I'm in One Piece, and I'm Luffy's childhood friend.

Garp made it sound so easy, but Luffy glared at Ace angrily because he had just been spat on.

Dadan exclaimed in surprise.

"Is this really the decision?!"

"You have a problem with that?" Karp's tone became more serious.

"Then we'll take care of it for you!"

Dadan said that what they did was not cowardice, but pragmatism.

........

"I hate bandits the most!"

Luffy's impression of bandits was entirely based on Higuma's gang, which he said without any restraint at Dadan's house.

"Who cares about you, you brat!"

"If you don't want to stay here, then get out and go to the middle of nowhere!"

Dadan was not gentle at all, and she yelled at Luffy, while her underlings quickly tried to persuade her.

Luffy didn't care, but instead drooled as he watched Ace take big bites of meat.

"I don't have enough rice, I want to eat meat too."

Bai Yun smiled helplessly and picked out one of the two pieces of meat from the bowl for Luffy. This was a privilege he only received because he was a chef.

Ace's opinion of Bai Yun changed slightly because of his skill, but he still disliked him.

Luffy immediately beamed with joy.

Dadan then fiercely explained the survival rules of Dadan's family.

"Ace was allowed to eat meat because it was bison he hunted. He handed over a portion of the prey before I allowed him to have it on the table!"

"As for Bai, he only gets to eat meat because his cooking skills are good and he took on the chef's job!"

"The banditry industry is in decline!"

“Starting tomorrow, you will all get to work properly: sweeping, washing clothes, shining shoes, polishing weapons, plus stealing, plundering, cheating, and murdering!”

Wow...that's really something. I don't know why Garp thinks the atmosphere here is better than in Windmill Village.

Pointing at Luffy's nose, Dadan shouted while eating meat, her words tinged with cowardice.

"Listen carefully... You absolutely must not tell Garp what you're doing here."

The gentleman in front of you, the guy behind you—that's the truth.

"I can only eat one bowl of rice and drink one cup of water a day. I have to take care of the rest myself and support myself."

Honestly, if Bai Yun, who was the same age now, were treated like that in his world's orphanage, he might cry his heart out and then starve to death on the street one day.

But Luffy is someone who never feels lost.

"understood."

Luffy calmly replied, and Bai Yun nodded indifferently as well.

Dadan collapsed headfirst, failing to establish his authority.

"What do you mean, 'right'? You should be crying your eyes out right now!"

Chapter 13: The First Battle with Ace

Dadan failed to establish her authority, and compared to her, Luffy and Bai Yun felt that Garp was much more terrifying.

After finishing his meal, Ace silently picked up the water pipe and walked out of the house. Luffy noticed this, put down his bowl, and immediately pulled Bai Yun along to follow him.

Bai Yun exclaimed: You guys are finished eating, but I'm not!

Dadan, who had just been fiercely demanding that Luffy get out, was now concerned about where they were going.

"Hey! Where are you guys going?!"

“We’ll go out and take a look. We’ll be back safely, Ms. Dadan.”

Bai Yun returned home.

Dadan took a bite of meat and complained, "Little brats are so annoying... ladies... but they were quite polite."

........

"Hey! My name is Luffy. I'm not angry about you spitting on us earlier. Let's be friends!"

Luffy recalled the lesson Shanks taught him: some things aren't worth getting angry about. He waved to Ace, wanting to be friends with him.

Bai Yun didn't think much of it. If someone spat in his face, how could he not beat them up? Of course, he had to have the strength to back it up.

Ace turned around, glaring at Bai Yun and Luffy through gritted teeth. He hated these two uninvited guests who had suddenly arrived. He stretched out his leg and kicked a tree that was thicker than Luffy, snapping it in half and sending it rolling down the slope.

Is this something a ten-year-old could do?!

Bai Yun was shocked to see it with his own eyes; if he had kicked it, his foot would have been broken.

As the tree crashed into him, Bai Yun swung his arm out, and the bracelet on his wrist immediately transformed into a long whip that wrapped around the branch.

With her other hand around Luffy's waist, the two swung up and narrowly avoided the giant tree.

