What?!
Everyone was dumbfounded!
After fighting for so long, the strongest pirate rookie and the strongest Marine rookie turned out to be sworn brothers?
Wasn't that a little too thought-provoking?
If they hadn't heard it with their own ears, who would have believed any of this was true?
"All right, the fight's over, and I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat first!"
Bai Yu patted Ace on the shoulder and headed straight into the floating restaurant.
At the sight, the surviving remnants of the Krieg Pirates scrambled madly to escape.
Krieg also crawled out of a battered pirate ship and, supported by Gin the Demon Man, planned to slip away.
Unfortunately, the moment they moved, Bai Yu stopped in his tracks and glanced back.
"Bai Yu, let me take you to mop up!"
Ace handed the flask back to Bai Yu as he spoke.
"There are still six or seven hundred pirates here. With my fruit power, I can suppress them in no time."
"You?"
Bai Yu rolled his eyes at him.
"Getting the Flame-Flame Fruit has gone to your head. Little brother, you're still too young. We need to capture all these people alive, or it'll be hard to answer to the old man."
"Let me handle it!"
Bai Yu turned to look at the pirate ships scattered around them.
With a flicker, he appeared aboard one of them.
Krieg's expression changed drastically, and he roared urgently.
"If we don't run now, what are we waiting for? Hurry and run! He wants to capture us alive, and he's only one man. There's no way he can stop hundreds of us!"
In Krieg's eyes, he was already severely wounded. Only by having the others create an opening for him could he find a sliver of hope for survival.
The six or seven hundred pirates froze for a moment, then exchanged looks and fled for their lives.
"Sorry, not a single one of you is getting away!"
Standing atop a pirate ship's mast, Bai Yu casually took a swig of liquor, then suddenly widened his eyes.
The Conqueror's Haki lying dormant within him erupted like a raging tide.
Bang!
An incomparably domineering presence swept across the entire stretch of sea like a tidal wave.
The pirates who had been scrambling madly to flee, along with Krieg and Gin the Demon Man, first went rigid. Then their eyes bulged, foam spilled from their mouths, and they collapsed headfirst, passing out on the spot.
At that instant, everyone in the distant floating restaurant also felt an invisible pressure crashing into their minds.
A roar resounded through their brains.
Their only saving grace was that this surge of Conqueror's Haki receded as quickly as it came.
Under Bai Yu's deliberate control, it had also been directed away from the floating restaurant.
Otherwise, anyone even slightly weaker would probably have already collapsed unconscious.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The sounds of hundreds of heavy bodies hitting the ground joined into one continuous rumble.
By the time everyone came to their senses, every member of the Krieg Pirates had been wiped out.
A chorus of sharp gasps rose around them.
Ace's expression instantly soured as well. "Bai Yu, you haven't secretly eaten an even stronger Devil Fruit behind my back, have you?"
"And how were you able to hit me earlier when I was in elemental form...?"
For Ace, who had come fully intent on settling the score, that defeat was nothing short of a nightmare he couldn't shake.
His face, which was still stinging, made it particularly hard for him to calm down.
"Kid, that wasn't a Devil Fruit power."
Zeff's mustache twitched as he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
"If I'm not mistaken, what this young Marine just used must have been the Three Types of Haki, something rare even in the New World out on the Grand Line!"
"The one that can hit a Logia in elemental form should be Armament Haki. The one that senses presences nearby and lets you anticipate attacks and dodge them is Observation Haki."
"Finally, the ability to intimidate enemies or even knock them unconscious through sheer presence is the disposition of a king, something only one in a million possesses. Rumor has it that only a scant handful of the strongest people on the seas have such a power!"
"It seems your future achievements will know no bounds, young Marine!"
The Three Types of Haki?
The expressions of Deuce and the others changed drastically. They had never expected a single battle to reveal so much information.
Even Ace looked a little uncomfortable.
He had never imagined that, after just one month apart from Bai Yu, his strength would have soared to such heights.
Especially that one-in-a-million disposition of a king.
That overturned his understanding even further.
"All right, stop standing there in a daze. I just learned about it a little earlier than you. If you hadn't run off to sea and had stayed with the old man, you'd know what Haki was by now too."
Bai Yu patted Ace on the shoulder.
"Don't forget who you are. Maybe you don't lack Conqueror's Haki either, just the opportunity."
"I came looking for you this time to let you know that you shouldn't let getting the Flame-Flame Fruit go to your head. There are plenty of powerful people in this world. If you end up in Marine custody, I don't want to go to the trouble of getting you out, and the old man probably wouldn't allow it either."
"I'm hungry. Let's eat first!"
Hearing this, Ace watched Bai Yu's figure and let out a long, stale breath. The ashen look faded from his face, replaced by a trace of embarrassment as he spoke.
"Bai Yu, did you bring any Beli? We haven't eaten in three days..."
Grrr~
Deuce's and Mihal's stomachs growled right on cue, just like Ace's.
Bai Yu rolled his eyes helplessly. Sure enough, everyone who came out from under Garp was a real talent.
With appetites like theirs, no amount of Beli could probably withstand a single meal if they ate their fill.
"Young Marine, let us treat you to this meal!"
Zeff suddenly spoke up.
Patty and the others looked stunned.
Sanji was even less able to keep quiet.
"Old man, this guy isn't your illegitimate son, is he? You're usually such a miser. To think you'd ever be this generous!"
"Shut up! I'm only doing this to find you a good home so you can get lost!" Zeff glared and barked.
"You damned old geezer, you're always trying to send me away! Weren't you planning on having me see you to your grave? How can I leave?"
"See your ass to the grave! I can still outlive you..."
Watching the old man and the youngster go straight at it, Bai Yu felt helpless.
Getting a meal really was difficult.
As for Sanji, he really was a promising prospect.
Still, Bai Yu preferred to let things take their course.
"Lord Bai Yu, you and Zoro ran off so fast! Were you really not worried something might happen to us?"
A sailboat moored beside the floating restaurant, and Nami complained with a glare.
Carina, who had been standing in the lookout, leaped down with the Super-Modified 98K wrapped in black cloth on her back. She smiled and patted Nami on the shoulder.
"Lord Bai Yu, don't worry. With me around, Nami will definitely be fine."
Over these three days, Carina had already grown somewhat accustomed to the Super-Modified 98K in her hands.
If she really fought from the shadows, she believed few people in the East Blue could withstand a single shot.
"No, leave protecting ladies to a gentleman. I'm getting on this damn ship!"