《One Piece: Journey of a Lifetime》


 1 Chapter 1

    A/N: Please understand that this story is something I wrote on the spot while staring at my phone screen. Coming up with what to write on the spot means that I didn''t plan out most of the things. I just wrote as the ideas came along.


    Deep in the abyss of space, there lies a place like no other. Said place is neither physical nor spiritual.


    Have you ever wondered what nothing is?


    What is nothing when it still has a name to be called? What is nothing when we know that "nothing" is still there? Quite the topic isn''t it?


    Well.. in the dark Void of Nothingness, is something that you would completely expect, nothing.


    It has been like that for as long as it existed. Just tranquil nothingness. Not even the gods have any rule or say over this particular nothingness as even they would become nothing should they attempt to step a foot into it.


    <Scene Change>


    On a certain fateful morning of a particularly cloudy day, one can find a young lad walking towards school.


    Said lad was a 6''2, American, 17 year old high schooler. He has bright blond hair that covers his forehead. Although he looks like he''s on the skinny side, he''s actually pretty well toned.


    "Man, looks like it''s going to rain if I don''t hurry.", grumbled the 17 year old.


    This lad''s name is Joshua, Josh for short.


    Josh was having a blast playing his favorite video game the night before so he didn''t turn into bed until it was early morning.


    Unfortunately for him, he had school in a few hours so he forced himself up, got ready, and groggily walked to school.


    On another note, a beautiful young 16 year old girl was also cheerily walking towards the same destination as our assumed protagonist.


    "I gotta hurry to school.", happily chirped the girl as she occasionally skipped her legs in excitement. What was she excited about you ask? No clue.


    Once on the crossroad, they happened to be standing next to each other.


    "Oh.. good morning", After a curt greeting, they both walked towards the other side of the road.


    Although they didn''t know each other personally, they''ve at least seen each other at school a couple of times.


    <Scene Change>


    Earlier in the morning.


    Yes, even earlier than Josh and mentioned girl.


    The driver of a certain truck was preparing for a long drive to deliver his packages.


    "Hmm... why do I feel like it''s gonna be a bad day for me? Meh...", and so he carried on with his business.


    <Scene Change>


    As the two high schoolers were crossing the intersection, the brakes of a certain truck stopped functioning and couldn''t stop.


    The driver freaked out when his brakes didn''t respond, so much so that he even forgot to turn his steering wheel to avoid hitting anyone.


    Unfortunately, that''s exactly what happened to our assumed protagonist.


    "Ahh..!", seeing that they were going to get hit, the girl froze up and screamed in terror like any normal person should.


    "Watch out!", thankfully for her though, our mc was created just to save her and so he did.


    He pushed the girl as far away as he could and fell flat on his stomach from overexertion. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, his soul flew out the moment that the truck was about to collide with his body.


    Some would argue that it was due to getting hit by the truck but no one really knows the answer.


    ''So I''m getting sent to another world by the legendary truck-kun!'', were Josh''s last thoughts.


    Yes... our all important mc happens to be a weeb and otaku. Not as bad as the people you might find on the internet but he''s still a weeb to an extent.


    Josh loves watching anime, reading manga, lightnovels, webnovels, sometimes wuxianovels, and if he''s really bored, then he would read some fan fictions as well. Why wouldn''t he know about the legendary truck-kun?


    <Scene Change>


    On the same day, every single entity across the entire universe that has powers were gathered in heaven due to the summoning of the Biblical God.


    "Ahemm.. as you all know, today is finally the day!", announced said God.


    There were vampires, werewolves, monsters of all kind, demons, angels, pagan gods, and every single creation that has some sort of supernatural powers were all gathered for only one reason.


    Today was the day that they would finally get rid of the Void of Nothingness.


    The Void of Nothingness was the mentioned space that was immensely powerful.


    Over the course of time, the Biblical God had tried everything in his powers in order to get rid of the Void.


    With all of his trials and errors, he finally found a possible solution that might be able to get rid of the Void once and for all.


    The reason for him wanting to get rid of the Void was very simple. The Biblical God did not like it when there was something with more powers than himself. Something that could challenge his rule.


    It wasn''t like the Void did anything particularly bad. It just existed in this particular universe and have stayed that way.


    The Biblical God was afraid that someone or something would come along and take control of the immense powers that are present in the Void and use it to end the universe.


    Fortunately for him and the rest of the universe, not even he was able to control the Void but he did not like the idea of keeping a ticking time bomb around.


    As they all stood tall and surrounded the Void of Nothingness, said Void also noticed what was going on as it had a sleeping sentience.


    Sensing that the Biblical God had come to eliminate it once again with the rest of the universe in tow, the Void quickly came up with a plan.


    "Tch.. those idiots are back again. Well.. no matter. I''m getting tired of that God and his Universe!", a voice silently said to itself as his annihilation was approaching.


    The Void extended it''s senses all across the universe and dragged the soul of the person that was closest to dying and merged with it. Said soul just happened to be our little Joshy.


    After merging with it''s new host, the Void scanned through his memories to find somewhere that the universe couldn''t reach it. The answer was simple, a different universe.


    And so Josh, with the Void riding along, travelled to the world of One Piece!

 2 Chapter 2

    [ Ding! Merging with Host.


    1%


    25%


    50%


    75%


    100%!]


    [ Ding! Congratulations Host. Host has successfully merged with the Void System!]


    A certain 17 year old blond was unconscious without a care in the world. This youth has some defining features such as blue eyes, although they are closed, a lean body, tall, and above average in terms of looks.


    As sounds were going off in Josh''s head, he was still fast asleep in deep unconsciousness.


    [ Ding! System will now proceed to create a new body for Host! Creating Body...


    1%


    25%


    50%


    75%


    100%!


    Congratulations Host for obtaining your new body! System has made it so that Host''s body would be able to adapt to anything from now on.]


    After almost half a day passed, Josh finally opened his eyes.


    It took him awhile to remember what happened and at that time, he suddenly stood up.


    "Crap! I got hit by that truck-kun!!" The blond haired youth exclaimed loudly in the middle of a forest.


    Joshua whined and complained to the heavens about unfairness and injustice for a good 5 minutes.


    After he calmed down enough to think straight, he started questioning himself of his whereabouts.


    Looking around, he saw that he was not on the streets anymore or even the hospital. He was standing in the middle of a luscious green forest where insects and birds chirping softly filled the entire place.


    Then he remembered the system prompts while he was unconscious and promptly jumped and hollered in joy.


    "System, system! Are you there!?" He said impatiently out loud.


    [ Ding! Rest assured Host, system is here.]


    Came the reply of a monotoned voice that oddly sounded like SiRi.


    "Awesome! So why do I have you? Was it my devilishly good looks? Or my unmatchable charisma!? Maybe even my unparalleled compassion!!?" The teenager was in a trance of narcissism.


    [ Ding! None of the above! System has been granted to Host because of Host''s unwitting aid to System''s Creator, the Void of Nothingness.]


    Was the cold water of an answer that was told to Josh.


    "Well.. whatever, I''m happy that I got you. Now I can be like those badasses from fan fictions that becomes the strongest in the entire universe! Where exactly are we anyway?" The former Earth resident questioned.


    [ Ding! Host has been sent to the One Piece world, 3 years before Monkey D. Luffy sets off and you are currently on an uninhabited and unnamed island in the East Blue.]


    The system answered all of Josh''s questions about why he was sent there and what exactly happened to him or how he had "unwittingly" helped this Void of Nothingness.


    [ Ding! As an apology to Host, System''s Creator has gifted you with a body that can adapt to absolutely anything and a gift pack. Would Host like to open?]


    "Yessss!!! Finally! Here comes the cheats!!" Joshua frantically answered.


    [ Ding! Opening package...


    Host has received the following powers..


    All forms of Haki!,


    Rokushiki!,


    Along with the following item..


    Rumble-Rumble fruit!]


    Josh was ecstatic! He quickly ate the devil fruit without question. After gagging and clutching his throat due to the horrible taste. He thought to himself,


    ''With these powers alone, I can literally rule the One Piece world if I trained hard enough.''


    The system was something that you would imagine. It has the stereotypical status, store, missions, and inventory. The things he could buy are limited to the world he is in and has been to and system points were required to purchase everything.


    System points are naturally gained like any other cliche systems... by killing things and completing missions.


    "Status!" Josh has to look at his status first if he wanted to know what his current conditions were and how to improve from here.


    [ Status:


    Name: Joshua (Josh)


    Physical strength: 100


    Mental Strength: 150


    Devil Fruit:


    Rumble-Rumble(Logia); Lightning Man


    Haki:


    Observation Haki: Beginner


    Armament Haki: Beginner


    Conqueror''s Haki: Beginner


    Rokushiki: All: Beginner


    System Points: 0]


    With his status now known to him, Josh can focus on training those in order to get stronger and he has plenty of time before the main plot begins!

 3 Chapter 3

    Josh spent 3 years of his life on that uninhabited island and trained his butt off.


    There were times when he wanted nothing but to get off the damned island that, he decided to name ''the island of Isolation'' due to its lack of people.


    There are wild beasts on the island that he could kill and eat, so there was no worries for food and training went as smoothly as possible.


    In the first year, he focused on his devil fruit powers and his physical strength and body.


    He had to find out everything by himself for his devil fruit in order to use them. He also had to be careful of seawater or he would drown and die, since there was nobody to save him on the island.


    The training for his devil fruits went pretty well. He could turn to lightning whenever he wanted. In fact, he made sure that he was lightning all the time. Josh also copied some of the moves that he remembers Enel using and created many more original moves for himself.


    Even though there was no physical change that can be seen with the naked eyes, Josh kept himself as lightning 24/7. Only turning himself to normal when he has to touch something or someone(although there aren''t any people on the island).


    This was his way of making sure that he doesn''t get ambushed. Although it isn''t a guarantee that he would never get ambushed because it is absolutely possible with seastones, doing this reduces that chance by a lot. Especially if he wanted to sleep peacefully on the island.


    Josh remembered that in the anime, logias would rather stay in their normal form and only turn into their element when someone attacks them. This way they could get caught off guard and ambushed.


    Josh instead kept himself as lightning and only controlled himself to be normal when he needed to be. That way, anyone who makes the mistake of trying to ambush him will pay dearly. Some of the animals had to find out the hard way.


    Next he focused on the Rokushiki. Unlike his devil fruits, he got the information about all 6 moves and how to preform them directly into his brain when he got them from the system. He just needed his body to be strong enough to be able to use them.


    That was the reason why Joshua trained his devil fruit powers first. This way, he can also train his body at the same time. And train he did...very rigorously.


    The third and final year, he trained his Haki. His progress with Haki made him a little bit dissatisfied.


    He could train his Observation Haki by blindfolding himself for the entire year, no matter what he does.


    Train his Armament Haki by getting hit constantly during his Observation Haki training.


    Train his Conqueror''s Haki by pushing out his wills on the beasts for a whole year.


    Those were all great ways to train his Haki but they had limits. He was barely able to master them by the time he needed to leave the island, even though he focused all his time on haki for the year without doing anything else and even losing sleep often.


    He wanted to be able to train them to the point of being able to see a bit into the future, or not dying from a 10,000 meter fall, or projecting out his will so that it can do physical damage but he needed countless life and death battles and much more time in order to get his haki to that point.


    But finally, he felt that he could take on any pirates in Paradise and he was confident that by the time he reached the New World, he would be strong enough to hold his own against most people.. short of the emperors. Let''s be honest here.. 3 or 4 years of training wouldn''t be realistic enough to beat a Yonko. Take them on...? Maybe, but not defeat.


    He didn''t do much with the system because he felt that he was already way too overpowered and didn''t want to take up more time by training the powers that he could get.


    Think about it... he could just do missions and kill beasts the whole time and get all sorts of powers with the system but they would be mediocre at best if Josh did not train them properly. He needed to spend a whole year on just one devil fruit in order to get used to it and master it.


    So, as the time to depart from the island came, Josh decided to finally check his status and see how much he has grown since 3 years ago.


    "System, show me my status!" Josh demanded, his voice was filled with confidence.


    [ Status:


    Name: Joshua (Josh)


    Physical Strength: 100,000,000


    Mental Strength: 200,000,000


    (mental strength is required to use haki. The more mental strength one has, the stronger the haki)


    Devil Fruit:


    Rumble-Rumble(Logia); Lightning Man


    Haki:


    Observation Haki: Mastered


    (Can sense life force and predict enemy attacks)


    Armament Haki: Mastered


    (Can coat entire body with Hardening)


    Conqueror''s Haki: Mastered


    (Can tame most beasts weaker than oneself and knock out weak willed people)


    Rokushiki: All: Mastered


    System Points: 8,000,624]


    Seeing how much he has grown, Josh felt that all of his suffering and 3 years of seclusion was well worth it. If anybody tries to mess with him, they were all going to pay, no matter how petty! That was the least he could do for himself for his 3 years of torture and self exile.

 4 Chapter 4

    Year 1


    During the first year of his training, Josh focused on his body and his devil fruit.


    "I need to find some shelter first", mused the 17 year old. It was true. He needed a shelter or a base of operation before he can do anything else.


    Josh walked around the island. He started with the inner parts as he was more likely to find some sort of cave he could use for shelter.


    Walking around the island, he saw trees around 10-15 meters. They were the stereotypical trees that you would find anywhere else. The land was mostly flat surfaced but one could find a hill here and there.


    The animals that he has come across so far are birds, insects, boars, deers, lions, wolves, and he even saw a bear from behind a tree that he was hiding on.


    Josh would never admit it but he was scared shitless when he first spotted the pack of lions, wolves and the bear. They were bigger than the Earth''s animals but not as big as elephants.


    Luckily for him, he was far away enough to not be noticed and he waited quietly for them to pass. Josh was too weak right now to duke it out with them because he hasn''t even started his training yet.


    When the blonde reached the center of the island, he saw a tree that was significantly bigger and taller than the rest.


    This tree was about 25 meters in height and it would take 5 grown men to envelop it with their hands stretched out.


    Joshua decided that he could make a shelter on this tree because it seemed to be the safest place on the island.


    A blond teenager was comically struggling to climb up a giant tree in the middle of an uninhabited island.


    This struggling youth was none other than Josh. Our favorite protagonist had spotted a hole wide enough for him to fit in. This hole was about 5 meters above the ground.


    After his intense struggle, Josh finally reached the branch that lead to the natural hole in the tree. It was as if nature herself had blessed Josh to find his shelter so quickly.


    Inside the hole was dry and roomy enough for him to lay down and even stretch.


    "Perfect! I can use this for shelter. Hopefully, nobody else was using this before me." Josh was right, although it was the perfect shelter, strangely enough, no animals on the island used it for shelter much to Josh''s joy.


    Our mc ate some of the fruits and berries that he picked up along his trek to find shelter. Fortunately for him, none of them were poisonous. He plopped himself down and went to sleep because the sun was going down.


    The following few months, Josh would wake up, exercise his body to the extreme, try using his devil fruit powers, find some food, go back to sleep when the sun went down, and repeat.


    This way, none of the animals on the island were a match for a certain 17 year old any longer.


    His exercise consists of as much push ups and sit ups as he can, followed by running around the tree until he collapsed.


    At first, he could barely do up to 50 sets of each and running for any longer than 15 minutes would leave him gasping for air for a long time.


    Much to Josh''s joy, his fatigue and exhaustion would disappear after a good night''s rest and he could mysteriously do double what he did the day before.


    He soon found out that doing push ups, sit ups, and running were taking way too much time so he settled with carrying around tree logs and lugging around boulders.


    For his devil fruit, Josh first sat down and concentrated very hard. Soon, he could feel some sort of energy within himself and trying to move it around or bring it out was very taxing and energy draining.


    The first time he tried that, he almost collapsed from fatigue.


    Josh slowly got used to moving around the energy and bringing it out or even controlling his element from an outside force.


    One day, there was a giant thunder storm outside and dark clouds were all that one could see for miles.


    This particular storm was bad enough that one might suspect that they were on the grandline.


    Josh hurriedly rushed towards his temporary home in fear of catching a cold from the weather.


    As he was moving towards his shelter, so was a lightning strike. It struck directly at Josh''s head and he freaked out.


    After a moment, he found out that not only does the lightning not hurt him, it energized him. He felt that he had this unspoken bond with the lightning and thunder.


    When he instinctively raised his hands to the sky and pulled on an imaginary energy, lightning once struck at his position again. That was when he found out that he could direct and control lightning outside of his own source.


    As he was mesmerized by the feeling of empowerment from an external source of lightning, a thundercloud drifted down from the heavens and landed near Josh.


    "I suddenly feel like Goku from Dragon Ball." Deadpanned Josh. This thundercloud was tangible and he could ride and store things in it.


    The blonde experimented with the thundercloud for a few days. Testing the things it could do. He found that it could store things inside it but once there was too many stuff, it would expand and the speed at which it could travel would slow down due to the weight. He could also summon and dismiss it at will.


    At one point, Josh shoved as many trees and boulders he could find inside it and after about 50 tons of weight, everything was spat out like a bad dish.


    Although the thundercloud was black in color and looked dangerously close to raining down thunder, not to mention ominous, Josh decided to name it the Flying Nimbus.


    "I might as well go full in and give it the same name", Josh mused. He figured that he could sit on it and send his lightning through to create a hail of thunder down on his enemies.


    Josh spent the rest of the year fighting beasts to gain some semblance to combat experience and continued with his devil fruit and body training along with exploring the rest of the island.

 5 Chapter 5

    Year 2


    During his first year of training, Josh made sure that he did not try to train the other powers but instead kept a strict schedule on what to do.


    He had already made a plan the moment he saw the powers that he got. First and foremost would be for his body to be able to handle said powers and techniques. Otherwise, not only will he not be able to use them, he might even hurt himself during the process.


    So.. our blue eyed protagonist build his foundations in his body and pushed himself to almost the breaking point everyday.


    In the middle of an uninhabited island, dubbed as "the Island of Isolation" by it''s only human inhabitant, there stood a mighty tree that towered above all other trees in the forest.


    On a lower branch of the mentioned tree, stood a young man, he look like he just became an adult, age wise. This young man had an extremely well toned body and his muscles can clearly be seen even under his clothing. His hair was a bright blond and seems to defy gravity the longer he stayed in the wilderness. His navy blue eyes contain unshakable confidence inside them.


    This young man is none other than Joshua. The teen was smiling a confident smile because he looked much better than he did a year before, he was so much stronger as well.


    His time spent on training his body and devil fruit powers were not for naught as his strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, dexterity, and even life force have increased by too many fold to count. He had enough mastery over his devil fruit and all the moves that comes with it.


    "Sadly, I wasn''t able to ''Awaken'' my devil fruit but I''m extremely satisfied with my results.", the now 18 year old chuckled to himself.


    He did not seriously expect himself to be able to train his devil fruit to the point of awakening but a man can dream.


    Even Luffy, who has had his devil fruit for over 13 years did not awaken them yet.. but then again, it''s probably because he doesn''t know about it and therefore, never actively tried to awaken it.


    Josh assumed that awakening was something that would happen naturally and there was no way to rush things but that did not mean that there weren''t ways to make that happen naturally faster.


    It was just a theory but affecting and turning physical things into lightning is probably what the awakened Rumble Rumble fruit does.. much like Doflamingo''s. His new found connection to the lightning storm could be a hint but Josh just left that thought in the back of his mind.


    Anyway, enough about last year, we''re here for this year.. am I right!? "Yeah!!"(imaginary shout of agreement)


    Although Josh would focus on the Rokushiki this year, that did not mean that he would completely stop doing what he did before.


    It was just that he would spend 90% of his time on the Rokushiki. He would still train his body and try his damnedest to increase his strength but it has been getting harder and harder for him to push himself to the limits nowadays so improvements were hard to come by.


    He would train his body like normal but not as extreme as the first year because most of his time is spent on the Rokushiki.


    Every now and then, he would get an idea for a new attack with his devil fruit and would test them out and if they worked, master them but that was it for his devil fruits... as mentioned earlier, he had other things to do.


    "The first and easiest is probably Kami-E." Josh nodded silently to himself.. he was once again correct, out of all the Rokushiki techniques, the Kami-E was by far the easiest to learn and the least taxing on the body, not that exhaustion was a problem for Josh anymore.


    The Kami-E is basically a watered down version of an Observation Haki master. There are differences but essentially, they produced the same results... which is dodging the opponent''s attacks. Learning Kami-E now would be helpful for when Josh trains his Observation Haki.


    Kami-E meaning Paper, is when you make your body go limp and rely on your natural senses, movement of the air, movements of your opponent, and your flexibility combined with your reaction speed to dodge the attacks of an opponent. As your proficiency in the technique increases, the less you need to concentrate on it. It becomes almost instinctual when you have it down to a certain level.


    There are several problems with this though.. one, you need to concentrate hard. Two, you need to go limp which can be dangerous. If an enemy was faster or has much better reaction speed than you, Kami-E is basically useless.Three, if you haven''t mastered it adequately enough, using Kami-E during a real life and death battle can be a gamble because when you focus hard on the technique, you become stationary and limit your movement.


    This technique was trained by the ''help'' of someone that Josh has managed to ''befriend'' (*cough* threatened *cough*) after their many ''sparring'' sessions.


    "Alright.. Winnie, all you have to do is attack me. You can go slow at first but do speed up when you think I''m getting used to it." That''s right folks... Josh named the boss of the island, which by the way is a bear, after a disn- I''ll just let you figure that one out.


    It took the recently made adult by age a few weeks to get it down but he had mastered Kami-E to above basic level. It was now time to move on to the next technique. After he got the feel for all of them, he would go back to train them until full mastery.


    Josh spent the next 2 months on the 3 techniques; Soru (Shave), Geppo (Moonwalk), and Rankyaku (Tempest Kick).


    These techniques did not require much work as they are pretty physical. As long as someone has enough physical strength and knows what to do, they could basically preform them.


    Especially Soru, as many marines use them. It wouldn''t be surprising if someone saw it and copied the technique successfully.. heck, even Kuro of a "Thousand Plans" managed to preform a bastardized version of it.


    The technique Soru is where you kick the ground 10 times in a second. It''s literally in a blink of the eye! These kicks would then propel you forward at incredible speeds that the naked eyes have a hard time following.


    The problem with this technique though, is that once you''ve moved and used the technique, making a turn or stopping cannot be done. You can adjust the distance that you "Soru" to by the amount of kicks or how hard and fast you preform the kicks but changing mid Soru just couldn''t be done. Still very useful though.


    The next technique, Geppo, is probably one of the most useful techniques that exists in the one piece world... that''s at least the case for Josh. This technique is similar to the Soru, however, instead of kicking backward to propel yourself, you kick down enough times to make it possible to kick the air.


    This way, you can maneuver or stay stationary in midair! This technique is probably the best life saving technique for devil fruit users because they can essentially stay in the air or whisk themselves away if they ever found themselves falling towards the ocean.


    Come on! This is flying (sort of) we''re talking about.. if this isn''t a man''s romance, then I don''t know what is.


    (I hope Boss is proud of that comment!)


    Using Soru and Geppo in conjuncture is completely and absolutely possible and just makes you look twice as badass. However, it''ll tax your body twice as much as it normally would.


    The next technique is called Rankyaku. This technique consist of kicking really fast that you cause enough friction to create a wind blade that, if powerful enough, could even cut steel.


    In hindsight, this technique seems really powerful, but that isn''t exactly the case. Any exceptional swordsmen are able to create wind blades as well. The only difference is that the Rankyaku will most likely be much weaker.


    While a top rate swordsman can cut down diamonds and seastones, the limit of Rankyaku is sadly just steel. You can kick as fast as you want, the technique is physically incapable of producing a wind blade strong enough to slice through diamond.. it''s like that by design.


    You could probably extend the range of the blade and make it bigger by kicking faster and harder but that''s the limit. Josh wasn''t too worried about it though because sinking a warship with a single sweep of his leg is badass enough for him.


    The next 2 months were spent on the last two techniques of the Rokushiki which are the Tekkai (Iron Body) and Shigan (Finger Pistol). One month for each techniques because they needed a bit more time compared to the rest.


    To train Tekkai, Josh had our favorite bear ''Winnie'', along with any other wild beasts that he comes across on the island ''help'' him out. They would punch, hit, smack, bite, and claw at Josh while he stood there and tensed his muscles as hard as he could and hope that they would at least leave cool looking scars.


    Josh had to take off all of his clothes except for his shorts so that the only clothing he had on the island doesn''t get destroyed.


    From the start, Josh has been wearing the same clothes everyday. At some point he would wash them and tried his best to keep them safe.


    The said clothing consists of a plain black long sleeved T-shirt over a white short sleeved T-shirt. Over his double T-shirts he had a black, blue, and red hoodie that matched perfectly with his current stature... he was lacking some muscles when he first started out so now they fit perfectly.


    For his pants, the recent adult wore a simple red joggers that extended down to his ankles. The shoes he wore were also plain white and had no exotic designs.


    If you haven''t noticed, our mc''s favorite colors are black, white, blue, and red. As a kid, he never understood the fixation of some other people on only 1 color.


    The training for the Shigan sounded simple. All he had to do was to preform a partial Tekkai on his finger, which is actually pretty hard. You had to make it just one finger and not the whole hand. All of this control took him more time than necessary hence the reason he needed a whole month.


    By now, anyone who''s heard about his training would think that he had mastered biofeedback.


    After finally managing to harden only his finger, he had to make sure he could do it with all of his fingers just Incase he needed to be able to, Josh practiced to be able to thrust his finger so fast that it produces a wind bullet.


    In a normal Shigan, you would need to directly stab your finger at the opponent but Josh, the overachiever that he is, took it a step further and trained to be able to shoot wind bullet through the use of Shigan.


    As for the secret technique of the Rokushiki, the Rokuogan, he did not get that as part of the Rokushiki as it is a secret technique, however, this did not mean that he couldn''t buy it at a later time.


    The young hero�� I mean the soon to be pirate spent the rest of the year on polishing and mastering all of the Rokushiki techniques and did not slack off on training his body.

 6 Chapter 6

    Year 3


    By now, Josh was a bit mentally peeved at not being able to have some social contact with another human but he steeled his resolve and bore through it because, he knew that he would take this world by a storm after this year passes.. maybe not right away but once he hits the grandline, things were sure to get interesting.


    At his current state, Josh was strong enough to take on a commander under a Yonko. Fighting a few Vice Admirals at once would not be that difficult for him. All of this power and he still hadn''t even touched on the subject of Haki.


    When he received the rewards for "helping" the system''s creator, he felt that he could activate his Haki with some difficulty but kept it at the back of his mind to train at a later date.


    Inside a giant tree on the island of "Isolation", there was a dome like hole about 5 meters above the ground. Inside the dome was a youth sitting still as a rock.


    This youth was focusing with all his mental strength to sense the presences of living beings near by.


    He could vaguely feel some sort of energy moving around, others staying stationary. He could not identify which energy associated with which living creature but he was sure that he could identify them with time.


    A plus to this though is that he can sense how big one''s presence is so to say. It usually goes along the line of bigger means stronger.


    As another session of his Observation Haki ended, the blindfolded youth turned to lie down on his makeshift bed.


    Josh had blindfolded himself since the start of his Haki training to progress much faster. At first, he got lost a few times trying to find the way back to his temporary home, even hugging nearby trees to guide him.


    The animals on the island were already used to him being around and none dared to attack him any longer... and to think that he almost shat his pants when he first arrived here.


    The now 19 year old had "asked" his bestie the bear to aid him in his training for observation Haki by having him not only attack him but sometimes ambush him when he wasn''t paying attention.


    Of course the bear had taken much pleasure in having his revenge against the human for his 2 years of torture.


    Every time he got struck, all he could do was grit his teeth, try his best to not use Tekkai on impulse, and think ''Oh crud!''


    Joshua''s day of training now consisted of early morning workout, Observation Haki training, Armament Haki training, followed by Conqueror''s Haki training.


    For the past few years, the youngster''s life only consisted of training, training, training, and even more training. He couldn''t wait for the day he would finally leave this island.


    Josh hadn''t had much time to think about exactly what he wanted to do in the world of One Piece with the pace that he was training in over the past 2 years.


    But now that he had toned down on most of the physical things, he had some more time to think about his purpose in this world.


    He didn''t really want to go out there and become the King of Pirates like Luffy, nor did he have some ridiculously large ambitions like taking over the world.. that was it.. "why can''t I just have as much fun and freedom as I want?"


    This thought brought him back to when he was still on Earth. He always felt that life was way too dull.. safe but dull. Everyday, he would go to school and repeat.. only to go to school even after high school.


    The final goal is to get a good paying job and live a comfortable life.. but that was the part that irked him. The thought of all of those years of school.. simply to get a boring job pushing pencils and papers.. was way too dull.


    He even felt that at one point, if that was all his life was going to amount to, then why bother living at all? That didn''t feel like living to him.


    No adventure, no fun, no entertainment.. it would just be one stressful day after another.


    When he found out that he arrived in the One Piece world, the first thing he wanted was to have fun and go on an adventure. Why not do just that? Without much responsibilities or stress. Live a carefree life and probably have too much freedom.


    But he needed strength to do any of that... so he trained.. he trained hard everyday. Pushed himself to the absolute limit.. soreness and discomfort aside. He was genuinely surprised that he didn''t start going bald like a certain cape wearing hero for "fun".


    With these thoughts, Josh went to sleep, and strengthened his resolve even further.


    One day, while he was out near the shore of the island to wash himself, a normal sized seaking for the Calm Belt standard which is absolutely massive for the East Blue, poked it''s head out of the water.


    This seaking, in Josh''s opinion, could give Laboon a run for his money if they were comparing their size.


    Josh almost freaked out at his first meeting with such a large creature even though he knew about them beforehand. Thankfully though, he had expected to run into them.. just not in the Blues.


    The turtle seaking opened it''s massive beak like protrusions to let out an ear splitting roar and lunged at Josh.


    The diamond hard shells on his back protruding next as it continued on its path.


    Josh thought that this would be the perfect time to see the effects of his Conqueror''s Haki on a seaking. Although he had used it on the beasts on the island, if they were already afraid of you.. there wasn''t much difference that one could see.


    As soon as he let his intent out on the beast, it froze in place and trembled a bit. Sweat could be seen comically rolling down it''s face. How that was even possible when it''s in the ocean was something Josh couldn''t figure out.


    Seeing the effects of his Conqueror''s Haki, Josh felt very prideful at the moment. His strength had reached new heights after he learned Haki and he hadn''t even been really challenged to go all out before.


