seventeen years and Luffy for ten years in the original story. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her their adoptive mother.

In the original work, Dadan, despite being terrified of Garp, had gone into a rage and beat him after learning of Ace's death—proving that beneath her rough exterior was a heart full of love.

"Then, I'm counting on you," Garp said as he handed Ace over, turned, and disappeared, shutting the door behind him.

"..."

Dadan let out a long sigh as she held Ace.

But as she met the boy's gaze, she felt an unfamiliar sensation deep inside her. It was as though some long-dormant string in her heart had suddenly been plucked.

"Boss, are we really going to raise this kid?"

A cautious voice came from one of the bandits behind her.

"Ahem! What choice do we have? It's a direct order from Marine hero Garp."

Dadan coughed, trying to cover up the unexpected tenderness that had surfaced in her heart.

"Do you want to get on Garp's bad side?" she added with a dark look.

"!!!"

The bandits quickly shook their heads.

This was the same man who had captured and led to the execution of the Pirate King. To someone like him, killing them would be as easy as crushing an insect.

"We don't have a choice. We'll have to raise the kid," Dadan sighed.

"Boss… why does it look like you're smiling?"

One of the younger bandits hesitantly asked.

"Are you crazy? I'm not smiling! Raising this brat is a total disaster!" Dadan shouted, her temper flaring.

"Guu… Guu…"

Suddenly, the sound of a growling stomach filled the air, drawing Dadan's attention to Ace in her arms.

"H-He's hungry?" Dadan stammered, unsure of what to do.

She was a bandit, after all. What was she supposed to feed a baby? Milk? There was no way they had anything like that in their hideout!

At that moment, Ace's eyes were fixed intently on the roasted meat cooking over the fire, its skin slightly charred.

From Baterilla Island to Foosha Village, Ace hadn't eaten anything other than a bit of water. Traveling in Garp's rough hands, he was lucky to be alive at all.

Fortunately, Ace had his combat turtle breath technique, which allowed him to survive without food by entering a special state. But now, he was ravenously hungry.

"You… you want to eat the barbecue?" Dadan asked, noticing Ace's intense stare.

But how could a baby eat barbecue? That didn't seem right at all.

"Well, if something happens, don't blame me. This is your choice," Dadan muttered as she carried Ace to the oven, not knowing what else to do.

A moment later, her hesitation turned to sheer disbelief.

The baby in her arms was devouring the barbecue like a starving beast, tearing into the meat with voracious hunger. Despite his small frame, Ace seemed to have a bottomless appetite, stuffing an entire roasted antelope into his belly.

Soon, Ace's tiny body began to swell up like a balloon.

"Hey! Kid! You… you…!" Dadan shouted, her eyes wide in alarm.

If this kid died after eating so much, wouldn't Garp kill her?!

But just as Dadan was about to panic, something miraculous happened. Ace's bloated body began to shift and compress, shrinking back to its normal size in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Ace's height seemed to grow slightly.

"Your understanding is extraordinary—you've achieved complete absorption through eating." 

[Complete Absorption: The ability to rapidly absorb 100% of the nutrients from consumed food.]

"Your physique has been enhanced!"