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Just as Bai Ye was teasing Zoro like crazy, an annoying voice came from a distance.
"Heh… Can't believe someone actually came to save you, cocky pirate hunter~"
Not far from the clearing, a few figures started walking over slowly.
Leading the group, strutting like he owned the place, was the ruler of this little town—Morgan's son, Helmeppo.
Greasy slicked-back hair, and that ridiculous upside-down-butt-looking chin of his...
That evil grin on his face made Bai Ye's mouth twitch in disgust.
No one should—no, no one can look like this, right?!
Helmeppo strutted up in his flashy, over-the-top suit and gave the group a sideways glance with his triangle-shaped eyes.
First, he saw Luffy, picking his nose without a care in the world.
Helmeppo froze for a second. "Is this guy an idiot or what?"
Then he spotted Bai Ye, standing tall in his long robe, looking effortlessly cool.
Instantly, Helmeppo got tense, like he'd seen a threat. That face—damn, it might actually outshine his!
If Bai Ye had mind-reading powers, he would've slapped that chin-of-a-butt from both sides and asked, "Did Liang Jingru give you the courage to act this bold?"
"So, these are your crew, huh?" Helmeppo muttered, trying to gauge the power balance. He figured he had the upper hand.
"Damn right! Zoro already agreed to join my crew. He's one of us now!!!"
Luffy shouted like he wanted to announce it to the whole world.
And then, right on cue, Helmeppo fired up his trash-talk mode: "So these guys came to save you, huh? That means you're going back on our deal?"
He put on a fake sad face. "If you'd just held out ten more days, we could've—"
"Could you not with the acting?"
Bai Ye couldn't take it anymore. That double-chin twitching in front of his face was just too much.
"Even if Zoro held out for ten days, you wouldn't let him go, would you?"
His voice was calm, but laced with sarcasm:
"No way you'd let someone live after they beat you up. Not when even your dad never laid a hand on you."
"So you already had it all planned, right? Even if he survived those ten days, you were still gonna kill him."
"Actually… you probably don't even wanna wait that long. You're planning to take him out today, aren't you?"
Hearing Bai Ye lay it all out like that, Helmeppo's face twitched. He felt seriously offended.
Not because his dirty little plan got exposed—he never really tried to hide it anyway. Zoro was just dumb enough to believe it.
No, he felt offended because—
"YOU BASTARD! Why are you looking off in some random direction while you talk?!"
"LOOK ME IN THE EYE, YOU COWARD!!!"
Helmeppo was fuming.
Even though Bai Ye hadn't said it outright, he knew deep down—he was being insulted.
"Sorry, my mom taught me from a young age that looking at trash can hurt your eyes~"
Without even turning around, Bai Ye spoke casually.
"Huh? Trash? You mean that blond guy???"
Luffy, clueless as ever, hit the nail on the head with his innocent question.
"You bastards!!! You two—!"
Just as Helmeppo was about to explode in anger, Zoro, still tied up on the cross, suddenly spoke up:
"Tch! So from the start, you never planned to keep your word, huh, you bastard?!"
Maybe it was the rice balls he'd just eaten, but Zoro's voice was full of energy. His wolf-like eyes locked fiercely onto the spoiled rich brat Helmeppo.
If Bai Ye had only been guessing before, Helmeppo's reaction now confirmed everything—and Zoro was done. Completely.
He realized just how stupid he'd been. If Luffy and Bai Ye hadn't shown up, he'd be...
The thought made his eyes burn even colder.
Helmeppo, who'd been pampered his whole life, had never faced a murderous stare like that before. His legs buckled, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
And when fear hits its peak, it turns into anger.
How dare they treat me like this?! I'm the son of Captain Morgan!!!
"You there—shoot them!! All of them!! Shoot these scumbags dead!!"
Helmeppo raised his right hand and gave a command. The soldiers behind him raised their guns immediately.
Zoro's pupils shrank. The situation hit him hard. His tied-up hands strained helplessly.
There was nothing to hide behind. Just an open space.
Damn it! If only I still had my swords!
Zoro silently swore he'd never let his weapons out of reach again.
In his mind, they were done for. No way they'd survive this. But then he looked over at Bai Ye and Luffy—both of them just standing there like it was no big deal.
He couldn't help but wonder:
Do they still have something up their sleeve?
BANG!!!
There was no time to think. A dozen bullets fired at once, flying with deadly force straight at them.
But then—
"I'm not scared at all!!!"
Luffy stepped forward with both arms raised, heading straight into the bullets coming his way.
They hit him—but didn't pierce through. Instead, they just sank into his rubbery body, stretching him out into long strands before bouncing right off and flying up into the sky.
BOING!!!
As for Bai Ye, he stepped in quickly and used his Golden Light Mantra to block the rest of the bullets.
Each bullet clinked as it hit the glowing barrier, then lost all momentum and clattered to the ground.
And the whole time—Bai Ye still had little Rika safely in his arms.
"Wait, what the hell...?"
Zoro watched it all unfold, completely stunned.
His entire worldview was about to collapse.
They blocked bullets—are they even human?!
"Don't underestimate our captain," Bai Ye said casually. "Luffy ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. He's a rubber man. Super tough."
He quickly gave Zoro the short version about Devil Fruits and their powers.
Zoro nodded as he processed it all, then looked at Bai Ye, who was still glowing faintly with golden light.
"So... you're also a Devil Fruit user?"
"Me?" Bai Ye chuckled.
"I'm just a regular ol' Taoist priest. Nothing special like those Devil Fruit users."
He said it like it was no big deal, but the relaxed tone in his voice made Zoro feel like... maybe Bai Ye did think Taoist powers were even stronger than Devil Fruits.
"Well, since we're all gonna be crewmates, I guess it's only fair to get to know each other's strengths."
Bai Ye thought for a second, then untied Zoro, turned around, and looked at the stunned Helmeppo and the soldiers.
"Now, let me show you one of my Taoist techniques—Qimen Dunjia."
Still holding Rika in one arm, Bai Ye raised his other hand into a sword-like gesture in front of his chest. A calm smile played on his lips as he faced the enemy.
[Xun Trigram — Tornado]
In an instant, a gust of wind swirled up right in front of them.
Within seconds, it grew into a raging tornado strong enough to tear houses from the ground. It seemed to have a mind of its own, charging straight for Helmeppo and his goons.
They'd never seen anything like this—and normal people could never stand against nature's fury.
As screams of terror echoed through the air, the tornado swept them up and flung them into the sky—tiny dots disappearing on the horizon.
Bai Ye nodded in satisfaction as he watched them vanish.
The Eight Trigrams—Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kan, Gen, Dui—each represented a different elemental force and a part of the five elements.
Bai Ye's Qimen techniques channeled the innate energy of the universe. Within a set area, he could set up an eight-array formation and change positions mid-battle to unleash different kinds of elemental spells.
Just now, he'd used Xun, representing the wind element—southeast direction, wood element.
And judging by the results? He was pretty happy with it.
"Sugoi!!!"
As expected, Luffy's eyes lit up with stars the second he saw Bai Ye pull off another new move.
"That was awesome! Whoa!! You sent them flying!! That was so cool!!"
Luffy was practically vibrating with excitement and looked like he was about to launch himself at Bai Ye.
"Can you do that to me too?! I wanna fly!!"
Bai Ye: ???
"You trying to get yourself killed, Captain?"
"I'm a rubber man! I can't die from falling!"
Bai Ye: …
Right. Totally forgot about that...
"Alright, alright. Next time, for sure. Promise."
After brushing Luffy off, Bai Ye turned to Zoro.
"Almost forgot—this belongs to you, right?"
"....."