    "Stay near these waters so I can call upon you whenever I want!" Josh ordered sternly. The seaking nodded, seemingly having understood the command of the human before it, before sinking back down into the ocean much more quietly than when he had appeared.


    Josh continued washing himself and then went back into the forest and the rest of his training went smoothly from there.


    Standing on the branch of the tree trunk that sprouted like a walkway in front of his ''home'', Josh examined himself with a critical eye. The 3 years he spent on this island and all of his rough training had not been easy on his clothes.


    Although they were relatively clean, his shirts were ripped here and there with holes present, his hoodie had seen much brighter days, the bottom half of his pants were ripped off, and the bottom of his shoes had came off about 2 years into his training so he stopped wearing them. So in short, he looked worse than a homeless beggar.


    "What to wear.. no wait, where do I get some clothes?" Josh asked himself out loud. It was then that he heard a voice speak out to him that almost made him fall off the branch. It was a presence that he had nearly forgotten for 3 years in his excitement to get stronger.


    [Ding! Host can buy clothes from the store function of the System.]


    "What the.. who''s there?!" Josh did forget about the existence of the system and was startled at the sudden voice that he had not heard for 3 years.


    [Ding! Calm down, Host. It is simply your aid, the System!]


    Josh could have sworn that he felt a tinge of hurt from the voice of the system prompt.


    "System? Syste... ohhhh! That''s right.. you were there.You didn''t speak up for the past 3 years so I had forgotten about you!" A dawn of realization hit Josh like a punch from Winnie. He suddenly remembered that it was the system that brought him to this world.


    "Ehhee.. I''m so sorry about forgetting you. Teehee pero!" The forgetful 20 year old comically bonked himself over the head and stuck his tongue out playfully.


    [Ding! It is quite alright Host. So long as Host does not let that happen again, System will not penalize you.]


    The system definitely felt a little infuriated about being ignored for the past 3 years but was willing to let that slide.


    "Penalize!? Well.. I guess I deserve that. Anyway, what were you saying about buying clothes?" The youth had admitted his faults for this and tackily changed the subject.


    [Ding! To reiterate Host, the System is able to exchange system points for any article of clothing. Even ones not from this world as it has nothing to do with power.]


    The 20 year old thought hard about what kind of clothes he wanted to be seen in..


    "Hmmm... that''s a hard choice. I''ve got it! Give me the captain''s coat that Gol D. Roger wore but make it extra dark red. As for the rest of my outfit, I want Natsu Dragneel''s outfit without the scarf." The man nodded at his decisions. He always liked Natsu''s clothes from the anime but the long scarf could get in the way when he fought.


    [Ding! Those will be 156 system points. As Host has amassed over 10 million points, it is possible.]


    The system complied with his demands.


    There was a flash of light before vanishing just as quickly to reveal a dark red coat with what he thinks is a long black vest that had orange on the rims.


    Josh quickly discarded his old and worn out clothes and donned his new outfit.


    Standing at 6''3, the 20 year old looked incredibly amazing. He had not buttoned the top part of his outfit to show his years of effort in the form of his bulging muscles that aren''t too much nor were they too little.


    The bottom part of his outfit ran down below his knees and he had on white pants and white socks with black sandals. With his captain''s coat sling over his shoulders marine style. Anyone laying eyes on him will have to take a second look to admire his current form.


    "Alright! I''m all set. Now it''s time for me to start my long awaited adventure!!" Josh shouted out the last part with vigor, causing the animals on the island to wonder what the crazy human was up to now.


    After a tearful parting with his "friend", Winnie the bear, in which the bear cried in joy. Josh made his way to the shore of the island where he previously encountered the giant Seaking.


    "System, is it possible for me to be able to swim and be immune to seastones?" Staring at the giant of mass water before him, Josh couldn''t help but ask.


    [Ding! It is possible to buy with points, Host. The ability to swim and be immune to seastones while being a devil fruit user will cost a million each.]


    Josh jumped in joy when he heard that it was possible, he even had enough points to buy them right now. He had stayed away from water as much as possible after finding out just how bad they were for him from nearly drowning with no one to save him.


    "Buy it right now!" The "man" could barely contain his glee at the thought of not being completely zapped of all of his strength when he touched water.


    After a few more minutes of being in a trance of joy, Josh called up the seaking that he met a few months ago. He wanted to ride it around for 3 reasons.


    1, he did not know how to navigate and would be lost at sea after he couldn''t see the island anymore and 2, he would look really badass. 3, he did not know how to build a boat and there weren''t any lying around on this uninhabited island.


    He could always try his luck and create a makeshift raft, but he doubts if it would last even one day.


    He could also just ride the Flying Nimbus since he hadn''t used it much as it wasn''t really needed but he had a special plan for what he wanted to do with that dark cloud.


    After furiously warning the seaking to not get his new clothes wet or dirty, he rode the giant turtle sea creature, who he decided to name "Manni" and finally departed form the island of "Isolation"!

 7 Chapter 7

    A/N: I changed my writing style to POVs. It''ll mainly be the mc''s POV but I might also use someone else.


    Josh''s PoV:


    "Hahahahah..! My true adventure starts now!", standing on top of the seaking, my arms spread wide, I laughed out loud while thinking of the prospect of going on many a great adventures and seeing all that this wonderful world has to offer. At the same time, my ride was confused at my sudden outburst.


    While I''m on the topic of adventures, I think I''ve made up my mind. I''ll be the man who''s had the most adventure and fun in the world!


    Those words sounded like they were just right for me as I can feel myself get excited and a bit giddy at the thought.


    Now think back with me a little here, in the entire world of One Piece, if someone was to ask who loves adventures and has the most fun out in the sea, how do you think they would answer?


    The answer is simple... the Strawhat Pirates of course!


    Watching the anime, anyone can see that they are clearly different from any other pirate in a good way, even the ones that don''t pillage, ****, and steal.


    They always seemed to have this cheery atmosphere and it''s just the perfect place and people to adventure together with.. I thought.


    While I was still on that horrid island, I thought briefly about forming my own crew, going on my own adventure, and seeing the world of One Piece without the shadows of the original protagonists.


    But, right now I think I''d be happiest if I stayed and journeyed with them instead.


    Besides, how can I possibly pass up the chance to meet some of my favorite characters in all of anime?


    It''s not only that either, if I go along with them, not only can I act like a smartass with all my future knowledge, I can also help train them so that they could reach their goals a little bit easier and maybe change up a few things here and there..


    Messing around and toying with the enemies as I already know most of their plans would be a hilarious sight to see.


    "Yosh, it''s decided. I wanna be a strawhat pirate!" I declared out loud to nobody in particular, if not myself.


    There are currently 2 problems that are standing in my way right now though.


    1, about my identity, I don''t really care if they know or not but I don''t really want them to know that I basically know their futures to a certain extent.


    Hmm hmm.. I can always just tell them that I am someone who originally lived on the grandline.. that could work. That could also be my excuse for "certain" knowledge about this world that I know in general.


    If they ask for why I was in the East Blue... I guess I could be a little honest and say that I wanted to gather a crew but settled with joining one instead. Yes yes.. that''s reasonable.


    The second problem I''m facing... it''s a bit more physical. Not as physical as an enemy standing in my way but to tell you the truth, I... got no clue where I am or how to get to the islands that I know Luffy will be on.


    I guess I can only keep going straight until I find an island I can ask direction from... sigh...


    *BOOOM!*


    My thoughts were arbitrarily cut off by a loud sound that I heard from about a mile away. Sounded like canons to me. Is it perhaps going to be my first navel warfare!?


    As we inch closer, I could make out the silhouettes of two ships currently staring each other down.


    I assumed one of the ships fired a warning shot at the other... oh..


    "A Jolly Roger." So they are pirates.. I mused.


    One of the ships currently isn''t moving, I guess they''ve anchored themselves, while the other one isapproaching.


    The approaching ship is colored in the most hideous way imaginable... pink!


    "Who in their right mind would paint their ship pink of all color!?" We were getting closer as I complained about the ship. I mean... it was like begging the marines to shoot at them.


    "I feel like I should know that ship..", I began to question myself, seriously.. it''s at the tip of my tongue.


    As we approach even closer, Manni hiding under the ocean but giving me enough altitude to not get wet...aww good Manni! The silhouettes became much more clear and one of my dilemma, if not both, were solved.


    This ship was Alvida''s ship and it is currently attacking a seemingly familiar ship which I can only guess to be the one from the first episode. This also means that Luffy will be on that ship as well.


    I''ll hopefully tag along and make him like me enough to ask if I wanna join his crew.


    "Alright Manni, I''ll Geppo the rest of the way there so just lay low until I call you up again." I said to the giant fellow. It bellowed back at me which I can only interpret as an "understood".


    Geppoing my way towards the merchant ship, I can see a black haired boy with his iconic straw hat, a red sleeveless shirt, blue short jeans, and the typical sandals. Behind the iconic boy was a wimpy looking shorter boy with pink hair, the baby fat on his face were still aplenty.


    Hovering over the ship, I observe as they converse about fat whales and ugly women. It doesn''t seem like they noticed me yet.


    "Ahemm.. can someone please tell me what is going on?"


    Coby''s PoV:


    My name is Coby, currently a cabin boy working as a slave onboard


    Alvida-sama''s ship.


    That fateful day, I had accidentally boarded their pirate ship when I was going fishing.


    The thought of resistance was absolutely impossible.. I got way too scared even thinking about what they would do to me if I was caught after an escape attempt.


    My dream of joining the marines are getting further and further away.. my life right now can be considered a living hell.


    Today, the Alvida pirates are raiding another merchant ship. I try my best to not get involved with their acts of piracy but they would think that I was slacking off and beat me.


    After a tearful boarding which involved a lot of screaming from me, I made my way towards the kitchen and the stocking room.


    Once inside, I hid from my captors.


    Looking around, there was a particularly big barrel which looked like it contained plenty of wine. I inched ever closer in hopes of bringing the barrel back to at least avoid getting another beating.


    As I suspected, the barrel was quite heavy, rolling it towards the door was the best I could do with my meager strength.


    "Oh, look what the little chore boy found." Came a voice from right out the door, followed by 2 more sets of footsteps.


    "Hehehe, I''m feeling a little thirsty." Said another man, he was a bit shorter and smaller than the other two.


    "Wha wha.. y-you can''t. Alvida-sama will k-kill us if she finds out!" I tried my best to ward them off of the thought of taking the loot before distribution. I would surely get punished for this.


    "Haha.. it''ll be fine if you keep your mouth shut... right, coooby?" Drawled out the last man remaining in the room.


    These three made it especially hard for me during my 2 year of captivity on the pirate ship.


    The first and largest man, losing all of his restraint, came up and grabbed the barrel. He got ready to throw a punch when it suddenly happened.. the event and man that would change my life forever.


    "WHAT A GREAT NAP!!" suddenly, two fists came out of the barrel and hit the largest man, knocking him to dreamland.


    The person that just appeared from inside the barrel was the happiest looking person I''ve ever met, his grin was so wide that it threatened to split his face in two.


    All of us who were in the room couldn''t help but drop our jaws in shock at the sudden appearance of the man that was clearly older than me but couldn''t be considered an adult.


    "You''ll catch a a cold if you sleep on the floor." The person stated with a face that showed he was not the one at fault at all.


    "IT WAS YOU WHO KNOCKED HIM OUT!" The remaining two couldn''t help but retort back. Comically growing fangs.


    "Who are you kid?" The shorter one asked menacingly.


    "I''m Monkey D. Luffy!" The now named Luffy answered with confidence. Seemingly unaware of the tense atmosphere.


    Luffy had ignored them afterward in favor of looking for some food. Seeing that they were being ignored, the men couldn''t hold back anymore and launched an attack against the strange man.


    I was too scared to see his inevitable fate so I closed my eyes. After hearing the sound of metal hitting the floor, I opened my eyes again.


    To my shock, Luffy was perfectly fine, grinning even. The pirates ran out of the kitchen while shouting curses, most likely returning to the deck to get help. I have to help this person.. he''s going to get himself killed for his actions..


    No matter what I did, Luffy would not budge. Only aimlessly searching for food. To my luck, he went inside the storage room.. at least in here, I don''t think anyone would find us so soon.


    Luffy then proceeded to gnaw on the apples and told me his dream.


    Can you believe it!? He wanted to be the Pirate King, it was absolutely impossible.. impossible, there''s no way he can stand at the very top of this world!


    I promptly got bonked on my head for telling him that.. sniff.. oh well, I''m used to it anyway.


    "It''s not about whether I can do it or not. I do it because I want to. I decided for myself that I would be the Pirate King so I wouldn''t mind to die fighting for it." Luffy told me in his most solemn face I''ve seen him as of yet.


    Those words stirred something in me. It is his dream so he would be willing to die for it. Those words kept repeating over and over in my mind and something in me clicked!


    "Do.. do you think I can do it too?" I asked meekly, almost inaudible. He replied by shooting a curious glance my way.


    "My dream... is to become a marine and catch bad guys! I''ve wanted to do it ever since I was a child." I proclaimed loudly.. although still meek at first.


    Luffy reassured me by giving me a thumbs up.


    At that moment, the wood on the roof cracked and the face of Alvida-sa... no Alvida could be seen.


    Luffy-san saved me by jumping up towards the deck with me in tow.


    After defeating the remaining pirates on the deck and a fit of laughter from my description of Alvida, Luffy-san readied himself to fight once again.


    It was at that moment, the person that would make many people drop their jaws at his every actions appeared.


    "Ahemm... can someone please tell me what is going on?" Asked a confident voice from above.


    When we all looked up, all jaws hit the floor as a man can be seen flying in the sky, looking down on us as if he was a god looking down upon mortals.

 8 Chapter 8

    Josh''s PoV:


    I inwardly smirked at the reactions of the people below me. Outwardly though, I kept my calm face, as if a person flying around was an everyday normal thing. I can''t wait until they meet Manni!


    "What the.. how is that even possible!?" Exclaimed Alvida, although she had heard rumors of devil fruits being able to give all sorts of abilities, seeing a rubber man and a flying person in a single day was a bit much for her.


    "That''s so cooool!! How are you doing that!??" Before I could retort back to Fatvida, the future pirate king stared at me, wide eyed. Mouth still slightly opened and eyes shining like stars.


    The rest of the people were just speechless. Man, if these guys ever went to the Grandline, their mouths would tire from having to open them so often.


    "I can teach you if you want, kid." I said as I stopped using Geppo to keep myself afloat and slowly fell down towards the open deck of the merchant ship.


    "Really!? Tell me tell me tell me.." Luffy didn''t even try to hide his joy and eagerness as he rapidly approached me.


    "Hold your horses, cowboy. Isn''t something happening right now?" I asked, hoping to diverge his attention back to Alvida. I idly wondered if I should have even worried about Luffy being interested in having me join his crew. With reactions like that, it''s pretty much settled, he probably wouldn''t let me say no even if I wanted to now.


    "Oh that''s right.. we''re leaving. Come on, Coby." The hyperactive teen did as I hoped and went back to the situation at hand.


    Fatvida wasn''t having any of that though, with a war cry, she lunged at Luffy, hoping to surprise him with her "speed".


    "Gomu Gomu no...", Luffy stretched his hand as far as it could reach and thrusted it forward. Hitting the fat pirate right in the solar plexus.


    "Pistol!" His hands automatically went back to normal with the sound of rubber being released from expanding too far.


    "Shishishi.. Get us a boat and just let Coby leave quietly. He''s going to join the marines." The strawhat wearing boy stated towards the remaining goons of the Alvida pirates while ruffling his nose.


    "Ahh.. there''s no need. If you guys want a ride, I got one." I proclaimed loud enough to be heard with an eerie smirk plastered on my face. No one seemed to noticed that as Luffy and Coby approached me.


    I put my hands in my mouth and whistled as loud as I could. For a while, we were just staring at each other, with me wondering if Manni had ran off.


    Soon enough though, everyone nearby could feel tremors from underneath us and Coby, along with the remaining pirates lost their balance. I almost lost my balance as well because this was the first time I''ve ever been on an actual ship even before I was transported here.


    The only one unfazed by this was Luffy as he was looking around frantically for the source of the tremors.


    "Is it an earthquake!?" Asked one of the goons in panic and fear.


    Seriously? An earthquake on the sea? At least word it properly. Do they even get natural earthquakes on islands?


    My musings were cut short by the head of the giant sea turtle that poked itself out about 10 meters away from the ship, dangerously coming close to crushing the tiny thing.Manni''s single Iris was even bigger than the two ships combined, not to mention his entire head let alone his body.


    Everyone onboard froze stiff, even Luffy tensed up. I bet he''s never seen a seaking so big before.


    Manni doesn''t look particularly menacing, he just looks like a normal turtle, just too ridiculously oversized.


    Just his head looming over us can block the entire sun away from us.


    From the corner of my eyes, I saw Luffy getting ready to fire another pistol and a bunch of grown men pissing their pants with their butts on the ground. I could''ve sworn I heard the squeak of a female voice from a bit further away, but I paid it no mind.


    "Alright, our ride is here! Guys, meet Manni. He''s my pet turtle." I said as cheerfully as I possibly could sound. This, in turn, made every single head in the near by vicinity to snap towards me and when they saw that I wasn''t joking, dropped their jaws even harder than when I first showed up.


    I quickly jumped on top of Manni''s head and turned my head backward while my body is still facing forward,


    "Well, are you coming or not?" I asked again.


    Luffy, after a moment of confusion, just shrugged and was about to hop on until he noticed Coby not even daring to breathe. Tears and snot coming out of his face and nose soundlessly.. how that was even possible was beyond me.


    With another shrug, Luffy grabbed a Coby who didn''t even respond. Looking even closer, one would notice that his eyes were rolled back and he had seemingly fainted.


    I inwardly felt kind of guilty for doing this to the poor normal guy who isn''t yet used to things like this. It was a good thing that Manni didn''t bellow loudly or that might''ve made his heart give out and he could''ve died right there and then.


    Grabbing Coby, Luffy stretched one of his hand and reached out to Manni''s head fearlessly. I have to admit, the kid''s pretty brave to be able to do that. Some pirates in the New World might not even be able to react the way he did.


    The strawhatted boy clumsily put Coby down and promptly sat down himself.


    "So where to, kid?" I asked, I obviously know his name but have to keep up appearances and all that.


    "No clue. I''m just looking for crew members right now." An etherial light bulb went off near Luffy''s head and with a *POP* sound, he put his fist down on his open palm and turned towards me. I knew it was coming and I was excited.


    "Be my Nakama!" He exclaimed. Already knowing that he was going to ask, I didn''t want to make it hard for him so I quickly agreed.


    "Alright, but tell me, what do you wanna do? Depending on your answer, I might decline." I questioned him, fully knowing the answer. Luffy might seem dumb but I just want to confirm for myself, his convictions and ambitions.


    "I''m gonna become the Pirate King and be the freest person in the world!" There was no hesitation. Those words, if they came from any other Blues idiot, I would''ve bonked that person over the head but I could feel the sheer confidence in his voice.


    To him, I''m sure those aren''t just words or a promise. It''s his way of life. The reason of his being. There was no other way to describe it and I wanted to help him along the way.


    "Pirate King, ehh? That''s a hard one but I have a dream of my own as well." I said, purposefully creating suspense so he could ask me himself, and he didn''t disappoint.


    "Really? What''s your dream?" As expected, he asked not even a second later.


    "I''m the man who''s going to adventure all over and be the person that has the most fun in the world!" I said as I stared right into his eyes.


    "Shishishishi.." "hahaha" we both just laughed. Those dreams might sound like they are stupid or unreal even, but we were going to keep our word and he and I knew that.


    "My name is Joshua but my friends just call me Josh. What''s your name?" I was too busy enjoying the reactions of everyone that I had almost forgotten to introduce myself.


    "I''m Monkey D. Luffy. You can just call me Luffy I guess.." The strawhatted boy introduced himself as well. With those out of the way, I had officially joined the Strawhat Pirate crew.. to my amusement, even before Zoro.


    I sat next to Luffy and stayed quiet. The reason for my silence was that I was having another conversation inside my head.


    ''System, I want to buy a gun with infinite ammunition of seastone bullets. Is that possible?''


    [Ding! It is possible. As seastones are rare, and with an infinite amount, that will cost you 5 million points. Would Host like me to proceed?]


    ''Yeah, just make the pistol look cool and golden in color. Also, if possible make it unbreakable and add a function where only I can use it.''


    [Ding! Worry not, Host. System can imprint a special insignia on any items purchased from the store to allow only Host to use it. With the additional function of Unbreakable, that will be a total of 6 million system points. Does Host wish for System to proceed?]


    ''Yes, that''ll be all.''


    With a blinding light that came as abruptly as it went. There was a golden Glock in my hands.It was longer than most pistols in this world and underneath it, was the holster.


    I forgot about that, wouldn''t want to go around carrying this gun in my hands wherever I went. After thanking the system for her insight, I strapped the holster on me and placed the gun inside.


    I turned around to see Luffy staring at me curiously. Oh crud, I forgot they were still here.


    Thankfully for me though, I turned around before I did anything and all he saw was a brief flash of light.


    "Luffy, I got a gift for you." I said. He looked like he wanted to know what it was and inched closer.


    I took off my captain''s coat and slung it over his shoulders. He seemed surprised by my actions.


    "I originally wanted to become a captain of my own crew but decided to join you instead. Your the captain so you should wear the captain''s coat." He came to an understanding.


    Oddly enough, it didn''t look weird on him at all. In fact, it was as though I bought it for the sole purpose of giving it to him.


    About an hour later, Coby stirred and woke up soon after. He did not realize where he was or what he was doing before but when he did... it wasn''t pretty. The same thing as before was about to happen so I quickly grabbed his mouth with my hand and shushed him.


    With his attention on me, I assured him that Manni wouldn''t hurt anyone unless I ask him to and that he was absolutely obedient to me.


    Speaking of Manni, I feel like I should find out exactly how or why he came to the East Blue. He is physically bigger than the average Calm Belt seakings. Most seakings tend to be a hybrid of different animals.. sea creatures or otherwise. Which is why I found it a bit weird that he is just a giant turtle. I''m getting off topic again....


    It was a hassle convincing Coby that he was safe and wasn''t in any danger.. Luffy just laughed the entire time, much to my displeasure.


    I had Coby point us out to the nearest island which just happens to be the island with Shells Town. After Coby''s story of the scary pirate hunter, the decision was quickly made to "sail" that way. I can only think to myself ''we''re coming for you Zoro..''

 9 Chapter 9

    Josh''s PoV:


    Arriving at Shells Town, I had Manni stop far away enough to not be seen from the island, then carrying my two luggages, I Geppoed my way towards the island for about 10 minutes before finally arriving at the docks.


    My ears are still ringing from all the yelling and screaming from both my passengers. One from fear and the other from excitement.


    "Alright, we''re here." I notified them as I gently landed on the docks. Thankfully, nobody was around the area at the time to stir up a commotion. "Let''s head into town."


    Nodding briefly, the two followed after me. I really do feel bad for Coby. From the anime, I know that he had steeled his resolve with the help of Luffy just before I arrived and shattered his common sense. Poor guy couldn''t sit properly to say the least after learning that he was on Manni.


    As we entered into town, Luffy and Coby had their talk about Zoro and Morgan.I have to admit, seeing the townspeople comically jumping over in fear was pretty hilarious, although I shouldn''t laugh at that.


    I didn''t really pay them much attention as I was lost in my thoughts...


    My role in the pirate crew had been something that I''ve been thinking about recently.. although I plan to make Manni the Merry''s guard, for what my official position will be is still up for debate.


    Sure I could just usurp Zoro''s "rank" of first mate as he doesn''t really do anything but I don''t really wanna take that from him. Besides, ranks like that doesn''t really matter when your with the Strawhats, only what you can do.


    Luffy is the captain, Nami is the navigator, Zoro''s the swordsman, Usopp is the sniper, Sanji is the cook, Chopper is the doctor, Robin is the archeologist, Franky is the shipwright, Brook is the musician, and I don''t really know what Jinbei will be because he hadn''t joined yet when I last saw the anime.


    The question is... what position will I take up?


    Sure, I''ve got combat capabilities that they probably won''t be able to match until they are in their peak but that doesn''t really give me a possible position.


    Then it hit me, thinking back on some of the reasons why I wanted to join the crew... there was one about training them. I could just make up a position as their Combat Trainer or something. Yeah.. that sounds good.


    I ended my thoughts there as we arrived in front of the marine base and Luffy had just found the tied up Zoro. He and Coby were hanging on the wall like kids while I just leaned against it.


    This part of the story doesn''t really interest me as I already know that Luffy doesn''t need my help. I waited patiently for the part that I already decided to play during our stay here.


    After a few minutes of waiting, it finally came. A shadow of a person can be seen flying out from the other side of the wall followed by a high pitched scream.


    I quickly went into action and jumped up and grabbed the small silhouette that had been mercilessly thrown away like a rag doll.


    As I landed, I could see that Luffy had prepared to jump in himself but seeing that I had taken action, he restrained himself.


    "Are you alright, jou-chan?" I asked her in the most gentle voice I could muster while putting her down slowly. She looked up at me and nodded.


    "I''m alright. Thank you, onii-san." Seeing that the girl wasn''t physically hurt anywhere, I kneeled down to her eye level.


    "That''s good." I said as I patted her head. "You were very brave." While praising her at the same time. She had gained a wide smile on her face.


    Oh god.. does she want to kill me with her moe overload!? It''s devastating!


    By this time, Luffy and Coby has already arrived at our position and were hovering above us as I was kneeling down to get to eye level with the little girl.


    "Let''s go find your parents." I said. Turning my head towards Luffy, I asked him, "you don''t need me here right?"


    "Nope.." he just grinned back at me and then headed towards the wall before climbing over it and disappearing.


    I grabbed the girl by one of her tiny hand and asked her to lead the way. If you hadn''t noticed by now, I deemed it a bit too dangerous to constantly stay in my element form.


    Don''t get me wrong, I''ll still stay in my element form when we enter a more dangerous part of the Grandline but doing that here in East Blue is too risky. Not for me, but should I ever slip up and someone accidentally touches me or someone tries to wake me up while I''m in deep sleep, I don''t want to zap them with lightning that could potentially kill them.


    Reaching the bar that the girl, Rika, and her family owns, we walked inside to be greeted by the sight of customers staring at us with curiosity.


    Rika ran up to her mother and told her all about what she had done today and about us. After getting a scolding from her mother, which understandably isn''t really stern, she walked over to us and bowed in gratitude.


    "It''s quite alright, ma''am. My name is Josh and this is Coby." I introduced myself and then gestured towards the boy standing behind me.


    After a returned gesture from Rika''s mother who introduced herself as Ririka, we sat at the counter waiting for Luffy.


    Not long after, Luffy arrived and joined us. Rika had then explained the reason for Zoro''s arrest. Then came the incident with Helmeppo. I laughed so hard that I almost broke a vein when I saw the stupid son get clocked straight to the face by Luffy.


    I could tell that Luffy had obviously held back. Otherwise, how could an untrained civilian still be conscious enough to even threaten us before running off with his marine guards.


    "Hurry and go get our swordsman." I said to Luffy after I finally managed to stop laughing. He nodded at me and stomped away from the bar.


    Seeing Luffy''s furious expression for the first time since meeting him almost sent chills down my spine even though I already knew that he would get like that and already saw it in the anime. I''ll let you in on a secret, watching and knowing are nothing compared to experiencing.


    "Josh-san, aren''t you going to help Luffy-san!? Isn''t he your captain?" Coby asked/shouted at me. It was understandable for him to feel a bit angered by my inaction.


    "If Luffy wanted any help, he would ask." I simply stated before downing another glass of wine. I hadn''t really had much experience with alcohol back on Earth since I was still a minor and am still technically am... but when in Rome right?


    I hadn''t drank enough to get me drunk but I could feel the effects slowly creeping in. Deciding that I''ve had enough, I put the glass upside down and put one hand over my mouth as I yawned.


    "I wish Luffy would hurry up so we can leave." I said absentmindedly, ignoring the annoyed glare that Coby shot at my direction.


    "If your so worried, why don''t you go help them." I suggested. After all, that did happen in canon and he became even more resolute because of it.


    "I think I will. I don''t like the marines that I admire when they act in such a way." Coby resolutely made his way toward the plaza where Zoro is held.


    I simply sat there and waited for all 3 of them to return.


    Hmm.. I''ve given my captain''s coat to Luffy so maybe I should get a different kind of coat. What to choose.. what to choose.


    Thinking about all the cool anime characters with a coat hung over their shoulders, I finally decided to get the perfect one.


    I asked Ririka for the bathroom and left my seat. After reaching there, I had the system quickly exchange the coat for me and donned it.


    The coat was a different design from the captain''s coat that I had gifted to Luffy. This coat was lengthy, reaching past my knees. The color of the coat was mainly black with soft gray fur lining on the edges. This was the coat that Laxus from Fairy Tail always wore.


    Perfect.. I''ve been feeling like I was missing something for a while. Now I feel complete.


    I smiled as I looked at myself from the bathroom mirror.


    To check on Luffy''s progress, I used Observation Haki. Sensing that 2.. no 3 familiar auras were headed to the bar and inferred that Luffy and the others had returned. I stepped out of the bathroom to go greet them.


    After a hearty meal enjoyed by all 4 of us, Zoro asked Luffy where the rest of the crew were to which Luffy replied by pointing to himself, Zoro, and then at me.


    Zoro wasn''t as shocked as in canon where it was just the 2 of them but was still relatively shocked. I moved closer to him and put my hands out for a handshake to which he returned the gesture and we shook hands.


    "I''m Joshua, you can just call me Josh." I introduced myself for like the 5th time today, which I am kind of getting annoyed at.


    "I''m Roronoa Zoro. I''ll be the swordsman of the crew." He replied back to my greeting. I looked at him and smiled.


    "Just so you know, your also the first mate." I said, making him look at me in confusion. "Normally I should ''rightfully'' take that title but I have another that I made up myself. When we''ve gathered all of the crew here in East Blue and are headed to the Grandline,I''ll tell you all about it cuz I don''t wanna explain things too many times."


    He just nodded dumbly. Still slightly confused by what I said, before just shrugging. I pulled up a chair and looked at him again.


    "It''ll be up to us to look after this big baby." I said as I pointed at Luffy who protested indignantly which I promptly ignored. "I can already tell you that he''s going to be a handful." I finished with a laugh.


    "Sigh.. what kind of a captain did I follow?" Zoro only sighed in fake regret before we both bursted out laughing which irked Luffy.

