As the child called out to Raidon, both Garp and Luffy paused their scuffle. Luffy blinked in confusion, just realizing there was a stranger in their home.
Garp, too focused on "fixing" his grandsons' futures, had completely forgotten to introduce Raidon, leaving everyone bewildered.
"Oh! Sorry about that," Raidon said with a casual grin. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Marisvallis D. Raidon. I'll be living here from now on."
Both Ace and Luffy flinched slightly at the mention of the initial "D."—a name they both shared despite not being blood-related.
"Hey, Ace! He's got a 'D' in his name like you and me!" Luffy shouted excitedly, his eyes gleaming as he pointed.
"Tch, it's just a letter," Ace muttered, brushing it off. But Luffy was relentless, bouncing in place, trying to drag excitement out of Ace. Eventually, Ace gave in—by punching Luffy on the head.
"OW! You're always hitting me!" Luffy whined, rubbing his head. "That didn't even hurt! I'm made of rubber now!"
"Wow, so you ate a Devil Fruit, huh?" Raidon asked, feigning surprise. Of course, he knew exactly what Luffy had eaten—the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, disguised as the Gomu Gomu no Mi.
"Yup!" Luffy beamed. "Shanks gave me a weird fruit, and now I'm a rubber person! My punches are strong like pistols!" He stretched his arm like a slingshot, proudly showing off.
"Cool," Raidon said, chuckling. "Want to see mine?"
Luffy nodded with such enthusiasm that it looked like his head might pop off. Even Ace, who tried to act aloof, leaned in with quiet interest.
Raidon took a breath, then activated his Zoan powers. The cabin's surroundings shimmered before frost bloomed across the floor. In seconds, the entire room was coated in shimmering ice, chilling but harmless. Everyone—Luffy, Ace, Garp, even the mountain bandits—stood on frozen ground, stunned.
"WHOA!" Luffy's jaw dropped. "How come your powers are so much cooler than mine?! No fair!"
"Wahahahaha! Awesome, right?" Raidon laughed like a kid, despite his adult mind. He didn't care. Watching Luffy throw a tantrum was too fun.
Ace, meanwhile, was awestruck. A single power could alter the environment entirely. He couldn't help but imagine how different things might've been if Sabo had such a power. Maybe he would've—
He stopped himself. Ace didn't know Sabo was still alive. Not yet.
"Don't worry, Luffy," Raidon said with a reassuring smile. "Your power might seem weak now, but if you learn to use it well, it can become incredible. If you want to be Pirate King, that won't stop you, right?"
Luffy blinked, then clenched his fists. "Yeah! You're right! I will be the Pirate King—no matter what!"
But then, a shadow loomed behind him.
"Still saying that nonsense, huh?!" Garp growled, a massive vein bulging on his forehead. "I told you, you're going to be a Marine!"
He drove his fist into Luffy's head with comedic force, making Luffy cry out in pain. Ace immediately stepped between them.
"Stop hurting Luffy, you stupid old man!"
"Old man?! I told you—call me Grandpa!" Garp bellowed, cracking his knuckles.
Raidon couldn't help but laugh. Their chaos was infectious. This family, full of warmth, stubbornness, and fiery dreams, was exactly as he remembered them in the stories.
'I love this scene so much,' he thought with a smile, fanboying silently over the legendary Monkey family.
"Do you want to eat one?" Raidon suddenly asked Ace, his tone casual but his eyes sharp. "But I must warn you—if you eat a Devil Fruit, you'll lose the ability to swim for the rest of your life."
Ace paused mid-conversation with Garp, blinking in surprise. Garp, meanwhile, gave Raidon a suspicious glance, clearly wondering how he came into possession of such rare and powerful fruits.
"What? Seriously? You'd give me one?" Ace asked, trying to gauge if Raidon was joking. He didn't yet understand the true rarity or danger of Devil Fruits, having never stepped foot on the Grand Line.
"Yeah," Raidon nodded. "I've already eaten one, and I have an extra. You can't eat two—doing so would kill you. But a lot of people eat them without knowing exactly what powers they'll get. Devil Fruits are rare, even in the Grand Line."
Ace narrowed his eyes. "If they're so rare, why would you offer one to me? You don't even know me."
Raidon smiled faintly. "Let's just say I owe Garp a debt. And I'm repaying it by looking out for the grandsons he cares about, though he's too stubborn to admit it or change for them."
The explanation was a half-truth. In reality, Raidon just wanted Ace to have a stronger Devil Fruit—one that matched his potential.
"What kind of abilities does it give?" Ace asked, now genuinely interested. He had dreams—to surpass Gol D. Roger, the father he never wanted, and carve his name into history as Pirate King.
"I don't know for sure," Raidon replied with a smirk. "You'll have to gamble on it."
To add drama, Raidon turned part of his torso to ice and reached inside as if rummaging through frozen air. With a quiet gesture, he accessed his system inventory and summoned the Chira Chira no Mi—a fanon Logia-type fruit. It granted its user crystal-based powers: glittering constructs of extreme hardness, capable of offense, defense, and immobilization. Unlike Aokiji's cold, this was about beauty and brutality wrapped in one.
He pulled the fruit out and presented it to Ace, the light refracting off its jagged facets like glass. Ace stared, wide-eyed.
"You're saying this fruit… could give me real power?"
"It could," Raidon replied. "But power always comes with a price."
After a moment's hesitation, Ace clenched his jaw and took a bite.
"So Ace, what are the abilities that you have?" Luffy, who was curious, immediately asked as he had just seen the fruit that looked like a crystal.
"I became a crystal human," Ace said, while suddenly using his Devil Fruit, which summoned a large pillar of crystal in front of them, with a pink color.