Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

"Ace, join my crew."

The voice was incredibly clear and steady.

It was as if they were talking about something extremely ordinary and commonplace, and the tone was natural.

Ace was stunned for several seconds.

He then turned his head to look at Li Mingyuan.

"Um?"

Ace instinctively let out a surprised sound.

"What?"

After a long pause, Ace asked in shock, "Li Mingyuan, what did you just say?"

The sudden turn of events not only left Ace's mind blank, but also made him completely forget the topic he had just wanted to discuss.

Li Mingyuan's voice remained completely unwavering in the face of this.

"I'm telling you, Ace, join my crew."

Stopping in his tracks, Li Mingyuan turned around and looked at Ace.

The two locked eyes.

In an instant, the whole world seemed to fall silent.

Ace could clearly see Li Mingyuan's composed face and his eyes, which were even more profound and sparkling than the night, as Ace stared in astonishment.

To be honest, just a second before his eyes met Li Mingyuan's, Ace still harbored a sliver of hope, wondering if it was a misunderstanding, a delusion, or even a misinterpretation of something else as that sentence.

However, when Ace made eye contact with Li Mingyuan, he immediately understood.

What is happening before our eyes is an undeniable fact!

Just now, Li Mingyuan did indeed speak up and extend an invitation to me.

"Are you... serious?"

Ace's gaze slowly changed, from relaxed and cheerful to heavy and sharp.

"So, you mean I should join your crew? Give up being a pirate and become a bounty hunter together?"

He turned to Li Mingyuan, took a deep breath, and said, "As your companion these past few days, you should know what your words mean to me."

"We can't just pretend we didn't hear this."

If he could, Ace really wanted to treat what just happened as a joke and let it pass by casually.

However, this is impossible.

Because anyone who looks into Li Mingyuan's eyes at this moment will clearly recognize the presence of the man beside them.

Every word he uttered was like a mark imprinted on reality.

Ace believed that not only himself, but even those long-established great pirates would not be able to ignore Li Mingyuan's words.

In an instant, Ace had to hold his breath and solemnly face Li Mingyuan.

However, in contrast to Ace's tense demeanor...

At that moment, Li Mingyuan felt a sense of relief and smiled for the first time that night.

Finally, she said it.

The thought that came to mind the moment I first saw Ace.

—Make him your partner!

"Judging from your expression, you seem somewhat shocked and unable to understand?"

"But this is not surprising. With your abilities, you should be recruited wherever you go. Besides, I've actually wanted to tell you this for a long time."

Li Mingyuan looked at Ace in front of him and said frankly, "Ace, you are not suited to be a pirate."

"This is not to question your dream, but from an outsider's perspective, this is the conclusion I've drawn after observing and summarizing: you are more suited to wandering the high seas as someone who chases pirates than as a pirate."

"Instead of continuing to live this confused life, why not come with me?"

Under Ace's complicated gaze, Li Mingyuan reached out and offered his hand to Ace.

"To be free from that oppressive weight that seems to be constantly being chased by something, that is my promise to you. On my ship, you will no longer think about anything related to pirates, you can just watch my back."

Li Mingyuan said softly, "I will truly liberate you."

Li Mingyuan stared quietly at Ace in front of him, and before he knew it, his expression became extremely serious.

Scenes of my interactions with the other person flashed through my mind.

By fabricating a fictional background to touch someone's heart, gradually opening their heart, and actively demonstrating strength that can overwhelm the other party, you not only leave an impression, but also subconsciously gain their approval of your qualifications to be their captain.

All the actions, from the very beginning, existed solely for the purpose of recruiting the other party.

"It was truly an agonizing time."

Li Mingyuan thought to himself.

As a male supporting character with an extremely strong presence in the world of One Piece, even though Ace's strength has become somewhat outdated in the later stages of One Piece's expansion, he still has great potential. He possesses Conqueror's Haki, and his Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit is strong enough to fight against the Ice-Ice Fruit. He is qualified to be a captain on Whitebeard's ship.

Although Li Mingyuan did not expect to meet Ace in the East Blue.

But if a high-level combatant were to fall from the sky and be delivered right to his doorstep, he wouldn't have any reason to miss out, would he?

This is another reason why he used Kamui in his battle with Ace, even though he hasn't found a way to delay his blindness yet. He missed the opportunity to leave an impression of his strength, and who knows if he'll ever have another chance to show it again. Even if it wastes some of his eyesight, if this opportunity allows him to take Ace under his wing in the future, it's definitely a worthwhile deal.

only……

Although this was the initial plan, things did not go smoothly in practice.

The time Li Mingyuan spent with Ace was certainly not in vain, and he gained a lot of happiness from it. However, when a person deliberately schemes to gain favor through contact, no matter what the process is like, a burden will inevitably accumulate in their heart.

As long as he is not sincere in his treatment of the other person, he will not be able to have a truly wholehearted experience.

Until this point.

After finally revealing his destination to Ace, Li Mingyuan felt as if he had completely let down his guard. With the most relaxed and sincere attitude he had ever shown, he faced Ace and waited for his reply.

Before actually speaking at this moment, I still had some doubts and concerns, worrying that there might be some mistakes. But now that I've spoken, I can't feel any of those extra emotions.

It was truly a wonderful experience.

On the other side, Ace stared at the palm that Li Mingyuan had extended to him, and remained silent for a while.

"Feeling lost? Do I look like that to you?"

"But I may have to disappoint you, my goal of becoming the pinnacle of piracy has never changed."

His eyes shone brightly as he looked at Li Mingyuan and said in a deep voice, "I cannot become subordinate to anyone, because if I do, I will be unable to realize my dream."

"Besides, if I join your ship, what will happen to my crew?"

Ace coldly replied, "Everyone joined my ship because they trusted me. We set sail together for this ocean with our own ideals. To disband the crew before even seeing the Grand Line is an insult to my trust in my crew! Even if it were you, I wouldn't take such a thing as a joke."

"I don't think you're an idiot, Li Mingyuan. Since you dared to say those things... you should have thought about how to handle this, right?"