Chapter 22 - John, I don't want to lose! (Seeking continuous readership)
"Captain John, you f*cker!"
Saying this, Bai Ye even gave Captain John the middle finger. This guy was the biggest joker on the ship, and among the Pirates, Bai Ye had the best relationship with him; they often teased each other.
However, after Captain John said that, Bai Ye couldn't stand it. This was clearly not believing in his strength!
Similarly, Captain John also gave Bai Ye the middle finger. He didn't know what it meant before. When Bai Ye gave him the middle finger, he just laughed it off. Later, after learning the meaning of the gesture, he couldn't stand it and would give Bai Ye the middle finger at any time as a response!
"I'm serious with you. There's a kid named Kaido. He seems to be from the Oni race. Rocks specifically asked for him and sent Whitebeard to pick him up!"
Captain John glanced around, then told Bai Ye as if revealing a secret, fearing that others might find out.
This was something he had managed to overhear with great difficulty.
"Don't overthink it. Captain probably didn't tell you because he was afraid you'd overthink. Speaking of which, besides Kaido, your biggest rivals are a few other guys. Those guys are also eyeing your position greedily!"
Captain John took a swig of wine and said casually.
Hearing his words, Bai Ye fell silent.
In the original plot, there were likely only six Captains. Besides himself, Rocks probably held similar Captain challenges later on.
However, these six individuals were indeed strong at the moment.
Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and Big Mom were currently the three monsters of the Rocks Pirates.
Wang Zhi was a great swordsman, Captain John's Haki was top-tier on the ship, and Silver Axe also possessed monstrous strength, capable of splitting even a mountain with a single axe swing, and he had powerful Armament Haki.
Even Kaido at this time would not be a match for these six. Kaido's own strength wasn't particularly strong during this period; his true rise came after consuming the Blue Dragon Fruit.
But Bai Ye couldn't wait until then. The Blue Dragon Fruit was snatched by Big Mom during God Valley and given to Kaido.
His current strength couldn't guarantee him snatching it from Big Mom, and even Kuma's Nikyu Nikyu no Mi wasn't something he could get. Moreover, even if he could get it, Bai Ye didn't really want it.
His ideal combination was Blackbeard's physique to consume three Devil Fruits: the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Paramecia Op-Op Fruit, and the Zoan Mythical Zoan: Nika Fruit. Of course, if the Nika Fruit wasn't an option, he had three other Mythical Zoan alternatives: the first was a vampire form, the second was a bake-danuki form, and the third was a Nue form.
The first came from Red Count, granting him immense vitality and recovery abilities.
The second came from the raccoon dog by Red Count's side, which could turn written names and drawings into real objects with abilities, even Devil Fruit abilities. This was a power similar to 'Magic Brush Ma Liang'!
The third Devil Fruit came from Toraji of Wano Country, a god-like creature covered in fire, capable of discerning good from evil.
In Bai Ye's opinion, these three Devil Fruits were not much weaker than Nika. Of course, they couldn't compare to Nika, as it was the most absurd Fruit and also Oda's cheat code for his favorite character.
However, Nika would affect the user and chose its own wielder. For eight hundred years, the World Government had never found Nika. Even when it was found later, Red Hair took it away.
Ultimately, this was Nika's own choice.
Therefore, Bai Ye didn't hold much hope of finding Nika.
But in the current situation, what Bai Ye needed most was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The power increase from a Logia type in the early stages is the most obvious.
Whether it was the Op-Op Fruit or a Zoan type, the early-stage improvement would definitely not be as good as a Logia, let alone the top-tier Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
After learning that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was in Birka, Bai Ye could no longer conceal the excitement in his heart. Coupled with the upcoming Captain's competition, with just over a month's time, Bai Ye really wanted to give it a try.
"What are you thinking? You don't think you can improve much in this one month, do you? If you really think so, you should go find Rocks!"
"I don't want to sit back and do nothing, and become the laughingstock of the Rocks Pirates, John!"
Bai Ye looked at Captain John very seriously. He was personally promoted by Rocks, not by relying on his own strength.
In fact, to a large extent, on one hand, it was because of his potential, and on the other hand, Rocks wanted to show others that as long as they followed him sincerely, they could be like Bai Ye.
As a result, while Bai Ye received envy, he received more jealousy.
Everyone knew that Bai Ye's strength when he first joined was only that of a Colonel. After being specially trained by Rocks, he had the strength of a Rear Admiral, but this was far from enough. Other Captains had at least the strength of a mid-tier Shichibukai, but Bai Ye only had the strength of a Rear Admiral.
Naturally, after the Captain competition was announced, Bai Ye became the target of everyone.
To become a Captain and gain Rocks' appreciation, defeating Whitebeard was naturally the best option, but if they had the strength to defeat Whitebeard and others, they would have already been appointed Captain by Rocks.
It was precisely because their strength was insufficient.
And Bai Ye was the perfect breakthrough point!
"Hmph, you're really stubborn!" Captain John shook his head, took another drink, then looked at Bai Ye with a serious expression and said, "Do you need my help?"
When a man of the sea earnestly recounts his experiences to you, even the most unreliable pirate will listen seriously, let alone if that person is your friend!
Captain John also felt Bai Ye's determination. Since he didn't want to give up, he naturally wouldn't drag Bai Ye along to continue drinking.
"I need to leave the Pirate crew for a while. Captain John, you've been to many places. Can you tell me how to get to Sky Island? I need to go to Sky Island!"
Bai Ye was taking a gamble. If the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was in Birka, then after consuming it and combining it with the abilities of Bai Ye from the Hokage world, he was confident that he would make a splash in this battle.
But if there was no Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he wouldn't panic too much, as he still had Mangekyo, and that ability was already strong enough. As long as he could ensure his stamina allowed him to continuously use Mangekyo, he would be invincible.
However, if there were more possibilities, Bai Ye naturally wouldn't cling only to the Mangekyo ability.
"Yes, but I have a map to Sky Island. How do you plan to get there? Are you going to find that guy Shiki?"
Captain John loved collecting treasures the most, so he naturally kept permanent pointers to various places to facilitate his treasure hunting.