As time passed, their relationships grew increasingly close and familiar.
Ron and Kuina would sometimes pause their sword training to go up the mountain and have fun with Ace and the others.
Diving into the water.
Catching stag beetles.
Competing against a boxing monkey.
Luffy couldn't even defeat one, while Ron took down the entire monkey troop, earning the admiration of Ace and the others.
During this time, the old bears and giant tigers of the mountain were consecutively defeated and tamed by Ron.
Sometimes, he would take Luffy and the others to ride the giant tigers, laughing joyfully as they traversed the mountains.
For Luffy and the others, the strong, calm, and mature Ron had become the goal they aspired to.
One day, a heavy rain fell on the mountain.
The five hurriedly looked for a place to shelter from the rain and finally found a tree hole.
They all squeezed in together, gazing at the rain curtain in front of them.
It was unclear who laughed first.
Then all five started laughing together.
Ron, who had been tense in his pursuit of strength, rarely felt completely relaxed.
Having fully integrated into this youthful body, he felt closer to this world.
"Ha ha ha, Ron, Kuina, I've decided," Luffy said cheerfully, "When I become the Pirate King, I want you guys to be my Crew Members just like Ace and Sabo!"
"No way," Kuina directly refused him.
"Why?" Little Luffy looked at her in confusion.
"My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman, not to be a pirate," Kuina said firmly.
"Oh, well, what about you, Ron? Will you become my Crew Member?" Luffy looked at Ron.
Ace, Sabo, and Kuina all focused their gazes on him.
Looking at the rain curtain outside, Ron turned to the four and smiled, "I won't either."
Sabo curiously asked, "Ron, you're so strong, yet you still train so hard. Are you aiming to be the strongest in the world like Kuina?"
"No, I'm training to enjoy life better."
The four looked at him, bewildered.
"Think about it; if you're not strong enough, can you eat good food, drink fine wine, go wherever you want, and do whatever you feel like doing?" Ron said seriously to the four.
"So, my goal is to become a traveler with absolute strength, aiming to enjoy life!"
"This… what's the difference from being a pirate?"
"Of course!" Ron replied without hesitation, "I'm not interested in that great treasure, I don't plan to steal from others, and I have no intention of dominating the seas or ruling over an area. How can that be considered a pirate?"
Ace, Sabo, and Kuina were left speechless by his words.
So that's the reason you train so hard?
That's quite a unique perspective.
Luffy scratched his head, "So, being a traveler is even freer than being the Pirate King? Then I don't want to be the Pirate King anymore; I want to be a traveler too!"
"Little Luffy, you can talk about becoming a traveler when you can hit me once," Ron said, raising his hand to flick his forehead playfully.
Little Luffy rubbed his forehead and grinned at him, laughing foolishly.
Ace looked at him fondly, saying, "You fool, Luffy."
In that moment, everyone burst into laughter.
These joyful and harmonious days did not last long.
The concern Sabo had always felt eventually came to pass.
His father, the noble Outlook III, issued a missing person notice, plastered all over Goa Kingdom, to search for his whereabouts.
Late at night, he looked at the missing person notice in his hand, glanced at Ace and Luffy, who were still fast asleep beside him, and made a decision.
That day, after finishing their training, Sabo called Ron aside to talk to him privately.
Two days later, Sabo vanished from Mt. Gorbo without a word.
While Ace and Luffy frantically searched the mountains for him, Ron arrived at the bandit house.
Inside the bandit house, Dadan was chewing on a cigarette, gazing thoughtfully at a missing person notice in her hand.
"Hey, boss, there's a kid outside looking for you," someone said.
"Huh? A kid?" Dadan stood up. "I'll go take a look."
She walked out of the house.
A black-haired boy with a long sword strapped to his back stood in front of the house. Despite the fierce-looking bandits around him, his demeanor was surprisingly calm.
"Who's this little brat?" Dadan approached him and asked. "What do you want?"
"Before leaving, Sabo asked me to find an opportunity to give this letter to you," the black-haired boy said, causing Dadan's expression to change slightly.
She took the letter he handed her but did not rush to open it. Instead, she looked at him and said, "I heard that Ace, Sabo, and Luffy are training with a boy around their age. That boy should be you, right?"
Ron did not confirm or deny it.
"Did Sabo… say anything else to you?"
Ron glanced at the missing person notice in her hand and spoke to the fierce-looking yet kind-hearted woman before him, "He said he's going back to settle things with that family. If everything goes well, he will return soon."
Dadan's grip on the missing person notice loosened slightly.
"Then why didn't he say this to us face-to-face?"
"I asked him that too. He said if he told you face-to-face, he might not have the courage to go through with it."
"That… foolish kid!" Dadan wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "It's just going back home. Is it necessary to be so dramatic? Now everyone's worried about him."
Ron didn't say anything.
But he knew very well how much Sabo hated that family.
Choosing to return and resolve everything alone took immense courage.
"Well, I'll take my leave now," Ron nodded to her and turned to leave.
"Thank you for helping Sabo and saving Luffy," Dadan's voice rang out behind him, making him pause briefly.
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