Ling, Sabo, Ace, Luffy, and Naguri sat around a firepit.
After rescuing the four boys, Naguri had led them to his camp. About thirty minutes from Grey Terminal and another thirty from the pirate coves.
Right now, the sun was setting in the west. It was around 6:30 in the evening.
In the center of the camp, a giant boar was slowly roasting over the flames.
Since Luffy was always hungry around this time, so Ace, Sabo, and Ling hunted on their way to the camp.
Somehow, the topic had shifted to pirates. Who else but Luffy could bring that up?
Naguri revealed that he was once a pirate a captain of a crew called the Naguri Pirates.
"What?! You're a pirate?" Sabo said, wide-eyed.
"I always thought you were just some weird old guy obsessed with building weird stuff."
"Every time I saw you in Grey Terminal, you were getting hassled by someone."
Ace silently nodded. He, too, see the old man being pushed around now and then.
But Luffy...
He was thinking of something else entirely.
The way Naguri scared the giant bear earlier reminded him about Shanks.
"Hihihihi." His giggling the entire time.
"You guys know nothing! That's how real pirates are!" Luffy declared proudly.
"Like you know anything, you brat," Sabo shot back.
"I do! Shanks never kills people for no reason!" Luffy argued.
"Oi, it's done. Let's eat," Ace interrupted, slicing meat off the boar.
He handed everyone a portion.
"Oh, thank you," Naguri said with a nod.
"So, what's a pirate captain doing in a place like this?" Ace asked.
Sabo and Luffy turned their attention to the old man.
Ling, meanwhile, just kept eating. He knew where this conversation was heading.
It was playing out the same way it did in the anime. Soon, Ace would storm off. Then Sabo and Luffy would follow.
And that would give Ling a chance to have a private talk with Naguri.
'I only agreed to fight the bear because there's a chance he will appear. Even if he didn't appear, we could just outrun the bear.'
'If Ace insisted on staying and fighting, I could just send him ten seconds into the future. While he's gone, I'd bait the bear and run toward the pirate cove.'
'Although his camp ended up thirty minutes away from the coves, by running south I'd pass right by it.'
'And based on his personality, he would save me. That was Plan B, but it doesn't matter. Plan A worked.'
Naguri puffed on his pipe. "Sure, I'll tell you. Ever heard of Gold Roger?"
Ace's expression darkened.
It was Luffy who responded. "Yeah! He's the King of the Pirates!"
Naguri nodded.
"We challenged him to a fight once. Got beaten badly. Not long after, my crew disbanded."
"Eh..." Luffy's excitement died a little.
Sabo and Ling listened in silence.
"And that's how I ended up here," Naguri said, exhaling a trail of smoke.
"But still...you fought the Pirate King! That's so cool!" Luffy grinned.
Their conversation drifted on. Luffy asked more questions, his eyes shining with curiosity.
Ling didn't say much.
Since he was already training Luffy, Luffy didn't ask Naguri for guidance.
Sabo, however, kept glancing at Ace.
Then Ace stood up and walked away.
"Huh? Where'd Ace go?" Luffy asked, blinking.
"Well... about that," Sabo said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"He left when you two are talking about the Pirate King. You see, Roger... he was Ace's father."
"WHAT?!" Luffy shouted, practically falling over.
"Don't bring it up around him," Sabo warned quickly.
"He'll kill you."
"Why?" Luffy looked confused.
"I think... he hates him," Sabo said quietly.
Sabo stand up ready to go back.
"Ling, Luffy." Sabo called.
"I'm gonna talk to Naguri for a bit," Ling spoke up.
"Alright. Come on, Luffy." Sabo waved him over.
Once the two left, Naguri turned to Ling.
"What is it you wanted to ask?" he said, puffing his pipe.
"How did you scare off that bear... just like that?" Ling asked.
Pretending not to know nothing about conqueror's haki.
'I need answers.'
Besides his plan to make Naguri saved them, he also want to feel conqueror's haki from him.
Although he had a goosebumps, he couldn't comprehend the energy felt in his skin. Maybe because Naguri didn't target them he only felt goosebumps.
"Oh? So you're curious about that," Naguri said, puffing calmly on his pipe.
Ling nodded.
"Conqueror's Haki. Ever heard of it?" Naguri asked.
'He just said it outright?'
He remembered how in the anime Naguri made Luffy chop trees for weeks as an act of training.
"No," Ling answered, shaking his head.
"How can I obtain that power?" he asked.
Naguri didn't answer immediately. He stroked his chin.
