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"There's no need to be that tense."
White Night gave a helpless smile.
"As long as we don't draw too much attention, we'll be fine. If I had to guess, Baroque Works is probably already gathering their forces."
Luffy nodded furiously.
"See, White Night gets it! I wanna eat meat!!"
White Night: ???
I'm not worried about the others, but YOU — tone it down, man!
White Night's sudden cautiousness wasn't just because of what Nami had said earlier.
It was also because of a gut feeling.
That "something bad's about to go down" kind of feeling had only gotten stronger since they landed on the island.
And so, he couldn't help but start planning more carefully.
But just as they were about to continue walking — with Luffy still making a fuss —
They all suddenly noticed something was wrong.
The once-busy street had gone completely silent.
Not a single soul in sight.
Everyone came to a stop.
Even someone as clueless as Luffy could tell something was off now.
Then — those with Observation Haki awakened all turned around at once.
Clack… clack… clack…
The sound of leather shoes echoed, slow and steady, getting closer and closer.
And then, a figure appeared at the far end of the street.
Slowly, the figure came into view.
The moment White Night saw who it was, his eyes narrowed sharply.
Why the hell is HE here?!
"Hehehe… This little business trip turned out to be a pleasant surprise."
The newcomer wore a mustard-yellow suit, a matching mustard-yellow hat, and had a face that just oozed sleaze.
A cigarette dangled from his mouth. Hands in pockets. His stride was obnoxiously cocky.
But the most important detail?
The Justice cloak draped over his shoulders — something only Marine officers ranked colonel and above were allowed to wear.
"Let me think for a sec…"
He stopped and started patting himself down like he was searching for something.
"Ah, found it."
He pulled out a few sheets of paper, sounding genuinely pleased.
"Looks like I wasn't mistaken."
"You're the Straw Hat crew — the pirates who suddenly burst out of the East Blue."
He stared at them with a greasy grin.
"Sorry to say this, but your little adventure ends here."
And with that, he struck a pose he clearly thought looked super cool.
Q
"…Who's this ugly old dude supposed to be?"
He didn't expect it, but Luffy's complete lack of awareness just broke his composure instantly.
Nami and Usopp reacted in perfect sync — one quickly covered Luffy's mouth, while the other started complaining:
"Luffy, can you please read the room for once?!"
"Just look at the guy — obviously a Marine!"
At that moment, for some reason, both Zoro and Sanji spoke up at the same time:
"But yeah, he's definitely ugly."
They glanced at each other — surprisingly not starting a fight for once.
Hearing all this, the Marine on the other side was about to explode with rage.
That's when White Night finally spoke:
"Marine Rear Admiral Candidate — Chaton Gaki!"
He gestured to Vivi, signaling her to hop on Karoo and get away.
He was sure Gaki already knew Vivi's identity, so he probably wouldn't bother stopping her.
For the first time, White Night felt like things were spiraling out of his control. His face turned serious as he said to Gaki:
"Didn't expect to see you here."
In the original story, the highest-ranking Marine in the Alabasta incident was Smoker and maybe Tashigi.
But now? They'd somehow managed to draw out a Rear Admiral Candidate?
White Night couldn't wrap his head around it.
Technically, a Rear Admiral Candidate holds the rank of Vice Admiral — but they're called "candidates" because the top brass believes their strength far exceeds the normal Vice Admiral standard.
They're basically future Admirals in the making.
But because there's no open slot for an Admiral right now, he's only called a "Candidate Admiral."
In other words, within the Navy's hierarchy—besides that freak Garp—a Candidate Admiral is basically the strongest just under the top!
"Candidate Admiral?!!"
Whether it was Nami, Usopp, Chopper, or even Zoro and Sanji, they all gasped out loud.
Back when they were heading to Alabasta, Bai Ye had already explained the power structure of this world to them.
So they knew well—Admirals are the Navy's top combat power.
And according to Bai Ye, even someone like Mihawk—the world's greatest swordsman—was still a notch below an Admiral.
Which meant: An Admiral = a monster that even all of them together couldn't beat.
Even if the guy in front of them had the word "Candidate" in front, just thinking about it made it clear—this dude was gonna be a serious problem.
With that in mind, Sanji and Zoro instantly slipped into battle stance.
Even Nami and Usopp each whipped out their gear—Nami with her Clima-Tact and Usopp with his elemental twin pistols—locking eyes on Gaki.
Chopper popped a Rumble Ball into his mouth, ready to transform at any second.
Of course, the only one not reacting at all… was Luffy.
But noticing how serious everyone else got, he lowered the brim of his straw hat.
He looked at Gaki and asked calmly,"So you're an enemy, huh?"
"Taoist Master Bai Ye, right?"
Gaki glanced at Bai Ye, still wearing that sleazy grin.
"You even know who I am. Looks like those guys in Naval Intelligence were right about you."
"You seem to know a whole lot of secrets."
Gaki didn't seem the least bit bothered by how Bai Ye was quietly helping Vivi sneak away.
And even less concerned by the obvious killing intent coming from the rest of the crew.
Because from his perspective, these guys were—
Way too weak!!!
[Soru!]
In the blink of an eye, Gaki vanished.
A split second later, he reappeared above their heads.
[Rankyaku!]
Even without anything to push off from, Gaki twisted his core with insane strength and performed a midair flip.
His right leg came swinging down like a hammer!
The slash, coated in Armament Haki, came crashing down with violent force.
[Xun Hexagram — Howling Wind!]
BOOM!!!
A deafening blast shook the air. Smoke and dust exploded everywhere as Gaki landed smoothly.
If anyone else had been watching from the side, they'd have gasped in shock.
Because from start to finish, Gaki had never once taken his hands out of his pockets.
Looking around with that pervy smile still plastered on his face, he said:
"To be able to counter that… no wonder they put a 100 million bounty on you, Taoist Master Bai Ye."
He said it like he was complimenting him, but his tone was annoyingly casual.
In fact, there was even a hint of mockery in there.
Right before the slash could've hit the Straw Hats—
A sudden gust of wind had swept through and blown everyone away from the danger zone.
Gaki missed!
"Wow, straight-up attacking mid-conversation. You really are Navy to the core—Candidate Admiral and all."
From the rooftop of a nearby building, Bai Ye appeared with a relaxed tone.
(You wanna talk sarcasm? Bro, you're messing with a professional.)
But under that laid-back voice, his mood was anything but calm.
Just from that brief moment, he could already tell—
Gaki alone could probably take them all out.
The Straw Hats… were in serious trouble.
"....."