"Why didn't you get out of the way? Don't you know that if you pushed me away just now, you would die?"
"...Well?"
Ace looked at the still dazed Luffy with a dark face and asked in a deep voice.
"Ah...it seemed like I almost died just now, wuwuwu...wuwu...thank you for saving me."
"...Why are you crying?! It's so annoying!"
“┭┮﹏┭┮”
"Hey! Why are you running down here? Don't you know you will die?"
"But...if you die, we can't be friends."
Luffy tried hard to hold back the desire to cry, and choked out the reason.
"It's better to be dead if we can't be friends, right? Why do you want to be friends with me so much?!"
"because..."
"Can't you see how much I hate you?"
"Because...I have no other support! No one in Windmill Village wants to play with me. Grandpa will throw me into the mountains when he comes back! If you don't play with me either, I will be alone.
La! It’s painful to be alone!”
"Where are your... other family members?"
"There is only one grandpa."
Kazan looked at the two little babies, one big and one small, and he understood that Ace's journey of controlling his younger brother was about to begin.
"As long as I'm here, won't you feel uncomfortable?"
"Um."
"Would it bother you if I wasn't here?"
"Um."
——————
"Roger's child? If there is such a guy, it will be troublesome."
"That kind of guy is a devil who is not allowed to be born and is not allowed to live in the world."
"If people really knew about the existence of that kind of guy, maybe everyone would try their best to kill him."
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
——————
Ace squeezed the water pipe in his hand, lowered his head and asked quietly: "Do you want me to live?"
"Um!"
o(′^｀)o
Luffy nodded vigorously and answered super seriously.
"Really...but I hate crybabies like you."
Ace heard Luffy's answer and turned around. Only Kazan, who was not far from Ace, could see the uncontrollable secret joy on Ace's lips.
The younger brother has grown up.
Kazan nodded, left here directly, and returned to Caruso to see the unconscious Sabo. Poor Sabo didn't know anything yet.
"I don't like to cry! I'm very strong!"
"Strong? A grown man cries all the time. How can he be strong?!"
"I'm only six years old!!! When I'm nine years old like you, I won't cry anymore and will become stronger!"
"I didn't know how to cry when I was six years old! Idiot! Don't confuse me with you!!!"
...
Kazan could no longer hear what was being said clearly as he walked away. It was so noisy that Kazan almost thought it was Fon Klay, Monet and the other three noisy guys around.
"very nice."
The result of the second test was that Sabo and Luffy were not suitable to be pirates, especially Sabo, whose compatibility with pirates was simply negative, and Ace was the only one among the three who already had some shadow of a pirate.
.
——————
"For the third test, you all take off your shoes together and stand on this big steel plate."
Kazan held a steel plate with one hand that was large enough for five or six people to stand on, then raised it with one hand and motioned for the three little ones to come up.
A: "Huh? What's the point of this?"
S: "Isn't this another super dangerous test?"
L: "Come on, I'm not afraid of anything!"
This time, Ace Sabo and Luffy were no longer worried about the upcoming test. After experiencing the previous two tests, the three little ones were now obviously more courageous.
The three of them took off their shoes, Ace and Sabo worked together to throw Luffy up, and then jumped up again with their own strength.
"Hmph...just be mentally prepared for me."
Kazan began to heat the steel plate in his hand. After a while, the temperature of the steel plate reached 70 or 80 degrees, and then it remained still.
L: "Hiss...it's so hot,┭┮﹏┭┮."
A: "Idiot Luffy! It's just this temperature, don't cry!"
S: "It doesn't look like it will go up any higher. I just don't know how long it will last."
L: "Wow! Why is it shaking?"
A: "You two idiots, don't jump around, the board will move."
Because the three little ones were jumping around on the steel plate, which caused the plate to keep shaking, they almost lost their balance and fell. So they held on to steady their bodies and stood on the steel plate without moving.
But in this case, they have to endure the burning feeling under their feet, and their feet have become red.
"Ouch...I can't bear it anymore."
Luffy couldn't bear the pain in his feet and lay directly on the steel plate. Although other parts of his body would be burned, his feet really couldn't withstand it.
After a while, Luffy turned over and changed his back to be burned. At the same time, Sabo and Ace couldn't help but want to lift their legs, and the boards began to shake together.
"How can we repair it, holding hands!"
The three of them held their hands together, barely maintaining a balance.
After another two minutes, Sabo and Ace also learned Luffy's method, flipping and rolling on the board from time to time, just like barbecue.
five minutes later.
"Wow!!! I can't help it anymore, I'm going down!"
Luffy was already red from being burned, and he was panting heavily as he was about to jump off the steel plate.
"Jump down and you will fail the third test, you little losers."
Kazan's words obviously stimulated Ace, who stood up, directly grabbed Luffy, and carried him on his back, while he continued to bear the pain with his feet.
"Ace..."
"Shut up! I don't want to be treated like a waste because of you!"
"I'll help you."
Sabo also stood up, supporting Luffy's body with his hands to help Ace share part of the weight, but in this case he would also have to bear the pain with his feet.
After another two minutes, even though the three little ones took advantage of the opportunity and changed into a few more relaxed postures, their expressions still began to become ferocious, and Ace and Sabo even had the illusion that their feet had been burnt.
They almost couldn't bear it anymore. In their minds, they had been standing on this steel plate for a long time.
The high temperature continues to burn their willpower, but the persistence and 'ambition' in their hearts make them not want to just give up.
The worst thing is, I don't need these feet anymore, I'm not afraid of death, what's the point...
The consciousness of the three little ones began to become blurred, and Ace and Sabo were completely relying on instinct to grab Luffy's body.
A: "Hey...if we pass the test, let's become...brothers."
S: "How?"
L: "Brother?"
A: "I heard... as long as we drink the sworn wine... we will be brothers. I have some stolen wine."
S: "Then I won't go back... I'll just stay here... They won't care anyway."