Chapter 124 - 124: Whitebeard's sons!

…

"Well, hello brother, we were just talking about you…" Edam who was still sitting said and nodded at him with a grin on his face.

"Edam…?! What are you doing here?" Ace exclaimed with astonishment. 

Although it's been years since they saw each other, he had instantly recognized this unique hairstyle and monkey tail behind his back. 

"Well, didn't I promise back then? That I would keep the three of you in check if you were to one day do bad things?" With a laugh, Edam jumped from his balustrade and walked toward Ace.

"Humm, yeah, you did…" Ace pondered and then nodded.

"I recently came back from a distant place where there is no communication and learned that you gained some devil fruit power, burned to ashes some towns, and even joined Whitebeard's pirates…"

"Well, yes, but, they were all pirates towns…" Ace explained with a wry smile and dodged his gaze.

"You made a name for yourself already huh…" Edam smiled. "Anyway, it's good to see you, Ace!"

He exclaimed as they both grabbed each other's hands and shook them.

"Heh, you too, Edam!"

…

*A minute later*

Edam was leisurely sitting crossed-legged in front of a crossed-legged Ace as he spoke.

"Well, it kinda surprises me though, that you would come under an Emperor's wing, it doesn't look like you, Ace, I even doubted if it was truly you…" Edam said and glanced at Whitebeard and his crew.

"Ah… yeah, I'm surprised at it myself, but this crew is incredible and perfectly suited me. Although the old man forced me at the beginning, I slowly came to respect him and see him as a father…"

"Good for you…" Edam said with a heartfelt expression.

"Oi, Ace, so it's truly your brother?" A guy with a black hat asked.

"Oh, yes guys, it's my brother, I hope he didn't cause too much of a problem…"

"Not much, but it was kinda a shock to learn that you had a brother…"

"Haha, I forgot to mention it…!" Ace laughed uncaringly.

Edam was quietly observing Ace. "Haha, you've changed a lot, huh, you were a true savage before… Big Sis Makino did a good job it seems…"

"Well, yes she did…"

"Hey wait a minute, I still don't know what you're doing here..." Ace looked at him curiously and added.

"You're not here as a marine to arrest us, are you?" With this said, the guys around looked at Edam warily.

"No, I'm not even in the Navy anymore…" Edam laughed softly and shook his head leisurely.

"What? But the Newspaper said that you were even having a promotion to Vice-admiral…" Marco, who still had the newspaper, said and pointed at the news.

"Vice-admiral…?" Edam narrowed his eyes at the mention of this rank. 

"Those dishonest bastards, they didn't even want to give me this rank before and now that I've left it they give me this rank…?" He felt a bit pissed off by this move from the Navy and added.

"Hmph, that's certainly just to keep the good appearances and to give a good image of the Navy, after all, what's better than a young navy defeating an old generation pirate right?"

"Oh, so, you left the Navy?" Ace asked once again.

"It's been three years now, and I decided not to return and as for those guys in the newspaper, I only helped them because they were my friends and grandpa personally asked me…"

"Are you truly alright with leaving the Navy?" Ace asked quietly.

Edam replied with an amused smile. "It's fine, I was disobeying a lot…"

"Haha…"

"Oh, and as for what I'm doing here…" Edam exclaimed slightly. "So the matter is like this…"

He then proceeded to explain the matter at hand.

"....Having learned that you were recently made the fleet commander of the second fleet, I took this chance to pay a visit…"

"Oh, so that's how it is… wait, so, you and the Sea Warlord…?"

"Ex-Sea Warlord, she's not anymore, and she's your sister-in-law, you better respect her, or I'll beat the shit out of you…"

"Yeah, yeah… as if you could, I've grown stronger, you're not ready you know…" Ace smiled confidently.

"Oh, you wanna have a go perhaps, Mr. Fire Fist…?" Edam smiled faintly.

"Bring it on…!" Ace jumped to his feet as fire burst out of his body. The ship's temperature quickly rose as a result.

"Heh, let's see your progress…" Edam stood up with a smile.

"Take this!" Ace laughed as he charged his fist with flames and yelled.

[Fire Fist!] A vast amount of flames was blasted forward like a sea of flames to burn everything to ashes.

"Ace, you idiot!" Some guys shouted as they dodged by jumping on the sides.

"Careful, the stone statues!"

But Ace didn't listen at all and continued with a smile. 

Although he didn't see this brother of his for years, Ace knew that he would have to go all out against him.

And seeing this attack heading toward him, only a faint smile could be seen on Edam's face.

A mass of red energy encompassed his arms as he flung it to the sky and Ace's massive attack was redirected to the sky.

Edam looked at the redirected attack and said.

"Not too shabby but you will have to do better if you want to have a decent fight, Ace…"

An oppressive aura quickly overtook the place, as the whitebeard's crew began to sweat a bit.

"What the hell is wrong with his Haki?" Marco looked at Edam while sweating a bit.

"..." Whitebeard watched in silence.

"Heh, let me show you, grandpa taught me his [Fist of Love]…" Edam's right fist started to glow a bloodthirsty color. 