 10 Chapter 10

    A/N: Here''s the next chapter. Expect another one sometime next week. If you have any suggestions please, let me know!


    Third Person''s PoV:


    In the middle of the wet blue ocean, standing on top of what seems like a moving black mass were three people..


    One was a straw hat wearing boy with a sleeveless red vest, blue short jeans, and sandals. Strapped on his shoulder is an impressive looking captain''s coat. This 17 year old boy had a cut mark on the left side of his cheek, right under his eye. He is also sporting a wide grin right now.


    Another was a man with unique green hair, which he would be constantly made fun of for in the future by a certain swirly browed man. He had on a simple white T-shirt, dark green pants with similarly themed boots. He had a green bandana tied to an arm. This man also has 3 impressive looking katanas strapped to the side of his hips.


    The last person has on the outfit of a certain fire breathing wizard from a world of magic, minus the scarf. (I honestly don''t know how to describe Natsu''s outfit.) Also strapped on his shoulder is a long black coat that fluttered with the wind.


    Luffy, Zoro, and Josh were currently standing on top of Manni''s shell. They had just left Shells Town which is oddly ironic and are now drifting at one random direction.


    Zoro''s first reaction to Manni poking his head out of the ocean was to freak out and draw his Wado Ichimonji but the other two assured him that they were safe.


    "So captain, we''re heading to Paradise right?" The only blond in the group spoke up. He was trying to get his captain to head towards Orange Town where they would meet Nami.


    "What''s a Paradise?", Luffy just cocked his head to the side and questioned.


    "The first half of the Grandline is called Paradise.", Josh elaborated. Truly, is the weakest Blue also the most ignorant? Zoro didn''t look like he knew either. Josh thought that Luffy might of heard about the Grandline from Shanks but guess he was wrong.


    "Really? Then yes.. we''re going to Paradise! Set sail!" The raven haired captain commanded. Josh promptly bonked him over the head, without haki of course.


    "We can''t just sail to the Grandline like this... we don''t even have a ship. Not to mention the way to get there. There are still much that we need to do here in the East Blue." Josh reminded him. They couldn''t exactly keep riding on Manni the whole time..


    Josh just wanted to hurry over to Syrup Island so that he wouldn''t have to keep carrying them on and off of an island whenever they get near one.


    "Josh''s right Luffy. None of us knows how to navigate. We don''t even have enough supplies to last the journey."Zoro finally let his thoughts known to the other two. "We need more booze." He finished with such finality that it sounded like alcohol was all they needed.


    ''Sigh.. taking care of these two for not even a week is getting to me! I need you Nami... so you can help me keep them in check!'', The 20 year old thought regretfully.


    In his opinion, Nami was the most important part of the straw hat pirates. One could say that she''s what keeps the whole group together. Without her, they wouldn''t even be able to go from one island to the next even here in the East Blue.. which is exactly their predicament right now.


    "I''ve heard that the map to reach Paradise is in the hands of Buggy the Clown from the Buggy Pirates.", Joshua advised him. Knowing Luffy, he would surely want to go there as well but they simply did not know where it is located.


    "I''ve also heard that Buggy and Red-Haired Shanks used to be on the same pirate crew when they were still cabin boys." Josh revealed with a smirk. He got the desired effect as Luffy''s eyes were wide with shock while Zoro just looked confused.


    "The best part in all of this is that they were on the Pirate King''s crew!" He finished. This time, even Zoro dropped his jaw.


    "That''s so coool... Shanks never told me he was on the ship of the Pirate King!" Luffy almost squealed out loud. The strawhats just laughed at his antics.


    "You seem awfully knowledgeable.." Zoro turned towards me. Those words sounded like he was simply stating a fact but the former Earth resident knew that he wanted to ask how.


    "I was originally from the Grandline. I know quite a lot about the things that go on in there." The Haki user replied. That answer seemsto satisfy Zoro as he simply nodded after a quiet "makes sense". Josh had thought that he would be a little bit more surprise than that but merely shrugged.


    "I have to warn you though, Buggy is nothing like Shanks so don''t be expecting anything." Luffy seemed to be a bit down after hearing that, barely noticeable though. Maybe he wanted to ask him about shanks.


    "Why would someone stay here in the East Blue if they were a great pirate? The Marines would be all over him, making it impossible." Zoro chimed in from the side. The captain nodded at that. It would seem that he finally understood.


    After an hour of hopelessly heading towards a single direction, Josh felt something with his Kenbunshoku Haki. It was about a few miles away from them.


    Although he did not recognize the aura, the lightning man had a good feeling about it so he stomped on Manni''s shell with his foot to signal him to rise.


    "I want you to go left." Josh commanded the turtle.


    With a low grunt, the seaking slowly sank his head back down and changed direction. Luffy and Zoro seems to have noticed this as they eyed him curiously.


    "I found someone." The logia user simply stated. Thinking that they should just leave it to Josh, Luffy went over to a big sack that they had gotten from Ririka back on Shells town. This bag contained a huge amount of food and much to Luffy''s joy, it''s all meat! He sat there, just munching away.


    Zoro on the other hand already had his fill as they left the island not too long ago. Instead of eating or sitting there idly, the green haired swordsman opted to lay down and take a nap.. typical Zoro.


    About 5 minutes later, a small dingy can be spotted slowly making its way forward. This lone dingy hosts a single person.


    As they approach closer, Josh could make out the silhouette of a young female on the boat. He made eye contact with her, smiled, and waved in a gesture that he hoped would convey that they weren''t hostile.


    On the boat was a beautiful young girl with prominently bright orange hair that reached down to her back. Her body was in good shape and she had the right curves in the right places, to say the least. She had slim arms and legs but she was not to be trifled with.


    Nami was eyeing the three people that were approaching her cautiously and a little curiously at the same time. They seem to be riding on a...rock? She really had no clue. It was just black and looked like it had patterns on it. She guessed that it was some sort of submarine.


    ''Weird, why don''t they just go inside their submarine? Maybe the telescope (forgive me cuz I don''t wanna search for the word) on it is broken so they are on look out?'', She silently thought to herself before waving back.


    "Hey there. My name is Joshua, you can call me Josh. What''s your name?" When the strawhats got about 20 feet away from Nami, Josh jumped off of Manni''s shell and landed on her boat, startling her.


    The blonde held his hands out to her. After finally getting out of her daze, the orange haired girl hesitantly took it and the man gave her a firm shake with a smile that Nami could''ve sworn was one of relief.


    "I''m Nami. Nice to meet you Josh." After sizing up the person before her, she deemed that he had no malicious intent towards her so the thief felt a little bit more relaxed.


    "Do you happen to know which way Orange Town is? None of us can navigate so we''re kinda lost at sea." The lightning man asked her and then gestured towards his two other companions, letting her know who he meant by ''we''.


    "What a coincidence, I''m headed towards Orange Town myself. Wait... did you say that you had no navigator? Why did you even sail out to sea, are you idiots!?" The orange head berated the man before her. What kind of idiots go out to sea without at least knowing the basics of sea navigation. She couldn''t believe it.


    "We''re... not really the type to plan out our journeys... ahahaha.." Josh laughed awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. Eyes darting from left to right like he was just caught committing a crime.


    "I didn''t think I''d run into idiots like this.. I''ll make you a deal, I''ll travel with you to Orange Town if you would partner up with me since you seem strong." The girl suggested. She guessed that he was fairly strong just from the chest and abdominal muscles that she could see, which made her blush a little.


    Nami hadn''t seen a man who showed their muscles openly like that before, except for some pirates who she robbed in the past but those guys were no where near as good looking as the man before her. "I''m the best damn navigator you''ll find in all of East Blue." She proclaimed confidently.


    "Deal, but what do you want me to do since we''re going to be partners?", Josh already knew what she would say but asked anyway. He had to keep the fact that he was a pirate a secret a little bit longer or he will just be turned away.


    "I''m a thief that only steals from pirates. I might need protection from certain pirate groups should I get spotted. We can share the loot 9 to 1." Raising her hand for another handshake to solidify the deal which Josh took after saying "deal".In her opinion, that was a very ''generous'' deal.


    Josh abruptly grabbed on to Nami and a bag of treasures lying in the dingy and then jumped back on to Manni. Ignoring her screams of protest all the while.


    "What the hell was that for!?" After safely landing back on Manni, Nami shouted at the blond teen while comically growing fangs.


    "Sorry.. all of us weren''t gonna fit on your small dingy, so I thought we would use my ride instead." The Strawhat pirate said, not looking apologetic in the least.


    "You could''ve told me first..." the 18 year old grumbled, still a little dizzy from the sudden movement. "What is this thing anyway?" Nami asked, trying to confirm her earlier guess.


    Before Joshua could answer, she stomped her leg down, expecting to hear the sound of some sort of metal being hit but when she heard none, she looked back at Josh in confusion.


    "Oh boy... Nami, listen to me.. whatever you do, Don''t. Freak. Out." Josh worded the last part of his sentence purposefully. The cat burglar did not know why he sounded worried.


    Josh had created signals with Manni for communication, which is one stomp for raising his head out of the water, two for stopping, and three times to move.


    Feeling a small tremor underneath her feet and the restless sea water around her, Nami crouched down in fear of falling off the "submarine".She was about to complain about their rough handling of passenger when it happened.


    A dark shadow a bit a head of them could be seen moving closer to the surface of the water.


    When Manni''s head was out of the water completely and looking their way, it saw a trio of nonchalant humans, albeit one was a little bit more worried than the rest and a human girl with no expression on her face.


    Nami couldn''t have guessed that the assumed "submarine" would actually turn out to be the biggest sea turtle she would ever see in her life. Her face slowly morphed from unable to understand what''s happening to a grimace to outright horrified.


    She did not feel this much terror or dread when she first saw the "giant" sea cow Mohmoo which the Arlong Pirates kept as a pet.


    Now, her definition of big had been readjusted and tears of fear were falling down her cheeks. Her mouth wide open in utter astonishment and incredulity. She felt the touch of death literally looming over her head as the giant seaking before her blocked the sun from their view.


    "I tried to warn you... sigh.. This is Manni. My pet turtle and our current ride." The exasperated voice of the man responsible for her distress can be heard with a hint of smugness. She paid no mind as everything she was holding was about to...


    "AAAHHHH.....!!!!" Nami let it all out. If anyone asked in the future, she would confidently proclaim that she saw the biggest seaking in her life but for now, she just let out all her feelings of fear with that one long screech.


    Josh signaled for Manni to go back down and turned to face Nami who was still staring at the same spot with an out of focus gaze.


    "Hey... Nami, are you alright? Don''t worry, Manni wouldn''t hurt anyone." A hand can be seen waving back and forth in front of a shellshocked woman''s face, trying to ease her loss of common sense.


    It took a while for Nami to come back to her senses from her stare down with death itself. When she did, the first thing Nami did was hit the person responsible for this on the head over and over again.


    "YOU NEARLY KILLED ME FROM A HEART ATTACK! AND THAT WAS YOU BACK ON ALVIDA''S SHIP!??" The feisty girl immediately ranted her troubles at the blonde.


    After finally calming down and getting used to the idea that they were now riding on a giant seaking which in her opinion could kill them anytime it wished, she collapsed on her butt and sank on the hard shell of said monster.


    ''Who would''ve thought I''d run into three idiotic monsters with a literal monster at their beck and call.'' She just sighed in obvious mental exhaustion.


    Josh introduced the other two with them and Luffy promptly cheered for gaining a new Nakama.


    [Ding! Host has unlocked a mission!


    Mission: Get Nami to tell you her secret about Arlong before she leaves the crew!


    Reward: 500,000 System Points and Ring of Protection x 1!]


    Josh was surprised by the sudden communication from the system and the mission since it''s his very first one. But there was one thing that confused him...,


    ''Wait... System, didn''t you say that I couldn''t get anything with some kind of power if it wasn''t from the world I''m in or have been to? I''ve never heard of this ''Ring of Protection'' ever being mentioned in One Piece.''


    [Ding! Affirmative Host. System said that Host could not buy them from Store. However, it is possible with Mission Rewards.]


    ''Ahh... that''s good to know. I guess I''ll find out what it does when I complete the mission.'' The young man ended his inner conversation as Luffy jumped off Manni''s back to catch a bird only to get stuck between it''s beak and fly off to the now visible island.

 11 Chapter 11

    A/N: Good news everyone, I lied! Had a bit more free time, motivation, and ideas to actually finish this chapter! So here you go.


    Nami''s PoV:


    Hey there, my name is Nami. I am from the Cocoyasi Village in the chain islands of Conomi.


    In my earlier years as a kid, I was an orphan. My mother, Bellamere, took me and my sister Nojiko in and treated us as if we were her own children.


    Back in those days, we were... not very privileged to say the least. We barely had enough money to sustain ourselves. Everyday was a new challenge to survive. Even with all of that, my mother never once complained nor did she blame us in the least and I love her for that until the day I die.


    Bellamere was a former marine officer. Our house was located a bit away from the rest of the village. There, we had a big enough yard to grow a tangerine orchard and often times oranges were what we had for dinner.


    Two of my favorite things in the world are money and tangerines. Ironically, I hated them with a passion back then.


    I would often get embarrassed of the very clothes on my back that Nojiko had grown out of. I''d slap myself a thousand times if I could go back in time.


    I had a dream back then, I still do, and it is to make the very first complete map of the world. It all started when I went to the local library and the book that I read had me entranced. The book was about sea navigation and map drawing.


    I wanted the book badly...but we were much too poor to spare money on a book. I resorted to stealing which I was caught and scolded for by Genzo and my mother.


    Genzo is the village peacekeeper. He wears a brown police uniform fitted with a pinwheel on top of his hat to make us smile.


    One day, the incident that would forever remain a scar in my mind occurred.


    Arlong and his group of detestable pirates came and proclaimed the Conomi islands to be his territory. He demanded money of every man, woman, children, and even the elderly. For each adult, one had to pay 100,000 Beli and half for kids. Everyone had to pay once every month, those who couldn''t were mercilessly killed without exception.


    As you probably have already guessed, we simply didn''t have the money to pay the fees.


    The only money that we could spare was enough for one adult. My mother..... she used that money to pay for Nojiko and I. Since she didn''t have enough money for herself, Arlong shot and killed her right in front of me and my sister''s eyes.


    After finding out that I was good at drawing maps and had navigational skills, the hateful pirates took me away from my sister and branded me with his mark which I consider equivalent to a slave brand.


    That day is and will forever be the single worst day of my life.


    Going back to see my sister, my fellow villagers had shunned me because of the tattoo that had been placed on my left shoulder. I didn''t care about what they thought of me. I gritted my teeth and endured years of torture for the sake of my sister and the people I grew up around.


    I had been forced to draw maps after maps for the pirates, in exchange for leaving my village alone unless they did something against him and his crew.


    Arlong had made me hate my pure and innocent dream of becoming the best navigator in the world.


    Many had died trying to free the Conomi islands. Ranging from brave civilians, to bounty hunters, and even other pirate crews. No matter how long we waited, the marines would not make a move. Every time someone came up to Arlong Park to challenge the dictator, a small amount of hope would arise within me... but those hopes would be squashed just as quickly as they came.


    I had tried every method I could think of to try and assassinate that bastard but nothing that I tried ever even scratched him.


    I tried stabbing, ambushing, poisoning, and any other methods I could come up with. Each one deadlier than the previous, but each one failed without exception. Every time I had failed I would suffer harsh punishments and eventually, I along with every human under his reign of terror gave up any hopes of killing him.


    Arlong and his crew of fishmen were naturally 10 times stronger than humans, not to mention pirates like them who had been fighting for most of their lives. The kicker here is that all of them could breathe under water.


    My only hope was a deal that I had managed to strike with Arlong. The deal was that I would buy off the village with 100 million beli. The one thing that I had noticed during my unhappy stay with them over the years was that Arlong always held his promises if they were made with money as the incentive.


    I don''t know the extent with which he is honest with his deals concerning money is but that''s the only thing that has me going. It HAS to work, it is quite literally my only salvation! To end the reign of terror that has been going on for 8 years now and counting.


    So I went off on many voyages, sometimes lasting for months. Almost every pirates that I came across were robbed blind of all their valuables. Sometimes my heists would fail and I would pay for it. This happened during the first few trips that I had gone on. My process often contained a lot of betrayals. I would join them and when they let their guards down for long enough, I would steal all of their money and treasures and make my escape.


    Every pirate I came across were all the same detestable scums of the earth. Maybe not as bad as the Arlong Pirates but they were still despicable. My mind had been set ever since I met the Arlong Pirates, I hated every single one of them with more than a passion.


    On my current voyage, I went to steal a special map from a marine base located in Shells Town. The marines stationed there were exactly as I expected.... corrupt. This further proved my conviction of stealing from them.


    This special map contains the way to the famed Grandline. Many legends, myths, stories, and folklores have been passed around about that mysterious sea but none were proven to be facts among the civilians of the East Blue. The only definitive thing that everyone agreed on was it''s other name, the "Pirate''s Graveyard".


    Said to be the doom of so many pirates that, sinked ships littered the ocean floors and that none came back out alive. I had planned to steal the map and make my way there so that I could rob the assumed massive number of pirates there. I am confident about my navigation skills and could probably make it back alive. If only I knew how wrong I was.


    To my dismay, the map was no longer in the hands of the marine captain ''Axe Hand'' Morgan, but instead, someone had beaten me to the punch. The map was stolen by the Buggy Pirates, with the captain, Buggy ''The Clown'' having a "massive" bounty of 15 million Beli. This bounty is one of the largest bounty in all of East Blue.


    Finding out that the map I seek was elsewhere, I obviously made my way to the place rumored to be occupied by the Clown Pirates. This place was called Orange Town.


    After taking all of the money in the base, I prepared my small boat and set a course for Orange Town. This was the time I met the people that would forever change my life for better or for worse.


    <Scene Change>


    Third Person''s PoV:


    A certain raven haired pirate captain was currently being held within the massive beaks of the giant bird that he had carelessly tried to capture.


    This pirate was none other than the straw hat wearing man named Luffy.


    After they had ran out of food which was mostly eaten by the captain himself, he had tried to obtain even more food when he spotted the seemingly small bird that had flown above them. This turned around and bit him quite literally in the butt.


    The oblivious 17 year old was promptly dropped down upon the island they had been heading towards when a larger-than-normal cannon ball had hit the bird that had been approaching it.


    Once Luffy hit the ground, leaving a crater, the strawhatted boy jumped out of the hole he had just made and calmly wiped off the dust that had stained his clothing.


    "Whew.. that stupid bird separated me from my crew.." the pirate captain sighed out with an amused tone as he looked around the desolate town. He noticed that there weren''t any people around and some buildings had been either destroyed or desecrated after being vandalized.


    "H-hey! Wh-who are you, y-you bastard!?", questioned a man from behind Luffy. He was stuttering in a bit of fear because he just witnessed a man fall from at least a 1,000 meter drop and shook it off like it was nothing.


    "Who me?" The young man pointed at himself. "I''m Monkey D. Luffy. The man who''s going to be the Pirate King!" He proudly proclaimed.


    All the fear were washed out of the man''s mind as he just deadpanned. He couldn''t even bring himself to laugh at the clearly lunatic in front of him. The other two that were with him had the exact same expressions on their faces.


    "Don''t you know that this is the territory of the "great" captain Buggy!? Scram before we kill you!" Another unnamed man beside him threatened.


    After hearing the name ''Buggy'', Luffy''s face brightened. He didn''t expect to find the man who Josh said had the map to Paradise so quickly. He thanked his luck and approached the trio in front of him.


    "Aaaah... you know Buggy? Take me to him!" The unnamed trio were a bit stunned by the boy''s demand. They were even more surprised by the obvious delight he had shown on his face when he asked them.


    Thinking that the boy in front of them might know their captain personally, however unlikely that was, they lead him to their base of operations. This base was once a bar and was 2 stories tall. Right now, the Buggy pirates were situated on the roof of the building.


    On their way there, the 4 people ran into 3 unlikely trio. Much to Luffy''s delight, they were his mates.


    Josh, Zoro, and Nami had arrived ahead of their captain. After seeing that the bird was heading towards Orange Town, Josh grabbed the duo and Geppoed there and waited for their captain to join them.


    "Oooh... you guys arrived before me." The boy cheerily rushed towards his Nakama and stood face to face with them. Grinning all the while.


    "Yep, I Geppoed here after you were "kidnapped" by the bird." The blonde man replied. Nami and Zoro were still a bit disoriented from the sudden flight, Nami much more than the swordsman as he had prepared himself for it.


    "Let''s go meet with Buggy and "kindly" ask him for the map." Zoro stated with an outright scary grin on his smug face. He had been itching for another fight for quite sometime now.


    Nami was a bit uneasy about directly heading there and confronting the pirates as she knew that their captain had a bounty of 15 million.


    She was also a bit suspicious of the trio because they had the same exact goal as her. Making her question their motives even more. However, she just tugged away those questions for another time as she deemed them to be not bad people, at least for the short time she has been with them.


    Seeing the determined expressions and one goofy smile on the trio of men that she had partnered up with, she gained a bit of confidence.


    As they arrived at their destination, the 3 Straw-Hat Pirates, 1 thief, and trio of idiots looked up towards the roof of the bar that was bustling with noise.


    Josh wanted to try out the one thing that he had always wanted to do if he ever met Buggy, and so, he inhaled as much air as his lungs would allow and shouted at the top of his voice,


    "OI! YOU BIG, FAT, UGLY, ROUND RED NOSED IDIOT! GET YOUR NOSE OUT HERE SO I CAN HONK IT!"


    Silence. Absolute silence. Everything in the vicinity seems to have become frozen as everyone processed the very prominent words that just came out of the man''s mouth.


    Then... everything exploded. From the explosive laughters that came from the blonde and rubber man, the snickers that escaped Zoro''s mouth, as nobody had expected such a turn of event. Nami trying to hold her grimace in favor of not getting their attention by laughing, and everyone else''s horrified expressions.


    "WHO IS THE FLASHY BASTARD THAT DARED MAKE FUN OF MY NOSE!?" A howl of fury could be heard from the roof. This prompted everyone to turn their attention to that direction. They could see a man dressed as a clown slowly revealing himself.


    Buggy wears a mostly orange captain''s coat with white lining and a hat that has his pirate mark on it, a shirt with red and white stripes, white clown gloves, a green sash, and a lighter colored pants.


    His face was painted with a white cross bone that met right in the center of his forehead, stretching down past his eyes. He was hilariously eyebrowless. He also wore red lipsticks and of course, who wouldn''t notice, his red round nose. Overall? He looks like a clown in both senses.


    "That would be me." Josh calmly replied even with the horrified looks that was given by Nami and the dumbass trio. "How else would you call that hideous thing? Did you happen to super glue it when you were drunk or something?" He added salt to the wound.


    "IT''S NATURAL! I WAS BORN WITH IT!" The questions infuriated the clown pirate even more as he got ready to teach the fools in front of him a hard lesson.


    "Now I just feel bad... who knew destiny made you a clown the moment you were born. You know what? I should apologize... I''m sorry." The blonde bowed in mock apology. The worst part was that he kept a solemn face the entire time, as if he meant it, but he wasn''t fooling anyone.


    That did it! That comment was the final straw as everyone''s eyes widen in absolute shock and terror, except the man''s two companions who were laughing even louder. Even Zoro, who prided himself in his discipline and self control, couldn''t hold back his laughter as it was just too much.


    The Pirate captain jumped off the roof of the building to inflict mortal injury in blind fury. However, just before his short daggers, which he seemingly pulled out of nowhere could land, he was blocked by a sword.


    This caused him to come out of his rage towards the blonde only to direct it to the swordsman that dared to get in his way.


    He lunged at Zoro only to be bisected and fall flat on the ground, not even twitching. This stupefied Nami, as she watched one of the most notorious pirates in the East Blue easily cut down by the equally, if not more, infamous Pirate Hunter.


    "What a letdown, I thought he''d be more powerful." The swordsman arrogantly snorted and turned his back on his "dead" opponent. This was a bad choice because as soon as he turned around, he felt a sharp sensation of pain from his back with blood pouring out of it.


    "Hehhehehe... Fool! I ate the Bara-Bara no Mi. I can split my body in various different parts so cutting won''t work on me. I''m the bane of every swordsman!" The big nosed clown gloated at Zoro''s condition and bragged about himself.


    Seeing that devil fruits were real, Nami was shocked! All her life, she had never believed the "ridiculous" rumors about strange fruits being able to grant people powers. But it was right there in front of her eyes!


    "ZORO!" Luffy shouted in worry as he just witnessed his Nakama get cut in the back. He rushed forward, charging towards the both of them. Before he could get there, buggy had jumped back up to the roof, Luffy snarling all the while.


    Once Buggy retreated, he was greeted by the rest of his crew mates, even the dumbass trio who were already forgotten. "Prepare the Buggy Cannon, I''m going to teach these flashy bastards not to mess with us!" The clown ordered. A few of the grunts hurriedly rushing off to follow their captain''s orders.


    Meanwhile, Nami was just standing there. After she had gotten over the multiple shock sessions that she seems to be experiencing today, she went by the trio''s side to try and dissuade them of taking the pirates head on.


    In her eyes, none of them stood a chance if the infamous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro couldn''t even do anything to the clown.


    "FIRE!" Once the orange head got there though, she heard the shout of order from the annoying voice that belonged to none other than the clown of all pirates himself.


    She turned her head upward to find a cannon that was at least twice as big as a normal one. It wasn''t comparable to the cannons attached to big marine warships but it was still much larger than your average balls-of-death launchers.


    As the black ball of doom came out of the cannon, she panicked. If that thing blew up in their faces, the burglar had no doubts that they would die, at the very least, she would.


    Before Luffy and the now standing Zoro could do something about the black mass that was heading their way, a shadow moved passed them. Looking closer, they noticed that it was Josh.


    The lightning man rushed towards the cannon ball and grabbed it with his right hand. Palms wide open. He cocked the same hand back and much to the Buggy Pirates'' horror, threw it right back at them and it exploded on impact.


    "That''s so coool... you were like gramps!" The strawhatted boy commented. All signs of his previous anger vanishing from his smiling face. Everyone just ignored it in favor of looking at the results of Josh''s actions.


    As the smoke cleared, the visages of 3 men and a much larger creature, still standing can be seen. One was obviously Buggy. The other two men were the next most powerful in his crew. The beast tamer Mohji and the reason for his name, the giant lion that crouched down to protect him. The last man was Cabaji, a "swordsman".


    They were perfectly fine, but the part that irked the trio, especially Luffy was the method Buggy and Cabaji used to secure their safety. They had a crew member in each of their hands, effectively protecting themselves from the blast.


    "Let''s come back later." Luffy ordered. As much as he wanted to stay and finished the job, even he knew that they had to treat Zoro''s worsening injury. Even if the man himself insisted that he was fine, everyone could tell that he was at least in pain from the red blood dripping down the ground.


    After they retreated, the clown captain ordered Cabaji along with Richie, who is the lion, to give chase.


    From there on, everything went like canon and Josh decided to not interfere anymore.


    All 4 of them were now back on Manni and happily floating away to the next island, except for a certain money hungry witch who was still screaming indignantly about leaving behind half of her treasure, even if it was for the townspeople to fix their ruined city.


    During Luffy''s fight with Buggy, Nami finally learned that the trio were really pirates and instantly felt disgust from the pit of her stomach.


    All of them also learned about the straw hat''s origin and why it was so important to Luffy. Zoro especially went wide eyed when he learned that the Shanks they had been casually talking about was actually one of the four Yonko, Akagami Shanks (Red-Haired Shanks)


    After various persuasions from the dashing blonde, and considering their track records so far, Nami had reluctantly decided to keep up the partnership with them and "sail" together. It didn''t matter for Luffy as he had adamantly decided that Nami was apart of their crew, much to Nami''s chagrin.


    ''Your next Usopp. Hope your ready Kuro, because if you couldn''t even take care of the crew in canon, that snowball of a chance, is now nonexistent!'' Josh thought, a bit too joyfully to himself. He was happy that he wouldn''t need to act as transportation to get on islands after their next stop.


    A/N: Give me your honest opinions. What do you think about the current pace of the story? Do you want me to just breeze through everything in a few chapters until Arlong Park or stay the same? What about the mc''s involvement and contribution or rather his lack of contribution in fights. Do you want him to be a bit more active or stay carefree? And yay.... longest chapter so far!


    Fair warning: I''m not good at fight scenes so don''t expect anything glorious anytime soon.

 12 Chapter 12

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Among one of the many islands in the vast ocean of the East Blue, is a rather smaller sized island that isn''t really special.


    The island was very ordinary. There was a simple village located in the center of the island, maybe big enough to house around 50-100 people at most. The only thing out of place is the luxurious looking giant mansion located at the top of a hill, further away from the village.


    The name of the village is called Syrup Village... Goda-sensei must''ve been eating breakfast when he came up with the name.... This village was also the exact destination of the 4 people currently traveling together. As well as the home of one long nosed liar that puts Noland to shame everyday.


    During their journey to the certain island, Josh has been trying his best to make Nami comfortable. Not only was she still a bit unnerved by the knowledge of riding on a seaking, he also wanted to get her to smile and laugh. Not the fake cheeriness that she showed up until now.


    Nami had been hiding most of her true feelings and pent up stress like that is very bad for the body and mind. Although she looks like a perfectly cheery girl on the outside, one can only imagine what she''s feeling on the inside.


    Zoro must''ve sensed this as well to an extent, as swordsman usually have much sharper senses if they are truly masters. He was a bit wary of her at first but didn''t really want to bring it up.


    Soon, Nami got to know and understand the three people who she''s traveling with more and the genuine smile on her face just can''t seem to go away when she watches their antics. The darker side of her that is telling her that they were the same pirate scums was subdued and wouldn''t surface again, at least for the Straw-Hats.


    Seeing as the island was already in sight, Joshua had the sea turtle stop. He idly wondered where Manni gets enough food from, especially here in the East Blue where a seaking roaming around is a rare sight. If he ate like Luffy, the whole world would be out of food by now because of his size.


    He''s also been thinking about buying a Devil Fruit for his pet and first traveling companion. Preferably one that can change his size whenever he wants. Crossing through reverse mountain with a giant seaking like Manni is beyond impossible. It might work if they were to go through the Calm Belt but it''s way too troublesome.


    As the other three people were finishing their game of rock-paper-scissors to determine the person who would go first and who would follow after. Josh can only carry two people so one gets the "express" passage. Nami joyfully danced around because she won. She is currently wearing a white and blue striped shirt with a rather short and revealing orange skirt.


