Bang!
The dull crash exploded like thunder, echoing between heaven and earth for a long time.
At the sight of Smoker embedded deep in the rock,
the Marines present were dumbfounded.
This was White Hunter Smoker, invincible in their eyes.
Yet now he had been sent flying like a dead dog with a single slash.
Had they not seen it themselves, absolutely no one would have believed any of this was real.
"Bai Yu, you bastard! I arrived just a little late, and you've gone and slashed Smoker too!"
A deep, furious shout came from afar.
Soon, a figure came into view, rapidly stepping through the air over the sea.
He finally landed inside Arlong Park nearby.
Looking at the Fish-Man corpses strewn everywhere, Garp frowned and said,
"You little brat, you really don't hold back. Not a single Fish-Man is in one piece."
"Still, I never expected remnants of the Sun Pirates to be hiding in the East Blue, causing trouble for so many years. To think Marine Headquarters had vermin like this in its ranks. Utterly hateful."
"Right, where's that Captain Nezumi you mentioned?"
Before coming to Cocoyasi Village, Bai Yu had already given him a general account of the situation.
Screwing over his grandpa was something he could do at the drop of a hat.
Still, he at least had to give him a heads-up so their accounts would line up.
"Over there, but I killed him."
Bai Yu casually took a swig of liquor, then raised an eyebrow as he noticed the brand-new bounty poster in Garp's pocket.
"Good riddance... wait, you killed him? How am I supposed to explain that to Sengoku?"
Garp was instantly dumbfounded.
He liked doing as he pleased.
But under Sengoku's influence, personally killing a Marine was something he really could not bring himself to do.
"Grandpa, sort this out for me. If you can't, I'll just become a pirate. Competing for the Pirate King's throne wouldn't be bad either."
Utterly unconcerned, Bai Yu pinched the brand-new bounty poster and pulled it straight out.
"You little bastard, now you've even learned to threaten me..."
Garp clenched his fists and hollered.
But he soon noticed the bounty poster in Bai Yu's hand.
"Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates. A bounty of fifty million Beli?"
Bai Yu raised an eyebrow and said,
"Grandpa, did Ace eat the Flame-Flame Fruit?"
"Brat, how did you know Ace ate the Flame-Flame Fruit? That's firsthand Marine intelligence!"
Garp's expression froze, and he suddenly said,
"Don't tell me you were the one who told him about the Flame-Flame Fruit?"
Of the four brats, the one Garp understood least was Bai Yu, standing right before him.
Ever since he was little, he had said all sorts of wildly fanciful things. If Garp had not known that Bai Yu had never left Windmill Village,
he really would have wondered whether the sea he sailed was a fake.
"A long time ago, I picked up a treasure map showing the Flame-Flame Fruit's whereabouts. Luffy had the Gum-Gum Fruit, so I told Ace."
Bai Yu put the bounty poster away, not giving it much thought.
"What?"
Garp's eyes bulged like a bull's. He crushed the flask in his hand and said,
"You little brat, don't you know the Flame-Flame Fruit is one of the rarest kinds, a Logia? Ace is now the top rookie pirate in the East Blue, with the highest bounty in all the Four Blues!"
"Of those three Marine Admirals, which one isn't a Logia? If you had it, becoming an Admiral would be a piece of cake."
"Tell your grandpa honestly, brat. Do you regret it?"
Regret it?
Bai Yu rolled his eyes and said,
"What's there to regret? Ace and Luffy need Devil Fruits precisely because they're too weak. As for me, their big brother, do I need one?"
"As for becoming an Admiral, if I wanted the position, I could pluck it right into my hand!"
"It's getting late. Grandpa, I'll go take care of my personal business first, and look for Ace along the way."
With those words, Bai Yu put away his wooden sword, waved casually, and turned to leave.
Nami glanced back at Arlong Park, then quickly followed.
There was indeed plenty of treasure here.
But she certainly did not have the nerve to snatch food from the jaws of the Marine hero.
"You damned brat, all you ever do is make trouble for me."
"Oh, right. A lot of nearby branches have been asking for help lately. That old bastard Sengoku gave me a mission too, telling me to pursue Krieg when I have time. If you run into him, make sure you take care of him for me."
Garp roared at the top of his lungs.
Only after Bai Yu disappeared from view did Garp come back to his senses.
Looking at the trembling Marines around him, he picked his nose and muttered,
"Did I just discuss something pretty serious? Oh, never mind. With Bai Yu's knack for making trouble, he'll definitely take plenty of pressure off me once he gets to Marine Headquarters."
"I'll have good days ahead too. Better call Sengoku first and report what happened here..."
The vast Arlong Park fell deathly silent.
Only after those two formidable characters, one old and one young, had both vanished completely did the Marines dare let out a deep breath.
But when they thought about how the strongest rookie pirate in the East Blue and the strongest rookie Marine in the East Blue were actually brothers,
surely that had to be a joke?
A day later, a sailing ship departed from Cocoyasi Village.
Only now, an enormous tangerine tree stood aboard it.
Bang!
A gunshot suddenly rang out.
A seabird circling in the sky a hundred meters away was struck as the shot sounded.
Bai Yu stopped his slashing practice, his eyebrow involuntarily rising.
Sure enough, for Carina to team up with Nami as a thieving duo, she had to be more than just a dancer who could pick locks.
It seemed she did have some outstanding skills.
"Lord Bai Yu, is Carina disturbing your training? I'll teach her a lesson!"
Nami poked her head out from the tangerine tree and glared at Carina in the crow's nest.
A day earlier, after Bai Yu left Arlong Park, Nami had still been unable to calm down.
Only after more than half an hour had passed did she weep with joy.
Once the news reached Cocoyasi Village,
what followed was a sleepless night of feasting.
It was not until dawn that Nami had stooped low and furtively dragged Bai Yu and the others away.
According to Nami, a peaceful life was simply too dull for someone like her, who yearned for the scent of money.
In the end, she decided to board Bai Yu's warship and become his navigator.
Accepting a crew member who had come knocking did admittedly carry a hint of poaching from Luffy.
But this navigator was too good to pass up!
"Sorry, Lord Bai Yu. It's just that I couldn't find any useful firearms equipment to modify in Cocoyasi Village."
Carina poked her head out of the crow's nest and said apologetically,
"Since you've taken us in, Lord Bai Yu, I want to do whatever I can too. Even if I can't fight on the front lines like Zoro, I still want to provide you with proper cover from the rear."