This is Bai Yun and Munster, the "musician" of the Red-Haired Pirates, who is the one who learned the "forest survival swing" from the monkey.

Bai Yun helped Luffy avoid the rolling giant tree. Ace witnessed this scene and became particularly interested in Bai Yun's sudden appearance of a long whip.

As I walked down the hillside, I asked, "How did you do that?"

With a cool expression, Little Ace stared at Bai Yun and asked, but for some reason, Bai Yun felt like laughing.

"Just some low-level trick."

Ace's eyelids twitched. Seeing that Bai Yun was unwilling to talk, he thought, "That's simple, let's just have a fight!" He silently took down the water pipe behind him.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk, let's fight!"

Thinking of how Ace had just kicked a tree in half, Bai Yun thought to himself, "I'd rather die than fight you! Forget it."

"This is not good."

Ace didn't care and swung a water pipe at him.

Luffy immediately stood in front of Bai Yun, shouting, "Don't bully Bai Yun!"

Then... he was swung aside with a stick, but luckily blunt force trauma doesn't do much to Luffy.

Bai Yun:.......

Since he's already here, if Bai Yun doesn't use his abilities now, given his physical condition, this blow will surely break his arm.

I never expected my first battle would be against Ace.

With his eyes wide open, Bai Yun first replicated Ace's physique, and his hands were not idle either, the bracelet instantly transforming into a long staff.

I learned this from Hongo, the ship's doctor in the Red-Haired Pirates. He was a weapon expert, especially skilled in staff fighting.

Here's a little-known fact: another official, Lem Zeus, also used a staff technique taught in his hometown.

"when!"

Bai Yun blocked Ace's water pipe with one hand holding a stick, and a sound of metal clashing echoed through the forest.

"You're really something. Your 'magic' and your skill are both excellent, much better than that kid's."

Ace smiled and said he was happy to have met a second person who could fight him.

Bai Yun smiled back, but inwardly he was cursing, his arm was numb from being hit like that.

Using vision to replicate strength only allows for 40% to 50%. Using 40% of Ace's strength against him is a guaranteed loss, isn't it?

However, Bai Yun didn't want to waste the chance to replicate members of the Red-Haired Pirates on Ace, who would eventually turn back into one of their own. This was their trump card for future voyages!

So, Bai Yun seized the opportunity to grab Ace's hand, but Ace immediately pulled it away. "What do you mean?"

By touching it, you can replicate 60% of its strength.

Bai Yun did not answer, but instead replicated 60% of Ace's physique and fought him.

Take the lead!

Bai Yun took the initiative and launched a downward sweeping attack. Ace reacted quickly and immediately jumped up, gripping the water pipe with both hands and slamming it down. The force was so strong that the sound of air being cut was very clear. If this hit Bai Yun, his head would be cracked open.

Not wanting to compete with him in strength, Bai Yun stepped back to dodge, and the water pipe slammed onto the ground with a loud bang, cracking the ground inch by inch.

Bai Yun swallowed hard. What deep-seated hatred could this be?

There was no time for reflection, Ace attacked again!

.......

In the forest, the sound of clashing steel echoed continuously.

Bai Yun's strength is inferior to Ace's, and Ace's technique is inferior to Bai Yun's.

The two were evenly matched for a while, and Luffy, being very respectful, did not help but kept shouting "Go, Bai Yun!"

But as time went by, Bai Yun's stamina depleted quickly, and he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. Ace sensed this and became excited; victory was just around the corner.

But suddenly I lost my excitement.

Chapter 14 The Terminal of Uncertain Things

As Bai Yun fought Ace, his stamina dwindled and he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. This couldn't go on, so he used the momentum to retreat, transforming the long staff in his hand into a flintlock pistol.

Ace was stunned when a gun was pointed at him.

Bai Yun said, "Sir, times have changed."

He didn't want to point a gun at Ace, but if things continued like this, he would eventually get hit by Ace's stick and then have to recover for a month.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Having steadied Ace, Bai Yun, panting, put away his flintlock pistol.

"You win, Ace, stop fighting."

Bai Yun is truly exhausted, utterly exhausted. Let it all end.

"Phew, that bracelet?"