Taoist priest, who is so popular in One Piece

“Is this me?”

The thick fog on the west coast of Gaya Island has not yet dissipated. On the deck of the Merry, Merry tilted his head and looked at the puppet in Bai Ye's hand, seeming a little confused.

Just now, Bai Ye tapped Meli's forehead with his finger and taught Meli a mental method suitable for spiritual cultivation.

Then, Bai Ye prepared to merge Merry with the puppet in his hand, so that Merry could completely break free from the many restrictions of the ship elf and become a higher-level existence.

"That's right. This is also the gift I prepared for you a long time ago."

Bai Ye said with a smile, without stopping his hands.

After making the final changes to the puppet, Bai Ye motioned for Merry to walk over to the puppet.

Meli did not hesitate and quickly sat down cross-legged according to Bai Ye's instructions.

The puppet was also placed in the same posture by Bai Ye.

[Soul Condensation Formation——Start! 】

With Bai Ye's light shout, a magic circle with faint blue light enveloped Merry and the puppet.

Then, under the influence of the magic circle, Merry and the puppet began to gradually move towards the center of the formation.

Then - the fusion began.

Seeing that the fusion went smoothly, Bai Ye also smiled.

As for Meli, he had made relevant preparations early on.

Among the magic arrays he engraved on the Merry, there is even an array that has the effect of awakening spirits.

It is also these formations that are subtly changing the Merry.

Simply put, unlike the Merry in the original work that Bai Ye read in his previous life, the current Merry is no longer an ordinary ship, but a kind of magical weapon.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Meli was able to communicate fluently with Bai Ye shortly after he was born.

At the same time, this change also makes Meli more in line with the mentality given by Bai Ye.

As for the main material used for the puppet, it is the same wood as the keel of the Merry.

Bai Ye also used various rare materials to smelt and process it.

And he has only one purpose for making such a reckless investment.

That is to make Merry a complete member of the Straw Hat Pirates.

A ship spirit that has a physical body and can become stronger.

On the one hand, it is to make up for regrets.

After all, in the original book, Merry never showed up in front of others until he was swallowed by flames.

Now, with Bai Ye's help, Meli can also appear in front of everyone as a partner.

On the other hand, it was also a preparation for the thorough transformation of Merry in the Seven Water City.

When the Merry was first built, Bai Ye considered the issue of changing ships.

The reason why he spent 5000 million Baileys was just to ensure that the damage to the Merry would not be too serious during its voyage to the Seven Water City.

At the beginning, Bai Ye just wanted to transfer Merry to the Sunshine in the Seven Water City after she was conceived and born.

But this brings up a question:

In the original work, although there was no ship elf appearing on the Thousand Sunshine in the later period.

However, in some pictures, Oda still drew scenes where the Sunny's expression changed.

This may also mean that a ship elf has appeared on the Sunshine.

In this way, to put it inappropriately, Bai Ye's move is to let Meili take over his position.

So after much deliberation, Bai Ye finally chose the current plan.

That is to choose to preserve the Merry.

And when in the Seven Water City, the Merry was completely transformed.

This naturally involves another problem.

That is the replacement of the keel.

The material currently used for the keel of the Merry is not good, and cannot even be considered excellent.

Even with the protection of Bai Ye's formation, it is still difficult to face the worse weather and dangers in the new world.

So the keel must be replaced.

But once the keel is replaced, it is almost like building a new ship.

By then, even if Bai Ye was there, it would be difficult to guarantee that Meli would not be affected.

After all, Merry himself is an elf relying on the ship.

It was because of such concerns that Bai Ye prepared all this for Meli early on.

Although Merry has a physical body, he still relies on the ship.

But the relationship between the two sides has been reversed.

If before it was the Merry that controlled Merry's life and death.

So now, it is Meli who holds the power of life and death.

Not only that, as Merry becomes stronger, she can also provide support to the Merry.

In this way, replacing the keel will not only have no impact on Meli, but will bring benefits to Meli.

Thinking of this, Bai Ye also looked up at the magic circle. Under the blue light, a figure gradually became clear.

"This feeling..."

In the magic circle, Meli felt his body gradually solidifying, and the excitement in his heart was beyond words.

Finally, Merry clenched his fists, raised them above his head, and shouted excitedly:

“It’s really great!!!”

At this time, the blue light completely dissipated, and a reborn Meli appeared in front of Bai Ye.

However, looking at the figure in front of him, Bai Ye's mouth twitched slightly:

"Hey, hey, hey, although I expected this, but..."

The reason why Bai Ye said that he had expected this was because when the spirit was condensing its body, its image would subconsciously tend towards the most important person in its heart.

Luffy is the captain of this ship, and naturally occupies the most important position in Merry's heart.

Bai Ye looked at the small figure in front of him who looked very similar to the smaller version of Luffy, and couldn't help but complain:

"This is too much like Luffy!!!"

"hey-hey."

Merry grinned, revealing his white teeth, and smiled at Bai Ye. Then he reached out and took off the hood of his raincoat and continued:

"Bai Ye, look, is my hair the same as yours?"

Merry tilted her little head back to show Bai Ye her long, tied-up white hair.

"Um..."

Bai Ye stroked his chin and felt a little awkward looking at Meli in front of him.

Is Luffy's face, combined with my hair, so ugly?

Bai Ye couldn't help but complain in his heart.

He squatted down, condensed the innate energy in his hand, and reached out to Meli.

After a moment, Bai Ye stood up, looked at Meli, who was completely different from before, and nodded.

He did not reshape Merry's face, but simply erased the specific features related to Luffy and himself on Merry.

These were the features that Meli deliberately displayed when she was taking shape. Now that Bai Ye has erased these features, it is equivalent to restoring Meli's original appearance.

Today's Merry no longer reminds people of Luffy at first glance.

But Merry is still cute and adorable, and I'm sure Robin and Nami will like her very much.

Thinking of this, Bai Ye couldn't help but think:

Chopper's status as the Straw Hat Pirates' favorite is in danger!!!

"Okay, next, I'll introduce you to the other partners."

Bai Ye stood up and said to Meli.

Hearing this, Merry raised his head, his eyes full of anticipation.

Looking at Bai Ye, he nodded heavily:

"Uh-huh!"

-

At this time, the thick fog finally dissipated, and Bai Ye and Merry also jumped off the boat.

Meli was particularly excited to feel the solid land for the first time, and couldn't help but step on it several times tentatively.

Seeing Meli's curious look at the baby, Bai Ye also smiled.

Today, Merry has completely gotten rid of the many restrictions of the ship elves.

From now on, Merry can get off the boat and join everyone on adventures. He will no longer be alone on the boat, waiting for everyone to return.

Bai Ye turned around, activated the ship protection formation again, and walked towards Mogu Town with Meli.