"Vice Admiral Garp, this recommendation of yours..."
Domon could not help speaking up.
But when he recalled how Bai Yu had utterly crushed Treasure in their battle just now, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
That bloodthirsty, frenzied fighting form, shrouded in golden light...
Domon did not know what level it would reach on the Grand Line, or even in the New World.
But in his eyes, it was already among the very best he had ever seen.
"That bastard! Treasure, you were fucking useless!"
Smoker clenched his fist and spoke in a low voice.
"Domon, where is Bai Yu? I want to see him!"
Ever since Smoker had been parachuted into Loguetown in the East Blue from Marine Headquarters, he had been regarded as the East Blue's gatekeeper.
The appearance of the treasure hunter Treasure had undoubtedly been the perfect opportunity to prove his strength.
Yet Bai Yu had appeared out of nowhere and snatched it away.
Smoker could not swallow this.
"Captain Smoker, after Lord Bai Yu dealt with Treasure, he took his subordinates and left Shimotsuki Island. He also took charts of the surrounding waters from me. It seemed he was heading to Cocoyasi Village."
Domon hurriedly explained.
"He left?"
Smoker's expression instantly darkened.
After taking out a chart and studying it carefully, Garp, standing nearby, finally stopped laughing and said,
"Cocoyasi Village is another three days away from here. That fellow Onigumo seems to have reached the waters around there too."
"Vice Admiral Onigumo?"
Smoker abruptly clenched his fist and muttered.
"It seems Fleet Admiral Sengoku really does think highly of Bai Yu. But Mr. Garp, I'd like to make the trip too. Captain Domon can take you back to the branch!"
With those words, white smoke burst from Smoker's body, turning into a streaming ribbon that swiftly left the shore.
Watching Smoker vanish over the sea in the blink of an eye, Domon could not help speaking.
"Mr. Garp, are you really not going to stop Captain Smoker? He seems to be going to pick a fight with Lord Bai Yu..."
"Stop him?"
Garp laughed.
"Captain Domon, this is how young people communicate."
"If Smoker wins, that's his good fortune."
"If that brat Bai Yu wins, I'll have another good excuse to recommend him. An Admiral candidate position isn't easy to secure!"
Domon was stunned!
Looking at Garp's broad smile and thinking of the tremendous strength Bai Yu had displayed, Domon began to feel a little sorry for Smoker.
At this rate, they were fucking turning him into a blood-soaked bun to feed on.
Still, as a branch commander in the Weakest Sea, these matters clearly were not his to manage. After thinking about it briefly, Domon put them straight out of his mind.
If Bai Yu really became the youngest Admiral candidate at Marine Headquarters someday, or even rose to the position of Admiral...
Then he could brag in the future too: I fought shoulder to shoulder with an Admiral!
Three days later, a small boat cut through the waves.
Two figures stood on the deck, swinging their wooden swords over and over.
Besides Bai Yu, who was busy completing his daily missions, there was Moss Head Zoro, whom Koshiro had forcibly bundled aboard.
Zoro would definitely have refused this arrangement if he had not witnessed Bai Yu's strength firsthand.
Now, however, he had silently accepted it.
At least, when he saw Bai Yu wearing a three-hundred-kilogram Demon-Modified Training Suit and still swinging his wooden sword twice as fast as he could...
Zoro understood that he had no right to complain.
If even a monster was working hard, what right did a directionally challenged man like him, who could not even count as a genius, have not to work himself to the bone?
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine... ten thousand!"
The wooden sword in Bai Yu's hand swung down once again.
As the air trembled, he completely reined in that explosive force.
Out on this vast sea, he had only one little battered boat.
Bai Yu did not want to get a little too carried away with training...
And accidentally blow the boat apart.
But this casual display made Zoro's pupils abruptly contract.
Something Koshiro had once said flashed through his mind.
In this world, there were swordsmen who could cut through anything, and swordsmen who could cut through nothing.
To reach this level, one had to thoroughly master the iron-cutting realm. Only then could one unleash and restrain it at will.
Only three short days had passed since Bai Yu learned the iron-cutting realm, yet he could already unleash and restrain it freely.
He was simply too monstrous!
"Lord Bai Yu, judging by our speed and heading, we should reach Cocoyasi Village in half a day."
"Should we speed up? What if something happens to Nami..."
Carina leaned out of the lookout, a clear trace of worry between her brows.
Whenever she thought of everything Bai Yu had told her about Cocoyasi Village and the burdens Nami had shouldered alone...
Carina wished she could sprout wings and catch up to her.
"Don't worry. Nami has been able to hold her own against Arlong for so long. Her Cat Burglar nickname isn't just for show."
After glancing at the character unlock progress bar, which had reached twelve percent, Bai Yu exited the system and casually took a swig of strong liquor.
"Besides, this boat is already running beyond its limits. Any faster and it'll probably fall apart."
"Let's take it easy. If we get back to Cocoyasi Village before Nami, it might disrupt my plan."
"Then... all right!" After a moment's hesitation, Carina nodded in agreement.
In her eyes, even the treasure hunter Treasure, with his bounty of eighty-nine million, had been unable to withstand a single slash.
She did not believe Arlong, with a bounty of twenty million, would be any different.
At the thought that they would soon be able to help Nami vent her pent-up grievances...
Carina secretly clenched her fist, growing a little more eager.
"Oh, right. There's still half a day left. I remember that when I killed Treasure, besides System Points, I also got a free refresh of the System Shop. Since I've got nothing else to do, let's see what this big landlord can turn up."
Bai Yu sheathed his wooden sword, muttered to himself, and took a swig of liquor before plopping down on a deck chair and entering the System Space again.
Looking at the shop, which had originally been pitifully bare with only two listings, he found that it now had no merchandise at all.
Bai Yu rubbed the tip of his nose somewhat helplessly.
Fortunately, anything the system produced was guaranteed to be top quality.
Otherwise, with merchandise being stocked at this rate, it would certainly have gone out of business in no time in his previous life.
Still, Bai Yu quickly suppressed his grumbling and glanced at the refresh count of 1 displayed on the page.
With a thought, Bai Yu issued the command.
"System, refresh the shop immediately."
"Ding, please wait, host!"
"Ding, congratulations, host. The System Shop has refreshed successfully. The current number of merchandise listings is two..."
Hearing the ethereal notifications, Bai Yu could not be bothered to complain about the system's stinginess and instinctively looked at the merchandise listings.
At the sight of the two items displayed there, his expression froze.