    After dropping Nami off by herself first with her bag of treasures that she hurriedly stashed in a nearby bush. She had insisted that she went first in fear of staying on Manni alone.


    Now, all three of them were on the shores of the small but peaceful island that housed Syrup Village.


    "H-hold it right there, are you p-pirates!? If you t-try anything funny on t-this island, my 80 mi-million underlings will s-swarm you!" After a sound of pachinko balls being shot at Luffy''s feet, a stuttering of a voice can be heard.


    "This place is under the p-protection of the Usopp Pirates!", The voice continued. From the forest of the cliff above, the shadow of a man slowly creeped it''s way towards the shining sun.


    This man has on mostly a brown getup, as his hat, down to his pants and even the bag pack he slings around his shoulder were all different shades of brown. The only clothing that weren''t brown were his white sash and alternating colors of blue and white long wristband.


    His weapon of choice is oddly a green slingshot that can be assumed he used for the pachinko balls. The two most prominent features on his face are his extremely thick and slightly pink lips, along with his exaggeratedly long nose.


    Seeing the appearance of the newcomer, not even Nami had much to react about, except for calling him out on his lie and examining his pachinko balls he used as bullets.


    "D-don''t take a-another step! I-I might not have 80 million subordinates b-but my aim with the slingshot a-are as d-deadly as a pis.. pistol!" The man "proudly" let the strangers to know his skills with the slingshot. This seemed to have caused a reaction from Luffy as his hat overshadowed his eyes, making him look menacing.


    "Now that you mentioned pistols... bet your life on it!" He stated, startling the other teenager. "Guns aren''t used for threats." He finished loud enough to be heard by everyone present.


    Zoro and Josh backed him up as the swordsman took a posture to draw his prized Wado Ichimonji and the lightning man sent a bit of killing intent he had honed over the years.


    The long nosed youngster went weak kneed and fell on his butt... "I can''t measure up to a real pirate.." he sighed dejectedly.


    "Your Usopp right, Yasopp''s son?" The rubber man asked, the now named Usopp fell down the cliff in surprise at being called out and the stranger seemed to even know his father!


    The 5 of them made their way to a restaurant simply named ''Meshi'', which means food, to talk properly.


    In the restaurant, Luffy explained about Yasopp and the time when the Red-Haired Pirates came to visit his village of Foosha when he was way younger. The liar was ecstatic about hearing of his father''s exploits.


    "Do you know a place we can get a ship from on this island?" Nami finally asked after letting the two rant off for a while. She was just as happy, if not more, about the prospect of getting a ship as her travel partners.


    Usopp mentioned that they might be able to get one from the owner of the mansion up on the hills before suddenly remembering some sort of business he had and ran off.


    Not long after the long-nosed was gone, three little kids came into the restaurant and demanded to know what the pirates had done with their captain.


    The three kids were with Usopp earlier but ran off after the show that they had put on, leaving their captain to fend for himself.


    "Whew... that was some good meat." Luffy sighed in contentment while rubbing his bulging stomach. The three of them seems to misunderstand as they fearfully accused them of eating their beloved captain.


    "We... ate him!" To which Zoro added oil to the fire by menacingly confirming their doubts, half of his face shadowed. It seems it was too much for 7 year old kids as they started freaking out and running around. The rest of us just laughed except for Nami as she received all of the kid''s accusations and being called an Onibaba.


    After the misunderstanding was cleared up, one of the kids explained that Usopp went over to the mansion to lie to the owner of the mansion. They further went into detail about how that was actually a good thing. The mistress there has been sick and ill for 3 years now and their captain''s lies would always cheer the girl up.


    Luffy suggested that they went over to the mansion to ask for a ship.


    "Is it okay if me and Nami stayed here to discuss something? You guys can come back for us later." Josh refused his suggestion because he wanted to finally have a word with Nami.


    The girl in question was a little worried about the tone in which Josh spoke. Hearing the seriousness in the blonde''s voice, the swordsman cocked an eyebrow, but Luffy just shrugged and dragged Zoro off with him.


    Josh and Nami were now alone in the restaurant. As the village was quite rural and didn''t have a lot of people. There weren''t much customers, especially on a day without significance.


    "So.." the thief started, "what did you want to talk to me about?" She nervously questioned. Although she has gotten much more comfortable around the group of pirates, the sudden change in atmosphere around the blonde worried her a little.


    "Nami...", as they were sitting side by side, the only man in the room turned his body around to face her. Letting out a silent sigh, he continued, "I know about Arlong and what he''s done."


    Nami felt indescribable fear, along with a pang of regret creep up inside her heart. She had considered the man in front of her, as well as the other two to be her friends even though they had known each other for only less than a day.


    Everyone that learned that the girl was affiliated with the Fishman pirates had varying degrees of three of the following reactions; fear, alienation, or hostility. Sometimes even all three combined.


    Learning that the first friend she had made since Nojiko, although she doesn''t really count, might potentially know that she was working for them, she felt fear. Fear that she might be shunned, alienated, feared, or worse... turned away.


    Nami could count on one hand the number of times she had truly enjoyed herself and be genuinely happy ever since that hateful incident. Now, even her small solace was about to be taken away again, all because of Arlong.


    The poor girl did not even dare to meet eyes with Josh because of her guilt and shame. "I''m not blaming you for anything." He softly interjected. Seeing the look of anguish on her face, he couldn''t take it. Josh pulled the still girl to a reluctant hug.


    Before Josh met any of the straw hats, they were just characters from an anime. Although he admired them very much, he did not feel much personal connections with them. After spending real time together with them, he had already treated all of them as his irreplaceable friends.


    The one thing that the dimensional traveller always liked about shounen anime in general is the unreal bond of friendship that keeps everyone together. When he was still back on Earth, he had friends.. sure, but their bonds were not even comparable.


    He always chocked those up to anime shenanigans but he was feeling that exact shenanigan right now. He felt especially closer to Nami because of a more personal reason.


    "I know I don''t have any reason to say this to you but, please trust us. I promise you, we can beat Arlong! I already told Luffy and Zoro about this but I''m from the Grandline. I know exactly how strong he is." Before the girl could protest, he let her in on his "secret". "I''ve heard of his deeds and the Sun Pirates." He assured her that he knew exactly what he was talking about.


    "No... no. No! You can''t! Not now... I''m so close. You will get everyone killed!" The orange head desperately grabbed his shirt and looked up to him, tears in her eyes. She was truly scared now. Not for herself, but for the crew and her sister along with every villagers in Cocoyasi.


    "You have a plan?" Josh asked her. He knew full well what it was but there wasn''t a reason for him to. Knowing about the Arlong Pirate could still be explained, but having knowledge of her personal life is out of the question. Nami bobbed her head up and down. Wiping the tears accidentally on Josh''s clothes.


    Nami told him all about her past and her deal with Arlong. This way, if the man thought of her as a friend even a little bit, he would abstain from doing something that might jeopardize it.


    "I understand everything now." The blonde assured her, "just in case that fish goes back on his words, don''t you want a back up plan?" He still asked. Nami couldn''t understand what he was saying for a while. Then her eyes sank, he was serious about fighting them, even knowing that he was strong.


    She could not register a human becoming ever stronger than Arlong. She had tried every possible method so she would know. It seems like she hasn''t been exposed enough to the world.


    "I''ll prove to you how strong I am the next time there is a fight," he suggested, "if you deem that I can at least stand a chance against him, will you at least consider asking for help. Just incase your deal doesn''t pull through?" The girl hesitantly nodded. She hadn''t seen much of Josh''s ability and neither have Luffy and Zoro. It was about time that he revealed some of his strength.


    "Why would you go so far for me?" She questioned, a little scared of the possible answers. "You''ve only known me for a day."


    "That''s easy." He started with a wide smile, "you remind me so much of my little sister.... and who needs a reason to help a friend? Besides, Luffy and Zoro would gladly help if you told them your circumstances. No, Luffy would probably still help you if you just asked without even knowing anything." He started with a bit of melancholy but ended with a small chuckle. It seems like he''s gotten a bit more homesick than he thought.


    [Ding! Congratulations Host!


    Mission Complete!


    Mission Rewards: 500,000 System Points, Ring of Protection x 1!]


    It would seem that he finally managed to complete the mission. Although, he did not do it solely for the sake of the rewards. He genuinely wanted to help Nami. What he said to her weren''t lies.


    After calming down the previously frantic girl, Josh finally let go of the hug and they just stayed there in comfortable silence.


    That was until, the doors to Meshi went wide open with a bang, and in came a slightly annoyed Zoro, followed by a frantic Usopp.


    It looks like things are finally starting.

 13 Chapter 13

    Third Person''s PoV:


    The tension was quickly cut as Nami spoke up, "what''s going on? Did they refuse our request?" She innocently asked. Zoro just scowled even more and Usopp looked like he wanted to bolt out of there.


    "That bastard... he..h-he killed.. Luffy! He''s going after Kaya, I have to warn everyone!" The sniper breathed out hysterically. Not making much coherent sentences.


    "What!? Who killed Luffy!?" Zoro was surprised and anger immediately rose in his heart. He had just miraculously came back by himself from the mansion after they had been rudely kicked out, hence his foul mood. Now, Usopp was telling them that their captain was dead!?


    After calming both of the people who were about to go critical, Usopp explained to them that Klahadore, who is actually captain Kuro of a ''Thousand Plans'', plotted to steal Kaya''s inheritance and kill everyone in the village.


    When he got to the part about how Luffy was hypnotized by a strange man named Jango and fell down to the rocky ground and his subsequent death, everyone else in the room just breathed out a sigh of relief, except for Josh who already knew what happened.


    "You don''t need to worry about Luffy, Usopp. He ate the Gomu-Gomu no mi, so he''s a rubber man. He can''t get hurt from blunt force trauma." To ease the boy''s guilt of letting a friend die, Josh explained to him about Luffy''s devil fruit.


    As soon as he heard that Luffy was actually fine and he had nothing to worry about, the long nosed teenager quickly dashed away from the restaurant, leaving a trail of dust but not before shouting that he would warn everyone. Josh just let him go because... everyone had to learn to pay for their actions at some point of their lives.


    With that settled, the trio of swordsman, thief, and lightning man went to the location that Usopp told them was where their captain had fallen. Sure enough, Luffy was safe and sound... a bit too sound as he was snoring loudly. Josh had a devious smile on his face as he just came up with an idea.


    "GET UP YOU BRAT!!" He shouted in the grumpiest and deepest voice he could muster, trying his best to sound like Garp and hit Luffy over the head with an imitation of the famed ''Fist of Love''.


    Luffy jumped up while clutching his head. "It hurtsss... Gramps!" He frantically looked around, eyes darting left and right. "Huh...where''s gramps?", after not seeing a gorilla sized old man, he questioned. The whole time, the perpetrator was just cackling away.


    "Hehehe... sorry. Your grandpa isn''t here, Luffy." The culprit apologized. Luffy visibly looked relieved as he let out a long sigh.


    "As curious as we are about who your grandfather is, we have a situation, Luffy." Zoro finally decided that they had been playing around enough. His voice was serious as he explained everything that Usopp had told them to the previously unconscious man.


    They decided to help Usopp after finding him in a miserable condition. Snot, tears, and dirt stained his clothing and face, and a gunshot wound on his shoulder. Usopp was very grateful for having met the kind people who were willing to help him out when everyone he knew had shunned him away, calling him a liar.


    It hurt him the most when Kaya of all people did not even try to believe him, but he knew that he only had himself to blame.


    They went to the south entrance to the island as that was near the area where Usopp and Luffy had spotted Jango and Kuro discussing their plans but the blonde insisted that they split up and cover the north entrance as well.


    His logic seemed legitimate so Josh took Nami with him to the North entrance. There, they waited for the invading pirates to arrive. Nami was nervous and scared because if the pirates really came their way, it would only be her and Josh against tens of brutes and she wasn''t confident in her combat skills.


    "Don''t worry Nami. I promise I won''t let anyone even put a finger on you." He comforted her with a smile and a pat on her shoulders, "I told you didn''t I? That I''d show you what I can do..?"


    His words had an effect as Nami visibly relaxed a little. She figured the rest of them would run over when they hear the sound of fighting if the pirates really came and vice versa.


    Josh was having an internal dilemma of his own as well. While he could always take care of all of the pirates in a single move, that wouldn''t really satisfy Nami enough to completely trust him just yet.


    "Would you like to hear some things I know about the Grandline?" To pass the time, as it was still in the dead of night and the pirates weren''t due until morning, the bored man proposed a topic of conversation to the navigator. Nami nodded as she was genuinely curious about what someone who was from the place had to say about it.


    "Much like the rest of the world, the Grandline mostly consists of various islands. But it is divided into two parts by the one and only continent in the world, the Redline." Joshua started his rant, "both parts have specific names. The first half of the Grandline is called Paradise and the second half is called the New World."


    "Wait. Why is the first part called Paradise? If other people call it the "Pirate''s Graveyard"?" The interested girl asked. She could not understand why a place compared to hell by so many was called such a pleasant sounding name.


    "That''s simple. It is called that because that''s what it is when compared to the horrors of the New World." The girl audibly gasped. If such a place was as comfortable as a Paradise, she couldn''t even begin to imagine the kind of dangers that lurk in the second half.


    "Anyway, the normal maps and compasses are about as useful as a rock in that place. This is due to the special minerals that can be found in each island." Nami was now down right horrified. If a map and compass did not work in the East Blue, even sailing out to sea would be impossible.


    Did this mean that her navigational skills would be useless there? Now she was really glad she hadn''t impulsively went to such a dangerous sea by herself. She would surely die there.


    "Each island emit their own special electromagnetic wavelengths so a compass there would just be spinning around and round. A map alone would also never get you anywhere either." The information that was being carelessly given by the blonde man before her was breaking her common sense more and more.


    "The weather there can change at the drop of a hat and the sea currents make no sense. You could be heading straight the whole time but with the interference of the currents, you could be sailing the exact opposite direction without even noticing." The poor girl was now scratching her head in utter disbelieve, however, the blonde continued as if he didn''t noticed her expressions of horror.


    "As I mentioned, the weather can change really fast. When I say change, I mean really change. Once second it could be raining, the next, your fending yourself from falling icebergs. Then it would move on to something like acid and then all of a sudden everything is calm." The Haki User carried on without a care. "That is just the hell called Paradise. The New World is much much worse. Those are just the environments there. I''m not even gonna mention the other rival pirate crews and marines."


    By now, Nami was hugging her knees and softly whispering incoherent words. Seeing her actions, Josh let out a hearty laugh because that was something Usopp would do.


    "You can relax, Nami. I was "born" in that kind of environment. There aren''t much I don''t know about my "home"." He lied to her through his teeth just to comfort the girl. He really felt bad about lying to all of them when they placed so much trust in him... maybe he should tell all of them when they reach Paradise. Josh mulled the thought over in his mind.


    "H-How is it possible that such a dangerous sea can even exist!?" Nami asked after calming down somewhat. "That''s something only Oda knows..." he simply replied.


    "I almost forgot to tell you 2 more crucial information. The first is that each and every island on the Grandline has its own constant season. It never changes. The last and most important information is the one and only way to traverse those deadly seas." He let that last statement hang in the air to peak Nami''s interests.


    "And what would that be?" She finally took the bait as she asked the question.


    "The only way to go from island to island on the Grandline is..." he paused a bit to build up even more tension. Nami sent the man an annoyed glare so he continued, "is something called a Log Pose."


    "A Log.. Pose?" The navigator turned her head to the side. Trying her hardest to see if she had ever heard of such an item as it was related to navigation.


    "Yep. A Log Pose. These poses are able to lock on to the individual electromagnetic wavelengths of an island and point towards it. Once you arrive there, you''d have to wait for some time for the Log Pose to record the wavelengths and find the next island." He finished. This got the navigator''s attention as she was silently thinking about such an item.


    "Most people on the Grandline would tell you that the Log Pose is the only thing you can trust in there." He added as a side note to which Nami just nodded to, "I can see why..."


    "Those are very...interesting. Do you happen to know the specifics on how they work?" She queried, if she was able to find out how they work, maybe she might be able to figure out more secrets of the Grandline.


    "Sadly, I don''t but I''m sure there''s someone out there that knows..." The man replied to her in a somewhat apologetic tone. Nami felt a bit down but was still interested. "When we go there, you''ll learn a lot more and improve your navigational skills." Chided the blonde.


    "Hmm... thanks for sharing your knowledge with me. With what everything you''ve told me so far, I can confidently say that my skills as a navigator have gone up another level... so thank you." The words of gratitude was dismissed quickly because Josh knew that she would eventually know all of those things when they get to the Grandline. It just happened a little bit earlier, so he really felt he hadn''t done much.


    "There''s another subject I''m curious about..." Nami started another conversation. "Can you tell me about devil fruits? Not much is known about them here in the East Blue and most even consider them a myth."


    "Ahh.. devil fruits. That''s another interesting and extensive topic. I do know a lot about them but not everything." And so another long rant was about to start.


    "For starters, their origin still remains a mystery as far as I know. They can be easily identified by the swirly patterns that appear on the fruits. Most of the time, they take on the shape of normal fruits but with a different color." The girl nodded, some of the things that Josh said matched with what she''s heard before.


    "Devil fruits are divided into 3 categories and some categories have subcategories as well." Thoroughly explaining the whole thing was going to take a while but Joshua didn''t care. If anyone else asks him in the future, he''d just point at Nami to get their answers.


    "The first category is called Logia. This type of devil fruits are generally the rarest and most powerful among all of them. The reason for this is that a Logia fruit allows the consumer to possess the powers of an entire element." With all of his knowledge about the One Piece world, explaining these things were very easy for Josh. "What do you mean by element?" The girl couldn''t understand. She knew what an element was but doesn''t know the exact implications.


    "They are able to control, create, and manipulate a literal force of nature. Elements such as fire, lava, ice, wind, sand, or even lightning. The kicker here is that the fruit users affectively becomes one with their element so they are able to turn untouchable. Trying to harm them might even hurt the person if it''s elements like fire, lava, or lightning."


    Nami''s mouth was wide open. She couldn''t believe it! First the Grandline and now all of these frightening powers out in the world. She learn that she had been a very tiny fish in an even tinier ocean when compared to the things she learned today.


    "The next category is called Zoan. Zoan type devil fruits are able to give you the ability to transform into some type of animal. There are usually 3 transformations. Normal, hybrid, and full animal. The basic advantages of Zoan type devil fruits are enhanced strength and enhanced senses or additional senses depending on the animal." Nami nodded. This time, the abilities were much more bearable. She motioned for Josh to continue.


    "Zoans have the most sub-categories but you don''t really need to worry about them. A mythical Zoan is even rarer than a Logia and to my knowledge, only two people have it."


    "That''s a lot to take in. Every time you tell me something new, I gain more and more realization of how small my world had been." Nami admitted with a small grimace. She wasn''t saying that she hasn''t had her fair share of unbelievable things but the scale was just too different.


    "The last is the Paramecia. People usually consider this type of devil fruit as not necessarily the weakest but definitely the most versatile. As long as you couldn''t control an element or become an animal, it is considered a paramecia. Our captain and Buggy fall under this category as well." Josh finally finished his explanations about all the different kinds of devil fruits and he felt a little mentally drained from talking so much... but that was nowhere near Nami''s level so he couldn''t even complain.


    "Oh right.. their weaknesses. Almost forgot that. All Devil fruit users are "hated" by the sea so to say. None of them can swim and they would become a rock and sink if they fall into a deep enough body of water. There are also these minerals calls Kairoseki (Seastones) which gives off the same effect as the ocean so they lose all strength if they touch it." There is also haki but that was for another time.


    Nami just nodded dumbly. Even to her, this motion was getting redundant but that was the only way she could react. She was tired of constantly being surprise. As an after thought, Josh said, "usually only the marines have access to them." And thus finishing his very long conversation with her.


    They had gotten so into their conversation that the duo did not notice the passing of time until the first light of day can be seen from the beautiful horizon but this tranquil moment was about to be ruined by the approaching ship full of bloodthirsty pirates.


    A/N: Damn... I did not mean for the chapter to turn out like this. Instead of an actual chapter this is more of an info dump and I''m truly sorry about that. This is also for those who aren''t extensively knowledgeable about the subject matters that were "discussed" as well as a refresher for some of those who forgot.


    Again, sorry for the info dump. I had to do it one way or another, but this was not how I expected it to turn out.

 14 Chapter 14

    A/N: Here''s the next chapter. I hope this makes up for the previous one. I thought nobody, myself included, would want me to downplay his abilities just to make the fights more "even". Let''s be honest here, the moment you find out your stronger than your enemy, there''s no "being fair" by lowering your own strength to match theirs. There''s not much action but this "fight" is exactly how I think would happen in this situation.


    Third Person''s PoV:


    Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy waited patiently for the arrival of the people who wanted to harm the islanders. As soon as they got to the south entrance, Usopp set up some traps such as an oil slide, marbles, spiked balls, and even a barricade. The other two just stood there and watched in interest, at least one of them is..


    They didn''t really talk much but a conversation was started here and there...in favor of not ruining the serious atmosphere they had going, as serious as Luffy can get anyway.


    As they waited, Usopp in anxiety, Luffy in excitement, and Zoro in a neutral expression, the crack of dawn could be finally seen.


    The trio waited some more, in even more elevated emotions but the pirate ship never came. They all strained their senses to keep a look out for the rumored bad


    guys but there was only the sound of crickets.


    Then, Zoro picked up the sound of a particularly rowdy noise off in the distance. The other two noticed as well.. Usopp had a horrified expression. "Josh was right! They came from the North entrance!!"


    The other two nodded at each other before trying to take off in opposite directions.


    "Where are you going!?" The frantic sniper shouted, were these two playing around during such a sensitive time?


    "To the North! The place that is coldest." Luffy said, Zoro looked at him like he was an idiot. "North is obviously this way, are you directionally challenged?" He pointed at a random direction which isn''t even close.


    Seeing the dead serious expressions on their faces, Usopp didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. He bonked them both over the head and lead them by the ears to the correct direction. Surely just two people couldn''t hold their own against around 50 grown men. The Josh and Nami pair might be dead or at the very least struggling. With that thought in mind, he manned up a bit more and ran even faster.


    Usopp, along with Luffy and Zoro literally in hand, ran at his top speed for about 10 minutes before finally getting out of the forest and reaching the correct entrance.


    What he saw shocked him and made him drop his jaw. Luffy and Zoro seemed to be a bit surprised too but that was it. They always knew that Josh was strong, just never got the chance to really show it.


    On the open beach of the north side of Syrup village, lie roughly 50 men, all either groaning in pain on the ground or passed out completely. A bit away from them are a pair of a slightly dazed woman and a man, waving happily at the 3 newcomers.


    10 minutes earlier,


    Josh and Nami stood up, the latter with a bit of a tremble. Nami had gotten so absorbed by the conversation she was having with the interesting man. She momentarily forgot all about the pirates and her fear along with it.


    Nami was a thief and navigator, a very good thief and navigator. When she rob pirates, the most action she would have to take are knocking out a few grunts who are caught off guard. At most she could hold her own against a few of them at once but she never took on a whole crew by herself.


    Right in front of her eyes is a whole ship full of cold blooded pirates, the kind she hates the most. The young girl cursed her luck and prepared herself for battle, the both of them would need to hold off all of them until help arrives.


    Nami had experienced the horror of these kinds of pirates so she would do her very best to not let the same thing happen to the islanders in the village.


    "Oh... aren''t you eager to fight." A teasing voice was heard beside her. This voice was much too relaxed for the determined girl''s liking. "Can''t you be more serious!? If I get killed because of you, I''ll haunt you for every beli you ever make in your life!" Nami did not appreciate the man''s tone in this life and death situation.


    The blonde just sighed.. seems like Nami had forgotten all about his earlier promise to her or didn''t believe it. The whole Grandline and devil fruits shenanigans are hard to believe as well.. she''ll just have to find out with her own eyes then.


    The blonde walked down to the beach where the pirates are currently getting off on, leaving a nervous Nami behind.


    Once they all got off their docked ship, a grunt noticed a strange blonde man with an oversized coat fluttering behind him, making his way towards them. "Captain, there''s a guy coming our way." He informed his current captain.


    Said captain is a man with glasses shaped like hearts and lanky and kind of on the skinny side. He looks old enough to be someone''s grandfather and has the strangest goatee.


    "Kill whoever gets in our way." Jango commanded, he had to do everything exactly as planned or Kuro would have his head. He was heard by everyone in the vicinity, causing a few of the pirates to chuckle menacingly.


    The man blocking their way did not look very strong. Sure, he''s got some muscles to show but it was one against fifty! They had no doubts about their victory. All of them would later come to regret that decision.


    As the antsy pirates were about to launch their attack, the man who had stayed quiet the entire time finally opened his mouth. "A bunch of weaklings think they can beat me with their superior numbers? Hahahaha... what a funny joke." Seeing the man laugh at them of all things, the Black Cat pirates were mad beyond belief.


    Turning his head to Nami, the blonde shouted up at her, "Stay out of the fight, Nami! I''ll show you what I can do." Nami didn''t protest as she was a coward, not as much as Usopp but a coward nonetheless.


    Their captain and swordsman are strong enough to take on the Buggy Pirates so she believed that he must be able to handle himself as well. The girl figured she could just pick off whoever manages to go through him.


    Noticing Nami nod back at him, Josh smiled and finally faced the hoard of idiots he would have to take care of. One particularly brave grunt stepped forward, pistol in hand. He sported a devilish grin as he let a bullet loose, aiming right for his head.


    Nami was observing her crewmate''s every actions but after seeing a man pull out a gun but no reaction from Josh, she panicked. "NOOO!!" The beli loving girl shouted in worry, with hopes of warning the uncaring blonde.


    However, her worries became a nightmare when the man pulled the trigger. She reacted too late as that single bullet went straight through Josh''s head. Everything froze for Nami. Right in front of her eyes, someone she considered a friend was just shot dead. This brought back some past trauma about Bellemere as well.


    Unknowingly, tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She couldn''t even register what the pirates were saying at the moment.


    "Hahhahaha! How pathetic! Talking tough but is actually a weakling. You got what you deserved!" The still nameless grunt laughed out loud, followed by the jeers and cheers of the rest of his mates. Nami collapsed, tears staining the dirty hard grounds.


    "Good shot." An all too familiar voice spoke up. This froze everyone in place. "Too bad they can''t do anything to me." His words were said with a deadly tone that sent a shiver down everyone''s spine.


    "H-how!? I... I-I sh-shot you!!" The previously brave man took a step back, shaking his head furiously in denial. Everyone who were watching this were left with their mouths wide open.


    When Nami heard the voice and exclamation of disbelief, she looked back up to see a still standing and completely alive Joshua. She couldn''t believe her eyes. Although the girl had seen Luffy deflect bullets, that was not on the same level as surviving a bullet through the head. The navigator blinked a few times to make sure it wasn''t a hallucination and questioned herself about what she really saw.


    Multiple gun shots rang out as the same man emptied the entirety of his bullets. Now they were all sure on what they saw. There was no mistake or trick. The bullets simply passed through his body and the holes made by the bullets closed up with an electric spark.


    The grunt fearfully fell on his butt and let out a hysterical high pitched scream of terror. The others who were still in denial, took out their weapons and shot as many times as they could, but it was all the same.


    After Jango finally managed to pick his jaws off the floor, he spoke up. "I-it must be a devil fruit! Th-there''s no other way to explain it..!" The goateed man explained. Even after knowing what it was, that did nothing to change their current predicament.


    "Charge! If bullets don''t work, surely swords will! If we don''t carry out captain Kuro''s plans, he will kill us all anyway." The frantic pirate captain ordered. He wasn''t lying, Kuro will really kill them if they were late. And they had been delayed long enough. Hearing that swords might work, every grunt took out some kind of blade or sharp weapon. With a war cry, they lunged themselves at Josh one after another.


    Nami witnessed her friend completely safe after being shot at countless times. She did not know how to react. All she could do was helplessly watch as the pirates charge him once more.


    The first one to reach Josh was a man wielding a common katana. As soon as he was within range, the man gave a downward swing. The lightning man didn''t even try to block again, only watched as the blade slashed him in half but the one who let out a howl of pain wasn''t him.


    The man felt an intense pain coursing through his body, he couldn''t even tell which part of his body was actually in pain. Everyone watched fearfully as he collapsed and looked up to find Joshua, still perfectly fine, he was even smiling pleasantly. However, that smile was the scariest thing they''ve ever seen in their whole lives as pirates.


    The man was burnt black and blue, twitching sometimes and letting off dangerous looking black smoke from his body, especially his mouth. Everyone took a fearful step back again. Not even swords worked! They all cursed their shit luck and questioned how any of this was possible!


    Jango, seeing his men not even willing to take a step forward was extremely pissed and scared. He hypnotized all of them to not fear anything and become stronger. The Black Cats charged once again, but this time without fear for any of their lives.


    One after another, pirates dropped like flies. Every time someone came in contact with the blonde, they all get electrocuted, causing them to pass out. The last member finally fell, with only Jango still standing because he had hypnotized all of them into recklessly charging.


    "M-monster!!" He screamed in fear with his butt kissing the solid ground. Inching away to get as far away from the monster as possible. "Wh-What k-kind of a m-monster are y-you!??", he brought himself to ask.


    "Me? I ate the Rumble-Rumble fruit. I''m a lightning man!" Josh answered, a little bit of lightning sparking in his eyes. That was enough for Jango to shriek in terror.


    Nami who had been watching the whole thing from the side with her mouth agape finally understood what was going on. She suddenly remembered Josh telling her about the Logia type devil fruits. She wanted to smack herself for not realizing for so long.


    Jango, as a last ditch effort, called out the ''Nyaban Brothers''. 2 men who are named Sham and Buchi. They had stayed back on the ship to guard it. Both of them also happen to be the strongest members of the Black Cat Pirates, although that doesn''t really mean much.


    Jango called them out in hopes of them distracting the terrifying monster long enough for him to make a run for it. However, they were also quickly dealt with because Josh was getting bored. All he did was literally stand there without retaliating. If this did not convince Nami, then Josh thought that nothing in the world could.


    Looking around the beach, one would find the entire place littered with burned, twitching, and smoking men who are all groaning in agony and passed out.


    Josh walked over to Nami with a wide and smug smile, as if gloating to her. Nami was sure to get her revenge for not telling her he was a Logia and worrying her to tears like that. She also smiled back at him, except, her smile was nothing but pure evil. Josh just sweat dropped.


    A few minutes later, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp arrived and Nami explained what happened to them. She went over to raid the pirate ship for valuables while Usopp and Josh tied up all the pirates so they couldn''t try anything when they woke up.


