One Piece - Heaven Defying Comprehension!

Ace felt warmth spread throughout his body. The food he had just eaten was quickly digested, and the energy was absorbed by every cell at an astonishing speed.

"Is this complete absorption?" Ace clenched his fist instinctively, feeling stronger than before.

Just by eating, his physique improved, granting him the kind of body that those monsters in the pirate world had. Ace had read the original work, and it left a deep impression. In the pirate world, the so-called monsters possessed digestion and absorption abilities beyond normal humans.

Endless amounts of food were rapidly digested and absorbed, resulting in their superhuman physiques. Yet, in his case, the complete absorption of food felt even faster and stronger than what those characters exhibited.

Ace was quite satisfied with the ability he had unlocked this time. 

The best part was that he no longer needed to rely on milk like a typical baby. He imagined with a shudder how Dadan would feed him milk. The thought alone made him cringe.

"Hey boss, has this kid gotten bigger?" Dogra, the shorter bandit, asked hesitantly while Dadan was still recovering from the shock.

"I think so," Dadan stammered, coming back to her senses. After taking a closer look, her many years as a bandit told her that Ace had indeed grown.

But this phenomenon was hard to believe. Even if she had no experience raising babies, no creature, not even a Sea King's cub, could grow noticeably after just one meal, right?

"No doubt, this is the baby Garp brought over. No surprise it's a bit extraordinary, huh." Unlike Dadan, the bandits quickly accepted the situation.

After all, this baby had been brought by Marine hero Garp. Wasn't it normal for strange things to happen around big shots like him? Things that ordinary people couldn't comprehend?

"Um, can you put me down?" Ace asked, smiling at Dadan, who was still staring at him.

"Gah?!?!" Dadan's eyes widened in disbelief, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. "You... you can talk?!"

She instinctively put Ace down. After all, Garp had told her this kid wasn't even ten days old yet.

"I was in my mother's womb for twenty months. Doesn't it make sense that I can talk?" Ace replied with a calm smile.

The bandits all nodded in unison, suddenly finding this explanation perfectly reasonable. After all, if Garp had brought the baby, anything was possible!

"..."

Dadan nodded absentmindedly before snapping back to reality. How reasonable! Since when was it normal for a baby just a few days old to talk without any teaching?

"Uncle, I need your help." Ace pointed to the biggest and strongest bandit, Magra, and asked politely.

"Me?" Magra pointed at himself, a little surprised. When he saw Ace nodding affirmatively, he hesitated but walked over.

"Can I punch you? I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger," Ace asked earnestly.

"Huh?" Magra was taken aback, but seeing how polite Ace was, he chuckled and waved it off.

"Sure, punch away!" Magra pointed at his stomach, thinking this was just a child's playful request. He laughed heartily. 

"Then I'll be impolite." Ace bowed respectfully.

"So polite!" The bandits immediately warmed up to him. Even Magra who was called by Ace was grinning.

"Alright, give it your best shot!" Magra said, still chuckling, but before he could finish his sentence, a powerful force slammed into his abdomen.

Magra felt as though his insides were being turned upside down. He flew back, crashing into the wall with a loud thud.

"!!!"

The bandits' eyes nearly popped out of their heads, and their jaws hit the ground. What had they just witnessed?!

A baby, just a few days old, had knocked their strongest man flying with one punch!

"Well, that worked nicely." Ace looked at his fist, satisfied.

Before he was even born, Ace had been practicing the Turtle Combat Breathing Technique. Combined with the full absorption of the meal he'd just eaten, his physique was now strong enough to overpower an average adult.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect my punch to be that powerful," Ace said, walking over to help Magra up, apologizing with a smile.

"N-No worries," Magra forced a smile. He couldn't be mad at a baby—especially one brought by a big-shot like Garp! Getting beaten by a baby was one thing, but it was another entirely to admit defeat.

"I just ate and got stronger. Makes sense, right?" Ace said with a polite smile, looking at Dadan and the rest of the bandits, who were still frozen in shock.

At this point, even the bandits who had earlier thought everything seemed reasonable started twitching at the corners of their mouths.

How reasonable!

What kind of monster was this kid?!

But no matter what Dadan and the bandits thought, Ace had now officially settled into Dadan's home.