Dadan failed to establish her authority; Luffy and Bai Yun found Garp far more terrifying than her.
After finishing his meal, Ace silently picked up a pipe and walked out of the house. Noticing this, Luffy put down his bowl, immediately grabbed Bai Yun, and followed.
Bai Yun thought: You guys are done, but I'm not!
Meanwhile, Dadan, who had just fiercely told Luffy to get out, now cared about where they were going.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
"We're going out to look around, we'll be back safe, Ms. Dadan."
Bai Yun replied.
Dadan took a bite of meat and grumbled, "Kids are annoying... 'Ms.'... but he's quite polite."
..."Hey! My name is Luffy. I'm not mad about you spitting at us earlier. Let's be friends!"
Luffy recalled what Shanks taught him, the principle that some small things aren't worth getting angry about, and waved to Ace, wanting to be friends.
Bai Yun didn't quite agree; if someone spat in his face, how could he not beat them up? Of course, he'd need to have the strength first.
Ace turned around, glaring at Bai Yun and Luffy. He hated these two unexpected visitors. He extended his leg and kicked down a tree thicker than Luffy's height, sending it rolling.
This is what a ten-year-old kid could do?!
Bai Yun was indeed shocked to witness it. If he kicked it, his leg would be the one breaking.
Seeing the large tree crashing towards them, Bai Yun swung his arm out, and the bracelet on his wrist instantly transformed into a long whip, wrapping around a branch.
With his other hand, he grabbed Luffy's waist, and the two swung up, narrowly avoiding the giant tree without incident.
This was 'Forest Survival Swing' that Bai Yun learned from Monster, the 'musician' monkey in the Red-Haired Pirates.
Bai Yun led Luffy to dodge the rolling giant tree. Ace watched this scene, and Bai Yun's sudden transformation of a whip sparked his interest.
He walked down the hillside, "How did you do that?"
Little Ace, with a cool expression, stared at Bai Yun and asked. For some reason, Bai Yun felt like laughing.
"Just a small, unimpressive trick."
Ace's eyelid twitched. Seeing that Bai Yun wouldn't tell, it was simple: fight! He silently took down the pipe from his back.
"It's fine if you don't say. Let's fight!"
Thinking of how Ace kicked down the big tree earlier, Bai Yun thought, 'Who would fight you? No thanks.'
"That's not good."
Ace didn't care and swung the pipe directly.
Luffy immediately stood in front of Bai Yun, "Don't bully Bai Yun!"
Then... he was swung aside by a single blow. Fortunately, blunt force trauma didn't affect Luffy much.
Bai Yun: ...Since it's come to this, if Bai Yun didn't use his abilities, with his own physical fitness, his arm would surely break from that blow.
He just didn't expect his first battle to be with Ace.
His eyes suddenly opened wide. Bai Yun first replicated Ace's physique, and his hands weren't idle either; his bracelet instantly transformed into a long staff.
This was something he learned from Hongo, the Red-Haired Pirates' ship doctor, who was a weapon master, most skilled in staff fighting.
A fun fact: another executive, Limejuice, also learned his staff techniques from Hongo.
"Clang!"
Bai Yun blocked Ace's pipe with a single-handed staff, and a clang of steel echoed through the forest.
"You're not simple after all. This 'magic' and your strength are both good, much better than that brat."
Ace said with a smile, happy to meet a second person who could fight him.
Bai Yun returned a smile, but inwardly, he was cursing; his arm was already numb from that hit.
Using sight to replicate only copied 40 to 50 percent of the strength. Fighting Ace with 40 percent of Ace's strength, wasn't that a guaranteed loss?
But Bai Yun didn't want to use up his chances to replicate Red-Haired Pirate members on Ace, who would eventually become one of them. Those were his trump cards for sailing in the future!
So, Bai Yun took the opportunity to grab Ace's hand. Ace immediately pulled it away, "What do you mean?"
Replicating through touch could copy 60 percent of the strength.
Bai Yun didn't answer, and re-replicated 60 percent of Ace's physique to fight him.
Attack the lower body!
Bai Yun took the initiative, a low horizontal sweep. Ace reacted quickly, immediately jumping up, gripping the pipe with both hands, and smashing it down. The force of it made a clear whooshing sound; that blow would split Bai Yun's head open.
Not wanting to compete in strength, Bai Yun retreated to dodge. The pipe hit the ground with a thud, and the ground cracked in all directions.
Bai Yun swallowed, 'How much hatred could there be?!'
There was no time for sentimentality; Ace attacked again!
...In the forest, the sound of steel clashing continuously echoed.
Bai Yun's strength was inferior to Ace's, but Ace's technique was inferior to Bai Yun's.
For a time, it was difficult to determine a winner between the two. Luffy, on the side, was also well-behaved, not intervening to help, but constantly cheering for Bai Yun.
But as time passed, Bai Yun lost stamina quickly and gradually fell into a disadvantage. Ace felt it, got excited, and victory was within reach.
But suddenly, he wasn't excited anymore.