    About another 10 minutes later, Klahadore, or rather Kuro arrived at the scene of all of his men beaten and tied up. Josh just let Luffy and Zoro handle him.


    Kaya almost tumbled over when she came to the scene of the battle. She was expecting to find a whole crew of pirates and Kuro, ready to kill everyone in town. She was willing to trade for her wealth if it meant saving their lives but the sight she saw stunned her. Usopp escorted her back to her mansion after she profusely thanked the 4 man pirates and even more profusely apologized to Usopp.

 15 Chapter 15

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "Wow.. it''s a Caravel!" An orange headed girl muttered. In front of her is a ship. Although on the smaller size and a bit older in build, this ship is different from ordinary ships that people would use to sail the seas. The passion and effort the builder put into her can clearly be seen. The ship is predominantly brown and white in color, completed with a mast and sail. The special thing about this ship is that her figurehead is a smiling sheep.


    "Yes, I named her the Going Merry. I built her myself." Puffing out his chest, a sheep man in a butler suit was standing in front of the ship as he proudly showed off his creation. This man''s name is Merry, so obviously he named the ship after himself.


    Merry is the head-butler working for the mistress Kaya. After Luffy and his crew helped save herself and the island, she decided to give them the ship they had previously requested.


    "Oooh... we''ve finally got our pirate ship!" Luffy happily cheered beside Nami. Zoro was also sporting a smile, which somehow looked like a grin or smirk. It seems that whenever he smiles, genuine or not, he still looks like a devil.


    After the whole debacle with the Black Cat Pirates, our favorite crew spent a few days in an inn. They spent their time talking and getting to know each other even more. Nami also became much less detached as she happily told everyone about herself, except for the whole Arlong ordeal. Deciding to confront Nami again later in private, Josh looked back behind him to see a giant bag rolling towards them.


    Luffy and Zoro stepped up and lazily put their feet in front of them, effectively stopping the charging mass of clothes, daily necessities, food, and everything else Usopp owns put together in one giant bag. When the dust cleared, the scene of two men stepping on the face of another could be seen, with a nose poking in between the two feet.


    Nami snickered at the sight of the long nosed man thanking the two for stomping on his face.


    Dusting off himself, Usopp got up with a shaky leg. The bag on his back was just too much for his scrawny legs. "Well...I''m going on a journey." He said, with a bit of melancholy and expectation. "Maybe we''ll see each other again on the high seas."


    "Just get on already." Luffy told him. Somehow, everyone was already on the Merry. Usopp looked around in confusion, "What are you surprised about? We''re already friends." Zoro added.


    "I''m the captain!" Usopp jokingly shouted to which everyone just deadpanned.


    Finally, after everyone got on their newly acquired pirate ship, they celebrated. Celebrated Usopp''s joining of the crew and the Going Merry.


    Josh''s PoV:


    Settling the whole Black Cat Pirates by myself without even moving was not within my expectations. Although I promised Nami to show my powers, all I did was stand there which left me a bit dissatisfied. The only thing I can look forward to is meeting Hawkeye Mihawk.


    Nami took a room all for herself which nobody really minded. All of the boys, including myself, had to share a room but it was spacious enough so it was fine.


    I plan on training the group a bit earlier than I originally wanted. My plan was to train them after the Arlong Park debacle, so that I wouldn''t have to explain to Sanji again but there''s really nothing else for me to do besides lounge around on the Merry.


    Deciding to first settle everything with Nami, I went out of our shared room and made my way towards her. On the way, which isn''t even a few minutes, I briefly thought about what I wanted to say to her and how I should convey my honest intention to help her.


    Understandably, Nami wouldn''t want us to risk interfering with Arlong until she really runs out of all options. I sighed as I came to the conclusion of having her experience so much hopelessness that she would have no other choice but to trust us.


    It isn''t impossible for me to just barge in there and settle everything in a moment, but the thought of my actions resulting in Nami hating me or worse, no longer wanting to continue being a Strawhat scared me.


    The reason Luffy didn''t just storm Arlong Park without Nami asking for assistance is partly because he trusted her, but he also wanted her to trust him as well. A girl like Nami who experienced such cruelty would not so easily trust another person. Part of the whole reason she did, was because she didn''t want her fellow villagers and sister who she had been enduring all this time for, to die.


    After Nezumi took all of Nami''s hard earned money and finding out that it was on the orders of Arlong, the villagers couldn''t hold it in anymore and all of their suppressed anger and hatred flew out like a raging storm.


    "System, can you tell me exactly what the ''Ring of Protection'' does?" I realized I hadn''t actually checked out what that darned thing can do, so I asked the System. Hopefully, it''ll be something useful. I doubt it would be of any help to me so someone from the crew might be better off with it.


    [Ding!


    Ring of Protection: A ring capable of blocking physical attacks to a certain extent. If worn, the wearer will be able to activate a barrier around themself to withstand physical attacks.


    Warning: The barrier is only able to take a certain amount of damage beforebreaking.


    Duration: 1 minute.


    Cool down: 1 hour.]


    "Hmm... I wonder how much the "certain" amount of damage is. I doubt it''ll be able to continuously block physical attacks up to Yonko level." As I heard the system''s description, I pondered on what to do with it. I could first test out exactly how much damage it can take or just give it to the person I have in mind.


    It can be somewhat useful to me in a very dire situation but the circumstances that I would need this ring is very limited. For example, after a fight which leaves me badly weakened and am being pursued. Situations like that will be very rare just because I''m a careful person when it comes to strong opponents. I could also just get myself something way more useful from the system.


    I stopped my inner thoughts as I reached the door to Nami''s room. After a rhythmic sound of knocking, the voice of the girl in question spoke up. "Come in. The door''s unlocked."


    Upon hearing Nami''s voice, I slowly opened the door. Inside the room are a bed, table and chair, a bookshelf filled with books, and Nami standing near the door, looking at me curiously.


    "What is it?" She asked with a bit of panic in her voice. I guess she must''ve already digested the feats that I showed her a few days ago... I hope she isn''t scared of me or something.


    "I just wanted to talk to you. May I take a seat?" I gestured towards the only chair in the room. With her consent, I heavily sat down. The tension in the room was a bit high for my liking, but when thinking about the topic of discussion, it''s better that way. Nami also sat across from me on the side of her bed.


    "Is.. is it about Arlong?" Seeing that I was a bit hesitant to speak up, Nami started off the conversation with the most likely and dreaded question. I nodded silently. I knew how much this whole situation meant to her... it''s basically her life and the lives of her loved ones we were talking about.


    "I won''t force you to ask us for help, but I need you to keep an open mind that we are more than willing to." I told her. Speaking up for the first time since I went into her room.


    There was silence again for a few minutes. Nami must be mulling over my offer to her. I sighed as I knew I wasn''t getting through to her. Instead of continuing, I took out the ring which I previously pocketed. "Here, I want you to have this."


    Examining the expensive looking jewelry in my hands, Beli signs could be seen in her eyes and she clapped her hands side ways. Jeez... I guess it''s just one of the things that make up the woman known as Nami.


    "For me? Why thank you. I might forgive you if you gift me expensive things more often." The red head happily cheered. All the heavy tension in the room disappearing along with her voice. This is actually what I wanted because pressuring her to ask for help isn''t my job... it''s Nezumi''s.


    "That ring is special so don''t be selling it off or losing it." I warned her sternly. Handing the ring over as I said this. I got the ring from a mission concerning about her so it''s only right that I give it to her. Besides, I got a cool 500,000 points so I''m satisfied.


    "Special? What do you mean? From the looks of it, it might be worth a few hundred thousand Beli."


    I shook my head at her ignorance which I really can''t blame her for. After all, an item such as this should not even exist in this world.


    "That ring is called the ''Ring of Protection''. The wearer has the ability to create a barrier that lasts around 1 minute and I believe it should be able to block all physical attacks against...maybe a vice-admiral? I don''t really know because I haven''t tested out it''s full potential." Nami nodded. Not even bothering to be surprised anymore after the things she saw me do. "It has a cool down time of an hour so be careful."


    When she asked how it was able to do such a thing, I decided to put the blame on devil fruits. After all, even objects are able to eat a devil fruit, which she doesn''t know yet by the way.


    Nami took the ring and put it on her middle finger on the right hand after looking over it once more. She must''ve decided to test it as I can see a green transparent barrier around her. In order to prove that it can really block attacks, I punched the barrier a few times, slowly increasing my strength as I did. By the time I used about 50% of my full strength, it started showing cracks before vanishing. The 1 minute time limit was up.


    I couldn''t really say whether or not it can take attacks from Vice-admirals as I haven''t tested myself against them yet. The girl was amazed with her eyes widening a little. Man.. looks like I''ll have to find more mind blowing things to show her to.... well, blow her mind again. She''s getting used to it already and we haven''t even hit Paradise yet.


    I asked her to gather the other guys on the deck for an important discussion while I remained in her room. She stares at me uneasily, "you think I''m gonna steal your panties or something?" I teased her a bit. She walked away with a huff but not before hitting me over the head and giving me a silent warning.


    I''m not a pervert like Sanji, Brook, or... Franky? I''m not sure about Franky.. let''s just say he''s a special type of pervert and move on.


    Usually, asking the group to gather and the like should be the captain''s job but as everyone knows...Luffy isn''t exactly a normal captain.


    The reason I stayed behind is to purchase something from the system. It''s nothing important but ever since I got to the One Piece world, the one thing I severely lacked and missed is... good food.


    On the island, I had to tough it out with smoked or roasted wild beast meat, and they aren''t exactly mouthwatering. I haven''t had the chance to taste anything remotely delicious other than the restaurant and bar we''ve been to on the previous islands.


    So my solution to this is... learning to cook good food for myself. Reaching the Baratie will take us about 2 more weeks and we haven''t met Johnny and Yosaku yet so the rest of the crew doesn''t even know about the place.


    "System, is it possible to buy the cooking knowledge and skills of Saiba Joichiro from Shokugeki no Souma? It isn''t technically a power." I asked with a bit of hope in my voice.


    I didn''t want to do this at first in fear of Luffy making me the official cook and no longer needing Sanji, but I figured I could bullshit my way out of this by saying I didn''t know how to cook food needed to survive on the sea. Besides, if worse comes to worse, I will just adamantly stick with being the crew''s combat trainer and refuse to cook for them unless they get an actual sea cook.


    There should be a difference between normal cooks and sea cooks. I believe it has something to do with the needed nutrients, but I honestly don''t know because I haven''t even been out at sea before in my previous life, let alone live on it.


    [Ding! Normally, they would be considered the "power" of that world, but System can make an exception for Host just this time as a reward for completing Host''s first mission.]


    "Why thank you, System! So how much do they cost!?" My excitement can clearly be heard within my voice as I asked this. Saiba Joichiro is considered a legendary figure in the food industry... at least in the world of Shokugeki no Souma.


    [Ding! Both the knowledge and skills of Saiba Joichiro costs a million each. Does Host want System to proceed?]


    "Oh.. that''s a lot more than I expected. How many points do I still have left?" Damn me and my negligence. I haven''t exactly kept count of my system points, mainly because I forgot and partly because I didn''t want to be too reliant on them. I''m guessing I either do not have enough or will be flat out broke after this.


    [Ding! Host has a total of 2,500,468 System Points left.]


    Yep... I''ll be broke after this. Looks like I need to somehow get another mission or kill a lot of beasts to get more points. I have a feeling in my gut that I might need them and besides, who died from being prepared? Actually someone might but that''s besides the point. The point is that I might need them for the future.


    "Please buy them." I commanded the system with a bit of sadness. It''s always better to have more than you need rather than need more than you have. With that out of the way, I made my way up out of the room and up to the deck of the Merry.


    A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had a few extra days off from school because of the weather and snow, so I decided to catch up on my favorite TV shows and movies and read the novels on this site.


    I know those aren''t exactly good excuses but I don''t want to lie to my readers. As I''ve said before, I''m not obligated to produce a chapter per day.


    I''ve decided on a workable schedule but be warned, I might not always keep it. For now, I wanna do 3 chapters a week and anything else extra will depend on you readers. What I mean by this is for you guys to actively give me workable ideas to further the story, therefore me being more motivated to write more chapters.


    I thank those who commented, voted, shared with someone, and reviewed this story. I know the story is still in it''s early stages but please write a review and leave a comment so that I will know what you think.

 16 Chapter 16

    Josh''s PoV:


    As I made my way towards the deck, I felt the remnants of a migraine which I got from buying Joichiro''s cooking knowledge and skills. Let me clear up something, I only got his knowledge and skills involving cooking. Maybe I should''ve worded it better to the system because I still have very little experience when it comes to cooking.


    Not only do I not gain his experience, I did not feel his intuition, talent, drive, and most importantly, his innovative style of cooking. To put it in better words, when I look at ingredients, I would perfectly recall how to prepare it and what dish to make with said ingredients. Along with being able to use cooking tools to a mastery level. The entire cooking process would be done with perfect accuracy, but that''s where it ends.


    The food would be delicious for sure, but it can never reach the level of the real Saiba Joichiro himself as I only have the information and the way to cook something he has done so before. I don''t think I can match up to Sanji who will grow better and better as a chef. I''m fine with not improving anymore because all I wanted was a way to learn how to cook delicious food and that''s what I got.


    As I do not aspire to be a cook as a permanent career, I''m still very satisfied with my gains. When I first found that out, I thought the system had cheated me and wanted to complain immediately, but I managed to calm down and think deeper.


    Saiba Joichiro is possibly the best chef in the entire world of Shokugeki no Souma, maybe even in all of existence, as far as I know. If I were to buy everything of someone from the top of a world, I can only imagine how much that would cost. The price should be amplified as well because I haven''t been to that world. Just imagining all those zeroes made me shutter.


    On another note, I had Manni follow the Going Merry quietly from under the sea as to not attract attention. I''ve decided to buy a devil fruit for him from the system so that I can eliminate the side effect of not being able to swim. For right now, I do not have nearly enough points to buy a normal devil fruit. I took a quick glance at them and let''s just say....I don''t have enough and move on.


    I''m glad that I made the decision to train them earlier on. The reason is because I got another mission from the system. The system''s exact words were,


    [Ding! Congratulations, Host has unlocked another mission.


    Mission: Convince the rest of the crew members to allow Host to train them.


    Rewards: 1,500,000 System Points!, Cloak of Levitation x 1!]


    Surprising right!? The iconic magic item of Doctor Strange from the Marvel Universe! According to my knowledge, this cloak is extremely useful and helpful for Strange, it should also be of great help and entertainment for me as well.


    From my understanding, the cloak requires magic to keep it afloat and control. When I confronted the system about this issue, the system said that I can use my mental strength as a substitute for magic, however, my control over it wouldn''t be as good as if I possessed magic. I''ll just have to find out for myself later.


    Finally reaching the deck, I saw every member of the straw hat pirates looking at my direction. I made my way towards them. "Thanks for gathering, guys. I called you all here to tell everyone something."


    I gestured towards Nami. At first, she just looked at me in confusion, until the light of understanding hit her. She started explaining to everyone what I told her about the Grandline and devil fruits. While all of that was going on, I took a good once over at the Merry.


    The first thing I noticed is the Jolly Roger that was finally completed by Usopp. Our Jolly Roger consist of a skull and crossbones like any other Jolly Roger, but ours has a straw hat on the skull. Yep.. just like in canon.


    The pirate mark is also painted on the main sail as well.


    For now, I haven''t made much changes to the original canon because I''ve just started out and we haven''t even reached Paradise. I don''t want to always be stuck with canon. I want new challenges, new problems, new enemies. I don''t want to be in control the entire time.


    Although that might sound stupid to some people, I truly don''t. The reason is simple... if I already knew everything, it wouldn''t be much of an adventure and I wouldn''t have as much fun as I can. There are some things I do not want to change, such as the growth of the crew by facing certain opponents and the like, but I will make a huge stir in the future, I can just feel it!


    Now, someone might be asking ''why not just go on your own adventure?'' or ''why stay with the straw hats if that is the case?''


    Let me ask you a question instead, who else in this world is going to make it to the very top and conquer it!? This whole world of One Piece revolves around the Strawhat Pirates. Something everyone gotta understand is that, if I truly want to experience everything this world has to offer, it has to be with the ones that will reach the top.


    I already claimed that I would see everything in this world, there is no better way to do that than from the perspective of a Strawhat.


    From what I remember of some fanfics where the mc quickly grows in power and becomes the strongest in a matter of a few chapters and conquer everything, they all end up pretty shallow. Those types of mcs don''t even stop to appreciate the world before moving on to the next.


    As my dream is to not only experience all this world has to offer, but also adventure and have fun. It wouldn''t be possible if I didn''t do it from the front row seat, if anyone gets me.


    "And those are the things Josh told me about the Grandline and Devil Fruits." I turned my attention back towards the crew as I noticed Nami finishing up. Their reactions were completely expected. Zoro was very skeptical, right along with Usopp who was out right denying what Nami said. Luffy just looked around in confusion.. looks like he didn''t really understand, what else would you expect?


    In canon, Zoro didn''t believe Nami when she told them that the entry into Paradise is climbing up a mountain, so it''s understandable when he didn''t exactly immediately took Nami''s words as facts now.


    Third Person''s PoV:


    "You guys don''t believe me?" Josh asked, with a bit of warning in his tone. He had on his serious face. The others turned their heads towards him. "Fine. I''ll prove it to you."


    The blonde walked up to the green head and stared him in the eyes. "Attack me. You can do whatever you want. I won''t lift a finger." Zoro narrowed his eyes. He knew that Josh was strong but he didn''t think that he was this arrogant. He got mad when he realized Josh was severely underestimating him.


    "Are you sure? I won''t hold back." The swordsman''s expression was deadly serious. The recipient nodded his head. "Maybe you''ll believe me after this."


    With those words as the signal, the 3 sword style user tied his bandana on top of his head, drew out all of his swords, with Wado Ichimonji between his teeth. "I wanted to test myself against you. Looks like I got my chance." Zoro smirked, he was perfectly able to talk, even with a katana stuck in his mouth.


    After separating on the Merry''s deck for some space, the swordsman got in his battle stance while everyone else looked at the ongoing bout in interest. Seeing Josh just lazily stand there without even getting in a stance angered Zoro even more. "Don''t regret this!" He warned for the final time.


    Getting a smirk for a reply, Zoro dashed towards the blonde in question, his 3 swords following along. He first started out with a warning slash near Josh''s head, narrowly missing his ear. At this intimidation attempt, the blonde didn''t even bat an eye.


    Resolving himself to actually attack this time, Zoro drew back his arm for another swing, aimed to nick the blond''s right arm. He was going to force the blonde to take him seriously or suffer an injury. As he was still a crew mate, Zoro didn''t want to seriously hurt the man.


    As the sword made contact with Josh''s skin and penetrate through it, a painful and numbing sensation arched across Zoro''s arm. "Argh!" He let out a low grunt of pain and dropped his sword.


    "Wh-What happened!?" A shriek from the infamously cowardly Usopp can be heard. Nami explained to them about Josh''s devil fruit. Zoro was also listening as well, even through the intense pain.


    The swordsman hardened his resolve and stood back up with his arm twitching a bit. Shaking off the effects of the lightning, he charged once more. Every time he cut the blonde, he would feel the same intense pain and numbing sensation brought by the yellow lightning that ran across his body.


    He shook them off over a dozen time but a man can only take so much. As Zoro reached his limit of pain and damage tolerance, he collapsed on his knees. He looked up to see a perfectly unharmed blonde man who haven''t even moved from his spot from the beginning. He huffed and puffed to try and regulate his breathing and resisted the strong urge to close his eyes and pass out into the sweet embrace of dreamland.


    To his credit though, Zoro was still able to remain conscious even after taking over a dozen doses of strong currents of electricity. A normal person would be foaming from the mouth on the ground after the first.


    Seeing that the rain of attacks have finally ceased, Josh stuck his hand out to his opponent, "are you alright?" He asked in an innocent voice, like he wasn''t the one who caused all of this.


    Zoro swallowed his pride and grabbed the outstretched hand. A few minutes of trying to regain his barings later, he spoke up, "I believe you." It was very short and final but nobody doubted his words.


    "Good." Josh nodded. Accepting the facts is the key to moving forward. "You want to be the strongest swordsman in the world, right?" He asked.


    Before Zoro could give his affirmative, the lightning man interrupted him, "I can tell you right now, you won''t even be able to touch Mihawk." Zoro''s face sank even more. He was just defeated by someone who didn''t even move. The Santoryu user gritted his teeth in frustration at his own weakness.


    "Yosh! It''s my turn." A voice interrupted the two men''s conversation, although one was mainly sulking. Luffy stepped up with a clenched fist in one palm. His face was sporting an eager grin.


    Everyone turned their attention towards him, "You want to fight too?" Josh asked. He didn''t think Luffy would volunteer by himself, although this worked out fine because he was going to ask to fight Luffy as well.


    "What? Zoro gets a turn, but I don''t!?" He whined in a childish tone. Everyone just sweat dropped, their captain can be a real baby sometimes. "Fine.. come at me." After pretending to give in, Josh straightened himself and moved away from Zoro.


    When they were adequately far enough from each other, it began. Like before, Josh stood there and didn''t get in any sort of stance while Luffy got into his fighting pose. Both his hands out stretched while his feet were spread apart, very orthodox for a street fight or brawl.


    "Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!" A literal outstretched fist came flying towards Josh like a missile...or pistol. To everyone''s surprise, even Luffy, Josh actually tilted his head sideways and dodged the attack instead of just letting it hit him like every other attack thrown at him so far!


    "Wha- Why did he dodge?"


    "I.. don''t know."


    "...."


    Guess who made those comments.


    Josh took advantage of everyone''s surprised state and made his move. For the first time since he fought a human, Josh actually made a move personally!


    "Soru!", with a quick Soru, he appeared behind Luffy and curled his middle finger and thumb. *Flick* He did the most unexpected thing in a fight, he flicked Luffy from behind the head.


    This simple action actually thrusted him forward, hitting the deck of the ship and effectively getting the lanky teen out of his stunned condition. Instead, he was suddenly filled with something that he had nearly forgotten. A feeling and sensation that he experienced at a minimal ever since he ate his devil fruit, at least from blunt attacks.


    Luffy was rolling around the wooden floors of the Merry, clutching the back of his head. "Oooouch!" A large bump formed at the exact spot.


    "H-how!?" Nami softly asked. Wasn''t their captain supposed to be made of rubber? Then why is he in pain from a simple looking flick to the back of his head!?


    "Y-You can also do gramp''s ''Fist of Love''!?"


    A/N: I decided to go with a mix between the first and second options I made on the comment section. The overall cooking skills would be lower than Sanji''s but he has some knowledge that Sanji does not so there will be some teaching in the future.


    I hope this chapter also answers some of the doubts or questions anyone might have about his staying with the crew.


    Also, let me know on the comments, how was the "fight" scene? Technically, this is the first time I''ve written an actual fighting scene. (I don''t count the Black Cats) I try to keep it as realistic as one piece gets.


    The "official" release schedule of 3 chapters per week starts next week. I didn''t try to make a schedule earlier on because I didn''t want to be bound by it because I wasn''t confident that I could keep my word. Still not, but I''ll just giveit a go.

 17 Chapter 17

    Josh''s PoV:


    Hahahaha.. exactly the reaction I wanted. Garp really did a number on my captain, it seems. Poor Luffy, I knew Garp''s ''tough love'' from the anime, but seeing his eyes filled with familial fear just from me using Haki like his grandpa, is something else.


    "No, Luffy. It''s called Haki. Not ''Fist of Love''." This scene reminds me of when Bulma first meets Goku and tells him about the dragon balls. Nami and Usopp, along with a mostly recovered Zoro eyed me suspiciously. "Relax. I didn''t do anything to our captain. Luffy, why don''t you tell us why your so scared." I prompted him.


    "Gramps? Oh yeah, whenever he came to visit, he would train me with his ''Fists of Love'' and for some reason, they always hurt like what Josh just did." Luffy visibly shivered at the memory. He skipped over a lot more detail than I hoped but it''s better to not push it, we''ll eventually meet anyway. "How did you do that?"


    "It''s a power called Haki."


    "Haki?"


    "Yeah. Luffy, I want to be the crew''s Combat Trainer and help everyone become stronger so that they can achieve their goals much easier." I proclaimed as I turned my head towards him. "Would that be alright? I know many neat tricks that anyone with enough training can do." and pitched my sale.


    "Umm.. sure. Your really strong so, it''s fine!" He grins. Everyone else nodded their heads, even Zoro because he lost and knew exactly how weak he currently is. "Yosh! From now on, Josh is the crew''s Combat Trainer!"


    "Ou!"


    I smiled as I heard the mission completion from the system. I can''t wait until I get my hands on that cloak! It''s going to be amazing.


    "So can you tell us more about Haki?" Zoro asked. He was interested in the prospect of being able to get stronger, no matter the cost. His resolute determination can be heard from his now calm voice.


    "Sure. Haki is something that every living being has. All you need to use them is to awaken it. There are 3 types of known Haki. Kenbunshoku Haki, Bushoshoku Haki, and the most rarest, the Haoshoku Haki." I started my explanation. I didn''t want to go into too much details right now because none of them are ready to learn it yet.


    I want to start with their Rokushiki preference and increasing their physical abilities, especially for Usopp and Nami as they are the weakest right now.


    "I''ll explain more at a later time. I don''t think any of you are ready to awaken your Haki yet. However, there are these neat martial art techniques that you can learn instead."


    Zoro wanted to protest, but he also knew that Rome wasn''t built in a day, or at least the equivalent saying of it. As a swordsman from a proper dojo, he had to work his way up from being a normal kid to the man he is today, step by step. There were no such things as short cuts.


    Third Person''s PoV:


    "Alright. Pay attention, because I''m going to show you something called the Rokushiki." Josh said as he faced the rest of his crew members. Zoro especially paid close attention after the man''s words.


    "As some of you already know, this is the Geppo." He said as he demonstrated by kicking the air and lifting off about 20 feet in the sky. Usopp has his mouth agape as he was the only one who haven''t seen it yet.


    Josh continued to demonstrate all the six moves of the Rokushiki. He wanted Luffy to learn the Geppo first, no matter what, because it is a life saving skill for if he ever fell near water. Zoro wanted to know the mechanics behind the Rankyaku so that he could produce his own wind blade with his swords, so he picked that.


    Usopp and Nami were just too weak to learn anything other than the Kami-E, which is a mostly mental skill, but that only suited Nami for now. Josh really wanted Usopp to start practicing the Soru, but his leg muscles just weren''t there yet.


    In light of these new developments, Josh proposed that Zoro train both Nami and Usopp so that they can up their physical parameters. Sadly, Nami stubbornly refused, so they had no choice but to let her be when she reminded them that they were in a partnership and not a full member.


    This was not the case for Usopp though. He also tried to stubbornly refuse, but that only worked for a crafty witch like Nami. When he realize that it wasn''t working, he tried to make the lamest excuse of having a disease that prevented him from training. Zoro obviously just dragged him off and forced him to train his body alongside himself.


    As everyone else was busy with their own training, Josh made his way to inspect the kitchen. It was a small little place inside the ship, but it gave off infinite warmth that could only be described as familial.


    Checking on their remaining supplies, Josh realized that Luffy had sneaked into the fridge and took over 50% of the meat. It was actually a miracle there was half remaining. The blonde realized that their food supplies weren''t going to last them the entire journey. It had only been over half a day since they departed from Gecko island and half their supplies are already gone.


    He kept the supplies issue at the back of his mind and continued his inspection. There were newly bought kitchen knives, pans, and other cooking utensils. Along with plates and eating utensils. Although they were a bit lacking in vegetables, they still had plenty of meat. Checking the top drawers, the newly made chef found some seasoning, such as salt, pepper, and the like.


    Over all? It was a pretty standard kitchen. Nothing overly special, but had everything a chef needed.


    As everyone was busy with their own trainings, Josh thought that he would cook dinner for them. He had to make sure to cook extra large amounts for Luffy. Josh went with simple dishes he could make with the abundant meat and little vegetables, utilizing the resources available to him.


    On the deck,


    It had been several hours since everyone started their own training. Luffy was practicing Geppo which he just seem to never get right, while Zoro and Usopp just finished up their physical training. Nami was in her own room, doing author knows what.


    It was just at that time that they smelled a pleasant fragrant coming from the kitchen area. The first to dash off was obviously Luffy who was wildly screaming "foooood....!"


    As they all headed inside, they were greeted by a warmly smiling Josh who had a white apron on, his heavy coat was hung on a chair. On the table were many dishes, ranging from vegetables to meat. There were quite a few types of meat dishes.


    Although they were lacking on the necessary ingredients, Josh did his best to cook up a simple meal.


    Luffy''s eyes were shining as he stared at the abundant meat plastered all over the table. "Did.. gulp.. did you make all these food!?" He asked, all the while, saliva was dripping down helplessly from his open mouth.


    "Yeah. All of you were training hard, so I thought I''d cook us a big meal." The man replied. He was currently stirring the pot of clear soup that he made as the final touch. Turning off the heat, he brought his gaze back towards the table to find everyone seated and wolfing down everything hungrily.


    He chuckled amiably, then he realized, "Oii! Leave some for me too, You bastards!!" He really underestimated Luffy''s stomach, as well as everyone else. It was only Nami who was calmly eating her portion as she giggled.


    Josh rushed to the table to save himself a portion as he knew they wouldn''t leave even crumbs for him.


    That night, they all ate, drank, sang, talked, and laughed together. In all of Josh''s life, it was one of the most memorable.

 18 Chapter 18

    Third Person''s PoV:


    On the figurehead of a certain pirate ship, was a man draped in a long coat. He was currently staring down at the ocean, seemingly concentrating hard on something. From his view, the smiling face of the figurehead and the calmly rippling seawater were seen. The wind gently brushing against his face and hair.


    "Oi Josh, what are you doing?" A voice from behind the man asked. The owner of the voice is the unlikely captain of this pirate ship. Luffy had been trying to preform the Geppo as Josh had instructed him, but for some reason, he keeps getting distracted and worse, he could only kick the air once or twice before his legs giving out.


    His strength and control were still lacking. Not even Josh could preform the Geppo in only a few days after having the appropriate leg strength. One needed great control over one''s own body and focus on their center of gravity. And that meant that it required time.


    "We used up most of our food supplies yesterday on that dinner because you kept pestering me to cook more food." He answered back without even looking at him. His eyes still glued to the sea below. The night before, they had a grand feast that lasted for hours because of Luffy''s insistence and now they were out of food.