"Garp's attack?" Whitebeard was kinda intrigued by his statement.

A high amount of Ki began to furiously condense into his charging punch, ready to put to misery whoever was gonna meet it.

"Here take this!" Edam smiled and shouted. [Fist of Love signed by me!]

"Bring it on-..." Ace shouted but was interrupted.

"That's enough, stop it, Ace…" Whitebeard interrupted the two before they could fight.

Ace "...?"

Edam "...?"

"You're not his opponent…"

"What?" Ace exclaimed in shock, unbelieving.

"And the ship isn't gonna make it if this continues. If you two want to fight, go do it on an island, not here…"

"What? But we've always held the fleet commander contest on the Moby Dick…" Ace blinked and said.

"I said no, that's all, your brother and you are clearly natural-born destroyers…"

"And you brat…" Whitebeard looked at Edam in the eyes. "I understand the situation, so, bring that little girl so that she can turn my sons back…"

"Sigh, alright then, what a pity, and here I wanted to have some fun…" Edam somewhat sulked in Whitebeard's direction and then sighed as he waved his hand in a direction and a spatial gate opened up.

"Hancock, you can come out…!" He called out toward the gate.

And nearly immediately, a lovely and enchanting figure with her black hair dancing in the air came out of it to land right into Edam's embrace as the latter caught her by her slim waist.

Her purplish-dark-blue eyes quickly swept by everyone but didn't hold a single ounce of respect for anyone except perhaps for the old Whitebeard and Ace.

Her arrival sent the crew into an uproar, first of all, because of their enmity with her and secondly because of her world-toppling beauty.

"Look, this is my brother Ace… Ace, she's your sister-in-law, Boa Hancock…" Edam took Hancock's hand and officially presented her to Ace with a smile.

Being presented in front of everyone as a sister-in-law, Hancock's face blushed a beautiful pink color. The way he was announcing it didn't hold any hesitation whatsoever.

"Ace is it? A pŀėȧsurė to meet you..." Hancock nodded politely in his direction.

"Ah, yes, yes, it's a pŀėȧsurė to meet you too haha…!" Ace greeted politely and laughed awkwardly before looking at Edam in amazement and shock as he exclaimed.

"I thought you were lying…!"

"Huh? Why would I?"

"To act cool of course…"

"Are you stupid…?" Edam looked at him with a strange expression.

"Uh, well…"

"...You're an idiot indeed, she's another reason why I left the Navy..." Edam then slightly shook his head and then looked at Hancock with a smile. "It's fine, no war is planned, you just have to do your magic…"

"Hn, alright then…" Hancock looked at him and nodded as she went in front of the stone statues and positioned her hands in a heart-shaped stance.

[Awaken…] a heart-shaped beam then shot forward and encompassed all the stone statues.

The pirates that were petrified slowly began to change back into their bodies of flesh and blood.

"Ah…?"

"A goddess…?"

"Marry me…!"

After they changed back, they all began to shout incoherent things.

Hearing them, Hancock's complexion turned into contempt and disgust, repulsed by their clamor..so much that she was gonna change them back to stones if it wasn't for Edam stopping her in time.

…

"Ah, Uru, you ugly bastard, I thought that I wouldn't be able to call you like that anymore…!"

"Shut up, Oro…"

The Whitebeard pirates had a small reunion while Edam and Ace started to discuss all and nothing.

At some point, Ace even asked to throw a banquet to celebrate the peaceful negotiation and Whitebeard accepted the request without difficulty.

Even Edam who wasn't too much into alcohol started to drink, in fact, Hancock too took a glass, taking some small sips from time to time. 

Her cheeks turned rosy real quick as she stayed near Edam, never leaving his sides, her eyelashes fluttering slightly seemingly slowly falling asleep.

The atmosphere rapidly relaxed while food and alcohol started to flow in quantity.

Being a foodie, Edam quickly became friends with the cooking chef called Thatch as well as all other commanders.

…

…

"Wa no Kuni huh? I never went there no…"

"Well, it's a beautiful country but that bastard of a Kaido took control of it…" Ace said, seemingly having a grudge against the Emperor.

"The Emperor Kaido? You have enmity with him…?" Edam asked curiously and drank.

"Tch, yeah, I do, the whole crew does… I even suggested to the old man to wage war against him but the casualties that would result from this war were just too great…"

"You want a war? What did he do to you for you to wish a war?"

"Ah? No, he didn't do anything to me…" Ace had a serious expression as he then began to tell a story.

…

… 

At the end of the story, Edam was a bit stunned by the story while his heart seemed to melt due to the beauty in his arms. 

Indeed, Hancock had already quietly fallen asleep into his arms and was sleeping like a baby to Edam's enjoyment as he ċȧrėssed her rosy cheeks while listening to Ace's story.

"So, this Oden Kozuki was killed just like that…?"

"Yeah…"

"I knew that the Emperor Kaido was a scum, but not so much…"

"Right?"

"Yeah, but, well, I would expect no less from a pirate…" Edam and then looked at Whitebeard.