"Hmm… Do you have an ambition?"
"Yes. I want to travel the world," Ling replied.
Naguri stared at him for a moment. Then, without another word, he stood up and walked away into the trees.
Ling remained seated, blinking in confusion.
'What does he mean…'
"Ambition"?' Ling thought, staring into the fire, lost in thought.
"What did he mean by that?" Ling wondered.
'Kingly ambition? Something like that?'
Questions circled his mind as he made his way back toward Dadan's house.
"Kaido did say something like that… He asked what kind of ambition Luffy had after he learned he have haki."
"And King asked Zoro if he had any 'kingly ambition' too becausehe noticed zo has it too."
When he arrived, Luffy and Sabo were already asleep, lumps on their heads.
Looks like Luffy still asked Ace about Roger, even after Sabo warned him not to.
'Should've come home sooner,' Ling thought with a silent chuckle.
Ace was asleep too, his body completely wrapped in a blanket.
They forgot to meditate for sure.
'Everyone's beat up today.'
He glanced around at the scene, memories of the day playing back in his head.
'After sparring with Blackie and the baboons, we went straight into punching boulders… and Luffy into trees.'
'Then we sparred with each other, and we usually just goofed around and rested after. But today we tried to take on the second-strongest beast on Mt. Colubo.'
Ling leaned against the wall, folding his arms.
'Even now, I'm still not strong enough to beat that bear. There's a huge gap between us. I thought a month of training would be enough… guess I was wrong.'
He sighed, eyes drifting to the dark ceiling above.
'In another month, Garp might show up. He's probably still tied up with the Reverie preparations. Right now, the Marines must be busy escorting the nobles to Mariejois.'
"Fuck it! I'm sleeping early today."
A second later...
Zzzzz…
Three more weeks passed. The routine continued.
Until…
Ling tightened his fist. He stepped forward, focusing everything into his right arm.
His muscles bulged, veins popping under his skin. With a full-force swing...
BAMMM!
The boulder he'd been punching for over a month and a half finally shattered. Rock exploded outward, debris everywhere.
Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all came running at the sound.
"You're awesome, Ling!" Luffy beamed.
"Damn it, he's getting stronger than us…" Sabo muttered, clenching his fists.
"I'll be next one to shatter his boulder!" Ace declared, slamming his fist into his palm.
"Grrr! I can't lose either!" Luffy shouted, turning to a random tree.
BAMMM!
The tree split clean in half.
Ace and Sabo stared, eyes wide.
Luffy fue to frustration of being left behind, he unknowingly split a rondom tree in half.
Luffy's eyes sparkled with pride, fists trembling with excitement.
Ling calmly covered his ears.
"LET'S GOOOO!!" Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs.
Another three weeks passed.
After shattering his first boulder, Ling moved on to a new one. Ace had broken his two days ago. An hour after that, Sabo smashed his as well.
Luffy, on the other hand started punching a boulder too, but even after a week, not a single crack visible.
Ace and Sabo had stopped their sparring with Blackie and the baboons for now as they were far stronger than them.
Luffy could now also beat all seven together, but he still had trouble so he will keep training with them alone.
In their own sparring matches, Ling remained undefeated. Sabo had finally overtaken Ace, leading by three wins. Luffy, meanwhile, still hadn't earned his first victory.
As for Ling's Rokushiki training, he could now use Shave to kick four times instantly, sustaining it for about thirty seconds before burning out.
His Tempest Kick had improved too. Like Shave, he can kick four times instantly, sending out a small shockwave.
With Moonwalk, he could stay airborne for two full seconds.
"Since Ling, Ace, and I broke our first boulders and Luffy beat Blackie and the baboons, I say we celebrate!" Sabo suggested.
"I know a good place," he added.
"Let's go!" Ace, Ling, and Luffy said in unison.
After thirty minutes of walking, they arrived at the front of the Great Gate the only entrance into the city of the Goa Kingdom.
An old man in a cloak, covered from head to toe. A large hump protruded from his back, and he leaned heavily on a walking stick.
A gate guard stepped forward and stopped him.
"Hey, what's in the package?"
The old man replied in a hoarse voice, "Animal pelts."
"Go in," the guard nodded, waving him through.
Before reaching the inner city, one had to pass through Edge Town a rough area swarming with outlaws and thugs from the city above.
As the old man walked into a narrow alley, a group of thirty men surrounded him.
"Hey, old man! Leave your stuff and walk away!" sneered a thug holding a baseball bat.
The others laughed, forming a tight ring around him.