    Luffy was grinning widely, not even looking the least guilty for eating everything. Remembering last night, he truly felt that it was a banquet fit for a pirate, the kind that he aspires to be.


    Just as Luffy reached his position on top of the Merry''s figurehead, the lightning man''s eyes opened a little bit wider than before, and he charged his lightning in his right hand.


    Just earlier, Josh had been using his Kenbunshoku Haki to look for big fish that are lurking under their ship. With the presence of Manni, it made it a little difficult, but he was still able to accurately find out when a large one gets close enough within his range.


    "1 Million Volt Vari!" Josh shouts out as he stretched his hands forward. When he did, a stream of lightning shot right out of his hands and entered the water. For a split moment, all one could see were a flash of running electricity across a few miles in the ocean.


    Luffy looked around curiously, he had no clue what his mate was doing. After a few seconds of silence, bubbles started popping on the surface of the sea. Slowly, the bubbles became more pronounced until, finally, the shape of a large typical fish came out of the water. Followed by a few more around it''s size and then even smaller ones.


    "Oooh...were you fishing!?" Luffy excitedly asked. As they ran out of food, this was the solution that Josh came up with. Although they would have to bare with just fish meat for a bit, it was better than eating nothing.


    Without answering him, the blonde used Geppo to directly rush down and scoop up 5 of the biggest fish lying around. The reason he left the rest is because they weren''t truly dead, instead, just paralyzed for about an hour or so. He just grabbed what they needed at the moment and let the rest go.


    "Yep. These are going to be lunch and dinner." After landing back on the deck, he told Luffy. Josh used one of the weakest moves from Enel because he didn''t want the attack to reach all the way down to Manni and he only needed to stun them.


    Under Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp''s curious gazes, Josh went inside the kitchen and prepped all of the fish before storing them inside the freezer.


    The blonde sat down on a chair, still in the kitchen. He was proud of his earlier display. As he finally got some time to himself without someone bothering him, Josh finally decided to check out his mission rewards.


    Taking out the Cloak of Levitation, he examined it from top to bottom. The most obvious thing he noticed is the color. Most of the cloak is deep red in color, while the inside is brown with almost unnoticeable patterns. The cloak had a high collar, with two metallic looking and triangular thing right underneath the collar. It looked exactly like how Josh remembered it in the movie Doctor Strange.


    As he tried to put it on, he almost forgot that he had on his Laxus''s coat still hanging from his shoulders. Smiling sheepishly, he took off the coat and put it inside something else he had also been neglecting...the inventory.


    Josh watched the black long coat disappear into thin air and tried to put on the cloak again, however, he stopped. Thinking for a bit, he wanted to try controlling the object to come to his side on its own.


    As he concentrated hard on the cloak, he felt some mental energy leave him. It was as if he used his Busoshoku Haki! Slowly and wobbly, the cloak lifted off his hands and flew around his shoulders and comfily placed itself down.


    It wasn''t like the magical item was sentient, however, just by supplying the relic with some of his mental energy and his intention, it moved on it''s own afterward. This fascinated Josh. It was a weird feeling, like he was controlling and not controlling at the same time. For example, there might be times when one''s own body part moved just on instinct.. it was exactly like that.


    It will take Josh some getting used to, but he is certain that this item will be very useful to him, not just in fights, but also in other areas.


    As he moved the cloak, he could feel that its movements were a little unnatural, as unnatural as a moving cloak gets anyway. This must be the limitation of only using his mental strength, and not magic. After he gets used to it, Josh is sure that he can levitate and fly short distances, but high-speed long-distance flights were out of the question.


    Josh, with his new Cloak on, marched out of the kitchen to check on the progress of the other''s training. As he walked, he felt the slightest differences the cloak had with his previous coat. First of all, the relic was much shorter. The end of the coat before would drag on the ground sometimes, but the magical item didn''t even reach his ankles.


    Secondly, the cloak is naturally much lighter, not that it mattered. However, he did feel and look much less baggy, making his hard earned muscles show themselves through the sleeveless suit and the open chest he had on.


    When he reached outside, the first thing he saw was Usopp and Luffy getting chased around by Zoro with the swords nearly missing them. ''Good, it looks like they are training properly.''


    The new master of the Cloak of Levitation looked up at the only problem. Near her room, there she was lazily tanning herself under the sun. Josh didn''t really want to push it yet until she agreed to actually join with her own mouth, but this was getting ridiculous. Nami had expressed her desire to not train with, in her words, "a bunch of sweaty men."


    Maybe she didn''t want to train with the rest of the guys, but might be willing to take private lessons?


    To go try his luck, Josh climbed the stairs and arrived in front of a peacefully sleeping Nami. Once in a while, she would giggle softly or snort cutely.


    ''Lazing around while everyone works hard, ey!?'' Josh thought silently to himself with an evil smile on his face. He approached the sleeping girl quietly and made sure to not make a squeak as he passed her. Silently he opened the door to her room and a few minutes later, came back out with a mischievous grin and quietly went back down.


    Reaching the deck, everyone finally notices him as they were now taking a break. Looking at him curiously. "How''s the progress for your training going?" He asked.


    "I''ve think I can almost shoot out a wind blade. I think..." Zoro said seriously. This guy... he really doesn''t care much about anything other than swordsmanship, does he? He was told to practice the Rankyaku. But, that''s fine, because if he gets it then doing the same with his legs should be easier.


    "It''s only been a day since we''ve started my hell. What changes do you think is gonna happen!?" Usopp shouted a little bit too loudly, almost waking a sleeping demon.


    "I got bored...", Luffy flatly stated, all the while picking his nose! Josh hardened his heart with Busoshoku Haki before he lost it and accidentally slap him off the ship. Zoro and Usopp were understandable, but he''s supposed to be the.. nevermind, that''s just the man known as Luffy.


    "Yosh.... no food for you then." He calmly said as he closed his eyes, purposefully pretending to not see his panicking face. "Ahahaha.. did.. I say bored? I was....lying. Phew", Luffy made the worse way possible to lie. Stutter, not make much sense, look away, let out a sigh at the end. He''s really the worst liar around. Almost as bad as Usopp when he gets caught.


    "Oh.. so you were lying then?" I baited him, to which he nodded frantically. "I can forgive you this one time for lying. But wait." Pause for dramatic effect. "What if you lie to me again?"


    He didn''t know what to say. He was sweating bullets while looking left and right. Zoro and Usopp snickered at his misfortune. "If you were lying and I find out..." another dramatic pause, but this time add an evil smirk. "I''ll tie you up to the mast and make you watch as we have barbecue party on the deck!"


    As soon as I said that, he went off running. "Noooo!!!" I naturally chased after him. My teeth turning into giant fangs and my eyes going wide. "GET BACK HERE AND PRACTICE!"


    It was quite the mock chase and in the end, we laughed it off. Our days continued like that, with mostly zoro taking the training seriously, Usopp making a thousand excuses, Luffy''s constant distraction and short attention span, and Nami''s unwillingness. Damn.. what does one gotta do to make these clowns take things a little more seriously!!?

 19 Chapter 19

    Josh''s PoV:


    It has been almost 2 weeks since setting off from Gecko island. With a little "persuasion", both Luffy and Nami has been training a little more seriously. Honestly, I can''t really blame them, they don''t know the true horrors of the Grandline. From the story, it doesn''t really hit them until they got forcefully disbanded and Ace dies.


    All Luffy wants is adventure, and Nami isn''t really worried about anything else other than saving her village.


    The one person I can''t seem to get through to is actually Usopp. His cowardly nature is just too tenacious. He still does the physical training everyday due to Zoro''s "insistence".


    I had to pay dearly...as in my little brother down there, for the little prank I played on Nami a while back. When she realized what I''d done, she flipped out and even threatened to kick everyone off the ship to go for a ''nice'' swim. I''m not gonna say what I did to her..but ever since then, she would accept private tutoring from yours truly from time to time. (A/N: The first person that can guess accurately, I''ll make a shout out to you. It''s nothing big.)


    Right now, I''m training Nami. We first start off with some stretching to loosen her muscles. Unsurprisingly, she was pretty tense and stiff the first few days, must be the stress. After a good 10 minutes of stretching, I had her meditate for a bit to loosen her mind.


    After all of those preparations, all she would have to do is dodge my attacks without moving away from her spot. As I noticed, Nami is really suited to learn the Kami-E. Maybe it was due to her slim and agile body plus her career as a thief, but she was very nimble and once in a while, would actually look like she''s using the Kami-E.


    I said "look" like it because it would only be for a few strikes and then she would get hit. But I''ll take progress where I can get it. Of course I hold back most of my powers when I hit her, but it wasn''t like that at first. I didn''t want to injure her when we first started out, so I would stop just before my strikes landed.


    This method, however, yielded no results even after a few days. Upon getting permission from her, I started to actually land weak hits on her, just to get her moving.


    I purposefully aim for openings so that she wouldn''t show them as often, and she''s getting better at it. I''d give her a few more weeks and she will have the basics down, all she would need is to utilize them in real combat to improve even faster.


    As for Luffy, I paid a bit more attention to him. The little captain keeps loosing focus and gets even me distracted sometimes. However, once threatened with food, he would meekly comply. I feel like I tamed a wild monkey.


    The problem with Luffy''s Geppo is mainly because of his lack of focus which disturbs his concentration, therefore, his body center, and then his balance. He fell on his head countless times during practice.


    The other problem is his leg strength. Luffy isn''t able to kick on the ground all 10 times in a second, offsetting his Geppo already, then his leg muscles couldn''t keep up with the multiple uses. At most, he is able to go about 3 to 5 times now, which is a huge improvement by the way.


    Usopp''s ''2 weeks of hell'', as he calls it, is going pretty well. He definitely looked a tad bit more muscular than before, and I don''t think he gets sore that much anymore. Still doesn''t stop him from complaining or whining though.


    He once asked me to teach him the Soru already, so when I did, he was actually able to preform it. Just once though. Right after he used the technique, his legs wouldn''t stop spasming for over 5 minutes and his mouth wouldn''t stop screaming for the next 30. With that experience, he made sure to not ask again before he was deemed ready.


    Unsurprisingly, Zoro is the one who made the most progress. The man had been the one who was most focused, strict, and disciplined out of everyone, including myself. He had been at it since day one and never gave up.


    Yesterday, after intensive meditation, Zoro, in front of everyone''s gazes, drew his sword and swung it at the ocean from Merry''s side. I was pleasantly surprised by his successful wind blade or flying slash, however you want to call it. The rest of them were in awe at his success and we promptly partied.


    Although Zoro has been able to successfully create a flying slash (I''ll just call it that from now on), he still wasn''t able to use his legs to preform a Rankyaku. The reason is simple, his leg muscles just weren''t strong enough. If I had to guess, Zoro''s leg strength is probably a bit more than Usopp''s.


    As a swordsman, he mainly focused on his arms and upper body. It wasn''t like he totally ignored his lower body. Zoro just spent more time on the sword wielding part of his body. Even though I say just a bit more than Usopp, Usopp is by no means a wobbly leg.


    The long nosed liar has been running after a lie for almost half of his life. Compared to the average person, his legs are at least 3 times better. He has quite a bit of stamina as well.


    In the anime, he was portrayed as such a weakling because in front of the opponents they faced, there was truly not much he could really do, that was until the time skip. In fact, Usopp is probably the bravest person in the crew. Now hear me out before you ruin my ears, a courageous person isn''t one who can stand in the face of death and simply smile...those people are called fearless... or idiots. A truly brave person is one that overcomes his fears in the time of need. Wouldn''t you agree?


    Third Person''s PoV:


    As a certain Blonde was sleeping inside their shared room on the Merry, a loud sound of cannon woke him up.


    "Who''s the idiot shooting cannons so early in the morning!?" He startled with a furious voice. In all of his life, sleep was one of the most sacred thing to him. Josh went to sleep early and woke up late, except for on special cases *cough* the day he died *cough*.


    As he groggily got up from his single size bed, he put on all of his gears and rushed out the door to knock some sense into whoever that was.


    When he stepped out of the door, he was greeted by the sight of 2 newcomers. One on the floor, presumably passed out, while the other is holding his hands as if to never want to let go of a lover. The blonde suddenly remembered that he knew these two, they were Johnny and Yosaku.


    Johnny is the one who''s not passed out while Yosaku is the one laying on the floor with his tongue sticking out.


    Johnny has short black hair, a tattoo on the left side of his face, and oddly, a sunglasses. He wears a blue hoodie with a black shirt underneath, light pants, and he also has a sword strapped to his left side.


    Yosaku on the other hand, has a red helmet guard, a long green robe that stretches past his knees, black shirt, black boots, and yellow shorts. Unlike Johnny, Yosaku has his sword on the right side of his hip.


    Nami interrupted his grievous cries of sorrow and effectively saved the life of Yosaku who is suffering from scurvy, a very common illness that is deadly enough to kill. The cause of this illness is lack of vitamin c, so some simple lime juice should be able to prevent him from dying.


    Nami sighs as she commented, "this is why you need a cook when your out on the sea. Good thing we have one." As she finished, everyone turns to Josh''s direction and he immediately shook his head.


    There is no way that he would allow Sanji, the pervert that he is, to miss out on his dreams just because he happened to be able to cook as well!


    "I''m not a sea cook. There''s a difference. I picked up cooking as a hobby, so I know some recipes but that is it! A proper sea cook should know all the necessary nutrients to survive on the ocean, so we still need one." As he said this, Luffy and Usopp, who just came back from putting Yosaku to rest, also heard it.


    "What? But I thought.." Nami tried to argue further, but she was prematurely cut off by Josh who turned towards Luffy.


    "Captain, wouldn''t you like to have 2 chefs, rather than only one? That way, you can eat more meat!" Just as the blonde finished baiting, Luffy''s eyes turned into literal meat and he started drooling at the thought.


    When Nami saw this, she had no energy left to argue. The cat burglar just raised her hands in defeat.


    "I know of a restaurant called the Baratie, they have really amazing cooks there." Johnny decided to pitch in his own sale. "It''s not that far from here either."


    After this, it was settled, along with my worries. We were heading for the Baratie and going to go get Sanji. Hopefully, a surprise like just now doesn''t happen again where a future crew mate is at stake.

 20 Chapter 20

    Third Person''s PoV:


    As the smiling Merry made it''s way ever closer to the floating restaurant Baratie, on the deck were all members of the straw hat pirates, as well as Johnny, his partner Yosaku still in bed.


    Everyone was excitedly discussing about the famous restaurant, when suddenly, a marine ship came up to them, startling most of them.


    "I''ve never seen that flag before. I''m marine lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody, who''s the captain of this ship!?" From the railing of the marine vessel, an arrogant voice demanded, making everyone turn their heads that way.


    From the shadows of the ship, out came a man in a peculiar suit, with iron bolts on his fists. The man''s hair was a little less pink than Coby''s, but pink nonetheless. His expression was one of sheer arrogance.


    "I''m Luffy." The captain said, "I''m Usopp." The long nosed also replied. "This pirate flag was made not so long ago." Luffy also added, trying to outdo the sniper. "I''m the one who made it!" Usopp countered. Their bodies were inches apart from each other with Luffy growing a tick mark.


    Fullbody ignored the two''s little spat in favor of looking over the rest of the crew. When his eyes landed on the duo of bounty hunters, Yosaku seemingly appearing out of nowhere.


    When the lieutenant recognized the two, he couldn''t help but mock them.


    This made the weakling bounty hunters furious as Johnny proudly threw all of the bounty posters he had on him.


    When Nami saw Arlong''s poster, her blood froze. With her face shadowed, the girl stared at the face of her most hated person in fury. This went unnoticed, except for by 3 people. The nearby Johnny and Yosaku, and the blonde standing by Zoro''s side.


    Fullbody got fed up with the lowly no-name pirates, with the urging of his beautiful girl, they left for the restaurant. This of course didn''t happen without him giving the signal to sink the ship. After putting his thumbs down, the two made their way to a dingy, with a marine grunt rowing.


    Soon after Fullbody left, the remaining marines prepared a cannon ball to shoot down the pirate ship.


    With the unnecessarily loud sound of "Boooom..", the cannon was fired. The two ships were only a few meters away from each other, so one can imagine the deafening sound that followed.


    Before Josh could actually warn Luffy to aim properly, it went just like canon and the ball was reflected straight through the roof of the Baratie.


    ''Well.. I guess this is fine. Luffy got to know Sanji through this way, and vice versa.'' Josh thought.


    He didn''t like the fact that someone aimed at them, so he did the only thing that felt right to him.


    Jumping off the Merry, Josh used the cloak to go a bit higher in the air. Under the amazed gazes of everyone, he swept his right leg vertically, forming an arc of blue wind blade.


    "RANKYAKU!" Josh yelled out, loud enough to be heard by everyone in the vicinity. The Rokushiki master was careful to not harm the Merry in his attack.


    The Rankyaku followed through and cut the ship right in the middle, causing the marines onboard to swim for their lives.


    "D-Did you really have to sink them?" Usopp asked. Although he was now a pirate by all rights, he didn''t like the idea of harming people just because one had the ability to.


    "They attacked first." Josh scowled. This made Usopp take a step back. When he remembered that the marines had tried to sink them first, he conceded.


    "Josh-Aniki!! You were so cool!" Johnny and Yosaku came up to him and danced around. They were happy that someone made the marines suffer for their treatment.


    When the cooks of the Baratie came out to inquire the person behind the attack, without hesitation, Luffy made himself known and was dragged away.


    "That stupidly honest idiot..." Nami sighed out.


    As they waited for Luffy to resolve the situation, all they could do was stand around on the Merry.


    "Why don''t we go inside the restaurant?" Usopp proposed. This got a nod of agreement from all present. Johnny and Yosaku were made to wait on the ship.


    As they were getting closer to the eatery, they suddenly heard a loud but familiar voice. "DON''T SCREW WITH ME!", followed by the sound of dishes being broken.


    Usopp and Nami looked at each other in worry because there was no sound after that.


    Opening the door to the restaurant, the four of them were slightly confused at the customer''s silence. Following their line of sight, one could see a blonde man with an all black suit, a cigarette in his mouth, and unique eyebrows. His face was mostly shadowed. On his hand is someone they were too familiar with.


    Marine lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody was currently dangling off of Sanji''s hand, with Sanji gripping his head tightly. Blood came out from several parts of his body. Everyone in the restaurant were horrified by Sanji''s action.


    Josh ignored all of that as he went over to an empty table, followed by Zoro. Nami and Usopp came stumbling along.


    As they sat there patiently, an old man with the strangest mustache that is tied in a braid from both sides came out. With the surprised exclamations of "Owner Zeff" coming from the nearby cooks, everyone learned his identity.


    "You shitty brat! Are you trying to make my restaurant run out of business?" The old man sternly shouted. Although he sounded harsh, Josh knew that it was just his usual way of talking and wasn''t really concerned about Sanji beating up a marine lieutenant. He might even approve of it if he knew what the marine had done.


    After a course of kicks from Zeff, Sanji was sent flying into the wall of the ship. Fullbody inwardly smirked at the "waiter''s" misfortune and thanked his lucky stars. He was finally going to get his revenge, and maybe even get this restaurant in trouble....or so he thought.


    Once Zeff was done with Sanji, he set his sights on the downed lieutenant. Without giving him even a chance to plead his case, the owner proceeded to kick Fullbody and told him to leave his property.


    "What a crazy restaurant..." Zoro commented from the side. They had all just witnessed a marine lieutenant beaten not only once, but twice!


    As Fullbody was about to cut his losses and high tail it out of the crazy restaurant, a soaking wet marine officer forcefully slammed the door open with panic in his steps.


    "Lieutenant, sir! Our ship was sunk by the pirates and the prisoner esca-", He was cut off prematurely by a bullet that pierced his back, making him fall over. The normal civilians were gasping in fear at the progression of the situation.


    From behind the fallen marine soldier, a soaking wet man can be seen with a smoking pistol in his hand. This man is wearing gray overalls, with alternating colors on his beanie. He looked unnatural thin and pale, with dangerous looking dark bags under his eyes.


    The presumed prisoner sat down at an empty chair nearby. From then on, Josh stopped paying attention in favor of looking over the menu.


    On the menu were a wide variety of dishes. Ranging from curry, pasta, fried rice, to even soup that Josh has never heard of. He was slightly excited to find out the taste of what the individual dishes would be like.


    After getting out of his momentary state, which he decided to name "The Joichiro Trance", he looked back up to find everything already settled. The marines and Gin were no longer in sight. In Gin''s previous location, all that remained was a broken table and chair.


    He didn''t worry though, as he knew that Gin was kicked out of the restaurant for not having money to pay for food. Sanji was probably out there right now, feeding Gin. This will, in turn, caused Luffy to want to recruit him into the crew. He smiled as everything was going the way it should.


    After a few more minutes of idle waiting, Sanji came over to their table to get their orders. As soon as he saw Nami, his eyes turned into hearts, his legs mellowed out and he preformed his infamous and patented ''noodle dance''.


    "Ugh.. I nearly forgot, he''s the biggest pervert. Only second to the infamous Master Roshi...", black lines formed over Josh''s head. He was contemplating whether to let him in the kitchen alongside himself once he joins...but when he thought about his position, Josh sighed as he realized there was no choice.


    After they were done with their truly delicious meal, Luffy came over in envy. When he was dragged off by the staff, he found out that the cannon hit the roof of the owner''s room, injuring him in the process. Luffy was forced to work off his debt as a chore boy because he didn''t have the money to pay for the injury and damages.


    "No fair. You guys get to eat while I have to work!" The childish teenager complained. Once he reached the table, he "sneakily" put a booger in Zoro''s water, thinking he was unnoticed. After a fit of coughs from Luffy who was forced to drink his own dried nasal mucus, and laughters from the rest of the crew, Luffy carried on with his duties.


    They waited for several days for Luffy to finally finish settling his debt when it suddenly happened. From the front entrance of the Baratie, in came a man who was there once before, and a much bigger man who is just as sickly looking as he was when he first arrived.


    "Finally...some action." Josh muttered to himself silently, or so he thought. Zoro who is sitting beside him actually heard him, but made no indication of it as he also felt the same.

 21 Chapter 21

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Last night,


    As the sun had already set, and the interesting crew of misfit were tucking themselves in for bed, a certain blonde was thinking about what to do.


    He witnessed their navigator staring at the wanted poster of ''Saw Tooth'' Arlong a couple days ago, and knew that Nami would steal the Merry anyway once Don Krieg came. Although he tried to avert Nami from taking such actions, there was no helping it.


    Josh thought that Nami was similar to a certain lonely archeologist in a way. Although what ''she'' went through was much worse than Nami, they both had a deep seated trauma about something.


    The woman''s trauma is about the ''Buster Call'', while the cat burglar''s trauma is the Fish-man pirates. Even after everything that the archeologists saw and went through, she feared the ''Buster Call'' more than the devil itself. This can be said to be the same for Nami.


    Although they themselves know that it''s an illogical fear, trauma like that are instinctual and hard to get rid of, to say the least. This, however, does not help his current situation.


    Deciding on taking action before the whole thing went down, Josh approached his captain.


    "Oi Luffy, can you come with me for a sec?" The blonde asked. They were currently in their shared room, with all of the boys getting ready to turn in for the night.


    The rest of the guys watched curiously at the two conversing men, while the captain in question turned to face Josh.


    "Uhh, Sure?" Luffy had no clue why his Nakama was suddenly calling him, but it didn''t worry him one bit because he trusted all of them, this is evident by the wide smile on his face. There were very little things that could make the happy-go-lucky man lose his innocent smile.


    Walking down the corridor and back up to the deck of the Merry, Luffy couldn''t help but ask, "So what are we doing, Josh?"


    "I''ll let you know when we get there." Was the only reply he got.


    They went up even further by climbing the stairs and finally reached Nami''s room. With a knock from Josh, the door was cautiously opened by a smiling (fake) Nami. Luffy noticed this and slightly furrowed his brows.


    Earlier,


    Nami was in her room. The thief had been contemplating about her course of action.


    When she first partnered up with the pirate crew, all that was on her mind was robbing them blind, just as she had done countless times. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine to get this attached to the band of strange pirates.


    Not only did they not steal, rob, pillage, ****, or destroy...err...destroy more. They even saved a couple of islands from other pirate crews and corrupt marines. Their actions could even put some upright marines to shame. The only thing they did that can be considered as a ''crime'' in the eyes of the world, is their insistence on calling themselves pirates and raising up a Jolly Roger.


    This crew changed her entire out look on what a pirate is. Nami even enjoyed herself and truly laughed and smiled from the bottom of her heart.


    Then there was the blonde. Josh instantly saw through her and knew her problems, and even volunteered to help her out. While this stirred something she''d long forsaken inside her, the girl resolutely refused.


    They were her...friends. Real ones! All through out Nami''s life, the only person that can be considered a true friend is Nojiko. She doesn''t even count as she is her sister. On Cocoyasi, there weren''t a lot of people her age, and even if there were, they surely wouldn''t want to associate with her due to her status. She didn''t want any of them to die and risk the lives of her beloved villagers.


    On several occasions, she was called a "witch" by people who thought that she joined the Arlong pirates for money. Although that was the image she wanted them to see, it still hurt her.


    Her face went cold when she thought about having to return to Arlong Park to avoid Arlong''s ire, which he would turn towards the residents of the Conomi islands.


    Just as the woman resolved herself to part ways with her only joy out in the sea, she heard a knock that startled her. Remembering the blonde that once visited her in her room at night, she put on a smile to hide her internal feelings. Unknown to her, the unusually perceptive Luffy caught it.


    To Nami''s surprise, it wasn''t just Josh this time, there was also her idiot captain. She widened the door to let them through.


    Nami''s fake smile faltered slightly when she saw the serious expression on Josh''s face. ''Does he know what I''m planning!?'', She questioned herself. This startled her, because the man always seemed to know what she was thinking. She shuttered at the thought of him having the ability to read minds...for all she knew, Josh might as well have the power.


    Nami sat on her bed like before while Luffy plopped himself down on the wooden floor. Josh remained standing as he looked over the other two.


    "So..what''re we doing in Nami''s room, Josh?" A confused Luffy asked. He could feel the slight tension in the atmosphere when looking at his two crewmates but he had no clue why.


    "Nami, I think you should tell Luffy..." Josh said, trying to urge the orange head. In his opinion, this was the best course of action. Any day now, Don Krieg will arrive and Nami would take off with the Merry, leaving behind the crew as to not involve them.


    If the girl told Luffy her problems and get him to agree to not interfere unless she asks him to, then most of Josh''s worries would be long forgotten.


    "I...d-do I really have to?" Nami stuttered out. She was very hesitant on letting her deepest secrets known to her one and only captain at heart. She had no clue how Luffy would act if she told him everything about herself. Josh nodded. This was crucial for him as he has plans to tell them a certain something on their way to Arlong Park if Nami doesn''t run off by herself.


    "Tell me what?" The only ignorant person in the room questioned. Now he was really confused. He didn''t ask his crewmates about their past or anything related to them because he knows that they will tell him if they needed to. All that mattered to the raven haired teen is the fact that they were his cherished comrades.


    With a tired sigh, Nami once again recounted her own past and the deal with arlong to Luffy. At first, Luffy was still confused about the whole situation, but as the story went on, an emotion was stirred within him.


    If Luffy was confused before, no one would be able to tell now. The strawhat wearing boy had an extremely grim expression on his face. His upper face was hidden within the shadows of his hat and his lips were tightly locked in a frown.


    In the original work, the captain never truly knew the full story behind Nami''s past, but now, he knew everything. Now that he knew, his reaction to the whole situation was completely unknown to even Josh.


    An eerie but deadly silence hung in the atmosphere once again, in fact, it was much more so than earlier.


    When Luffy finally lifted up his head and revealed his face, all one could see is utter rage. On his forehead, there were large visible veins that threatened to pop a blood vessel.


    When Nami saw his expression and felt the sheer rage come off of him, she felt slight fear and regret. A single trickle of sweat slid down the side of her pale face. She thought that Luffy was angry with her for lying to all of them the entire time.


    Although she knew Luffy to be someone not like that. In her moment of insecurity, that was the first thing that ran across her mind. It was the most logical thing to her. She had been planning to betray the crew all along after all. But she should''ve known better to put ''Luffy'' and ''logic'' in the same context.


    "Where is he!? I''LL GO KICK HIS ASS RIGHT NOW!!" Contrary to Nami''s expectations, but completely predictable, Luffy yelled out in rage. His voice was so loud that even Zoro and the others who had been trying to sleep heard it.


    Nami let out a breath that she didn''t know she was holding as the girl sighed out in relief.


    Luffy got up, walked towards Nami, and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "NAMI! We''re going to that bastard fish and kick his ass!" He said again, but this time, it was much quieter.


    "Didn''t you hear what she said? We can''t go deal with arlong now." Josh finally let his existence known again. With both of their attention on him, he continued, "I shouldn''t have to tell you this, Luffy. Have faith in your Nakama, don''t you agree!?"


    Luffy lets go of Nami''s shoulders and slowly nodded. He uncharacteristically took a deep breath to calm himself down. Once Luffy got his bearings, he stepped out of the room without a care for anyone else and silently went back to sleep. What was he thinking about? Maybe even Oda wouldn''t know...


    The remaining two watched Luffy exit the room silently. From the corner of his eyes, Josh could see a stroke of tear fell down Nami''s cheeks. "I advise you with the same words as Luffy. Trust us Nami!" Josh said. Honestly, he was getting a bit tired of all these little drama that was going on.


    It wasn''t like he was an expert in these areas, on the contrary, he''s had very little drama like this going on in his previous life. On the island, it was impossible to have drama with animals...unless one got creative..? Anyway, all this time, Josh has been going off of his memory and guts to deal with Nami.


    "I..I-I''ll take a small dingy back home s-so none of you will get invol-" the hysterical cries of the navigator was cut off by a loud bang that was caused by the wall of the room breaking.


    This was caused when Josh momentarily lost himself a bit in frustration and punched through the wall of the room, startling Nami. He calmed himself once more and sighed, "Nami, I''m getting tired of the back and forth we have between us that always end in no results. If you dare leave by yourself, I''ll storm Arlong Park by myself and damn the consequences!"


    Josh was truly tired of the unnecessary drama that have been going on for far too long now. He felt slightly regretful at being the first to go back on his words of advice that he "sagely" told to his crew mates. There was no mistakes, Nami hated him now...Josh was crying internally at the lost relationship that he built up with the petite girl.


