Among the three brothers, Sabo set out to seek freedom, Luffy to become the King of the Pirates, and Ace to find the meaning of his life.
Even challenging Whitebeard was part of that, hoping to become famous across the seas and gain recognition not as the King of the Pirates' son, but as himself.
In the end, he was defeated by Whitebeard. Yet in Whitebeard's indifference toward the King of the Pirates's blood, Ace finally felt acknowledged. He found his purpose; he called Whitebeard father and wanted to help him become the next King of the Pirates.
In short, this kid had always lacked family warmth and companionship, which made him a little rebellious.
Ian shook his head and put away the Den Den Mushi, and said calmly: "What burden? How bad could it be?"
"Haha, my identity's quite a burden."
Hearing that, Ace's downcast expression quickly shifted into a carefree grin, as if the sadness from before never existed. "You know, I'm actually... Ah, forget it. If I said it, it might bring you disaster."
"Isn't it just that you're the King of the Pirates' son? What's there to hide?"
The child of the devil? Big deal. His own wife was the Devil Child, and his daughter had inherited that cursed blood, too!
Ian said casually: "As for disaster..."
His eyes turned slightly amused. "I'm guessing that lousy old man of yours thought I already had enough bad luck in my life. One more or one less doesn't matter, so he stuffed you into that wine barrel."
Then, gritting his teeth, he muttered: "That damned old man!"
Ace: "...?"
Ace blinked, stunned by Ian's words. He didn't quite get what the man meant.
Could Ian be... a pirate wanted by the World Government?
But even so, what did that matter? He himself was the last bloodline of the King of the Pirates, the child of the devil hunted by the World Government.
If his identity were exposed, they would definitely send admirals to capture him.
His blood itself was a sin.
Did Ian not understand what being the King of the Pirates' son meant?
Ace scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to continue, and after a pause asked: "Mr. Ian, do you actually know what it means to have the King of the Pirates's blood?"
"I know, I know."
Ian nodded dismissively. "Roger's blood, the one who stole his own subordinate's woman... Ah, let's not get into that!"
He waved it off nonchalantly. "Truly impressive, though."
Ian: "..."
For some reason, after hearing Mr. Ian's reply, Ace fell silent where he stood.
He had never heard such an answer before. He couldn't tell whether Ian was telling the truth or just mocking him, leaving him unsure how to react.
And... Fighting your subordinate over a woman?
Was that true?
Why hadn't Gramps ever mentioned something like that?
To be honest, Ace's curiosity was now piqued, and even his earlier sadness faded away.
He was about to ask when…
"Alright, the psychological counseling for the King of the Pirates's son ends here."
Ian interrupted Ace before he could speak. "There's a pirate ship approaching. You can handle them. I don't keep freeloaders on my ship."
"Pirates?"
Ace blinked in surprise, but before he could respond…
Bang!
The ship suddenly jolted as if it had hit something.
A moment later, a loud, arrogant laugh echoed across the sea.
"Hahaha! I didn't expect to run into a ship this late at night! Looks like it's my lucky day!"
Ian: "...?"
Ace snapped out of his daze and exclaimed in surprise: "There really are pirates! How did you even notice them?"
"Can you handle it yourself?"
"Of course!"
Although Ian didn't answer his question, Ace grinned confidently. "I'm pretty strong, you know!"
Without any hesitation, he pressed his hand down on his hat, kicked off the deck, and leaped toward the pirate ship.
From where he stood, Ian could now see the unlucky pirate captain, a man missing one leg.
Their flag bore a skull with only a single leg beneath it.
"I'm the great pirate Lundin, with a bounty of 1.5 million Belly!"
The man shouted while grinning wickedly. "Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over everything on your ship! And you, yeah, the guy watching, is that axe of yours made of gold? Bring it over here!"
"... 1.5 million Belly? I haven't seen a pirate with such a small bounty in a long time."
Ian's mouth twitched as he stared at the overly confident pirate, unsure what to even say.
That amount wasn't even worth swinging his axe for.
"I refuse!"
Ace said without a moment's hesitation while grinning as he faced the pirate. "And besides, a pirate worth just 1.5 million Belly isn't what I would call great!"
"You ignorant kid!"
The condescending tone made Lundin's face twist with rage. "I'm the pirate who's going to conquer the Grand Line! What do you know, kid? I'll sink you into the bottom of the se—"
But before he could finish...
Bang!
Ace's fist smashed into his face, sending the so-called great pirate flying before he even realized what happened.
The rest of the pirates stood frozen in shock.
"Captain Lundin!!!"
Unsurprisingly, a pirate worth only 1.5 million Belly was no match for Ace.
Maybe in East Blue, where a bounty of five million could make you a regional tyrant and seventeen million could earn you the title of East Blue's overlord, 1.5 million was considered decent.
But against Ace, it wasn't even close.
Even if his current strength wasn't yet at the level he would reach years later after setting sail, and he hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, he could still handle small fry like these easily, even if they all attacked at once.
Watching Ace fight, Ian could roughly gauge his power.
He was already strong enough to enter the Paradise; no wonder that after eating a Devil Fruit, he managed to conquer it within a year, enter the New World, and become one of the most talked-about Supernovas on the sea, so impressive that even the World Government wanted to recruit him as a Warlord of the sea.
Before long, Ace finished off the pirates, adjusted his hat with a grin, and turned to Ian. "How's that, Mr. Ian? I told you I was strong!"
"Not bad."