Chapter 27 - Speed is Power, Have You Been Kicked by Lightning?
"You're here, what's the rush?!"
Bai Ye strode forward, then with a single powerful step, he entered the arena.
Did these guys still think he was the same as he was a while ago?!
Today, no matter what, he had to teach them a lesson.
"You bastard, I thought you weren't coming!"
"Rocks Captain, hurry up and start, I can't wait to beat this guy up!"
The pirates below couldn't help but feel a surge of anger at Bai Ye's arrogant expression. The urge to beat him up was overwhelming, seeing Bai Ye act so cocky in front of them made them incredibly uncomfortable.
Especially that handsome face, like a pretty boy, made people want to punch him into a pig's head.
"Gehahahaha, Bai Ye, you bastard, if you don't hide, someone might die!"
Golden Lion bit his cigar, turned his head to look at Bai Ye. He couldn't understand why Bai Ye would come back. Couldn't he just forfeit?
He wouldn't think he could really become strong after a month of training, would he?
"Golden Lion, you old bastard, you're not dead yet, so I won't die. I'll definitely live longer than you!"
Bai Ye retorted without mercy. In the Rocks Pirates, weakness would only lead to being looked down upon.
Even when Bai Ye was weaker, he never backed down. If Golden Lion cursed him, he wouldn't tolerate it and would curse back directly.
If you ask him why he was so brave back then?
Are you kidding me!
He's always been this brave!
It wasn't because Rocks was backing him up at all!
"Is that so?"
Golden Lion smiled strangely. He only took Bai Ye's words as arrogance before death.
There were many people here stronger than Bai Ye, not to mention so many people had made Bai Ye their primary target.
Naturally, Bai Ye would have a tough time later.
"Seriously, I love to tell the truth!"
Golden Lion turned his head, looking at Bai Ye with a strange expression. From Bai Ye's mouth, there always seemed to be a phrase he couldn't understand.
What did'seriously' mean?
This kind of reduplication suddenly made Golden Lion feel a chill. Could it be that this guy, as rumored, liked men?
He was so handsome and dashing, especially his flowing hairstyle, which charmed countless young girls. If this guy liked men, he would definitely like his type.
Damn it!
He must stay far away from Bai Ye in the future.
No!
Bai Ye would die today, so it didn't matter, he didn't need to hide anymore.
Golden Lion secretly thought about the rumors about Bai Ye in the pirate crew. It seemed he had never experienced any 'male friendship' incidents.
There were rumors that Charlotte Linlin had approached Bai Ye, and even Gloriosa and Kurozumi Higurashi on the ship had expressed their affection for Bai Ye, but they were all rejected by Bai Ye. Of course, Bai Ye himself didn't even know about these expressions of affection.
But even if they had expressed their affection, Bai Ye would still refuse.
Charlotte Linlin was indeed the Rocks Pirates' number one beauty at the moment.
But that guy was going to have children with many races.
Unless he had a cuckold fetish and liked being NTR'd, he would absolutely not accept Big Mom. Besides, Big Mom's body completely lost its shape after having children later, turning into a fat old woman.
Gloriosa, the former Empress of Nine Serpent Island, was also a standard great beauty, but later she directly became a miniature version of Elder Nyon.
Kurozumi Higurashi, on the other hand, directly became an old witch later on.
Bai Ye also didn't understand why, as women, there was such a huge difference between the Hokage world and the Pirate world.
People in the Hokage world, when they got old, just got old. Their height wouldn't shrink, nor would there be overly exaggerated changes. Like Anko, such cases were rare. You could see the traces of time on her, but it wouldn't be like the butcher's knife in the Pirate world, directly making women unrecognizable even by their mothers.
"Hey, what kind of look is that, you bastard?"
Bai Ye noticed Golden Lion's disgusted look, and he was dumbfounded.
It seemed like this guy was thinking something bad.
"Nothing, I just feel like you, this bastard, are going to die today. Don't worry, I'll be there to watch when you're buried!"
Golden Lion took a puff of his cigar and didn't say much more.
He felt there wasn't much point in talking to Bai Ye about this.