    The blonde had his back turned to Nami and was about to silently walk out the room like Luffy, only in a much worse mood.


    Just as he took his first step, something that he didn''t think would happen, actually took place. Nami, ran up to the blonde and hugged him from behind. Her face was firmly buried in his back, and soon, he could hear sniffles. Although he didn''t feel his skin come in contact with something wet because he was wearing a few layers of clothes, but he was sure that the girl was crying.


    Josh just let Nami be like that for a few minutes and heard a very faint "Thank you.." once the girl let go. He was only able to pick it up because of his devil fruit''s ability to pick up the electrical sound waves in the air.


    Without saying anything, Josh left the room. The difference is the smile on his face. He had no clue why Nami was thanking him when he threatened her, but that didn''t matter to him anymore. At least everything worked out.


    ''Hmm...why do I want to help her so much anyway?'', Josh thought to himself. He is currently back on his own bed and listening to the snoring of everyone around him. Without being able to find a proper and valid answer, he pulled up his blanket and closed his eyes.

 22 Chapter 22

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Remember when Josh mentioned to bonk any other blues idiot who claims to want to become the pirate king? Well...get ready for it, because this man is very special. He is more of a clown than Buggy himself!


    As the two raggedy looking people entered the restaurant. There was silence once again.


    Just before they entered, whispers and murmurs of "Don Krieg", "Strongest pirate in East Blue", or "Most despicable pirate", were heard among the customers of the Baratie when the Krieg pirate ship appeared.


    To everyone''s shock, the presumed "Great" Don Krieg got on his hands and knees. It looked like that was all he could manage to do in his pitiful state.


    Much to Gin''s already growing worry, Krieg actually lowered his head and....begged!


    "Please...give me anything to eat. I don''t...care if it''s just scraps." He started in a raspy voice, sounding already half dead. "I have plenty of treasure...I can pay."


    "No Don! Please get up! A great man such as yourself shouldn''t be begging...!" Gin quickly exclaimed. He was horrified by the actions of the captain he admired. Gin saw Krieg as a great and respectable man, so to see him in such a state, it saddened him.


    Don just ignored Gin as he continued his never ending offers of riches if they just fed him once. Nobody in the restaurant were stupid enough to give him even a drop of water. All the cooks of the Baratie readied themselves to kick out the still kneeling man.


    Just then, Sanji walked over with a plate in his hand. Pushing aside a lobster looking man named Patty who fell down with a thud, he continued until he reached the kneeling "Great Pirate".


    The sous-chef put the plate of amazing smelling fried rice down right in front of the pirate. Everyone in the restaurant were horrified by his actions once again. Some weaker willed customers even fled the scene immediately.


    "S-Sanji-san..." when Gin realized who was helping them again, he felt the gratitude in his heart multiply. If one looked closer, his eyes could even be seen to be a bit misty.


    Before anyone else could react, a random cook berated the chef. "What the hell are you doing,Sanji!? Don''t you know who Don Krieg is!? Who knows what he will do after he regains his strength!!" His voice echoed loudly, bringing everyone back from their shock.


    Sanji calmly took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. The man took a deep breath and breathed out before replying, "I don''t care who it is...anyone hungry is a customer!"


    As soon as the pirate captain saw the food, he scarfed it down like it was the last meal he''ll ever have. The more he ate, the more horrified everyone in the restaurant got!


    "Hahaha...Thank you for the food." When Krieg finished, he got up and knocked Sanji away without any regret. When Gin protested, he grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it hard enough for his subordinate to yell out in pain. "I''m at full strength again.."


    At this point, half of the customers already fled out of there in fear of losing their lives. Josh and Zoro remained unmoving as they just watched the whole thing play out. The same couldn''t be said for Nami and Usopp.


    As they would be known largely as the ''weak trio'', with Chopper included, by the fans of One Piece. This unofficial title doesn''t come without a meaning. They knew about the horrors of the Krieg Pirates because they grew up in the East Blue hearing about it.


    Nami and Usopp were rightfully fearful at the worsening situation. However, they calmed down a bit when they realized that they weren''t in conflict with them....yet.


    "Nami, can you take Usopp with you and bring the Merry around the Baratie so that nothing happens to her?" Josh asked the still stunned girl. Nami snapped out of it when she heard the voice next to her. With a nod, the girl dragged Usopp off with her to the exit before he could even protest.


    "This is a nice ship. I think I''ll take it, after all, my ship is damaged severely." Krieg said as he let go of Gin''s shoulder. His tone of voice sounding like it''s the most natural thing to say.


    "What!? Do you think we''ll just hand you over our restaurant!?" The cooks of the Baratie shouted together. This only made Don chuckle before assuming a threatening tone. "This isn''t a request, it''s an order."


    Hearing the pirate''s order, Patty couldn''t take it anymore and brought out a gun. "After a meal, you should have some dessert!" He pulled the trigger to shoot off multiple rounds of bullets at Krieg.


    With a thud, Don Krieg fell on a table. The bullets pushed him back while creating a plume of smoke that covered his whole body, making it hard to see him. Patty smiled proudly at the result of his action.


    "That was the worse dessert I''ve ever tasted..." from the debris, the non-sarcastic voice of the man thought to be dead or heavily injured spoke up. Krieg got up from the scattered remains of the table, his entire visage showed for all to see.


    Not only was he not injured, the ragged clothes he previously donned was nowhere to be seen. In it''s place, a bright golden armor replaced it. "You cooks shouldn''t have opposed me, I''m the strongest man in the world!" He arrogantly said.


    That was all Josh was willing to take. As a diehard fan of One Piece, Josh had a lot of respect for Whitebeard, especially now that he is in the same world. This man in front of him proclaimed himself to be someone that not even Whitebeard claim to be.


    The monicker of "strongest" was probably given to him by the marines or other pirates. As far as Josh knew, Whitebeard never once said that he was the strongest.


    The blonde was unable to humor the ignorant fool in front of him any longer. "Your the strongest man in the world? Then who the hell is Edward Newgate? Your female cousin!?" He spoke up loud enough to be heard by everyone.


    When everyone heard that voice, they turned their heads toward Josh, especially Zeff who knew what the man was saying. They were first horrified that someone spoke out against Don Krieg, but then looked confused when they processed his words.


    "How the hell should I know who this Edward Newgate is?" Krieg grunted back in clear annoyance. This only made Josh look down on him even more.


    "You don''t even know the name of Whitebeard. No wonder you couldn''t even survive Paradise for a week." Josh sneered. As they heard the name "Whitebeard", all of them couldn''t help but take an uneasy gulp... ''Good, at least they''ve heard of him.'' Was the only thing Josh could think.


    Krieg''s face was red with anger and embarrassment. Even he knew who Whitebeard is...so his earlier statement would only sound like a man making a fool out of himself. He calmed down for a bit before focusing back on the earlier topic.


    "You''ll make enough food and water for 100 people to feed my men. If your still here by the time I return, I''ll kill you all." He said, trying to bring everyone away from his earlier humiliation. As much as he wanted to beat the living daylights out of the brat, he had better things to do.


    "Now you want us to feed the people who will invade us!? Looks like Don Krieg is nothing but a fool!" Patty said, regaining a bit of his confidence.


    Just then, Sanji got up. He dusted himself before calmly making his way towards the kitchen. "Where the hell are you going!?" A cook stopped him.


    "To the kitchen. I have to prepare food and water for a hundred people." Sanji replied. This made all the people present want to puke out all of their blood, but not before ripping Sanji apart.


    As they were all accusing the swirly browed cook, Zeff stepped up with a giant brown bag and laid it right in front of Krieg. "That''s enough food and water for one hundred people. Take it and leave." He calmly said. This got disapproving shouts of "Owner Zeff!" from everyone nearby.


    "You...you''re ''Red-Leg'' Zeff!?" Instead of immediately taking the food, Krieg questioned the old man instead. "That''s right. What of it?" Zeff, however, simply replied dismissively.


    As their banter kept going on and on, Josh could feel the suppressed presence of a monster closing in. He furrowed his brows slightly at this. He had no idea how strong this human beast was because of his masked presence. The one thing Josh was sure about was his identity.


    Further away from the restaurant, a man on a small raft slowly drifted ever closer. The man''s name is Dracule Mihawk, also known as ''Hawkeye Mihawk''. One of the seven Shichibukai and current holder of the title, ''World''s Strongest Swordsman'', and Zoro''s ambition.


    Mihawk is a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that point upwards. His nickname comes from his strangely colored yellow eyes, which resemble a hawk''s eyes.


    He wears black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hides a little dagger, which gives him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consists of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar.


    He wears light purple pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.


    He wears a kogatana around his neck, appearing as a golden cross-shaped necklace.


    His weapon is the legendary ''Black Blade'' Yoru, and it is said to be one of the strongest swords in the world. Yoru is apart of the twelve ''Saijo O Wazamono'', a grade above the Zoro''s Wado Ichimonji which is an ''O Wazamono'' grade sword.


    With this confirmation, a devilish smile spread across Josh''s cheeks from ear to ear. Zoro looked at him funny because he had never seen his mate act that way. If only he knew the reason, his smile would be even wider.

 23 Chapter 23

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Outside the Baratie, an explosion unlike that of a cannon sounded. This explosion was followed by the sound of debris flying everywhere and the Krieg Pirate ship could be seen, slowly sinking.


    "Wha-what''s happening!?"


    "The..the ship..!"


    "Who..?"


    As everyone inside the restaurant heard and saw what they can only assume was the pirate ship sinking, some couldn''t help but voice out their doubts.


    Don Krieg had left the Baratie after proclaiming that he would be back for the ship and the captain''s logbook in possession of Zeff from his adventures on the Grandline. With that, every cook prepared themselves to defend their home and workplace with their lives.


    As they were ready to march out of the restaurant and confront the coming pirates, it suddenly happened. A deafening sound that startled all of them, followed by the Galleon being cut clean in half and now it only remain as scraps of dead wood floating on the sea.


    This prompted everyone to take a closer look at what exactly happened. There was no way in hell that anyone would believe someone could cut a giant ship like that in half, so none of them even humored the thought.


    As they stepped out on the raised platform of the Baratie, Zoro, Luffy, and Josh also followed along. A little while back, Johnny mentioned that the man Zoro had been looking for all this time�� the reason for his departure out on the sea, was rumored to appear near the Baratie.


    The piece of information elated and slightly frightened him. From what Josh told him, he wouldn''t even be able to touch Mihawk, much less defeat him. Even with that revelation, he affirmed his resolve and decided to proceed anyway.


    "The hawk-eyed man" was the one he journeyed for over a year on the sea in search of. There was no way he would let this opportunity go. There was also his promise with a certain blue haired girl that passed away long ago. Zoro would do it! He has to do it. His every being demanded him to confront his target and face him in combat.


    As everyone was now out on the platform, the hazel green light of two candle slowly came in to view. The first thing everyone noticed is the extremely panicked state of the Krieg pirates that didn''t sink from the attack.


    Strewn about on the sides of the broken pieces of rubble, fearful exclamations of "I-it''s him!" Or "The man who sank all of our ships..!" Could be heard. However, Josh didn''t pay attention to any of that.


    The same as Zoro, his eyes were dead set on the small raft like structure that slowly became more visible. Josh instantly recognized the unsafely looking raft as the ''Coffin Boat'', Dracule Mihawk''s personal vessel.


    The Coffin Boat is a very small raft that is shaped like a coffin, hence the name. On both sides of the boat are candles that oddly burns green light. The mast of the boat is a giant cross shaped object with a pitch black sail.


    On the Coffin Boat, sitting as casually as to even cross his legs, is ''Hawkeye'' Dracule Mihawk. He looked extremely intimidating as he slowly approached closer. Behind him is his prized weapon�� Yoru. At this point, Josh''s heart was beating erratically and he didn''t know why.


    The blonde''s plight was nothing when compared to Zoro''s reaction. Although he knew in advance that this man might show up, he couldn''t control his heart beat. Zoro''s eyes widen in slight awe and followed by his rapidly beating heart, he started sweating on the side of his face.


    Josh could even feel the anxiety coming off of Zoro. From a distance, Mihawk masked his presence, however, when he was within reach of the pirate ship, everyone could feel it...the presence of the strong.


    "That...man." Zoro started quietly. This didn''t go unheard by several people and Luffy was one of them.


    "Who is that guy, Zoro?" He asked.


    "That man is..''Hawk-Eye'' Mihawk.." he started, "The strongest swordsman in the world. And the reason I set out to sea." He finished with conviction.


    Just then, Johnny and Yosaku arrived at their side from a dingy and came onboard the restaurant. Not long after, Nami and Usopp also joined and they were filled in on the situation.


    As Josh was contemplating on what to do with the current events, he suddenly heard a voice from within his head...and it shocked him greatly.


    [Ding! Host has unlocked a mission.


    Mission: Fight and defeat ''Hawkeye'' Dracule Mihawk�� the strongest swordsman in the world.


    Rewards: 100 Billion System Points, Random Infinity Stone x 1, Saiyan Bloodline, Free Pass x 1]


    ''What the heck are these!?'' The man raged in his mind. He was too shocked to even form sentences. He didn''t feel the initial excitement that he got whenever he stumbled upon a mission, instead there was only incomparable shock!


    With rewards like that, nobody in the One Piece world would be able to do anything to him! He was certain of that as if it was already an established fact.


    In his state of shock, Josh missed the actions of Mihawk. Mihawk got on a floating broken bark of a ship and deflected bullets shot at him with such grace and ease. This stirred another great commotion among everyone present.


    Unknowingly, Zoro took a step closer. Step by step, his heart beat became faster and faster. He put on his serious face, strapped his bandana on his head, and drew all of his swords.


    Zoro jumped on the floating piece of ship that the other swordsman was on and issued a challenge. Some of the Krieg Pirates even recognized him as the ''Pirate Hunter'' Roronoa Zoro.


    Josh finally snapped out of his own stunned state when he heard the worried shouts of his comrades beside him. He looked around to see that Zoro was no longer with them. The man sent his sight towards Mihawk, and there he was....already challenging the world''s best.


    Josh almost panicked when he remembered the scene of Zoro''s cut up body. There was no guarantee that this time, the man would make it out alive. All the straw hats had a very powerful weapon called ''Plot Armor'' on their side in the anime...but Josh was unsure about that here.


    He did the only thing he could do in this situation and took a breath to calm himself. With a glare, he sent his Haoshoku Haki...concentrated it as best he could, and mixed it with the wild killing intent he has honed for the past 3 years.


    As he did this, some people began to slowly roll their eyes backward and fell flat on their faces. It wasn''t everyone in the area as Josh concentrated most of it towards Hawkeye. As Josh doesn''t have perfect control over his Haoshoku Haki, when he went full out, it couldn''t be help that some could leak out.


    Everyone in the area felt a shiver down their spines...none more so than the man who the mental attack was directed towards. The only person who seemed to be unaffected by this is Luffy as he looked around curiously.


    "Wha..what''s going on...?" A cook asked as he shook his companion who had suddenly collapsed. Similar situations can be seen happening in several different places.


    Although only a few actually fainted, most of them felt the unknown power that invaded their minds and made some even weak kneed. As the blast of haki was more or less controlled, there were only a few casualties.


    Earlier, Mihawk had been talking down on the foolish swordsman who couldn''t even tell the difference between their strength.


    Suddenly, he felt a sensation he felt many times before. The world''s greatest swordsman opened his eyes a bit wider than before, and nearly took a step back. As soon as he felt the Haki invade his mind, he drew Yoru at lightning speed, got in a fighting stance, and glared daggers at the one responsible.


    As Dracule Mihawk wasn''t expecting such a strong blast of will, or any at all from the weakest blue out of all of them, he was slightly unprepared and was caught off guard. However, his title of greatest isn''t just for show as he immediately got into battle stance.


    The only other person who was gazing Josh before Mihawk was the man who was much closer, therefore, felt it first. Owner Zeff has his suspicions when the brat mentioned the name of Whitebeard himself, and called the first half of the Grandline as Paradise...but now, there was no doubt.


    The kid before him was definitely from the Grandline, maybe even the New World! "You..." he muttered too quietly for anyone to hear.


    Once Mihawk sent his gaze towards Josh and totally ignored Zoro, everyone couldn''t help but satisfy their curiosity and turn their heads the same way as well.


    When they looked, they could see a young man with bright blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, an open vest, and a strange cape over his shoulders. The man never took his eyes off of Mihawk as he slowly opened his mouth.


    "I''d appreciate it.." he started quietly...but loud enough to be heard, "if you didn''t kill our swordsman..." he finished in a threatening tone. This sent shivers down everyone''s spines and Mihawk now knew that his earlier attack was a warning.


    The world''s best swordsman couldn''t help but appraise Zoro once again. The companion of someone of that caliber would surely be at least somewhat powerful as well. He started to doubt if he actually misjudged his challenger. With Yoru fully drawn, their match was about to start.

 24 Chapter 24

    Josh''s PoV:


    Damn..I didn''t think my earlier display would worsen the situation for Zoro. Not only did Mihawk draw out Yoru from the get-go, he''s also eyeing me suspiciously and would probably treat Zoro a bit more seriously.


    I''m sure Zoro is elated that Mihawk took his challenge with some seriousness, but that is not good for him. Well...I''m sure once they start fighting, Mihawk might consider my earlier "warning" and not just straight up kill him. Fingers crossed.


    "What the heck was that earlier!?" Our beautiful navigator asked as her eyes are glued on me. Was she somehow able to tell that I was the one responsible? That''s interesting. Maybe it''s because Mihawk eyed me suspiciously for a bit.


    As the girl asked this, the nearby Luffy, Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, and a few nearby cooks listened attentively, even Zeff was paying attention, although his eyes are set on the ongoing match. "You guys remember what I told you about haki?"


    With a nod of her head, Nami responded, "Yeah. Was that one of those haki? I don''t remember you saying that they could knock out people without even touching them."


    With my own sight turned away from Zoro who is rapidly swinging his 3 katanas, I explained, "I didn''t tell you what the third type of Haki can do. It''s called Haoshoku Haki, and it''s the power of intimidation. Those who possess this haki can clash wills with someone else and if the user is stronger, they can take over the opponent''s will and knock them out for some time."


    It''s a bit hard to explain all the properties of Haoshoku haki with words to someone who has never experienced it, but I hope she understood from that.


    "Oni...Giri!" With the sudden shout of one of Zoro''s favorite technique, our attention was once again brought back to the fight. Johnny and Yosaku were completely stunned when it was stopped dead in its tracks.


    Luffy looked like he was holding himself back from interrupting the fight while Nami and Usopp looked fearful. Everyone else just watched with gaped mouths and bated breaths.


    "Impossible!" Johnny screamed out. "Nobody has ever stopped that move before!" Yosaku also concurred. They wanted to immediately charge in there when Zoro got slashed on his thigh but Luffy stopped them. Although the cut was pretty shallow, everyone was still seeing red.


    Zoro was having a hard time standing up properly anymore, so he readied himself to use his ultimate attack. Luffy watched the match with uncharacteristically unreadable emotions.


    I wondered briefly why he didn''t use the move that he recently learned�� the flying slash. Then the answer came as quickly as the question arose. Zoro hasn''t had the chance to see it''s effects yet. There can be several problems with testing out a new move, especially on someone like Mihawk.


    Zoro must of also figured out that a move like the flying slash wouldn''t be any good against his opponent. I''m glad he''s using his head properly, although he went on a bit of a rampage at the beginning, he''s doing pretty well for himself.


    On the little floating wood, about a few feet away from each other, are Zoro and Mihawk. Mihawk has the look of being unimpressed and the indifferent face on him remained. Meanwhile, Zoro was slightly breathing hard and prepared his 3 swords in front of him.


    "Why do you still choose to continue?" Hawkeye spoke up for the first time since their fight began, "you already know the difference between our powers." He said. Zoro has a few gashes running along his torso.


    "It is my dream to be the world''s greatest swordsman. If I back out now, I might never get the chance again in the future." The green-haired swordsman replied without any hesitation. He knew quite well the difference in power, even before they fought.


    With some hesitation, he continued. "I..I have a promise to keep with a friend." His determination rose after that. They both locked eyes once more and knew that the next attack would be the last one.


    Slightly crouching, the challenger started spinning his katanas in front of him and Mihawk also drew back his sword. Their movements were nothing but a blur for the spectators, but they all heard one thing clearly. It was the secret technique of the santoryu. "Santoryu Ougi: Sanzan Sekai" Zoro screamed out.


    After the sound of steel on steel contact, a few things happened. From the eyes of the normal spectators, the two combatants dashed at each other in a frightening speed and the next thing they knew, both swordsman had their backs facing each other, with Mihawk crouching.


    Slowly, the two katanas in Zoro''s hands crumbled into a heap of metal and only the prized Wado Ichimonji remained. The abilities each of them showcased were awe inspiring. Unknown to them, Mihawk was holding himself back quite a bit. If he truly went out on someone who couldn''t even cut steel, let alone use haki...there was no need to continue this line of thought.


    With blood trickling down the side of his lips, Zoro turned to face Mihawk and spread his arms wide as if to hug a bear. I hardened my gaze at the inevitable outcome.


    With a confused look, Mihawk stood back up to his feet and questioned, "What are you doing?" It wasn''t like he didn''t have an idea, the man simply wanted to confirm it for himself.


    "A wound on the back is a swordsman''s greatest shame." The green head replied with a smirk. He admitted his loss and was ready to face the consequences.


    "Magnificent!" The world''s greatest swordsman exclaimed with a very rare smile on his face. He looked even more devilishly manly as he did so. Truly a smile worth a million.


    And then the inevitable happened. With a wide swing, Mihawk swung his renowned Yoru across Zoro''s torso, from shoulder to hip. There was so much blood that normally, one would think he should die from blood loss if not from the injuries he had received.


    "ZOROOOO.....!!!!" Everyone watched as East Blue''s infamous ''Pirate Hunter'' Roronoa Zoro fell into the ocean with a huge splash. No one was able to tell if it was head first or if his back hit the sea surface as they were all too stunned by what just happened.


    I quickly checked to confirm if Zoro was still alive, and I gotta give props to the guy, he''s as tenacious as a cockroach! Although greatly weakened, his life force was still there. I let out a silent sigh of relief as I confirmed this.


    Before I could inform everyone that the man was actually still alive, Luffy slung himself with his ''gomu gomu no rocket'' and was literally rocketing himself towards Dracule Mihawk. His expression was absolutely livid as he did so.


    "Johnny, Yosaku. Go get Zoro out of the water. He''s still alive." With a resigned sigh, I ordered the two of them to quickly rescue Zoro. Upon hearing my words, they didn''t even give themselves enough time to be surprised and dove right into the ocean. I am truly amazed by their complete admiration for Zoro.


    "He..he''s really alive?" Usopp shakily asked. He was rightfully skeptical. With wounds like that, any normal person would keel over within seconds due to the intense pain and blood loss. But who was Roronoa Zoro? He''s the future greatest swordsman in the world! I expect nothing less than this if he truly wants to make it there.


    I gave a curt nod and summersaulted toward Mihawk and Luffy''s location. Spun countless times on the air but landed with unexpected grace.


    "You..you killed zoro!!" Luffy shouted furiously. He wanted to immediately rush the man and pounce on him. Luffy didn''t care if Mihawk was much stronger than himself. All that mattered was avenging his nakama.


    As I slowly examined the scene before me, I saw an outraged Luffy who seems to have bloodshot eyes, and a Mihawk who is way too casual for comfort.


    "Are you the comrades of that man? Worry not, for he isn''t dead." As I was about to inform a certain hothead, I was interrupted again by Mihawk''s unperturbed voice. It seems to be the trend these days.


    Hearing his voice up close for the first time was even more awe inspiring than I thought. His tone was sharp and unquestionable. His voice was domineering and had a very authoritative yet natural sound to it. Oh my god...I''m fanboying right now aren''t I? Get it together Josh!!


    The both of them didn''t react at my sudden landing or my fanboying expression. These were Luffy and Mihawk we were talking about, why would they react? Maybe Mihawk is used to admiring gazes from other people and Luffy is...well, just Luffy.


    Just then, the shaky voice of Zoro could be heard. "L-Luffy..." he said as he had his only remaining katana raised up. "Can...you hear me?" Johnny and Yosaku had managed to properly rescue him and along with Nami and Usopp, they were all on the boat we used to get to the restaurant before.


    A shout of "Yeah!" came from Luffy who had his eyes a bit wider than usual and his expressions were filled with relief. Since Nami didn''t betray the crew like in canon, she was also present.


    "Baka, stop talking. You''ll worsen your injuries." Nami scolded him lightly. A myriad of emotions were running through her along with the events that occurred. The bounty hunter duo were devastated and started crying and shouting "Aniki..!!"


    They were running around frantically, trying to patch up Zoro''s wounds. The peanut gallery had no choice but to watch everything as it happened. A few of them made some comments and exclamations but were deemed too unimportant for me to care.


    "Sorry for worrying you...If I don''t become the greatest swordsman in the world, you''ll be in trouble right...?" He barely managed to say as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Even between sentences, he was panting unusually hard.


    "Aniki!"


    "Aniki! Please stop talking."


    Their tears were rolling down even harder as they desperately urged Zoro to save his strength. But zoro was having none of it as he continued stubbornly.


    "I will..." Zoro''s tears started to come out as his voice became a bit shaky. "I will never...LOSE AGAIN! Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I''ll never lose again." The injured swordsman could no longer hold it back anymore so he just let his tears flow freely.


    At this point Mihawk was showing another one of his ultra rare smiles with his teeth fully shown. From my foggy memory of One Piece, Mihawk only smiled a few times...hey, you try and live 3 years in isolation then come back to judge me!


    "ANY PROBLEMS WITH THAT, PIRATE KING!?" He finally finished his tearful vow in a loud voice. All of them listened intently and were shocked by his conviction. How could such a man exist?


    "Nope. Shishishishi..." Luffy just smiled in relief. At this point, even I couldn''t help but give a toothy grin. If someone had half of Roronoa Zoro''s determination, they would surely become world famous as well.


    Mihawk turned around to leave. He expertly put his Yoru on his back and was ready to return to the Grandline as he already had enough fun. What was the reason behind Mihawk chasing a bunch of no-name pirates that just entered Paradise you ask? The answer is simple...he was bored and wanted to kill some time.


    "Don''t be too hasty to leave, Hawkeye. I haven''t had my turn yet." I said as I grinned widely. There was no way I as going to pass up the chance to obtain the mission rewards and test myself out against one of the strongest men in the world.

 25 Chapter 25

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Slowly, the greatest swordsman in the world stopped his charge towards his ride. Dracule Mihawk turned around and examined the youngster standing before him.


    From his initial estimation, the kid didn''t look like a swordsman. Then why was he asking for a duel? There had been several people that had challenged him simply to test their strength against himself, so Mihawk came to his own understanding.


    "And why do you wish to challenge me? You don''t seem to be a swordsman." Mihawk said as he looked at the peculiar gun on Josh''s hips.


    "I wish to test myself against you. I wish to know where I stand in this world." Josh resolutely responded, he had a serious expression on his face as he said this. The rewards were very tempting but he knew his limit to an extent. There was no guarantee that Josh could beat Mihawk, so he aimed for a different goal.


    Mihawk just made a ponderous sound before turning around to leave again.


    "Wait..wait! You''re not even gonna consider!?" Josh panicked for a bit as he stretched his arm out to stop him.


    "I''ve already had my fun here. There''s no reason for me to accept your challenge." Mihawk simply said. Although Mihawk''s interest was peeked a little, the man wasn''t even a swordsman. There was no need for him to even consider.


    Josh furrowed his brows as he heard what Mihawk said. He was right. There really was no need for him to accept his challenge. So...should he just straight up attack and force him to fight? Nah..Josh didn''t want to leave a bad impression of himself on Mihawk.


    "What if I told you that my captain is more or less related to Akagami Shanks?" There was no choice. Josh had to pull the ''red-haired'' card even if it''s only to interest Mihawk.


    He knew from the anime that Mihawk and Shanks were good buddies and had dueled many times before. By telling him this, he hopes to attract Mihawk''s attention.


    Sure enough, Mihawk''s interest grew a bit more after he heard this. He momentarily stopped walking again.


    "This ossan knows Shanks!?" Luffy interrupted their conversation. As soon as he heard the word "Shanks", his ears perked up immediately.


    Mihawk twitched a bit when he heard Luffy call him an "ossan". He was only 41 this year! He wasn''t old enough to be called an ossan.


    "Take a good look at his straw hat." Josh baited once more.


    Mihawk then took a look at Luffy''s straw hat. Indeed, it looked just like the hat Akagami always had on. Some decade ago, he went to look for Shanks to duel. That was when he found out the man was missing 2 things. His straw hat and an arm!


    "Ossan, you know Shanks!? How is he doing? Where is he right now!?" Luffy energetically questioned him. His face had on a brilliant smile and he seemed to be glowing a bit.


    "What is your relationship with that man?" Mihawk questioned back instead of answering. Luffy began to enthusiastically explain to him about the time Shanks came to his little Fusha village.


    "I do indeed remember Akagami telling me about that once." Mihawk concurred. His face was neutral, not showing any emotions at all. His eyes, however, gleamed a bit more than usual, but nobody noticed. He was very good at hiding his emotions and there weren''t a lot of things that could make the experienced man react.


    "What are your names?" Mihawk asked. At this point, his interest was peeked enough to ask for their identities. He didn''t really have any sort of impression of them just yet, only information.


    "I''m Monkey D. Luffy. The man who''s going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy stood up straight and pointed at himself. He was very proud of himself and his dream.


    "Pirate king? That''ll be even harder than surpassing me." Mihawk said in a slightly more amiable tone. His gaze then turned to the other person in the conversation.


    "I guess I''ll follow the cap''s introduction. The name''s Joshua. I''ll be the person who has the most fun in the world!" Josh also introduced himself. ''Maybe I should come up with a last name of my own..'' he thought. He didn''t want to use his own family name out of respect. After all, Josh is now a pirate and will be deemed a vile criminal in the future. There was no way he was going to drag his family name through the mud.


    ''How odd. He says he wants to have fun, yet became a pirate.'' Mihawk thought. It felt weird to him. Normally, being a pirate is not a very fun thing to do, and very little pirates have the strength to enjoy the open seas, especially on the Grandline. However, everyone''s view of ''fun'' is different so he didn''t judge.


    At this moment, something happened that annoyed all of them. "Hey Mihawk, did you come to take my head!?" An arrogant voice came from on top of the wreckage. This voice belonged to none other than the most despicable pirate in the East Blue.


