It all started when Luffy accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit that the Red Haired Pirates brought with them to the Foosha Village. It was later revealed that Shanks stole this precious Devil Fruit from the World Government. This act further deepened our curiosity about what Shanks’ intentions were with the Gomu Gomu no Mi, aka Hito Hito no Mi, Devil Fruit, as his crew was strictly made up of non-Devil Fruit users. It seems like we have an answer to this mystery after decades, as One Piece Chapter 1169 revealed major information about Shanks’ goals with Gomu Gomu no Mi.
Spoilers Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Gomu Gomu no Mi and Shanks. Proceed with caution.
Shanks May Have Originally Planned to Hand the Gomu Gomu no Mi to Ace
For a long time, we didn’t know if the members of the Roger Pirates were aware of their captain’s son, Portgas D. Ace. At the start of One Piece Chapter 1169, Gaban confirmed that he learned about Ace’s existence after Garp told him about it. Gaban then passed on this information to Shanks when the latter visited Elbaf on a mission to warn King Harald. Shanks was obviously surprised to learn that his captain had a son, and he immediately declared his love for him by saying that Ace was his little brother.
Then, Shanks went on to say that Ace might become the Pirate King of the new era, following his father’s footsteps. But Gaban remarked that the Pirate King title is not hereditary. However, Shanks’s optimism and high hopes for Ace might have grown further over time to the point where Shanks might have wanted to hand over the Gomu Gomu no Mi to his captain’s son.
We still didn’t receive a concrete answer as to why Shanks was present in Foosha Village in the East Blue all those years ago. However, One Piece Chapter 1169 suggests that after Shanks learned about the existence of Roger’s son, Ace, he might have sailed to the East Blue to look for him. Then, give him the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika Devil Fruit to let Ace complete the goal that his father couldn’t.
It should be noted that Roger remarked that they were too early upon reaching the Laugh Tale. Maybe that is why Shanks placed his bets on the younger generation, directly on Roger’s son. But we all know what happened later on. Shanks’s original plan was twisted by fate, and Monkey D. Luffy ate the Devil Fruit that was meant for his sworn brother, Ace.
So, Ace might have been the second coming of Nika if not for Luffy. However, fate had different plans, and Ace became the fire user with Mera Mera no Mi later on. True to Gaban’s words, Ace was burdened with expectations and eventually died tragically.