Anyway, he would die very soon.
"Old Lion, I'm truly so touched. Don't worry, after you die, I'll burn more beautiful women for you."
These two guys started again.
Whitebeard, listening to their conversation from the side, also turned his head to look with interest.
He was already used to their bickering.
Within the Rocks Pirates, Bai Ye and John had a decent relationship. He and Bai Ye also got along well. Others didn't interact with Bai Ye much, but their relationships weren't particularly bad.
But only Golden Lion and Bai Ye, whenever they met, they would truly start arguing directly.
"Are you trying to die, you bastard?" Saying that, Golden Lion directly turned his head to Rocks and said, "Captain, I request a duel with him!!"
Damn it!
This mouth was even more venomous than his own. What did he mean by burning beautiful women for him after he died?
Did he think he really liked that kind of thing?
This provocative talk combined with that expression, Golden Lion couldn't stand it anymore. He directly requested Rocks for a duel with Bai Ye. Before the Captain's Competition, he absolutely had to let Bai Ye know how powerful he was.
Otherwise, even if Bai Ye died later, he probably wouldn't know how strong he truly was.
"I said, you two…" Rocks rubbed his forehead helplessly, then looked between the two for a while, and continued, "Can you wait until later? I'm not here to watch you two fight. Do you really want to fight? If you want to fight, I can fight with you!"
Rocks couldn't stand these two troublemakers anymore.
Are you kidding me?
What was the purpose of him holding this competition?!
Firstly, his pirate crew had just been fully assembled, with so many new members, he had to make others believe in him.
So, these Captains were the best choice. A competition could also show whether the Captains were truly capable, and also see if there were other potential individuals who hadn't been discovered.
Furthermore, it was to let others see the Captains' strength, which would also make it easier for them to recruit some pirates into their own teams later.
Otherwise, many pirates who hadn't been assigned to divisions were sometimes difficult to manage.
Another point was to increase team cohesion, at least regarding the God Valley incident, he didn't want any accidents.
"Let's not, after all, Golden Lion can't beat you." Bai Ye said, turning his head and looking at Golden Lion seriously: "Old Lion, although you've been cursing me, as a father, I still have to consider you. Don't worry, I won't let you fight Rocks Captain."
Click.
Golden Lion's grip on his withered wood and Sakura-ju tightened a bit.
He couldn't hold back anymore. He wanted to kill Bai Ye right now.
"Bai Ye, you should say less!"
John, who was nearby, also couldn't bear to watch anymore.
Good brother, if you keep talking, you might not die in this arena, but you might die at Golden Lion's hands later, right?
You're really not afraid at all, are you?
"Alright, you two have said enough. Let the competition begin, everyone, don't waste time!"
Rocks waved his hand. As soon as his voice fell, the surrounding pirates instantly became agitated, and their first target was Bai Ye.
After all, Bai Ye was widely regarded as the weakest Captain in the pirate crew.
"Bai Ye, oh Bai Ye, don't blame us, who told you to be the weakest!"
"Sorry, I'm from Golden Lion's division, so I have to get revenge for my boss!"
"It's decided, Bai Ye!!!"
The pirates swarmed forward, charging towards Bai Ye.
Compared to the other six arenas, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Charlotte Linlin had no one approaching them. Everyone wasn't foolish; unless they genuinely wanted to challenge them, not just for the Captain position, no one would choose these three.
As for Wang Zhi, John, and Silver Axe, although some people did go up, it was very few compared to Bai Ye.
And besides these swarming pirates, there were also many pirates outside the arena watching from below. They were preparing to come out and claim victory at the very end. Although going up now might give them a temporary advantage, only those who stood last were the ultimate winners.
Everyone only had one challenge opportunity. Being killed or knocked off the ring counted as a failure. This was also to prevent pirates from continuously going up in a relay battle to exhaust their opponents. Once on stage, life or death didn't matter.
Some people were willing to fight to the death for the Captain position, but many others were just there to watch the show.
"Bai Ye, if you go down yourself, you can keep your life, otherwise, don't blame us if our swords and knives have no eyes later!"
