Maybe he was dreaming!! Maybe this wasn't a dream and maybe this was just a figment of his imagination. The huge woman came towards the small basket on which he was still lying and picked Ken in her arms.
Surprisingly her huge muscular arms seemed soft the moment she brought him up. She even flicked away the cigarette that was on her teeth to the other side of the room with her mouth. At first Ken got scared her strength might just crush him but surprisingly he was fine.
“Woman!! That cigarette better not cause a fire hazard to the house or else we would have to live among the mosquitos.”
"(&*&^*%)*%^&%&"
Ken heard her saying something which he didn't understand but among the words that came out of her mouth was 'Ace'. At that point he was sure!! This was really the One Piece world and her mentioning Ace with good emotions meant that he was still alive. He just wasn't sure on which year he was shoved into the hands of these bandits.
Has Luffy started his journey?
Or was there still time?
Will I get to see Sabo or is it still a daydream?
All those thoughts made him excited but then the hunger hit his train of thoughts like the sea train of Water 7. This made Ken cry. But apparently, his first cry was enough for a call as a big bottle of milk was shoved down his mouth soon from which he started sucking.
The milk brought him calmness again as he could again go through his thoughts that he had been thinking. Of course, at first he needed to finish the milk. The milk tasted different to him than the typical milk he used to have in his previous life. More tasty and definitely more fulfilling.
"This world is just built differently. The food here is definitely more nutritious than my world ever was. There must be a reason why the people are just stronger than typical humans."
Ken was having all these thoughts as he was put back into the basket again. Dadan ordered in her own language and spoke of something to her subordinates. Soon, the bandits left and it was Ken all alone in the room made of wooden walls and floors. Ken was still finding it hard to believe that he was in One Piece world but 2 days ago he accepted the fact that he was in a different world. Now he had to accept that this world was from One Piece.
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At least, he will have a good grasp of the normal happenings of this world and would have a better time navigating. All he needed to do now was to find out which period of time this was. Accordingly he needed to make plans and act.
And the answer to his burning question came fast and in a very weird way.
As he had finished drinking the milk, from the corner of his eyes he saw a young baby who looked 1 or 2 years old walking towards him with a small pace. His eyes had curiosity as he stepped slowly on the wooden floor very carefully as if making sure that nobody would ever know that he had stepped inside the room.
Ken's eyes went wide the moment he saw the baby up close. If he couldn't recognize the baby then everyone would call him a fool. The baby that just walked up to him was Ace.
The baby version of Ace. He could recognize him because he had seen his face in the movie Strong World as Garp had visited the baby Ace when Shiki fled Impel Down. Even if one didn't watch that movie he or she would still recognize the iconic face of Portgas D. Ace.
Ken almost had tears in his eyes seeing him in real life. He remembered how he had tears in his eyes when he saw him die. Such emotions were rare for Ken. Only a few scenes from anime could invoke such emotions in his heart and mind.
All those memories came rushing towards him in an instant. Seeing Ken was almost on the verge of tears, Ace suddenly picked up his pace and put his own finger on his lips indicating the baby to keep silent.
"Shhh!! Shhh!!"
This made Ken surprised and then he let out a giggle. He was surprised by the sudden movement of Ace and his fear of Dadan who apparently had stopped him from visiting him. But it didn't matter to Ken. He was laughing heartily seeing the works of Ace.
After laughing for a few seconds he calmed down. The answer to the year of his birth was here. He was 1 or 2 years younger to Ace which meant that was still a long time for the wheels of time to turn into the era which would change the world forever.
And in this small island he could easily gather power and strength in order to survive the upcoming era. But first, he needed to learn the language of this world.
"What is up with this world? They use English letters in Wanted Posters but use Japanese language to speak, or are the Wanted Posters different for the Japanese version of the anime. Ahh whatever! I hope my baby brain will be smart enough to learn the language. My inclusion in this world soon throws tremors into the distant future. I need to make sure that the butterfly effect I am causing is not strong enough. May Luffy really arrive here soon after his encounter with Shanks or else it would be a disaster in many parts and I don't want to see Luffy forced to be a marine."
Ken became self aware as he had to make sure that his butterfly effect wouldn't cause huge changes and he would have to make sure that the initial development of the characters of the three brothers.
Sabo was an important member of the group and Ace needed to meet Sabo no matter what. The young baby Ken who couldn't even walk had already started planning his future and he was looking forward to the adventures he would have to go through soon.