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In a flash, a shockwave blasted across the entire deck.
Alvida was sent flying back even faster than she had charged in—slamming right into a bunch of pirates who had been standing there gawking. The unlucky pirates were flattened like pancakes on impact.
Even with the golden light shielding him, Luffy was pushed back a few steps by the blast.
He steadied his straw hat and looked up.
As the smoke cleared, a glowing figure wrapped in golden light appeared in front of everyone.
It was Byakuya.
At that moment, he felt kinda hyped—not only had he successfully transformed his internal energy into innate "Qi," but he'd also mastered the Golden Light Incantation from Mount Longhu.
Even though the amount of innate Qi in his body was still small, Byakuya had officially taken his first step into the world of Qi Practitioners.
As for the Golden Light Spell, he had only just learned the basics. For now, all it could do was form a protective aura around him—a sort of magic shield.
Later on, once he advanced his training, he'd be able to use Qi to form shapes, controlling the golden light like it was part of his own body—turning it into a deadly weapon.
All things considered, being able to pull this off in such a short time made Byakuya pretty damn happy.
He stood there with his arms relaxed, glanced at Alvida who was just getting up, and gave her a faint smirk:
"Did you really think I'd let you lay a hand on my captain that easily?"
Damn, that was such a cool line. Byakuya felt like his inner anime protagonist was about to explode.
"Wooooaaaahhhh!!!"
At that moment, Luffy walked up to Bai Ye with stars in his eyes, staring curiously at the golden light shining off his body.
"Whoa! So cool! Bai Ye, what is this? You're glowing!"
"Wait—did you eat a Devil Fruit too? Are you some kinda... glowing light guy now?!"
Glowing light guy?
Bai Ye's mouth twitched.
"What Devil Fruit are you talking about?! I told you already, I'm a taoist, alright?!"
"Ohhh, a Taoist, huh?"
Luffy nodded like he'd suddenly understood something, clenching his right fist and tapping it into his left palm like he'd just had a revelation.
"That's gotta be a super mysterious profession, right?"
What???
Bai Ye seriously doubted Luffy had any clue what a Taoist actually was.
"Devil Fruit?"
Hearing their conversation, Koby couldn't help but ask:
"You mean that legendary treasure from the Grand Line? That stuff's real?!"
Devil Fruits—those strange and rare fruits in the One Piece world—grant the eater powerful abilities, but with a catch: they lose the ability to swim, earning the nickname "cursed by the sea." For seafarers, these strange fruits came to be known as Devil Fruits.
"Yup, totally real."
Luffy answered casually from the side.
Suddenly, he stretched out his arm and waved it around in front of Koby, grinning.
"I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit! So I'm a rubber guy now!"
As if!
Bai Ye glanced at Luffy, who was happily showing off, and thought to himself: You didn't eat the Gum-Gum Fruit... You've got one of the legendary, top-tier fruits.
But he didn't bother saying it out loud. It wouldn't help anyway, especially not with Luffy's awakening.
Instead, he turned to look at Alvida.
Right now, the infamous East Blue pirate had clearly lost it.
"You damn brats! Every last one of you is dead meat!!!"
The round, heavy Alvida came charging straight at Bai Ye again, and for a second there, he actually felt a bit of pressure—like she was a wild boar in full charge.
But with that huge spiked club swinging toward him, Bai Ye didn't even flinch. In fact, he kind of wanted to laugh.
Yup, this is the world of One Piece all right—just brawling it out with fists. No real technique to speak of.
With just a light sidestep, Bai Ye dodged the attack, and the spiked club smashed into the deck with a loud boom.
Alvida grit her teeth hard and swung again, trying to follow up with an upward strike.
"You bastard! Bastard! BASTARD!"
But Bai Ye kept effortlessly dodging every blow. All her powerful, angry attacks missed completely.
From her point of view, she must've looked like some ridiculous clown, making a total fool of herself.
Furious and completely out of her mind, Alvida shouted:
"What kind of coward only knows how to dodge?! Come at me head-on if you've got guts!"
Her eyes were bloodshot as she panted, glaring at Bai Ye who was still completely untouched.
"Well~ I guess that's enough playing around."
Bai Ye waved lazily, and the golden light around him suddenly flared even brighter.
Whoosh!!!
In the blink of an eye, Bai Ye vanished from where he stood.
"Where'd that brat go now?!"
Alvida whipped her head left and right, frantically searching with her club still raised.
But before she could react—
BAM!!!
A glowing golden punch slammed hard into the back of her head.
Her mind went blank. Her eyes rolled back. And slowly, she dropped to her knees.
The whole world spun around her.
Thud!!!
A second later, her bulky body hit the deck with a crash.
"And that's that."
Bai Ye clapped the dust off his hands, looking like someone who hadn't just been in a fight. If anything, he looked a bit like he wanted more.
He turned toward the remaining pirate goons with a sly smile on his face.
"They might just be newbie mobs from the starter zone... but I just leveled up, so if I don't beat up a few scrubs, I get all itchy."
Muttering to himself, Bai Ye activated his golden energy, channeling the flow through his body—and charged straight into the group of pirates.
In an instant, the air exploded with shouts and chaos:
"TAI CHI PUNCH!!"
"Aaahhh!!!"
"CLOTH-GRABBING TAKEDOWN!!!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
"Rock-Splitting Slam!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
"Bagua Flowing Palm!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Off to the side, Coby was already standing there with his jaw hanging open, completely stunned. Next to him, Luffy couldn't stop grinning. After letting out a couple of chuckles, he said:
"Byakuya's seriously strong! I didn't think I'd find someone this awesome right after setting out to sea."
He adjusted his straw hat, his eyes growing a bit more serious:
"I will become the Pirate King!"
As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, the pirate ship was filled with a cheerful, party-like vibe.
"Alright~ Let's have a party!!!"
Finally, with Luffy yelling in excitement, Byakuya stopped fighting.
Before long, a bonfire was blazing on the ship. All kinds of food and drinks were laid out on the deck.
Luffy, Byakuya, and Coby kicked off their little celebration.
As for the rest of the pirates, once they finished setting everything up for the party, Coby tied them up and locked them away.
At the party, everyone finally let loose and had a great time.
Luffy even busted out his signature move—jamming chopsticks up his nose—which made Coby burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Alright, Captain~"
Byakuya grabbed a banana off the table, peeled it slowly and stuffed it into his mouth.
Gotta admit, the fruit in this world was actually pretty damn good.
"What's our plan from here?"
"Hmm~ Next up, we've gotta find more awesome crewmates. Like you, Byakuya—really strong ones. We need a cook, a navigator… Oh yeah!"
Luffy smacked his palm excitedly:
"We definitely need a musician!"
Byakuya almost laughed out loud. This guy really had a thing for musicians, huh?
But Brook was still wandering around in the Florian Triangle… Getting him on board was still a long way off.
"Umm…"
Coby hesitated but couldn't help chiming in after hearing the two of them talk.
"If Mr. Luffy is looking for a strong crewmate, I might know someone."
"For real?! Coby, spill! Who is it?!"
"There's this really powerful bounty hunter—Roronoa Zoro~"
"....."