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"Mmm… then let me explain just how naive you really are~"
Zoro's expression hardened. "You…"
"Let's break it down, shall we? What exactly is Helmeppo's goal?"
"He made a deal with you—take the punishment in place of Rika and her mom. Survive one month, and they're off the hook. That's the agreement, right?"
"Let's not even get into whether or not Helmeppo will keep his word. Let's just look at the logic behind this deal. Zoro, you've completely missed the point."
"Let me ask you this—can a normal human really go an entire month without food or water?"
Zoro growled, "Shut up already. I'm about to—"
"Yeah yeah yeah, that's right—you were planning to see it through. But before the agreement even took effect, Helmeppo already had other ideas."
"In other words, the moment he proposed that one-month deal, he only had one thing in mind."
Hearing that, even Zoro couldn't keep pretending not to get it: "That bastard… So he wanted me dead from the start?"
"Bingo! Congrats on getting the right answer—too bad there's no prize for it."
Bai Ye clapped lightly, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips. "By the way, take a guess—what do you think's gonna happen to Rika and her mom after you die?"
At those words, Zoro's eyes narrowed sharply, and the guilt that had been building up just a second ago instantly turned to rage.
"That piece of shit—don't tell me he's planning to go after them too?!"
"The fact that you're asking that question means you already know the answer, don't you?" Bai Ye said quietly.
He gently picked up Rika again, softly rubbing her little head. "The moment you chose to put down your swords, you lost the right to protect them."
"Compromising with the enemy… that's a really dumb decision."
Bai Ye shook his head, speaking from the heart.
Back when he watched the anime in his past life, he never understood it—Helmeppo didn't even take any proper hostages, yet Zoro still gave in?
And Zoro seriously thought some spoiled punk who bullied people daily was gonna keep his word? That's not just naïve—that's next-level ridiculous. Like, "ridiculous called and said you're overdoing it."
Thinking that, Bai Ye suddenly turned to Luffy, who was watching Zoro from the side, and shouted:
"Hey, Captain! What would you do if someone tried to threaten you like that?"
Luffy blinked for a moment, then grinned and threw a punch into the air, full of energy: "I'd beat the crap outta all of them!!"
Bai Ye laughed—yep, that's totally Luffy. When in doubt, solve it with a punch.
Zoro frowned. "Wait, aren't you worried they'll go after your friends afterward?"
"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head, picking at his nose casually. "Then I'll just keep beating them 'til they're too scared to try. I mean, would they really stop just 'cause I didn't hit back?"
Exactly. Just because you play nice doesn't mean they will.
Thinking about how Helmeppo normally acted, the answer was obvious.
Zoro glanced at the guy who looked anything but reliable... and realized this guy actually saw things more clearly than he did.
He felt like a total idiot for what he'd done—if he had his swords right now, he'd wanna slice that bastard up on the spot.
Speaking of which... he was really starting to miss his three swords.
That long-haired bastard was right. The second he chose to put his swords down, he gave up his right to fight back.
"…Looks like you've figured it out," Bai Ye said, spotting the change in Zoro's expression. "So, how about we make a new deal?"
Zoro stayed silent for a while, then finally looked up. "Just now, you called that guy 'Captain'... So, you're pirates? Trying to recruit me to your crew?"
Took you long enough to catch on!
Bai Ye shrugged, motioning Luffy over. "Forgot to introduce him—this is Luffy, my captain."
He gently set Rika down and straightened his robes. "I'm Bai Ye, Luffy's crewmate. We just formed our pirate crew a few days ago and we're looking for people to head to the Grand Line with."
"And I think you already know what our offer is. We break you out, you join our crew."
"After all, my captain here's really interested in you."
Luffy beamed. "Hahaha! That's right! Zoro, I want you to be my crewmate!!"
"So, you are pirates…" Zoro muttered under his breath.
Bai Ye saw his hesitation and pressed on. "Yup, pirates. And let's be real—right now, you're a prisoner of the Navy. Aside from us pirates, who else is gonna help you?"
He didn't hold back. "Besides, if you don't wanna die, you will have to fight the Navy eventually. And when that happens, even if you don't want it, they'll slap a bounty on you and call you a pirate anyway."
In the original manga, Zoro straight-up rejected Luffy after hearing he was a pirate, even saying, "You want me to become a bad guy on purpose?"
That showed just how much he hated the idea of being a pirate at first.
But that was back when he still had hope he could survive that one month and walk away free. Now, he finally understood—without help, Helmeppo was going to kill him.
So, Zoro just looked at Luffy and Bai Ye, voice low:
"Well, at this point, worrying about being a 'bad guy' is kind of pointless."
"Hey, Bai Ye, Luffy… I've got a reason I can't afford to die here. So rather than die in this dump, I'll become a pirate."
Luffy lit up and jumped with joy. "Awesome!! You're joining my crew!"
Then he turned and clapped Bai Ye on the back. "Bai Ye, you're amazing! From now on, you're in charge of recruiting people!"
"Don't just assign me random jobs like that, Captain," Bai Ye muttered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"...But—"
Zoro's voice cut in again.
"Let's get something straight. I've got my own ambition, and I will see it through."
He looked up, locking eyes with the two of them.
"I'm going to be the greatest swordsman in the world. If you guys ever get in the way of that, you better be ready to commit seppuku and die for it."
There was a fierce determination in Zoro's eyes. He didn't care about becoming a pirate—but if anyone stood in the way of his dream, even his saviors, he wouldn't forgive them.
"The world's greatest swordsman? Sounds pretty badass!" Luffy grinned wide. "The Pirate King's crewmates gotta be at that level at least!"
Bai Ye chimed in, "That's right, Zoro—forgot to mention it earlier, but our captain here's dead set on becoming the Pirate King."
"In terms of ambition, he's no slouch either."
Zoro looked at Luffy, surprised. He never would've guessed this goofy-looking guy had such a wild dream.
He turned to Bai Ye. "So that's why you follow him?"
Bai Ye didn't answer—he just shrugged. He certainly wasn't following Luffy for the usual reasons; he knew this guy was the main character of the damn series, and Bai Ye planned to ride that train straight into legendary status.
"Alright then~ Let me join your crew and become one of the bad guys."
Zoro finally gave his answer.
"Quit with the whole 'bad guys' thing already. Once you're on the ship, you'll see—we're not like the usual pirates."
Byakuya walked up and patted Zoro on the shoulder, sounding super chill.
"Well then, let's get down to business."
He held Rika up in front of Zoro. "This little girl risked her life to bring you those rice balls. Wouldn't it be kinda rude not to eat them?"
"Quit yapping. I'll eat them. Just untie me first."
"No rush with the ropes. This sweet girl wants to feed you herself. Now come on, open up. Ah~"
"BYAKUYA, YOU BASTARD!!!"
"No need to be shy~"
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"
"....."