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"Haki?!"
Smoker's voice held genuine shock. He was even more stunned than when Luffy showed off that crazy speed earlier.
This just made him more certain—Bai Ye was not some ordinary guy.
There was no way someone like this came from the four seas. He had to be from the Grand Line—or even the New World.
Before this, Smoker could maybe chalk Bai Ye's crazy powers up to a Devil Fruit or some rare encounter. But Haki? That only came from the Grand Line, no doubt about it. Probably the New World.
Smoker frowned as thoughts raced through his head.
Was Bai Ye from some remote island like Wano?
It wasn't a bad guess. After all, the Marines had a strong grip on most islands in the four seas and the first half of the Grand Line.
Only the New World was mostly out of reach, thanks to the Four Emperors controlling large parts of it.
Wano, for example, was Kaido's turf—and also had a long-standing isolationist policy. Add in the fact that Wano had ninjas and all sorts of unique customs…
So it wasn't crazy for Smoker to suspect Bai Ye came from a similarly mysterious place—maybe some hidden land full of Taoist monks?
As that idea formed, Smoker kept his eyes locked on Bai Ye.
Was this guy… a representative of that secretive nation?
He had all these mysterious powers and wasn't even trying to hide them. Could he really be as simple as he looked?
One thing Smoker was sure of: Bai Ye wasn't the only Taoist in the world. That idea was off the table.
"Well, by your standards, sure, you could call it Haki," Bai Ye said, the golden light around him suddenly flaring up, covering his whole body in a blink.
"But in our Taoist tradition, I prefer to call it Qi."
He grinned. "By the way, earlier you really had fun messing with my friends using your smoke powers, huh?"
Since mastering the Golden Light Spell, Bai Ye had been building up his inner Qi rapidly through Pure Yang Wuji cultivation.
At this point, the amount of Qi he had was more than enough to evolve the spell to the next level:
—Shaping Qi into Form!
As he spoke, a staff made of golden light materialized in his hand.
"Why don't you try this one on for size?"
[My Original Move—Take THIS!]
In a flash, Bai Ye vanished.
The next second, he was directly above Smoker, his golden staff extending rapidly as it smashed downward at Smoker's head!
"What the—this speed!!"
Smoker's eyes widened in shock.
Bai Ye was even faster than Luffy had been earlier.
But what really shook Smoker was the golden staff.
Even though Bai Ye had used a different term—Qi—Smoker still thought of it as Haki.
After all, "Only Haki can hit Logia users" was accepted as a fact worldwide.
As for Bai Ye calling it something else, Smoker didn't care. In Wano, Haki was also called Ryuo.
Which only made him more sure—Bai Ye came from a place even more mysterious and powerful than Wano.
But what really stunned him was how Bai Ye used his Haki.
(Author's Note: In this story, Haki has colors/styles.)
There are four known ways to use Armament Haki:
Hardening
Coating
Emission
Internal Destruction
But Smoker had never heard of anyone forming a weapon purely from Haki itself.
Even if that weapon was just a basic stick.
BOOM!!!
The golden staff slammed down, sending up clouds of dust and smoke.
Bai Ye didn't follow up. He landed lightly and looked ahead.
A few seconds later, the dust settled.
Smoker reappeared, clutching his right shoulder.
Sure, Logia users can preemptively turn into elements to dodge Haki attacks…
But that only works for small contact attacks like fists or blades.
Bai Ye's oversized glowing staff? No way Smoker could fully dodge that with smoke.
Even with all his effort, Smoker still took a hit to the shoulder.
"Hmm~" Bai Ye nodded, eyeing Smoker.
"Well, I'd say we're even now."
Smoker's mouth twitched.
Even? Seriously?
Those three guys behind Bai Ye didn't even take a tenth of the beating he just did!
Even Nami and the others thought Bai Ye was going a bit too far.
Poor guy—his shirt got blown off.
…Oh wait, he took it off beforehand. Never mind then.
"Smoker! Bai Ye is so strong!!"
Luffy's voice rang out excitedly.
His eyes sparkled as he looked at Bai Ye, face full of pride.
"So that energy called Haki can actually hit Logia users, huh?"
Sanji lit a cigarette and nodded. "Wonder if it can be channeled into a sword."
Zoro's eyes darkened slightly. He was clearly deep in thought.
"Alright, Captain Smoker," Bai Ye said calmly, "now you understand what we're capable of, right?"
He tossed Smoker a small package.
"Apply that to your wound. I'm guessing you don't want your subordinates seeing you like this."
Bai Ye shrugged.
But he winced a little inside. That potion wasn't cheap.
It was made from the leftovers of refining healing pills!
Sure, the effectiveness was reduced—but do you even know how many rare herbs went into that batch?!
Even though there were plenty of herbs stored in the inner world of the Taoist talisman scroll, if he kept using them like this, Bai Ye estimated they'd only last… oh, a casual ten thousand years.
…Maybe he should start charging a medical fee?
Bai Ye seriously considered it for a second.
Then shook his head.
Nah, that's too tacky.
Smoker, meanwhile, didn't hesitate. He opened the package and applied the liquid to his wound.
He immediately felt a wave of energy healing his body. His expression relaxed.
Yup. Just like the intel said—this guy had stuff that could heal people fast.
A few moments later, Smoker was almost completely recovered.
He put his coat back on, lit the three cigars in his mouth, and looked over at the Straw Hats.
At this point, he had no interest in continuing the fight.
Luffy, Blondie, and Green Hair… these three were already stronger than he expected.
As for the long-haired guy…
Smoker turned to Bai Ye with a complicated look.
"Hey. You do know showing off your power like this is gonna bring consequences, right?"
He couldn't help but give them a warning.
Sure, their strength was impressive—but to the whole Navy?
Still not enough.
"Thanks for the heads-up," Bai Ye replied with a calm smile. "But honestly, I'm not too worried."
He wasn't bluffing.
He had his reasons.
"....."