Ace's eyes scanned the scene as he assessed the situation. His eyes twitched when he saw a man, who was called Lucci according to Trafalgar Law, treating Luffy violently. Even Ace could tell that he was gripping onto Luffy's arm really tightly, and not to mention the fucking gun he was pointing at the smaller boy.

Ace almost wanted to attack this Lucci guy and rip his head off. But Ace managed to hold himself back while thinking of Trafalgar's plan. This had better work, or Ace'll burn the world to crisp.

"You don't even have the right to touch him," Ace hissed, glaring at Lucci and the noble present. "Let go of him this fucking instant."

"What's with all these peasants showing up? Eh?" Lucci scoffed. "Do you even know who you're talking to?"

His condescending tone made Ace want to smash his head against the glass window and shatter his skull to pieces…even if skull-crushing was Sabo's thing.

Ace shifted his eyes to Sabo, who was looking absolutely horrified. His face scar was completely gone, as predicted by Trafalgar. God, did he look like a mess. What the fuck did they do to his best friend? No, Ace didn't even want to listen when Trafalgar offered an explanation.

He turned back and looked at Luffy.

His precious brother's face was mixed with happiness and worry, along with the fresh bruises that he got from Lucci. Ace clenched his fist, nails digging into his own palms.

Don't worry, Lu…I'll protect you this time.

"It's you who don't know who you're talking to," Ace spat back.

"Y-you peasant brat! You're talking to future royalty!" The noble in top hat fumed. "Lucci! Get him too!"

"Future royalty?" Ace sneered aloud. "I think not."

The other palace guards had caught up and now were surrounding the scene. Servants, maids, butlers… Even the king and princess appeared, making their way through the crowd.

Ace's heart was beating like crazy. Could anyone blame him? He was in front of a huge number of people, all eyes on him, and even the ruler of the country was there! He was about to make a bold statement.

Oh god, what if the plan doesn't work? What if Trafalgar was wrong for once? What if Trafalgar just wanted to fuck with him? Fuck, it'd be the end for all of them.

"Ace."

He could hear Luffy's voice through his flood of thoughts. He blinked at his little brother. Luffy's eyes were filled with trust and his smile screamed 'It's okay', even when he was the one being held at gunpoint.

It's okay.

It's going to be okay.

Ace took a deep breath and recalled what the next step of the plan was.

"Outlook III! You'll be arrested for committing two crimes!"

There. Ace said it.

The crowd started gasping and whispering, but they were generally confused. The noble in question looked unamused and unfazed…guess Ace would need a little more explanation.

"First," Ace took a deep breath again to calm his racing heart. "You tried to cheat royalty. You pretended that Sabo was your son and attempted to marry him to the princess."

"Sabo is my son!" Outlook retorted impatiently.

"No, he isn't. You've already cut off ties when he was a child. He's not your son anymore and there is nothing you can do to restore that," Ace edged on.

To nobles, cutting off ties was something serious and cannot be undone. It was common knowledge amongst nobles, or so said a certain information broker. When Ace heard about Sabo's plight, he felt anger boiling in him. Abandoning a child in the middle of the sea to die and yet he still had the guts to come back for him! The bastard deserved worse than death.

As he thought, the noble started to panic.

"How did you know that! I'm sure I've covered it-!" The noble screeched and then halted when he realised what he was spouting. "I-I mean, that's not true! What nonsense are you saying! You don't have proof! Guards! Get this stinky liar!"

"Second," Ace continued, paying no attention to the babbling noble. "You've attempted murder on that boy!"

Ace pointed at Luffy, who looked as confused as the crowd.

"So what?" Lucci sniggered, tightening his grip on Luffy's arm such that Luffy gave a little yelp. "He's just a peasant. Nobles are allowed to kill peasants."

Ace clicked his tongue. Oh, how wrong was this snotty man. Wrong on so many levels.

"That boy…is a noble," Ace announced.

And then everyone, even Luffy, gasped, "Eeeeeeeeeeh?"

Sabo looked the most shocked out of the bunch, staring wide-eyed at Ace and then at Luffy. Ace couldn't blame him, really. After all, he had the exact same reaction when Trafalgar told him.

He debated whether to continue with the plan. On one hand, it sure was working fucking well. On the other hand…the next bit of information was something Ace didn't really like.

Fuck it. He had come so far.

"That boy is not just any noble," Ace huffed. "He is Monkey D. Garp's grandson."

A second wave of gasping.

Of course. Everyone knew who Garp was.

Even amongst nobles, they had ranks and the Monkey D. family was quite high up there. Plus, Garp's acts as a renowned hero earned him enough respect and admiration to rival that of royalty. He was in the police force despite his blood lineage allowing him to slack off like other nobles, but that in turn gave his name even more power.

Bottom line: Luffy belonged to a noble family which had higher status than the Outlook family. And Ace hoped that this fact would fuck Outlook III and his servant up so bad.

Lucci immediately unhanded Luffy and backed away. Luffy looked stunned as ever, but well. He probably didn't even know that his own grandfather was famous.

"A bluff!" Outlook III started screeching. "A bluff! It has to be a bluff!"

Ace rolled his eyes. This guy was so annoying.

"Old geezer," Ace called out.

The crowd parted into two, making way for a broad-chested, muscular old man to walk through. The scar over his left eye made it easy for anyone to recognise him. He scratched his beard while flipping some papers in his hand before handing them to Ace.

Outlook III's face went pale and Ace could see him sweating profusely. "G-garp…"

"Oh, you wanted proof of you cutting ties with Sabo? Here it is," Ace said as he threw the stack of papers dramatically at the noble's face.

The papers contained information of eye witnesses, records of the Outlook family and whatever shit that could be used against Outlook III's case. Ace received the information from Trafalgar but didn't bother to read it fully. All he had to do was hand it over to Garp, because apparently the information was erased presumably by someone from the Outlook household.

Ace hated to rely on Garp. He still loathed him with all his heart and never wanted to see or talk to him…but Ace had promised that he would do anything to protect Luffy, even if that meant swallowing his pride and asking help from the person he despised the most.

Ace couldn't even disagree; Garp was the best option when they were on the territory of the nobles. If they didn't use his name to their advantage, they wouldn't win.

Ace smirked with satisfaction as Outlook III's face distorted with terror. Ace guessed that the outcome was okay; he even let Garp deliver the final blow.

"Outlook III, you're under arrest."