Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

Chapter 101 A Request Before Parting

After dealing with the last remaining potential problems, Li Mingyuan and Karina walked back on their way.

Although Karina hadn't completely recovered from the bloody scene, she had secretly followed and witnessed it, and she knew Li Mingyuan's style all too well. So even though she harbored some resentment, she didn't dare complain to Li Mingyuan.

For Li Mingyuan, this step marked the complete end of his involvement with Golden Island.

He was finally able to settle down and prepare for leaving the island.

And so, Li Mingyuan walked ahead, while Karina followed behind him, muttering to herself. Before long, the two of them returned to the shore.

"Oh, you're back."

Perhaps it was because Li Mingyuan took a little too long to deal with the pirates.

At this moment, someone has already woken up from their sleep next to a huge rock on the beach.

"It's such a shame that we didn't see you at the banquet last night, even though we made so many preparations."

"Ace kept repeating your name after he got drunk, as if he had something to ask you."

Upon seeing Li Mingyuan, the figure extended his hand in greeting and said with a smile, "If you have time later, you can have a brief talk with Ace."

"We set our departure time for noon. Although it's not particularly generous, we still have time to give them a final heads-up."

"Oh?"

After listening to the other party's explanation, Li Mingyuan looked at the figure's slightly drunk and disheveled appearance and couldn't help but chuckle.

"This is the first time I've seen you look so disheveled. It seems you enjoyed the banquet last night. In that case, all our efforts over the past few days haven't been in vain."

"Compared to what happened with Ace, now that you see me again, don't you have anything else you want to say?"

"Dius".

Li Mingyuan called out the other person's name.

It was none other than Mascud Deus, the vice-captain of the Spade Pirates.

During this period, he worked with Li Mingyuan on logistics and banquet arrangements. He was also the pirate in the Spade Pirates who had the best relationship with Li Mingyuan and spent the most time with him.

Deus looked at Li Mingyuan, scratched his head, and showed a somewhat helpless expression.

"Hey, since I'm pretending nothing happened, can you at least go along with me a little?"

""

"Don't let my appearance fool you. I am, after all, the vice-captain of this pirate crew. Do you think I should be shocked or angry when I hear that you actually want us all to join your crew? I even thought that we had gotten along quite well during this time."

As he spoke, Deus slowly stood up from beside the rock and stretched languidly.

He straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes, especially the mask on his face, which was slightly crooked.

"So? What are your real thoughts?"

Seeing Deuce's state, Li Mingyuan raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Don't tell me that shock and anger are your only reactions. In the entire Spade Pirates, besides Ace, you are the second person I want to recruit."

"Haha, that really thinks highly of me."

After tidying himself up, Deus walked over to Li Mingyuan's side.

Looking at Li Mingyuan in front of him and Karina behind him, Deus was filled with emotion.

"To be honest, I don't really care about this. Although I don't quite understand why a bounty hunter like you would want to run a faction, as you can see and know, the core of our ship is Ace. If Ace agrees to your request, most of us will naturally join your group. If Ace doesn't agree, of course we can't agree to the invitation either. Judging from the current situation, Ace is not averse to your invitation, but he doesn't agree with it either, so I think the same way."

Deus shrugged and said in a relaxed tone, "If you really want to recruit him, I suggest you put more effort into working with Ace. There's no point in asking me what I think."

Ace's first crew member, and also the Spade Pirates' ship doctor.

For Li Mingyuan, who lacked a ship's doctor, Deus was undoubtedly a very important figure. However, even setting aside his functionality, Deus was still the friend with whom Li Mingyuan felt most comfortable during this period.

If Li Mingyuan could bring Ace's gang under his control and also gain some money from Deus, it would undoubtedly be good news.

"Now that you say that, I feel a little relieved."

Li Mingyuan sized up Diuss, and after thinking for a moment, he felt that this topic should probably end here.

So, Li Mingyuan glanced around.

After successfully finding Ace fast asleep among the drunkards, Li Mingyuan suddenly spoke again.

"Speaking of which, Deus, I asked Ace about it before, and I heard that when you were fighting the Lion Head Pirates for the gold, you encountered that legendary pirate hunter, Nonoroya Zoro?"

"As far as I know, you plan to roam around the East Blue for a bit before heading to the Grand Line, right? If that's the case, the chances of you running into each other again are pretty high. To be honest, I've been looking for that bounty hunter for quite some time now. If you do manage to meet him again, could you please pass on a message for me?"

"Hmm? You want us to pass on a message?"

Deus stroked his chin, intrigued, and asked, "Could it be some kind of friendship among bounty hunters? Or is there some kind of grudge?"

"However, let me make this clear beforehand: we won't be actively looking for anyone. The specific itinerary will be based on Ace's ideas. If you really have something you want to tell them, you might as well go find them yourself; it'll be faster."

Diuss offered his own advice.

Normally speaking, this proposal is more practical and reasonable. After all, expecting some pirates who are primarily focused on adventure to accidentally encounter someone who can deliver a message is essentially no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, Li Mingyuan did not react much to this.

He simply stared at Ace's figure, as if reminiscing about something, a faint smile on his face.

"There's no grudge. If I had to say, it's actually the same reason I recruited you—it's more of an interest, isn't it?"

""

Li Mingyuan replied, "Although I didn't actively seek him out, we've passed each other by several times. I feel that this might mean our fate hasn't arrived yet. In that case, I might as well leave our next meeting to fate."

"That makes it more interesting for me too."

Immediately afterwards, Li Mingyuan leaned close to Deus's ear and whispered what he wanted to say.