"Now that I think about it, even the strongest man in the world can have some difficulties huh?"

"Gurarara, I'm only one man with one heart, brat, in the end, I'm still human…"

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot..." Ace softly exclaimed and then looked at Edam right in the eyes.

"...?"

"Edam, how about you join the whitebeard pirates…?" Ace said in all seriousness. "My goal is to make the old man the Pirate King!"

"...Pfff hahaha, are you seriously asking an ex-marine to join your pirate crew?" Edam laughed heartily.

"Didn't you say that you weren't a marine anymore?" Marco who was near asked.

"Yeah but-…"

Ace interrupted him. "Look, even the old man has agreed to it…" He pointed toward Whitebeard.

"...?" Edam looked with a stunned expression at Whitebeard.

"Gurara, so what do you say kid…? Will you become my son?" Whitebeard, who was still sitting in his chair, asked calmly and peacefully.

"You're serious…?"

"Of course..."

"..." 

Face with this particularly unusual question, Edam was for a reason or another speechless.

In normal times, he would have given a clear and loud 'No thanks' right away but something seemed to obstruct him.

Did he ever long to have parents?

The answer was… of course he did...

In the past, while Ace and Sabo were rejecting their parents, he, on the contrary, always longed for a dad or a mom.

...Learning that Luffy and he didn't even have the same parents kinda hit him in the feeling too, crushing his hope to see this father or mother that wasn't his, to begin with.

And so faced with this proposal, he certainly felt some hesitation about it.

"..." Edam lowered his head in silence before a faint smile slowly came upon his face.

"I… I really appreciate the offer but, I'll have to refuse…" He had a sad smile on his face.

"What? But, why? You're not even the Navy anymore…!" Ace frowned and asked refusing to accept this.

"I'm sorry Ace, but, first of all, for a certain reason, I can't tolerate having a mark on my back…" With that, he took a glance at sleeping beauty in his arms and then added.

"Secondly, having this mark will mean becoming a pirate, and being a pirate means being someone who goes on an adventure, right? Me? I'll only destroy the course of this adventure if I come with you, I wish for you to enjoy your life fully and merrily… but I'm just not fit to become a pirate, this is not my path, not anymore…"

"..."

Edam then lifted his head to gaze at Whitebeard before giving a faint but heartfelt smile.

"I sincerely thank you for your proposal old man, having a father like you would have been an honor and although I can't accept you as my father today, I truly thank you for taking my idiot of a brother under your care…" 

With that said, Edam sincerely bowed his head to Whitebeard. "He's a reckless idiot but please, continue to take care of him…"

"You… don't say that, it's embarrassing…" Ace said embarrassed.

"..." Whitebeard didn't say a thing and only observed this youth that was bowing to him for taking his brother in.

He didn't know Edam for long, but one thing was very clear with him… he's clearly not the type to bow to anyone, in fact, he was clearly someone who dominated over others.

Him, bowing to someone was either a sign of true respect and/or heartfelt gratitude toward the other party.

And someone who can bow his head for his family was a quality that the Emperor had a particular liking for.

After a while, a smile formed upon Whitebeard's face.

"Gurarara…"

"...?" 

"...?"

"Gurarara, I don't care, today, I have another son…!" Whitebeard laughed and exclaimed toward the sky.

"Hah?! But, I said I won't have the mark, old man! This is out of the question!" Edam exclaimed and protested. He was adamant about the mark on the back.

"Gurara, accept the mark or not, heaven has spoken, as a child of the sea, from today onward you are also one of my sons…!" Whitebeard declared out loud and drank his bottle of alcohol.

"..." Edam looked on, speechless. "What a stubborn old man…"

"Pfff, hahaha!"

"That's so like you, Pops!"

"Let's, party guys!"

"Tomorrow I will tell this to some journalists, haha!"

…

Edam didn't really oppose it and only got along for now. They were all kinda drunk, so he only treats this as some fleeting joke and nonsense of theirs caused by the alcohol.

Not wanting to put negative pressure on the atmosphere, Edam drank with them and enjoyed the moment.

…

The sun went up and down as the night quickly showed up.

By the time, the night fell, a lot of comrades were also gone to sleep.

...

Hancock who had been sleeping for hours despite the noise slowly started to wake up with her eyes fluttering, hazy, and still a bit fading away. "Edam? Where are you?"

Her hand started to search aimlessly before it was caught by Edam.

"I'm just here…" Edam smiled at her.

"Wanna go home?"

"Hnn, let's go home, I want to sleep on a bed…" She replied faintly and yawned still ready to sleep again.

"Alright then, that's enough for today…"

…

With that, Edam bade farewell to the rest of the still-standing Whitebeard's members to their disappointment, especially Ace.

But, well, every parting had to be done...

…

While carrying Hancock, Edam then directly returned to Amazon lily to put the princess to sleep on her bed.

However, just as he stepped into the room and went into the bed, instead of sleeping, Hancock strangely started to climb on his ċhėst.

Her body was unusually hot tonight…

…

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I was hesitating to write a whole nfsw chap but… laziness hit me….