You're Truly Something

Chapter 156: You're Truly Something

"Didn't you say it was a promise between men?" Ace widened his eyes and asked.

Back then, he had been upset for a long time because of breaking that promise, and even Sachi and Marco had comforted him for quite a while.

"Promises between men have always been unreliable," Rodney said. 

"Only those willing to keep them make them useful. Ace, you're a bit more naive than I imagined. And what use is a promise made under duress like the one you made?"

It was just a casual move; whether it was useful or not didn't matter. The world's correcting force was there, and he never believed that a promise could influence the convergence of a powerful world line.

To be honest, he just didn't want to see an old man watching his grandson die in front of him helplessly.

Some people were bound to die, and some were bound to live. Whether Ace could survive depended on his own fate. The ambitious one wouldn't believe him even if he said it out loud, right?

Moreover, that actor's performance was very good. Before revealing the existence of the Devil Fruit, Rodney didn't think a few words from him would make Ace wary. Let him suffer a bit; if a war broke out, so be it. It didn't matter how many people died.

In fact, he hoped that many pirates would die.

Who could say that their hands were not stained with blood?

He could gain a lot of benefits from that war. Since Ace still wanted it this way, let the war begin. He would definitely participate as one of the Seven Warlords; he would be conscripted.

He didn't know what would happen, but he would make things go in the direction he could control.

He would maximize his interests.

"Is that what you think? I was feeling uncomfortable, and I came all this way to apologize to you! Rodney, what do you think of a man's promise?" Ace retorted.

"You didn't keep it either, did you?" Rodney countered, catching Ace off guard.

Right, even if he believed, so what? Hadn't he also failed to keep the promise?

Ace fell silent, but Rodney continued, "Alright, just go. You don't owe me anything. It was I who tempted you with that kind of talk back then. It was useless from the start. You don't need to mind it. Consider it a favor I owe you from before, and I'll repay it someday."

"I didn't come here to have you owe me a favor!" Ace dropped his backpack and said, "Rodney, I just came to see you, my friend." He considered Rodney his friend, even if this friend was a bit tricky, but that didn't matter.

Taking the tea handed to him, he said, "Friend? Is that how you see me?"

"That's right!"

"I don't want to have any relationship with you people from Whitebeard's crew. I'm a pirate hunter, a Warlord, and I stand on the opposite side of whichever path you choose. Sooner or later, I'll hunt you down!"

"Hahaha, then bring it on! Magician Rodney!"

Flames surged on Ace's body, and the grass beneath his feet was scorched to a crisp.

"Damn it! My lawn! I put in so much effort to plant it!"

"Hahaha, let's go! Rodney, I've trained hard in the New World. I'm not the same person I used to be! Fire Fist!"

A colossal fiery fist surged toward Rodney, accompanied by a terrifying heat wave. The grass in its path was incinerated.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Water formed a wall in front of him, colliding with the fiery fist.

The collision of water and fire generated a large amount of steam.

"Everyone, step back! This guy is actually planning to fight here! Perona!"

"Understood! Negative Hollow!"

"What's this?"

Perona's Negative Hollow passed through Ace's body, and then she slumped forward, saying, "Someone like me should just die. In my next life, I want to be a piece of seaweed, drifting aimlessly in the ocean."

"Tsk, my lawn! Perona, contact Whitebeard Pirates and tell them that we have their guy here. Say he was freeloadin' at my place and damaged my lawn. Tell them I want Whitebeard Pirates to build a fountain in my yard, encrusted with diamonds the size of pigeon eggs!"

"Alright."

People need to come into money one way or another. Just after extorting money from his own house, Rodney hadn't expected this guy to be so audacious. He had even set his sights on Whitebeard Pirates.

Perona did as instructed. She found a Den Den Mushi in Ace's bag and made the call.

"Bero bero bero bero!"

"Moshi moshi. Ace, where are you? Have you met that Rodney guy?" The voice on the other end sounded languid, and the Den Den Mushi had a head of blond hair.

"Hello, this is the Shichibukai, Rodney. Fire Fist Ace is freeloadin' at my place, and he damaged my lawn. We've already subdued him. How do you plan to handle this?" Perona said.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and then the voice continued, "This idiot, wasn't he looking for someone? How did it turn into a fight? How is he now?"

"Him? He wants to become seaweed now," Perona said with a suppressed laugh.

"..." 

There was another pause on the other end. Then the voice continued, "I'm Marco, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division. Let me talk to your captain."

"No problem," Rodney said, taking the Den Den Mushi. "Hello, Marco. There are two options here: Berries or a Devil Fruit. You can choose."

Marco said, "Ace came looking for you, and you actually captured him."

"Yes, I'm glad he came to see me, but he damaged my place. He needs to compensate for that. When I captured him back then, Vice Admiral Garp used Rokushiki in exchange for him. What are your plans?"

Marco felt a headache coming on. Ace was right; this guy was really someone who had fallen into a pile of money. Why did he have to be so difficult?

However, he also guessed that Ace had made the first move. When he left, Ace had mentioned that he wanted to apologize and spar with Rodney. Even after being defeated like that, he still had a strong desire to prove himself.

But he was puzzled by Rodney's confidence in defeating Ace and his casual tone in speaking to him.

"Hey hey, aren't you supposed to be friends? You're trying to extort and blackmail us like this?" 

Marco wasn't foolish; as the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division, he was quite shrewd. He could sense the playful tone in Rodney's words was more pronounced. He half-jokingly continued, "If you tie up members of Whitebeard Pirates, the consequences can be quite severe."

"It's alright; I can handle Ace by myself. But I'm too lazy to move. You guys come with money yourselves," Rodney replied.

"Fine, you can keep him. We don't want him anymore." 

Marco spoke into the Den Den Mushi. Then, it seemed like there was a conversation on the other end, and finally, Rodney heard Whitebeard's voice, which was as majestic as ever. 

"Gurarararara, are you Rodney, the Shichibukai? Are you trying to threaten us by using my beloved son?"

Although you couldn't see the person, his voice exuded an overwhelming dominance.

One of the remnants of the old era, a man from the same generation as Pirate King Roger, hailed as the world's strongest man. After Pirate King Roger's death, he became the true unchallenged ruler of the seas.

However, Whitebeard, who cared deeply for his family, had no interest in the position of Pirate King. He only wanted a peaceful life with his family, pursuing freedom on the open sea.

"Whitebeard? So what if you're one of the Four Emperors? Don't you need to be reasonable too? Your son damaged my property. If he can't compensate for it, as a father, shouldn't you compensate on his behalf? Also, I'm curious, Edward, you and Garp are from the same era, and Ace is Garp's grandson. How should your generations be counted?"

The color drained from Whitebeard's face. Wasn't the conversation about compensation just now? Why did it suddenly shift to this?

Rodney's people couldn't help but laugh. Once again, he had successfully derailed the conversation.

Robin chuckled and said, "Captain, you're truly something."