Ace's Lost Potential

"Anyway, why did you call us all of a sudden?"

Buggy decided to ignore Alvida's shenanigans and asked.

"And, where is Vice Captain?"

"He is not here." Luffy said and pointed at two ships.

"New people have joined us. But you know, I only accept certain people on this ship. I need you to help them join the fleet and assign them jobs based on this."

It was a big paper with several things written on it.

Buggy didn't read it completely instead, he asked with some confusion.

"Is that it? You didn't need to call our full force for this, right?"

"We might go to war against the Marines here."

Luffy pointed at Sabody and replied.

Buggy instantly became speechless.

"Captain, can you not start a war everywhere? Especially Marines. Marine Headquarters is very close to here. How are we supposed to win?"

"Of course, we will win," Luffy said without hesitation.

Robin immediately took over the conversation.

"According to Liam, Luffy might get into a conflict with the Celestial Dragon here. Because of that, marines might send two Admirals this time alongside several more marines to wipe us out."

Hearing that, Buggy rubbed his head and asked.

"Are you sure? They want to fight against Whitebeard. Why would they waste sending two admirals here? Aren't they afraid of Whitebeard's attack?"

Robin nodded with a serious expression and said.

"Yes, because we are also connected with this war."

"What?"

Buggy almost jumped from the deck as he shouted.

"How are you connected?"

"Ace is Luffy's Brother."

She answered.

Buggy blinked twice as he looked at Luffy and remembered his encounter with Ace.

"I don't see any resemblance."

"Ptfff! We know."

Nami and others burst into laughter as they replied. But they quickly got serious as Robin continued.

"But they are brothers. Although they don't have a blood relationship, they are indeed close. So, this time, not only Whitebeard Pirates fight the Marines. But we will as well."

"Marines don't want to face two emperors at the same time, especially with our top-level fighting power. So they might release two Admirals or even three Admirals, Buster Call here."

Hearing that, Nami raised her hand and asked.

"But why would Whitebeard go so far for Ace? I can understand Luffy since they are brothers. But going to the Marineford, one person might be no different than seeking death, right?"

"Even a single Admiral can fight an Emperor for a while. Two admirals can easily block Whitebeard. With Garp the Hero and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, they have more than enough power to destroy Whitebeard."

"Whitebeard should be able to see this. So, why are they so sure he will attack?"

This time, it was Buggy who answered her question.

"Because for Whitebeard, nothing matters more than a family. It might be someone who is barely connected to the Whitebeard, but if you touch that someone, you are going to war against Whitebeard."

"Unless you are one of the Emperors. Then, the fuse of war must be someone very important to Whitebeard."

"Firefist Ace was someone Whitebeard invited after that guy failed to challenge Whitebeard. Not only that, he was also able to become Captain of the Second Fleet of Whitebeard Pirates."

"So, he will attack Marines."

"But what I don't understand about this war is why they want to show this war to the world."

Buggy touched his chin and spoke.

"What does that mean?" Usopp asked.

Franky spoke.

"Even if Marines fight an Emperor, they don't need to broadcast it. Because this way, they can simply publish an overwhelming win against an Emperor by falsifying the actual report."

"You know, Whitebeard is known as the strongest man in the world. He has the power to destroy the world. So, why would Marines risk showing their deaths and destruction to the public?"

Buggy nodded after Franky's explanation and raised his question.

"Then, there is only one reason. Ace's identity must be important. But even if Ace is not Luffy's real brother, he is still raised by Garp, so they possibly can't publish this matter."

"So, what else does he have?" Robin questioned while staring at Luffy.

Luffy was a bit overwhelmed by her stare. Because he might know the answer. If it were before, he wouldn't think much.

But since he had gotten smarter, he knew this was an important piece of information that Ace wanted to keep a secret.

But since it was going to be published by Marines, he might as well say it out loud here.

"Because Ace's father is Gol D Roger, the Pirate King."

"What?" Buggy roared. His face was full of disbelief and even uncertainty.

After all, it was clear that Garp was Roger's nemesis. He knew just how much Garp and Roger fought on a daily basis.

If there was ever a person that Buggy feared the most in the Roger Pirates, it wasn't Whitebeard or Shiki the Golden Lion.

It was Garp, the Mad Dog.

He was a dog that would chase them to the end of the earth. Fortunately, there weren't many powerhouses supporting Garp otherwise, they would've been captured for sure.

"Are you sure? Are you serious about this?" Buggy caught Luffy by his shoulders and asked. He couldn't believe it or even accept it.

After all, this was too much of a breaking news to accept.

"If that's the case, it makes sense. Roger's bloodline still exists in this world, and he is protected by Whitebeard."

"If they can kill Ace and destroy the Whitebeard in front of the world, the era started by Roger would start to vanish. Simply because the Four Seas and Paradise are under the control of the marines."

"If this is the case, then we can't let them destroy the Whitebeard Pirates. I was wrong before. If they are defeated by us, it will boost our strength and reputation."

"But if they are destroyed by the marines, not only will the world stop believing in the power of the Emperor, but it will also collapse the Straw Hat Railways."

Robin spoke with a serious expression.

"No wonder!"

Luffy's mind didn't register much from Robin's explanation. But her certain words reminded him of Liam's warning.

"Ace is too protected. He has no less potential than yours. He is also three years older than you. But you have already caught up and surpassed him."

"On the other hand, under the rule of Whitebeard, his ambition has been suppressed so much so that he can't even use Haki properly."

As he remembered those words, Luffy clenched his fist. He didn't want to think about it, but he knew Liam was right.

Even when he was weaker than Whitebeard, Ace once challenged Whitebeard.

But now, he didn't even have the strength to fight an Emperor. It's not that Luffy was being arrogant, but Ace was truly ridiculous.

When he was small, despite having Devil Fruit, he never won a single battle against Ace.

It wasn't because he was weak. He was growing stronger, and so was Ace.

Because of this, he never defeated Ace.

But now, he had stopped growing. He had stopped getting stronger. He was truly happy that Ace got a family that he had always wished for.

But because of that family, Ace forgot to train, forgot why he left Windmill village, and became a pirate.

"Whitebeard must die."

For the first time, Luffy gave a death sentence to a person. If he knew just what kind of man Whitebeard was, he might not have done it.

But without properly knowing him, Luffy only knew he was an obstacle that was suppressing Ace from reaching his potential.

Luffy heavily sighed and shook his head.

"I don't want to say this. But Ace has become weaker. Not in strength but in heart. Liam once said Ace has no less potential than me, but now I have surpassed him in just five months."

"Ace also grew stronger when he was moving around the world with his original crew."

Hearing that, Robin remembered something and said.

"Now that you mention it, he did fight Jinbei, one of the Warlords of the Sea, who is stronger than Crocodile and Moria."

"And, it seems like he challenged Jinbei in just a few months of his journey. After that, he lost to Whitebeard and joined him."

Luffy nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, Liam is right about him. According to him, Ace awakened both Haki on his own. And, he also had Logia Devil Fruit. If Liam hadn't properly guided us and used that potion, we would've been weaker than Ace."

"But after that, Ace didn't seem to have grown much in strength. According to Liam, Zoro, and Sanji will soon be at the level of Emperor Deputy after learning advanced forms of Haki."

"So, I can imagine the gap in strength between them and an Emperor. If Ace had continued to train with the ambition that he had before, he would've been as strong, if not stronger, than me."

"That's why if Ace wants to grow after this war, Whitebeard must die."