In the blink of an eye, several years passed, and it was now the year 1510 of the Sea Calendar.
Hera, Luffy, and Ace had grown into young children, spending their days exploring the mountains and forests and building a secret base.
"Sigh." Sitting on a tree branch, Hera's expression was slightly lancholy.
"Hera, why are you sighing again?"
Luffy looked up at the sighing Hera and asked in confusion.
"A little brat your age wouldn't understand my troubles."
"Don't mind her. She's been like this since she was little, talking as if she's so old when she's clearly the youngest sister."
Ace replied irritably from the side.
"She's the strongest among us thanks to her Devil Fruit, yet she's always gloomy. I have no idea what she's thinking," Sabo whispered to Ace and Luffy.
Up in the tree, Hera overheard them: "You three, are you badmouthing again? Just wait until I get down there and send you flying!"
Luffy quickly shouted, "Run! The Demoness is about to show her power!"
Hera flipped down from the tree: "If you've got the guts, don't run! I can beat all three of you even without Zafkiel!"
"Tch, who wants you to hold back? Catch us if you can!" Luffy didn't forget to look back and taunt her as he ran.
"Fine, you said it. Don't bla for being ruthless once I catch you."
Hearing Luffy's words, Sabo roared at him, "Luffy, you idiot! Her bullets can accelerate her own ti! If you want to get beaten, don't drag us into it!"
"It's too late to cut ties with Luffy now. Zafkiel!"
As Hera called out, a massive golden clock face appeared behind her. The chanical gears visible within looked exquisite and mysterious, and the clock face bore twelve ancient Roman nurals symbolizing ti.
For so reason, only the '1' in the upper right corner glowed; the other eleven numbers were as dim as if they were sealed.
She was even clad in a spirit dress identical to Kurumi's, albeit a child's version. Two antique rifles, one long and one short, representing the Hour Hand and minute hand, appeared in her hands.
As she grew over the years, Hera realized that the girl she thought she was saving back then was no ordinary person; it was quite possible she hadn't saved a girl at all, but had been hit by a truck.
Zafkiel had suddenly appeared while Garp was training her. At the ti, Garp and the others were shocked by the sudden appearance of the dress, clock, and rifles.
However, Hera simply claid she had eaten a strange fruit that tasted terrible, and Garp didn't press further.
After all, there were too many strange abilities on this sea. Garp simply assud Hera had eaten a unique Devil Fruit.
However, after discovering Hera's ability, Garp's frequency of training the four of them increased. Perhaps in his eyes, he didn't see four children, but the future Four Admirals of the Marine.
"Zafkiel, First Bullet!" The glowing '1' on the clock flashed. Hera raised a gun to her own head. Seeing this, the three fleeing boys weren't shocked; instead, they ran even faster.
After a gunshot, Hera's figure suddenly vanished. With a flicker, she appeared behind Luffy. "So you're the brat who just called a Demoness, huh?"
*Thud!* With a loud sound, Luffy's head collided hard with Hera's fist, and a large bump swelled up.
Luffy clutched his head and wailed, "Damned Demoness! It's bad enough you have a weird ability, but your punches hurt so much!"
"This is the Fist of Love, so it's supposed to hurt. Don't worry, the other two will be joining you shortly."
Along with Hera's voice ca two gunshots and two screams.
Hera held Ace in one hand and Sabo in the other, throwing them both next to Luffy. She then spoke provocatively:
"You two are clearly older than yet so weak. I can't feel at ease letting you go out to sea alone like this."
Ace and Sabo also clutched the bumps on their heads, looking at Luffy with resentful eyes. If he hadn't said it was okay for her to use her ability, they wouldn't have been caught so easily.
Ace replied, "Tch, when old man Garp cos back, I'm definitely going to learn that ability of his to predict your position. Also, your Devil Fruit is too ridiculous. Is that teleportation?"
Hera smiled and explained, "That's not teleportation. I'm just so fast that you can't keep up."
Hearing Ace's words, Sabo said irritably, "That's Observation Haki, Ace, you idiot! That's not sothing we should be worrying about at our age."
Ace argued back defiantly, "Then I'll find a powerful Devil Fruit when I go out to sea!"
Hearing this, Hera suddenly thought of Ace's performance in the original story. Although there were many debates among fans about his true strength—so saying he was Commander level, others saying he was Flying Six level at most—
Everyone generally agreed that he relied too much on the ra ra no Mi and neglected his Haki training. As Roger's child, his talent for Haki never truly manifested. Thus, she spoke to Ace with a solemn expression:
"Ace, my fruit is related to ti, so I sotis see glimpses of the future. Even if you get a Devil Fruit, don't rely on its power too much.
For the truly strong on the sea, only Haki can transcend everything. If you don't value Haki, in the future I've seen, you will beco the cause of a great war."
Seeing Hera's serious lecturing, Ace also beca serious: "I get it. With that huge clock behind you, anyone can tell your fruit is ti-related. I'll rember what you said today."
Seeing that Ace had taken it to heart, Hera felt a bit more relieved. But then, thinking of Blackbeard's strength—being able to scar Red Hair's eye—she thought to herself:
"Well, there's still plenty of ti. I'll just have to find a way to save Ace when the ti cos."
Sabo heard Hera's words and added, "I think I heard the adults talking about it back ho too. Pirate King Roger didn't have a fruit ability; he beca a powerhouse of the sea relying solely on his Haki."
Luffy chid in, "Then Grandpa Garp's punches hurt so much, is that also a Devil Fruit?"
Hera raised her fist again: "Idiot, that's the Fist of Love. He doesn't need a Devil Fruit to make it hurt."
Hera continued, "But then again, if you really encounter a good Devil Fruit, you should still eat it. Didn't Grandpa Garp say last ti that the current Three Admirals are all Logia users?"
Ti passed quickly amidst their happy bickering, and in a flash, it was already night.
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