Upon hearing this, Dios was slightly taken aback.

He rubbed his temples, somewhat suspicious, and after a moment hesitantly said, "Wait a minute, didn't you say you had no grudge against them? Why does this sound to me more like a provocation than a message?"

"Only a message like this can guarantee that the man will be interested after hearing it."

Li Mingyuan took a step back, chuckled twice with a hint of pleasure, and patted Diuss on the shoulder. "Then I'll leave it to you, Diuss."

After thinking for a while, Diuss hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.

Anyway, with such a vast ocean, the chances of encountering it again are probably not very high.

With this in mind, Dios replied, "I understand, but don't blame me if I fail to get through to you."

After saying that, Deus shook his head and turned to head towards the pirate ship.

He was about to set sail at noon and had a lot to do, so he didn't have time to chat with Li Mingyuan.

Besides, his mission was almost over.

Just then, probably because their constant talking disturbed the sleep of other pirates nearby, a few pirates on the beach started to wake up again.

Needless to say, this naturally included the person they had just been talking about, the captain of the Spade Pirates, who slept more freely than anyone else.

"Phew—I slept so soundly!"

Ace sprang to his feet on the beach with a somersault.

Bathed in the morning sunlight, he stretched his body and took a long breath.

"Good morning, Li Mingyuan, and the young lady over there."

Turning back to Li Mingyuan and Karina, Ace said cheerfully, "What are you talking about so early in the morning? I heard you call my name, didn't you?"

Li Mingyuan led Karina toward Ace, greeting the other awakened pirates along the way.

Until he reached Ace.

"I've already heard about the situation from Deus. Ace, did you need to speak with me?"

Li Mingyuan cut to the chase, saying directly, "Time is limited, so to make a long story short, I will answer as many questions as I can."

Hearing Li Mingyuan say that, Ace smiled a little embarrassedly.

"What? You knew all along?"

"You have no idea how conflicted I was yesterday. At first, I was too embarrassed to speak up, but after I made up my mind, you just stayed in the room and wouldn't come out, which made me lose my appetite for meat."

"But since you put it that way, then the situation is simple."

Ace looked around and saw that all the pirates around him were secretly listening and paying attention to what was happening.

After thinking for a moment, he grabbed Li Mingyuan and headed into the dense forest. As they walked, he kept grinning at the people around them, saying things like, "This can't be spread around."

This caused the pirates to lower their heads in disappointment.

"Once we get here, everything should be fine."

In the dense forest, Ace turned around and looked solemnly at Li Mingyuan.

At this moment, apart from him and Li Mingyuan, even Karina was temporarily sent away. This was not because Karina was untrustworthy, but mainly because Ace was unsure whether the topic he was about to discuss was suitable for others to hear.

If it's something that Li Mingyuan's crew members don't know either, then speaking out rashly could easily damage Li Mingyuan's situation.

He needs to be careful about this.

"Li Mingyuan, although I know very well that your eyes are a matter of secrecy, and it's probably not convenient to discuss the details, I've been really concerned about them lately ever since you defeated me."

"In particular, you should understand that my goal is the Pirate King's throne. Since I'm going to challenge the strongest people in this world, I must become stronger, both for myself and for the sake of my trusted companions. So, I can only bring you here now, and we can talk about these things alone."

Ace took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming, and asked, "Li Mingyuan, what exactly is this 'Observation Haki' you mentioned during that battle?"

Observation Haki.

Finally, Ace asked the question that had been on his mind for days.

"Originally, I was planning to ask you about this after I won the bet, but since I lost, there's nothing I can do. So now I can only ask you directly."

"That day, you said that as long as your eyes could see, they could achieve the same effect as Observation Haki. But in our battle that day, no matter what I used, I couldn't hit you. On the contrary, you always seemed to anticipate my movements and easily put me in a difficult situation. If your abilities can also be achieved by that thing called Observation Haki, then it's really incredible, especially considering the tone you used at the time."

"If I'm not mistaken, compared to the uniqueness of your eyes, Observation Haki, as a reference point, is actually a more common and widely known power, am I right?"

Ace unleashed all his doubts, directing them at Li Mingyuan.

It has to be said that Ace's analytical ability is really strong. Li Mingyuan himself did not realize that a simple sentence at that time could make Ace make so many connections.

After a moment of contemplation, before Li Mingyuan could answer.

Ace spoke again, continuing, "By the way, and about last night, I noticed you seemed to know something about the power I unleashed. If you could explain it to me, that would be even better."

"Please, Li Mingyuan!"

Ace's expression was extremely serious. He bowed deeply and looked down at Li Mingyuan, pleading, "I think right now, in the entire East Blue, you're probably the only one who can help me answer this question!"

How should I put it?

The biggest difference between Ace and Luffy is that Ace is polite and a reliable and steady young man.

Although this was because after his sworn brother Sabo died, Ace felt obligated to be a good role model for his older brother and had to take care of his younger brother Luffy, he learned survival skills, not only by bowing down to apologize to others, but also by showing courtesy in all aspects of life.

However, knowing this is one thing, but when faced with Ace's serious demeanor, it's really hard to refuse.

"I understand, so please lift your head up first."

"You're making it difficult for me to speak."

Li Mingyuan helped Ace up, his expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation. He shook his head slightly and said, "I already told you to just ask directly. Why make the atmosphere so serious?"

3

"Although these things may seem like some kind of unspeakable secret to you now, Ace, you will naturally come into contact with and know about them after you have been adventuring on the Grand Line for a long time."