"Wait a Moment."
Seeing Bai Yu about to leave, Dracule Mihawk spoke coolly:
"Those two in the corner… they're not ones to be easily fooled."
Mihawk was blunt, and as the others laughed, Bai Yu's face darkened slightly.
"Have I ever fooled any of you?" Bai Yu looked genuinely hurt.
He had always invited people sincerely. Clearly, it was his overwhelming charisma that made them join!
Noticing Bai Yu's misunderstanding, Silvers Rayleigh shrugged and smiled:
"If you managed to get an old man like me on board, it proves you can fool people even better than Roger did."
"…Is that so?"
Bai Yu squinted at the others and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Captain, calm down!"
Crocodile suddenly spoke with a serious expression:
"Senior Rayleigh, what are you saying? I've been waiting decades just for the chance to follow the captain!"
"Hee hee hee, the moment I saw the captain, I knelt instantly. Why? Because I met Master Mingo…" Gecko Moria added with a flushed face, clearly getting ahead of himself.
Shameless. Absolutely shameless.
Cavendish quickly followed:
"When I was eight years old, a fortune teller told me I would meet the true king in my second year at sea. The moment I saw the captain, I knew—it was him! It was him!"
"Yeah hahaha! The captain is the king of gods, there's nothing else to say!" Enel wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Rob Lucci added coldly:
"I have always believed that my judgment is correct."
Why were they all jumping in now?!
Charlotte Katakuri, who had remained composed until now, realized he had to say something, or he'd be left behind.
With a solemn expression, he declared:
"The captain I follow must be the future King of the World!"
Donquixote Doflamingo froze.
He turned to look at Katakuri, his teeth grinding together.
"You even used your Future Sight for this?! And you stole my line?! You bastard!"
Katakuri remained perfectly calm.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Wasn't it just Future Sight? He had seen what Doflamingo would say, so he said it first. If Doflamingo had the ability, he could do the same.
"Captain is mighty!"
Upon seeing Bai Yu's gaze sweep over them, Eustass Kid, Killer, Basil Hawkins, X Drake, Urouge, and Scratchmen Apoo all shouted in unison.
The next moment, Kid stepped forward as their spokesperson:
"Everyone here is strong, and they all speak well. We really like this place, and we're absolutely serious about joining! No doubt about it!"
Truthfully…
Kid and the other Supernovas, having recently joined, felt incredibly lucky.
The benefits of being in Bai Yu's crew were just too good!
As long as they were capable, followed orders, and didn't betray him, Bai Yu would grant them things that most people in the world could only dream of.
• Teach! Mastering Haki through real combat!
• Life! Training in extreme gravity!
• Youth! The ability to replace their Devil Fruits!
• Fairy Beans! A chance to revive from death!
Some of these Bai Yu could already provide, while others were just a few years away.
With these advantages, even if someone held a blade to their throats, they wouldn't want to leave.
Supernovas: Anyone who tries to make me betray the captain—I'll wipe out their entire family!
"Interesting…"
Seeing this, Shiryu of the Rain grinned.
Since he had joined, he might as well follow the trend.
With a deep sigh, he said expressionlessly:
"I only regret being born a few decades too early. Otherwise, I would have called the captain 'father' without hesitation!"
Everyone:
HISS!
We're doomed.
Turns out the real monster was here all along.
We respect it!
At this moment, Mihawk's eyelids twitched.
He felt completely out of sync with this group.
Every single one of them was shameless beyond belief.
Bai Yu, however, was very satisfied.
He looked at Mihawk and Rayleigh and declared:
"So, being sincere and fooling people into joining—it's an outdated tactic."
"You win," Rayleigh admitted, speechless.
"You Guys… Just Go to Prison and Think About Life!"
Bai Yu turned his gaze toward Douglas Bullet and the others, slowly raising his hand.
Immediately, Bartholomew Redfield (Red Earl), Bullet, and the others tensed up.
Was he going to turn them into toys again?!
"Ten times gravity!"
A heavy force pressed down, and the group staggered.
"Not enough? Let's try 100 times gravity!"
"PFFT!"
In an instant, those Bai Yu deemed worthy spewed blood, their bodies splitting open as they collapsed, barely clinging to life.
They had already been weakened by years in Impel Down's Eternal Hell. It was a miracle they didn't die on the spot.
"Buzz!"
A spatial vortex opened.
Before they could resist, Bai Yu tossed them into his Undead Prison.
Eternal Hell vs. Undead Prison!
He didn't have time to deal with them now, but Bai Yu was confident—after experiencing the baptism of the Undead Prison, their souls would be refined, and they would soon accept reality.
He ignored the remaining hundreds of thousands of prisoners, who were trembling in fear.
"The rest is up to you. Before I return, make sure to select all Devil Fruit users and the strongest elites!"
After giving his command, Bai Yu disappeared.
Marine Headquarters - Marineford
The execution platform stood tall.
The square was filled with 100,000 elite Marines, all waiting solemnly.
Behind them stood Vice Admirals like Flying Squirrel, Ghost Spider, Strawberry, Onigumo, Doberman, Dalmatian, Bastille, and Gumir.
Among them were Captain-ranked officers such as Smoker and Hina.
At the front stood the Shichibukai.
At the very forefront, a row of Giant Vice Admirals stood imposingly, radiating sheer power.
The entire battlefield exuded a chilling, oppressive atmosphere—enough to strike fear into the hearts of any pirate.
Meanwhile - On the Moby Dick
A giant bubble rose from the sea.
The ship slowly surfaced, revealing its massive, menacing form.
Across the battlefield, countless people held their breath.
On Bai Yu's invisible spaceship, he watched through a radar scan.
He shook his head.
"Sengoku is too soft. Or maybe he just wants to give Whitebeard a dignified send-off."
Nico Robin was surprised.
"What do you mean?"
Bai Yu explained:
"If Sengoku truly wanted to win efficiently, he should have ordered the Vice Admirals to intercept the allied ships and had the three Admirals blow up the sea before the Moby Dick surfaced."
"That way, Whitebeard's ship wouldn't have made it out intact."
"With no ship and no battlefield advantage, the outcome would be sealed before the fight even began."
The girls on the ship gave Bai Yu strange looks.
"Good thing you're not Marine Marshal," Nami muttered.
Bai Yu chuckled.
"Yeah. But maybe I should put someone in as an Admiral just to annoy the Five Elders."
"BOOM!"
Heavy footsteps echoed.
A massive figure stepped forward.
As he reached the bow of the Moby Dick, silence spread across the battlefield.
Even the most hardened Marines felt a moment of hesitation.
One of the Four Emperors—Whitebeard!
Edward Newgate!
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