"Me? I want to become the King of Pirates in Shanghai! To find the great treasure, buy the whole world, and throw a grand banquet for everyone!I want everyone in the world to have meat to eat, and for all people to live together in harmony!Ideally, there would be no annoying bandits around!Well... something like Dadan and her gang could work!"
"What?""I thought you were going to say something else?""You really are something, Luffy!"
Ace and Sabo were shocked but also amused. They never expected Luffy to have such grand aspirations—buying the entire world?Throwing a world-class banquet?In the end, he was still thinking about food!Bai Yun was also taken aback.Luffy's dream... could only be described as quintessentially him! It perfectly matched his character, especially at his age—he was just a naive seven-year-old.
"Ha ha ha!!""I have to say, Luffy, your wish is really something!"Bai Yun laughed happily. It was only natural that so many people liked Luffy.
"What about you, Bai Yun?"After Luffy, it was Bai Yun's turn.Seeing Bai Yun smile and support his dream made Luffy curious about his aspirations.
"Me?"Bai Yun stopped laughing, feeling confused inside. He didn't know why fate had thrown him into the pirate world.Dreams?Hanging out at the dock and munching on fries?Luffy's dream sounded innocent, but it was all about letting the whole world live in peace, ensuring everyone had meat to eat and freedom.He didn't even know that the Celestial Dragons existed.If viewed from a different perspective, his ideal was a bold declaration of war against the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and Im!Wasn't this essentially the same as his father Dragon's revolutionary ideals?So, it could be summed up differently—Luffy's dream was to overthrow the World Government and establish a new world.Though he himself didn't realize that's what it meant.What a challenging task that would be to accomplish.
"I, like you, Sabo, also want to see this vast world.""And... help Luffy become the King of Pirates! I want to feast at that world-class banquet! I'm already looking forward to it."Bai Yun didn't shout it out with the same grandeur as them; instead, he spoke plainly.Recalling his past life, he had never gone a day without "banging drums for food."To let the whole world have meat to eat.Just this phrase made Bai Yun sure he wanted to sail with Luffy in the future.
Four boys—no, they couldn't be called boys, just four little kids standing on the cliff's edge, declaring their dreams to the sea.Would they stir up great waves on the ocean in the future? That was another story.
"Hey!"Bai Yun expressed his desire to sail with Luffy.Ace and Sabo felt disappointed and started digging for the wall."Luffy is so weak! Come to my ship, Bai Yun!""Like Bai Yun, I want to see the world too! Just come to my ship!"
Luffy immediately stood in front of Bai Yun."No way! Once I promise, I can't change!""I'm weak now, but I'll definitely get stronger! The strongest!""I will definitely achieve my dream!!!"
Of course, Ace and Sabo disagreed. Who wouldn't want a (cook) partner?Bai Yun felt a bit flattered as the three of them competed over him."Ha ha ha, just think of it as an older brother letting a younger brother have his way, Ace, Sabo.""Don't forget, I'm the same age as Luffy; when we set sail, you two will be ahead.""I'm not in great shape, and Luffy is still young; it's best if we take care of each other.""You two are brothers, right? Ace and Sabo, my brothers."
Upon hearing the word "brother," Ace and Sabo stopped arguing.They puffed out their chests, as brothers should."You have a point, ha ha ha," Sabo replied.As for Ace, hearing "brother" reminded him of something. He ran behind a tree and brought out four bowls and a bottle of wine."Do you know?It's a legendary pirate ritual—the Brotherhood Toast.""Downing this drink makes us brothers!"
As Ace spoke, he poured the wine into the bowls."Brothers? Really?"Clearly, Luffy was very interested and excited about becoming brothers."Maybe when we become pirates, we won't be on the same ship! But our bond will still be that of 'brothers'!No matter where we are or what we do, this relationship can never be severed!"
Ace continued, while Bai Yun gazed at the four bowls of wine.Brothers?Even though he was merely a traveler, he had already lost his previous self in this world, becoming a solitary figure—a 'past life.'He had always been alone in his previous life.Now!He had three brothers."Not bad at all," Bai Yun whispered with a smile, then joined the other three in picking up a cup.
"Well then!""From today onward, we are brothers!!!"The four of them raised their bowls for a toast and drank it all in one go.Bai Yun thought about the story of Liu, Guan, and Zhang forming their brotherhood in the peach garden; now there were the four of them... the Brotherhood at the Cliff's Edge!
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