Chapter 5

[Next day]

I woke up, and most of the pain was already gone. I stood up and shook Ace awake. He also stood up, and we sneaked out of the hideout into the forest.

We stopped when we were far from the hideout.

Ace looked at me with a frown.

"Is what you said yesterday true?"

I smiled.

"Aw, were you looking forward to joining my crew?"

He turned angry.

"Like hell, you could beat me!"

"Hahaha, calm down. I was lying about becoming a Marine."

"Then why did you say that!? Do you really think that he will just let this go? He will take you with him, even if you don't want to."

I smirked.

"Well, that is the plan."

He looked confused.

"You sure can be stupid sometimes."

He glared at me.

"Alright, calm down, and let me explain my plan to you. I want Garp to train me for five years, and then I'll come back here with an excuse, and we'll start our journey."

It seems like the gears finally started moving in his brain.

"Oh, I get it now. If you get trained by him in marine ford, you'll become really strong. But what about me?"

I smiled and patted his head.

"I'll train you once I come back."

He slapped my hand away.

"Stop treating me like a little kid! We are the same age!"

I patted his head again and smirked at him.

"What are you going to do about it?"

*BAM*

He punched me in my face.

"Hahaha, how did you like that?"

I smiled menacingly at him.

*SLAP*

I just gave him a big slap to his face.

He held his cheek in shock.

"How… how dare you! You dare slap me!"

I smiled at him.

"A little bitch like you deserves a bitch slap, hahaha!"

Ace glared at me.

"Fine, if you want to play like this."

When he was about to come at me, I pointed behind him with a shocked look on my face.

"GARP!"

He quickly turned around.

"What, where!? Huh, what are you talking about? He isn't here."

When he turned around, I was already long gone.

"KEEEEEEN!"

'Too easy.'

I ran down the mountain and into the village. When I arrived in the village, I directly ran into Partys Bar. This is the bar that Makino owns. I went in and sat at the bar counter.

Makino smiled at me.

"Welcome back, Ken."

I smiled back.

"Yo, give me the usual."

"Coming right up. Where is Ace?"

I smirked.

"Probably searching for a ghost."

"KEN!"

I looked at the entrance and saw an angry Ace.

I smiled at him.

"Yo, Ace. We were just talking about you. Have you found the ghost?"

He was about to come and hit me when Makino interfered.

"Ace! How many times do I have to tell you? No fighting in my bar!"

He turned a little pale and sat down next to me.

"Give me the usual." said Ace

I looked at him.

"So, are we good?"

I held out my fist. He smiled and gave me a fist bump.

"Don't think that you'll be able to pull that trick on me again."

"Hahaha, we'll see."

Makino served us our food and drinks.

"Here you go. Ace, you better eat all your vegetables this time. Why can't you be more like Ken?" Makino said while Ace was picking out all the vegetables.

Ace ignored her and ate only the meat.

We left after eating five big plates of food each.

'Poor Woop Slap. I told Makino to put everything on his tab since he is my "grandfather" and she totally fell for it.'

"Ey Ace, I have to go do something really quick. You can go on ahead."

He nodded and went back into the mountain. I went into a shop and bought a pen and a notebook. I went to find a quiet place and started to write the events of One Piece in Chinese. My boss was Chinese, and he sometimes taught me something. He also lent me a couple of Chinese language books.

'I should be really grateful. He helped me out a lot. I hope he is doing well.'

I, of course, didn't remember everything, but I remembered enough. When I got to the Dressrosa arc, I started to write about sugars powers and who she turned into dolls. After I finished writing everything, it was already midnight. I hid the notes somewhere where no one would be able to find it, even if it was on accident.

I went back to the hideout to sleep.

[11 months later]

Ace and I are standing opposite of each other.

I smiled at him.

"This is your last chance to surrender, Ace."

He didn't bother listening to my words.

"Just start the countdown already."

"Alright, fine. 3… 2… 1… START!"

We ran towards each other, and Ace started with a kick towards my leg. I didn't try to dodge or block it. I just went straight for him and grabbed his collar before he managed to hit me. I held on to his collar and twisted my body, so my shoulder was against him, and I planted my feet firmly on the ground.

*BAM*

I threw him over my shoulder into the ground. I sat on top of him and placed my dagger on his throat. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't do anything.

"You lost."

"Sigh."

He stopped struggling.

"Fine, I'll join your crew."

I smiled at him. "

It's good that you know your place."

He glared at me.

"Calm down, I was just joking."

I stood up from him and sat down against a tree. Ace came and sat next to me.

He looked at me.

"How did you become so strong?"

'Zoro training.'

[AN: Using stones to train. Like strapping stones on your legs and then go for a run or using them as makeshift dumbbells. And every time it becomes easier, you use heavier stones.]

"I'm just amazing. But since you are now part of my crew, I'll train you."

I could see his eyes shining.

'It isn't something revolutionary. It's just using stones to train.'

"Alright, let's start your training immediately. Pick up that stone and start running with it."

"That is easy."

He picked up the stone, and when he was about to run, he fell down face first.

"Didn't you say that it was easy?"

He glared at me.

"I just tripped over something."

"Yeah yeah, keep making excuses. Once you are able to run with that stone, we'll have a spar again."

I closed my eyes and laid against the tree.

'Even though it seemed like I was easily able to beat Ace, that was only because I had better technique. Even though my physical strength is better than his, it's not a huge difference.

"Sigh."

'I'm just a normal human being. I have no cheats or anything. Ace probably has some amazing talent. I should be proud of myself for beating Gol D. Roger's son, who is the same age as me.'

I fell asleep while Ace was trying his best to run with the rock.