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There's a saying—what you see in others is often just what they want you to see.
Okay, that's not the exact wording, but you get the idea.
Even though it looked like Bai Ye had laid all his cards on the table for the Navy to see, in reality, they'd only seen the tip of the iceberg.
Even in the original story, the Straw Hats were ridiculously strong during their time in the East Blue.
A lot of their fights looked tough, but that was mostly because Luffy liked making things harder for himself.
Take Buggy, for example—Luffy got himself locked in a cage.
Against Kuro? Hypnotized in seconds.
Fighting Arlong? Dude just let himself get tossed into the ocean.
Honestly, most of the blood Zoro shed back then was thanks to Luffy's antics.
If none of that had happened, the Straw Hats would've still handled everything just fine—even without Bai Ye.
So yeah… now that he's thinking about it, all of this is basically Luffy's fault!!!
The Navy trying to gauge their real strength just by looking at their East Blue battles? Totally missing the mark.
Sending stronger forces based on that would just be giving the Straw Hats free EXP points.
Not to mention, tracking down a pirate ship in this world isn't exactly easy.
Bai Ye was sure the Navy wouldn't waste their time on something with such a bad risk-to-reward ratio.
After all, they've got the entire ocean to worry about.
Besides, all Bai Ye did was provoke the Navy a little.
And he did it quietly, behind the scenes.
Knowing Sengoku's personality, this kind of small stuff isn't worth bothering with in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, there was another big reason...
By the time the Straw Hats show up in front of the Navy again, they definitely won't be at their current level anymore.
The effects of the Body Purification Pill are only just beginning to kick in.
After taking it, everyone on the crew not only had their physical strength enhanced, but their whole constitution got a level-up—unlocking more of their hidden potential.
In ancient terms used by Qi practitioners, that's called improving one's "foundation."
In the original story, their training speed was already insane. Now with the pill's effects added?
They're definitely leveling up faster than they did originally.
So while the Navy is still thinking of them as "low-level pirates worth a few million berries," the next time they show up, they might all be worth over a hundred million each.
Just picturing that scene in his head made Bai Ye grin darkly.
Smoker caught that look and froze for a second.
What the hell's wrong with this guy? Is he nuts or something???
If Bai Ye could've heard that thought, he might've pulled out his stick and smacked Smoker right then and there.
Before long, after a round of awkward staring, Ah Jian returned with the other marines.
Seeing Colonel Nezumi and the Arlong Pirates captured, Smoker nodded.
With the mission complete, he didn't plan to stick around.
But just before leaving, he said to the crew:
"Next time you raise that pirate flag, don't expect to get off the hook so easily."
He paused, then added:
"Just make sure you don't get caught before I'm the one to do it."
Then he turned and walked away.
He knew those words weren't exactly in line with what a marine should say...
But thinking about everything this group had done—and the vibe they gave off during their encounter—he couldn't help but feel...
They really don't seem like pirates at all.
"See? Smoke Guy's not such a bad person after all."
Luffy and the others had clearly heard what Smoker said.
Being the simple guy he is, Luffy gave his honest take.
"Maybe it's 'cause we haven't done anything bad."
Sanji offered a guess. After all those years at Baratie, he'd heard plenty of stories about violent pirates.
Sure, old man Zeff was a pirate too, but Sanji wasn't naive enough to think all pirates were like him.
I mean, come on—what kind of brutal pirate crew is led by a chef?
"Still, he's a marine. Sooner or later, we're bound to fight him."
Zoro crossed his arms and said flatly.
Out of everyone, he was probably the most grounded—especially after what happened in Shells Town. He wasn't the type to judge someone too quickly anymore.
"Zoro's right," Bai Ye nodded, then added,"We're pirates now. If we go around thinking 'Oh, there are good guys in the Navy,' that's seriously dangerous."
"Exactly, Luffy!!!"
At that moment, Nami ran up to Luffy, grabbed his cheeks with both hands, and tugged hard, face full of frustration.
"Next time, stop saying you wanna be Pirate King out loud like that!!!"
"Yeah, seriously! You couldn't even hit that guy earlier! If Bai Ye hadn't been with us, we'd have been captured already!"
Usopp chimed in, shaking Luffy's shoulders.
"Noooooooo"
Luffy whined while getting pulled and twisted like a piece of dough.
Nami and Usopp both looked like they were ready to cry as they kept yanking Luffy's face into all kinds of weird shapes.
"Don't worry!"
Bai Ye's calm and reassuring voice cut through the chaos.
Once Nami and Usopp had calmed down a bit, he looked around at everyone.
"I've actually been planning this for a while—soon, all of you will be able to use Haki."
Bai Ye was totally confident. And not just because of the Haki training manual from Roger.
He also had the Qi inside his own body.
Haki and Qi are basically two sides of the same coin—both are forms of latent human power.
Sure, you might need special talent to use Conqueror's Haki...
But Armament Haki and Observation Haki? Those should be within reach for everyone.
What people lack isn't talent—it's just awareness and activation of that power.
In the original story, Luffy and the others had to go through brutal training to push their bodies to the limit, triggering the awakening of their Haki.
But Bai Ye had a better way.
He could infuse his own innate Qi into their bodies.
By guiding it through their internal energy channels, they'd get a direct and vivid feel for how that power works.
In Bai Ye's mind, someone as pure-hearted as Luffy might only need one full cycle of Qi through his body to awaken Haki.
Zoro and Sanji might take a bit longer—and they'd need a bit of extra training too.
Usopp already unlocked Observation Haki in the original story. Now that he's taken the Body Purification Pill and boosted his "foundation," there's a real shot he might awaken Armament Haki too.
As for Nami, she's in the same boat as Usopp. With the pill and Bai Ye's Qi guidance, awakening Haki isn't off the table at all.
To Bai Ye, it wasn't that they lacked potential in the original story—they just didn't train the right way.
And why didn't anyone in the One Piece world ever use a method like this?
Ever heard of Armament Haki's "internal destruction" effect?
Or how Conqueror's Haki can be used to "clear out mobs"?
Clearly, this world's understanding of Haki is still far behind what the ancient Qi practitioners knew.
Infusing Haki into someone else's body? In this world, they'd probably think that's a joke.
"....."