The pirates were still somewhat hesitant about Bai Ye, not because of Bai Ye's strength, but because Bai Ye's backer was Rocks, so they were somewhat apprehensive.
Therefore, if Bai Ye could go down on his own, that would naturally be the best.
"What are you guys afraid of? My strength is just so-so. If you're afraid of hurting me, just go down yourselves."
"Then don't blame us!"
Seeing that Bai Ye wouldn't go down, the pirates naturally understood that just talking wouldn't work.
Since Bai Ye wanted to cling to the Captain position, they could only use their strength to tell Bai Ye that he couldn't just cling to it.
"Don't move, Bai Ye!"
A pirate had already aimed a pistol at Bai Ye's head. Apparently, while Bai Ye was talking to others, he had already circled to Bai Ye's side, pulled out his pistol, and aimed it at him.
"So scary, oh…"
Bai Ye raised both hands, making a gesture of surrender. The pirates nearby were dumbfounded.
So, this was it?
"This guy just went down? For his life, he's like this?"
A hint of disappointment flashed across Golden Lion's face. Although he bickered with Bai Ye, it was because he grudgingly acknowledged Bai Ye. Otherwise, he wouldn't bicker with a clown. But if Bai Ye just went down like this, he would be very disappointed.
"Is the swordsman going to lose his sharpness?"
Wang Zhi sighed, also not understanding. It was just a gun, was Bai Ye really scared?
Or did he see so many pirates around and knew he couldn't win, so he decided to give up?
But to knowingly do what cannot be done, isn't that the spirit a swordsman needs to possess?
"Damn it, I was almost fooled by you, kid. You probably went to Sky Island to play these past few days!!"
Captain John stared at Bai Ye with wide eyes, his jaw dropped to the floor. Yesterday, he was still thinking about how shameful Bai Ye's efforts were, secretly working hard behind his back, and today he saw this scene.
So, you were just playing around all this time, huh?
And you didn't even take me with you?
Alright, alright, alright!
Every time he held a banquet, he definitely took Bai Ye with him, but Bai Ye went to play and didn't take him!
"Gurarararara, this guy!?"
A hint of curiosity flashed in Whitebeard's eyes. He didn't quite believe that Bai Ye would surrender so easily.
"If you're surrendering, then hurry up and get down!"
The pirate holding the gun couldn't help but show a hint of triumph on his face.
He hadn't expected that a single gun would scare Bai Ye into submission.
Looking at it this way, he could be considered a temporary winner, right?
Even if he lost later, his reputation would still spread.
"Speed is power, have you been kicked by lightning?"
Bai Ye turned his head to look at the pirate. Before he could react, his face was instantly kicked by Bai Ye's calf, and then he was sent flying backward!
He!?
Did he see that correctly just now?!
Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!
"No way?! That guy actually ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit? Brother, don't tell me you went to Sky Island just to eat a Rumble-Rumble Fruit? Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay?"
John's mouth hung open, his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets, and his jaw dropped directly to the ground.
Damn it!
You weren't secretly working hard, you were secretly eating a Devil Fruit.
And you actually ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!?
Are you sick?!
Why get so strong?
"Gehahahaha, you bastard, you ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, no wonder you're even more arrogant than before! I, Golden Lion, have never seen such an arrogant person in my life. You're truly interesting, why didn't you eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit earlier?!"
From John's words just now, Bai Ye apparently knew the location of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for a long time.
But he never ate it.
Was this guy just waiting for this moment, secretly eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and then astonishing everyone?
He admitted, for a moment, he was indeed astonished.
Ultimately, whether it was the Piao Piao Fruit or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, if the user wasn't powerful, then these two fruits really weren't as good as the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Even if you were a not-so-smart fool, you could still develop the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to be very strong.
"No longer a pure swordsman! Why do all swordsmen have to eat Devil Fruits, you bastard Bai Ye!!!!"
Wang Zhi roared, but the next second he deflated.
Because he also understood Bai Ye.
If it were him, with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in front of him, he would also struggle with whether to eat it, not to mention Bai Ye's current situation where he absolutely had to eat it to improve his combat power!