Luffy's invitation was a scene Bai Ye had watched a hundred times in the anime.
Back then he'd always thought, man, joining this guy's crew would be awesome.
But standing on that creaky ship deck, face-to-face with the real thing, receiving the first invitation from the man himself — Bai Ye found himself momentarily stunned.
"I'm Luffy! Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm gonna be the Pirate King!!!"
Luffy shouted his catchphrase again after offering the invitation. It sounded embarrassingly dramatic, and yet as Bai Ye listened something in him shifted.
This kid wasn't joking. He truly believed it. He was going to become the Pirate King.
Bai Ye didn't hesitate. When fate hands you an opening, what was there to worry about?
"All right!" Bai Ye answered. "I have no family or friends in this world. Since you want to be the Pirate King and you're inviting me to be your crewmate…"
He didn't bow; he stood tall and looked Luffy straight in the eye, his gaze steady and calm, threaded with confidence and expectation.
"Then I'll cause a ruckus with you, Captain."
"Yo-shi~!" Luffy punched his right fist into his left palm and beamed.
"Can't believe I found a crewmate so soon after setting sail. Now I just need nine more! We gotta have a musician — how can a pirate party have no music?"
"Ha ha ha, Bai Ye, you're the best," Luffy mumbled as he rambled on.
Hearing him, something softened on Bai Ye's face. He couldn't help smiling back.
Not bothering with Koby's dumbfounded look across the room, Bai Ye and Luffy were in a world of their own. If a narrator existed, it might say:
From Koby's perspective, these two were lunatics: one shouting about becoming Pirate King and inviting a total stranger to join him; the other accepting without a second thought. It was as if Koby's few remaining certainties about the world were cracking.
Bai Ye didn't mind the stares. And though he'd agreed quickly, joining the Straw Hats fit into his own reasoning.
Look at the power structures in this world: bandits, bounty hunters, revolutionaries, Marines, and pirates.
Bandits were ridiculous on the open sea. Bounty hunters had freedom but made too many enemies and had to do everything themselves. Revolutionaries didn't interest him much — the original story didn't make them feel remarkable. The Marines? Potentially respectable, but Bai Ye couldn't stomach the idea of eventually being ordered to guard the Celestial Dragons. He wasn't about to serve as anyone's dog.
That left one viable choice: join a pirate crew.
Yes, ninety-nine percent of pirates were scum, but the remaining one percent were adventurers in name as well — and that was the kind of crew Bai Ye could accept.
Luffy's Straw Hat crew fit that mold. And there were several obvious, visible perks:
First, unlike many jump-hero protagonists, Luffy's loyalty and care for his crew were glaringly obvious — Bai Ye wouldn't be sacrificed to some ritual altar.
Second, the entire saga is told through Luffy's perspective — which, for Bai Ye, was basically a built-in spoiler advantage. If you can peek at the storylines, why be a nobody?
Third — and most importantly — Luffy was undeniably favored by fate. A lucky scion and born leader. Look at the big events in the story: Marineford had figures like Sengoku and Admiral Kizaru all over it. Luffy's bloodline and connections were unreal: a grandfather who was a top Marine hero (Garp), a father who led the Revolution (Dragon), brothers like Ace and Sabo, and mentors in the New World. Luffy's destiny in the original tale was on a completely different level.
And then there was his Devil Fruit — the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika — the mythical "Sun God" form, that turned him into a living legend capable of freeing people and making the world laugh, according to the elders. Luffy was born to shake the world.
Who could refuse joining a chosen one like that?
So Bai Ye accepted. But accepting didn't mean he'd stop thinking strategically. He had a book to study: the Daoist Codex. He'd only just begun to understand the gift it offered.
After a short while, Bai Ye's eyes snapped open, excitement bubbling beneath the surface. The Codex hummed with ancient, layered knowledge — the accumulated arts of the Daoist world.
There were things like the Qimen of Wind-After techniques that called the five elements through territorial divination; the Golden Light Mantra and thunder rites of Longhu's orthodox branch; Maoshan's talisman crafts; even alchemy and artifact-forging. It was comprehensive.
But Bai Ye couldn't simply read and instantly master those arts. He had to cultivate and comprehend them. The good news: he could enter the Codex's internal landscape — an inner world where time could be adjusted, allowing him far more practice in far less external time.
With the Summit War looming in the future, earlier mastery meant more options later. The quicker he learned, the better his chances in a world of ceaseless powerhouses.
Also, the Codex granted him a starter gift — a seed of Innate Qi.
Since arriving, Bai Ye had already noticed his constitution was stronger and that some kind of inner energy — qi — existed within him. Compared to the Codex's standard, his qi was only a fraction of what it could be. Think of it like the difference between martial arts (wuxia) and full cultivation (xianxia). The Codex gave him a seed: if he catalyzed it with his internal force, he could convert his qi to a higher stratum and leap in strength in a short time.
Bai Ye glanced at the newly declared captain and said, "Luffy, I'm gonna need a favor from you."
Luffy's eyes brightened. "Anything! What do you want?"
Bai Ye smiled faintly and began to explain the plan he had in mind — the one that would let him train, grow, and repay his captain in kind.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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