    Mihawk narrowed his eyes slightly in displeasure. He was currently having a conversation with the two in front and that ant dared to interrupt them? There was a limit to how ignorant a person can be.


    However, at this moment, someone was even more displeased than Mihawk. Josh''s whole body convulsed a bit in rage. He had been trying so hard to garner Mihawk''s attention and now this idiot was getting in his way.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything to the man himself. Josh knew the importance of this fight with Don Krieg was for Luffy. Not only will Luffy gain the respect of Sanji through this fight, it''ll also harden Luffy''s resolve. He had also previously decided to not interfere with important fights for the crew''s growth.


    "Damn fool...! Luffy, hurry and shut that guy up, would ya?" Josh commented. The man was just becoming a nuisance. He turned his head to Mihawk and spoke, "Could you stay for a little while longer to witness the fight? You''ll have something to tell Akagami when you see him again."


    Josh had to try and keep the man from leaving so he could get the opportunity to fight him before he does. Mihawk looked at the ongoing situation and seemed disinterested. There was no reason for him to stay.


    ''System, what is the best wine I can buy from the shop?'' Josh asked the system mentally. According to his memory, Mihawk should be somewhat of a wine lover, so if he could have him stay by giving him some divine tasting wine, he''ll gladly do it.


    [Ding! With the Host''s current points, the best wine Host can purchase is the Godly Wine.


    Godly Wine: A wine brewed for the gods. Able to make even the most alcohol haters fall in love with wine.


    Cost: 1,000,000 System Points.]


    ''What the fuk! That''s too much for just some wine. Something less costly please.'' Josh almost exclaimed out loud when he saw the price. It costs the same as having the ability to be immune to seawater for a devil fruit user!


    [Ding! Acknowledged. System suggests Host to buy the High-Tiered Wine. Although it is vastly inferior to the Godly Wine, the High-Tiered Wine is better than any wine that this world can produce.


    High-Tiered Wine: A high class wine that can even captivate someone who has tasted some of the best wine a mortal can produce.


    Cost: 10,000 points.]


    ''Yes! That''s the one. Wait, how come I can buy things like this? I don''t think there are such things in the world of One Piece.'' Josh asked. He was puzzled. According to the System, he couldn''t buy anything special that was out of the One Piece world, unless it is through missions.


    [Ding! Correct. These items are unrelated to the world of One Piece. There are items on the shop that are system exclusive.]


    "What!?" Josh accidentally shouted out in surprise. How come the System never mentioned this before? He quickly shut his mouth again after getting suspicious looks from the people in earshot.


    ''What is this System exclusive items? How come you''ve never told me about this before!?'' Josh asked with a bit of fury. Right now, he felt like beating the tarp out of this "Void" for giving him such an irresponsible system.


    [Ding! Host never asked. The System Exclusive Items are items on the shop that are preset, meaning it has nothing to do with any world. Host is able to purchase any of them no matter the world.]


    The system''s reply only strengthened the budding feeling Josh had in his guts to beat a certain something up. However, he calmed himself down with a sigh.


    ''I''ll have to look into those items later. Right now, just buy the wine.'' Josh commanded with a defeated expression. If anyone observed his expressions during his short conversation with the System, they would definitely think that he had a screw loose.


    Josh covered his hand with his cloak to prevent the light from showing. After a while, Josh felt a bottle on his hand and he smiled.


    "How about I offer you some wine while you observe? I promise you won''t regret it." Josh finally spoke again. Mihawk was about to leave again for the third time and Luffy already ran off to fight Don Krieg.


    When Mihawk heard "wine", he didn''t even stop to turn back again. He had a massive collection of the best wine in the world back at home so it didn''t really interest him. However, the next words he heard managed to stop him again, and hopefully, it''ll be for the last time.


    "I can guarantee that it''ll be the best wine you''ll ever drink in your life." Josh also added.


    "That''s a bold claim. I''ve tasted all sorts of wine during my life."


    Dracule Mihawk thought for a bit and then came to a decision. There was no reason not to humor the youngsters and stay for a bit longer if his claims are indeed true. "Come on then. I''ll have a taste." He said.


    Josh smiled. He was happy. His efforts weren''t for naught and Mihawk took the bait. Now that he bought himself some time, he could slowly think of a way to convince him to fight. If it was absolutely impossible, he''ll just risk angering the world''s greatest swordsmanand sneak attack him.

 26 Chapter 26: Battle For The Baratie

    Third Person''s PoV


    Out on the massive sea, the weather was great. The seagulls were flapping their wings happily and the many species of fishes were also swimming cheerily. The sea waves were also calm as they rippled rhythmically.


    All of this were true, except for at a certain floating restaurant.


    If one took a closer look, they would find two sea vessels close to each other. One looks exactly like a fish, while the other is nothing but a soon-to-be fish habitat.


    Some of the Krieg pirates already boarded the Baratie, while others still remain on the pieces of driftwood. They all had a goal in mind...steal the Baratie and force the cooks off of it.


    This was the case for the pirates, however, all of them remained glued to where they were at. Not just them but the cooks also didn''t make a move.


    The reason? It''s simple...they all saw the fight between Zoro and Mihawk, and heard the conversation that went on afterwards.


    Something like this was not an everyday occurrence in the East Blue. Heck, it probably doesn''t even happen in Paradise.


    Everyone witnessed the infamous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, who is known all throughout the East Blue as a killing machine or a demon, lose pathetically against someone.


    That someone isn''t just any average joe. No, he is the world''s greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Dracule Mihawk.


    Some of them had already expected him to lose, but not in the way that he did. It was clear that none of them had any idea of how wide the world is or what the peak of strength really means.


    To their increasing shock, someone else actually dared to challenge Mihawk who became a death god in their eyes. Nobody knew the identity of the new challenger so they couldn''t help but ridicule him in their hearts.


    "What an idiot..."


    "Didn''t he see how badly Zoro lost?"


    "What can a no name like him possibly achieve?"


    Roronoa Zoro is known pretty well in the East Blue as a terrifying swordsman, but he still lost like that. Now, someone else that none of them had an inkling about was stepping up. They all thought that he was only looking for his death or he lost his mind. Even Zeff couldn''t help but feel that something was off.


    They were once again shocked by the content of their discussion. All of the cooks and pirates stared dumbly at the leaving backs of Josh and Mihawk who are chatting nonchalantly as if they were old acquaintances.


    "Men! Beat those cooks and steal our new ship. We''ll get our revenge on Hawkeye after this!" Everyone was brought out of their shocked state by a loud order that came from none other than Don Krieg.


    "Aye aye, captain!" A pirate grunt responded after a momentary pause.


    The pirates and cooks alike instantly snapped out of it as they once again charged at each other.


    To the cooks of the Baratie, this fight was big enough to change their fates. To them, the restaurant was something much more than a mere workplace. As important as the place that brings you food to the table is, the Baratie had a higher place in their hearts than that.


    The floating restaurant Baratie was their home, as well as the place they could all be themselves.


    Most of the employees are rather rough, so to say. They all were deemed unworthy of being chefs in the eyes of their previous employers and were kicked out. This was especially true for Patty and Carne.


    They were fired for violence in the workplace and somehow managed to find their way to the Baratie.


    At the restaurant, they weren''t restricted, nor were they fired simply for their bad behavior. They were respected instead. It''s a bit odd but the truth nonetheless.


    At least once a week, someone, mostly pirates, would cause trouble in the restaurant. Prompting the cooks to take the matters into their own hands since the marines weren''t always around. After a bit of time defending themselves, the chefs realized they didn''t need the protection from the marines. This was how the cooks of the Baratie became known as fighting chefs of the sea.


    "There is no way we are simply handing the restaurant over!" A chef loudly shouted as he clenched the giant fork in his hands. The man was preparing himself for a fight with his life on the line to protect his home.


    "Yeah! You''re going to have to go over my dead body if you want the Baratie!" Another chef yelled out. All of the people on their side felt the same.


    Zeff stood there with his arms crossed. His face remained indifferent as his gaze swept over the backs of Dracule Mihawk and the mystery youngster. His sight then turned to his employees.


    On the outside, Zeff maintained his calm and indifferent expression, but in his heart, he couldn''t help but feel prideful. The snot nosed brats that he picked up were willing to put their lives on the line and fight for his property.


    After losing a leg by saving Sanji back when he was nothing but an ignorant child, Zeff placed all of his dreams and hopes on opening a restaurant on the sea that allows anyone and everyone to dine there.


    To see his employees defend something that was precious to him made him feel warm inside.


    The cooks and pirates finally reached each other and started fighting.


    On the Coffin Boat,


    Mihawk placed himself back to the position he was usually in while drifting at sea, however, he wasn''t as relaxed as when he previously showed up to finish off the last ship that escaped him.


    His body was sat up a bit more but Mihawk still had his legs crossed and his hands linked together on his knees.


    Josh sat himself in front of Mihawk. He had no choice but to hunker down on the even floor because there was no other raised platforms on the small boat, except for the railing.


    "Here." Josh said as he tossed the bottle he had in his right hand. It was expertly caught by Mihawk without even looking at it. "Just watch the show and enjoy yourself." He added.


    Mihawk eyed the bottle in his hand and popped the cork off. He proceeded to give the content a whiff. The swordsman was slightly surprised by the smell that entered his nostrils.


    Mihawk had tasted all sorts of wine across the world. From all over East Blue , West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue, and even from Paradise and the New World, so he was very knowledgeable. He could usually tell the quality of the alcohol from the initial scent. According to his sense of smell, the bottle of wine before him was one with a very high quality.


    Mihawk initially just wanted to humor Josh and then leave. He had high standards when it came to wine, so Mihawk wasn''t really expecting much when he was offered.


    He was willing to entertain the kid because of his captain''s relationship with Akagami Shanks. They were old buddies. Even though they mostly just fought when they saw each other, they also partied wildly afterwards. Somewhere along the road, Shanks and Mihawk bonded through their battles and they each felt close to one another, even though it went unexpressed.


    Mihawk finally took a small swig of the wine as a test to confirm his thoughts. He couldn''t help but widen his eyes a little more and give a curt nod. This wine was indeed one of the best tasting wine he had ever drank before.


    Mihawk felt a little glad that he decided to stay and listen to Josh. The wine could be considered an absolute delicacy for people who are wine lovers. The alcohol content was a little high for simple drinking but the overall taste and feeling it gave was mesmerizing.


    Mihawk only felt this way after drinking a few bottles of some of the world''s best alcohol.


    To clarify, the wine was a myriad of colors, looking like a liquid rainbow and contained bits of various types of delicious fruits that are grown and nurtured meticulously. This is a complete contrast to the simple looking bottle that one might find everywhere else in the world.


    Josh sat there and watched silently at the ongoing chaos. This matter didn''t really interest him much. The only things he might be able to look forward to in the future are the anticipated fight with Mihawk and maybe meeting Dragon.


    As he sat there observing, he could feel a shadow approaching from behind the rubble. This shadow was just a no name grunt of the Krieg pirate so his interest died down quite a bit.


    From the corner of the slowly sinking wood that used to be their pirate ship, a man was stealthily preparing to ambush the "unsuspecting" Mihawk and Josh. If he was somehow able to catch them off guard and injure or possibly kill them, not only will he become famous in the case of Mihawk, his captain would also be willing to give him some sort of reward once everything settled.


    With these thoughts in mind, the pirate tried his best to conceal his presence and quietly drew out his pistol.


    "Aim carefully...carefully.." he whispered to himself for some encouragement. The greed in his eyes could even be seen by a blind person. Just when he was about to pull the trigger and gain fame and riches, a devastating blow was struck at him.


    Unknown to the man, Josh wasn''t even bothering to pay attention to him after one glance. Mihawk couldn''t be bothered to give the man a glance at all as he was busy amercing himself with the show put out before him and the wine offered to him by Josh.


    The pirate''s greedy eyes when looking at the both of them was displeasing to Josh so he shot a simple lighting at him and instantly put him out for good. The attack was nothing but a small current of electricity and wasn''t even worth naming.


    "A devil fruit." Mihawk raised one eyebrow curiously. His interest in Josh growing by the second. Not only did he possess the Haoshoku, he could even control it. There was no doubt in Mihawk''s mind that the man knew the other two forms of haki as well.


    Then there was the wine. From his own extensive knowledge and experience, Dracule Mihawk never came across a drink that looked, tasted, or even smelled like it before. The question of where he got it from couldn''t help but arise.


    Now, Josh even showcased a devil fruit. Although the exact nature of the abilities granted by the fruit was unknown to him as he only witnessed a small portion of it, the ability seemed to be quite a powerful one.


    The kid became more and more interesting as Mihawk learned more about him. He even thought that Josh wouldn''t be so different compared to the average pirates in the New World, maybe even more formidable. Thoughts of actually accepting the challenge came to his mind as Mihawk took his time enjoying the alcoholic beverage.


    "Wouldn''t you like to know.." Josh just smiled. The plan seemed to be taking effect as he noticed Mihawk''s growing interest. Josh''s plan was simple, if Mihawk wasn''t interested in him, then he''ll get him to be and act indifferent about it to raise it even higher.


    Hopefully, one final nail would seal the deal and Mihawk will just have to give in and fight him.


    "BAAAAM!!!" Just then, a very loud noise caught Josh''s attention and when he turned around, a smile was instantly placed on his face.

 27 Chapter 27: Treatment or Torture?

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "What do you think?" Josh asked. Everything was already settled and the fight between Luffy and Don Krieg just ended.


    During the entire fight, neither Josh nor Mihawk interfered one bit. They would share a few comments once something different occurred but not really a lengthy conversation. From this, Josh mentally noted that Mihawk was a man of few words.


    "Hm. His will is impressive. Not a lot of people can be that fearless towards death." Mihawk nodded. He didn''t really comment much on the actual fighting because it was all child''s play to him.


    "Oooi...Josh! What are you doing!?" From the boat, The two calmly conversing men could hear the loud shout of someone from their side. Turning that way, Josh saw Usopp frantically waving at him.


    "Excuse me for a moment...and don''t you leave!" Josh said. His expression was helpless as he flashed away into lightning and reappearing by Usopp''s side, greatly surprising him.


    "Wha-How did you do that!?" He stammered. Usopp nervously gulped and took a step back.


    "Relax. It was just my devil fruit. Now, what did you need?" Josh calmly asked. He was just about to make his move and had to be swift about it, or else Mihawk would leave, and it''ll be a long while until they met each other again.


    "Oh right! What were you doing with that man? And why didn''t you help out when Luffy was fighting?" Usopp questioned suspiciously after regaining his bearings. To him, Mihawk was an enemy, and his crew mate was just sitting around with him and not helping them out.


    "I was trying to coax him to fight me. He stubbornly insisted to leave, so I had no choice." Josh replied. Purposefully leaving out the answer for the second part of his interrogation.


    "You still want to fight that monster after what we saw him do!?" Usopp yelled in surprise. After a bit, he suddenly realized something. "That could count as an answer for the first question but what about the second one?"


    "That..well, I trust Luffy and he didn''t ask for help. Besides, if I interfered with low level fights like this every time, how would you guys ever improve?" Josh shot back. He had to eventually answer to the reason for his inactions. If he felt that any of the crew members were in any life threatening danger, then of course he would intervene.


    However, if he took away the experiences that the crew would gain after fights, how would they ever better themselves. With those thoughts in mind, Josh hoped that it was enough to convince the cowardly man.


    "That''s it!? What if one of us lost our lives because you weren''t there to help!?" Usopp shouted again in actual fury. It was well justified and it stemmed from worrying about his friend''s lives, and mostly his own.


    "Chill. If something like that were to really happen, I''ll be there to stop it. Questioning can''t be the only reason you called me right?" Josh raised his hands in his own defense and replied.


    Usopp wanted to ask further about how he would know or how he would get there in time, but decided not to, because there was a more urgent issue at hand. "Oh right. We were able to stitch together most of Zoro''s injuries, but the cut on his torso is too difficult for us since none of us are actual doctors. Is there anything you know or can do to help?"


    "What? You can''t patch him up!?" Josh asked in surprise. He was confused. In cannon, Zoro''s injuries were all stitched together without any problems so how is it possible that they couldn''t do it now?


    ''This doesn''t make sense. How come they can''t fix him up? Does it...have something to do with me?'' Josh pondered to himself silently. One hand was placed on his chin as he did so. Suddenly, an idea came to him.


    ''Is it because of what I did before their fight!? Did Mihawk cut him too deeply because of my interference?'' This idea was becoming more and more likely in Josh''s mind as panic slowly creeped into him.


    "Yeah, it''s getting bad. If we don''t get it treated properly soon, he could die from blood loss." Usopp said in a sad tone.


    "That''s bad. But..I''m not a doctor, what can I��!" Josh was about to question himself when an idea struck him again.


    ''System, can I buy some medical skills?'' He asked the system in his mind.


    [Ding! Certainly Host.]


    ''That''s great! How much does it cost?'' Josh was ecstatic when he heard the system''s reply so he immediately asked how much they cost.


    [Ding!


    Beginner Medical Skills cost 100,000.


    Intermediate Medical Skills cost 1,000,000.


    Advanced Medical skills cost 10,000,000.


    Master Medical Skills cost 100,000,000.


    Godly Medical Skills cost 1,000,000,000.]


    Those astronomical numbers towards the end shocked Josh greatly.


    ''With my current amount of points, I can only afford the intermediate skill. Would that be enough to save Zoro?'' Josh asked again in worry.


    [Ding! Negative, Host. To treat an injury of that level would require the purchase of at least Advanced Medical Skills.]


    Josh''s hopes were smashed by the system''s words. His previously hopeful face seemed to sag a bit in despair.


    Usopp was on the side watching him go through a series of facial expressions and was slightly confused. He then asked, "do you have anything that can help?"


    "I..I don''t kn��wait! I think I might have something. I''ve watched a bunch of survival shows and in one of them, there was a guy that did something like that...yes, it could work. Bring me to him immediately!" Josh exclaimed. He was going to disappoint Usopp at first, but then a idea came to him again for the third time.


    "I don''t know what a ''survival show'' is but if it''ll help, then that''s great." Usopp said, and led him inside a small room with a single bed. Around the bed were three people.


    Nami and the bounty hunter duo were standing in the room with worried expressions on their faces. This was especially true for Johnny and Yosaku. Tears were running down their faces non-stop.


    "Make way. I think I can patch up his wound." The door was slammed heavily against the wall and a voice echoed out. The trio looked back to find Josh and Usopp so they opened up a path for him without delay.


    Josh came up to the side of the bed to find Zoro. The man''s face looked much paler when compared to his usual self, letting Josh know the severity of the situation. Zoro was having a hard time keeping his consciousness and his gaze kept going in and out of focus.


    The swordsman''s injury was a really severe one. Nami and Usopp tried their best to stitch it up but it just wouldn''t stop bleeding even after applying pressure on it for a long time.


    This was because the wound was too deep. The stitches weren''t able to completely seal it off. There was even the possibility of internal bleeding.


    Without further delays, Josh brought his hands before the wounded area. He was going to try out the idea that came to him from a certain survival TV show.


    On command, Josh''s hands morphed into blue lightning and made a piercing sound. This turn of events didn''t relieve anyone in the room, instead, it made them even more worried because they didn''t know how electrocuting Zoro could possibly help.


    This simple lightning wasn''t what Josh wanted so he continued supplying his right hand with more energy. After a bit of time, his hand slowly glowed a dim red and steam started to be emitted from it.


    "I''ll give it to you straight. This is going to hurt a lot, so brace yourself." Josh cautioned. There was no indication of Zoro''s acknowledgement but Josh proceeded anyway. He made sure to put a rag in Zoro''s mouth just in case the pain was too unbearable. Josh was also slightly worried that Zoro might bite his tongue off in the process.


    Josh slowly brought the outstretched hand on to the deep cut, starting from the very top near his shoulder. As soon as it made contact, loud hissing sounds were heard and Zoro''s muffled screams of pain began. Steam filled the room along with the constant smell of burnt flesh, although it wasn''t very strong.


    "Phew...that was a horrifying experience..." Josh sighed as he wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. He was finally done with the treatment and now, Zoro laid on the bed unconscious. The deep gash on his torso that was originally supposed to be covered in stitches were now as red as a blood stain.


    With time, the wound will slowly heal and the scar will resemble the one Luffy had after escaping Marineford.


    "I don''t know if that just now can be considered a treatment or a torture session..."


    "No comment."


    "..."

 28 Chapter 28: Mission Accomplished

    Third Person''s PoV:


    After making sure that everything with Zoro was fine, Josh immediately left to the untended Mihawk. He had to stop that stubborn bastard from leaving without a fight no matter what. It wasn''t just the mission rewards at stake, the chance of finding his true limits was going to be hard to come by for a very long time.


    Sure, someone like Crocodile might be able to hold a candle to him, but he might not necessarily be Josh''s match. From the anime, Josh always thought that Crocodile was a very underrated character.


    There was no way the World Government would recruit someone like Crocodile unless he had the sufficient strength to back him up. It was revealed in the latter parts of the story that Crocodile was actually a New World veteran, so his strength shouldn''t be mediocre.


    With another flash of yellow lightning, Josh disappeared from the small room before Nami and the rest could even complain. Josh sighed in relief as he spotted Mihawk''s boat still in the same position.


    Mihawk was just calmly sitting there, looking nonchalant as usual. The drink he had before was long gone so all he could do was wait there silently. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning in front of him. Even though something like this would make any ordinary man cower in fear, Mihawk didn''t even bat an eye.


    "Sorry for the extended wait. Our swordsman was in dire need of assistance. You understand, don''t you?" Josh greeted the man politely. His tone, however, sounded a bit like he was blaming Mihawk for the injury.


    "There is no need for an apology." Mihawk didn''t take offense to the slight hostility in Josh''s voice. "That fight you wanted..." Mihawk started slowly before continuing, "I might be willing to accept as my interest in you has been peeked."


    "I''ll make it easier for you so it won''t be a "might" anymore. If I lose, I''ll give you 5 bottles of that wine from before. I just want to test myself so I won''t ask anything if I end up winning." Josh proposed with a confident smirk, taunting the world''s greatest swordsman to accept.


    "Nonsense, I naturally have to reward you with something if you win." Mihawk said. As the man who holds the title of best across the whole world, there was no way he would let his honor be soiled by someone spreading rumors of him being a cheapskate. Although the chances of him winning was very unlikely, this sort of curtesy had to be returned.


    "If you manage to best me in a duel, I''ll owe you a favor."


    "Suit yourself." Josh just shrugged. If the man still wanted to give him something even if he was told that he wasn''t required to, it wasn''t Josh''s problem.


    Mihawk got up from his seat and prepared himself to teach a brat a lesson.


    "Whoa..you want to fight here? No way, it''s too cramped. I have a better idea..." Noticing Mihawk prepare himself, Josh immediately stopped him. As much as he wanted to start the fight, they couldn''t do it with the limited space.


    If a fight like the one Josh is imagining was really going to take place, they had to make sure nobody else got dragged into it or got hurt. The venue didn''t really matter to Mihawk because he was confident in his self control and he believed that the match would be over quickly.


    "Hm. You''re quite the needy brat aren''t you?" Mihawk commented as he sat back down. Josh felt a bit helpless and a tinge of anger flashed through his mind so he shot back, "whatever you say, ossan."


    "Wait here for a few more minutes. I''ll go prepare a suitable place for our duel and get our spectators." Josh said and flashed away again. Mihawk felt a bit exasperated after hearing this. The brat was just too demanding. He even felt that the reward might not be worth the trouble.


    Josh appeared back on the deck of the boat he was previously on and headed inside the room once more.


    Inside, Nami and the rest were just debating about the earlier "treatment". To them, it hadn''t even been a minute since Josh suddenly left.


    "Yo, is his condition stable now?" Josh spoke up from behind them as he opened the door.


    They all turned back to see Josh who disappeared only half a minute ago and wondered what he was doing back again.


    "Yea. Right now, he''s just sleeping. I think Zoro lost his consciousness half way through your tortu�� I mean expert medical treatment." Nami answered. None of them were doctors so that was the best they could discern with their abilities.


    "Oh, that''s too bad. I also wanted him to witness it too. Let''s just leave him to recover, I don''t think there will be anymore problems." Josh said nonchalantly. He then continued, "Now, if you''ll follow me."


    "Err..witness? Where are we going?" Usopp spoke up for all of them. They didn''t understand what was happening.


    "Yeah..about that. Mihawk accepted my challenge...and I want all of you to see it." Josh smiles sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. He thought that he already told them about that, so he was a little confused.


    "You what!?"


    "You''re going to fight that monster!?"


    "I...don''t even know what to say."


    All of them were dumbfounded. They remembered him saying that he challenged Mihawk, but now the fight was really going to happen.


    "W-why d-do we need to see it?" Usopp timidly asked. He wanted to be as far away from such as fight as possible.


    "It''s important for the crew''s growth. Don''t you guys want to know what the peak strength of this world looks like?" Josh tried his best to sound intriguing to entice them. ''I might not be able to make him go full out though.'' He added mentally.


    Too bad for the lightning man, Nami and Usopp were not like Luffy or Zoro. They weren''t battle crazy. In fact, their desire to be kept far away from such a fight was growing even more.


    "You know...I...I think I''ll just stay here and.." Nami started to say. Her eyes wandered around the room to look for some kind of excuse. Her sight then landed on the sleeping Zoro and she exclaimed, "someone still has to watch over this idiot. Who knows what could happen."


    "Y-Yeah! I need to stay here a-and watch after Zoro too!" Usopp also tried to ride on Nami''s new found reasonable excuse. Too bad for them, Josh wasn''t going to give them an out.


    "Hmm..you''re right." Josh nodded his head in acknowledgment. This brought joy to Usopp and Nami, but that joy was short lived because of the man''s next words. "If that''s the case, Johnny and Yosaku can watch over him."


    Hearing this, the two mentioned men nodded their heads vigorously in agreement. Nami and Usopp could only cry out in anguish as they were being dragged away.


    Josh next appeared on the damaged platform of the Baratie. He was using the Cloak to fly there while carrying Usopp and Nami in each hand. He had no choice but to do this because he couldn''t carry people and dematerialize himself to travel at lightning speed.


    He then quickly went up to the curious Luffy who just woke up from his nap resulting from the exhausting fight between him and Don Krieg.


    Luffy agreed immediately without any fuss, unlike the cowardly duo so he had him grab on as well and flew off to see Mihawk once again.


    "These are the spectators you spoke of?" Once they arrived back on the Coffin Boat, Mihawk questioned him in a dubious tone.


    Right now, appearing in front of Mihawk are 3 new people; a happily grinning Luffy and terrified Nami and Usopp. Their faces were as pale as a ghost when they realized Mihawk was addressing them.


    "Yeah. I also wanted Zoro to be here as well but...he''s currently sleeping." Josh replied.


    "I could wait a few more hours if you want." For the first time, Mihawk was showing a bit more compassion towards the straw hats. It was mainly due to how interesting the crew as a whole was and how different they were from every other pirate that ever existed.


    "Nah. We''ve delayed this long enough. He''ll have his chance again in the future." Josh shrugged off Mihawk''s proposal. There really was no need for Zoro to be present. In fact, it might be like adding salt to injury if he was. All the crew members get out of witnessing the match would be how incapable they still are and Zoro already had that covered.


    After a few seconds of silence, Josh directed Mihawk to go back out to the open sea. Mihawk didn''t know what the man had in mind but still did as he was asked anyway.


    Soon, the group of 5 reached the wide blue expanse known as the sea, no longer stuffed between broken wreckages that was Don Krieg''s pirate ship.


    Mihawk checked the surrounding area for anything that might indicate to the place with open land but found none. This confused him even more because there weren''t any plot of land in the near by vicinity.


    A few minutes later, Josh finally deemed themselves to be far enough so he asked Mihawk to stop. Under the confused gazes of everyone, Josh got up, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly. Luffy soon realized what Josh was doing so his face broke out into a mischievous grin.


    From underneath the sea, waves upon waves of violent currents assisted the small floating boat. The previously calm sea was now trembling uncontrollably.


    Soon, the massive head of a giant sea turtle came out of the water with a loud splash, followed by it''s giant shell. Manni was still as ridiculously large as usual. Normally, the turtle would obediently follow the Merry along from under the sea so it was quite surprised when it was summoned by it''s human master.


    Luffy was happily laughing at the sight of Manni. He treated the seaking like how an owner would treat it''s dog. Mihawk wasn''t even a bit perturbed by Manni''s entrance. If one hadn''t encountered seakings that size frequently, then they''ve never been to the Grandline before.


    Nami was still a bit unnerved by the sheer size of that stupid turtle but her reaction was much more mild than the first time. Usopp on the other hand, shrieked like there was no tomorrow. The already cowardly man never had the chance to be properly introduced to the nice turtle so he was rightfully frightened.


    Without wasting anymore time, Josh grabbed the three of them and landed on the hard shell of Manni''s back. Mihawk swiftly followed behind him.


    Once on the turtle, the two combatants distanced themselves for some space. The spectators were dropped on Manni''s head as that was the most suitable place to watch.


    "Let''s begin....!"

 29 Chapter 29: A Humiliating Figh

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "Let''s Begin..."


    That voice was like the gong for commencing the fight as Josh immediately vanished in a flash of lightning, leaving the three spectators to comment in confusion.


    Once they took a good look at their entire surrounding, all of them noticed Mihawk with one hand on his prized Yoru, tilting it a bit to the side. Usopp squinted his eyes and slowly, the figure of a man came to light.


    Usopp''s eyesight was the best among the current spectators present. As a sniper, one had to have good vision to shoot down enemies from far away.


    In the instance Josh made that comment to begin the battle, he immediately dematerialized himself and dashed behind Mihawk, hoping to take the advantage by making the first move.


    Josh decided some time during his training to call it Blitz and give it an actual name. Blitz is when he physically transforms himself into lightning and move at the speed of light.


    The only problem with this is that the dematerialization and re-materialization isn''t at the speed of lightning. Although it is as fast as humanly possible, a master like Mihawk is perfectly capable of taking that short time to his advantage.


    The feeling of moving at the speed of light is incomparable. Everything zooms past you and not even the wind or air resistance can be felt. A few minor downsides to this, however, is that slowing down isn''t an option, and the entire scenery blurs as if being censored.


    It took Josh a while to be able to somewhat freely control the distance and direction he wants to Blitz to. The only thing Josh might be able to compare the Blitz to is a speedster, running at top speed from the Flash...with much more restraints.


    Once Josh got behind Mihawk, he materialized himself again to strike at his back. Naturally, the time it took him to materialize again was caught by Mihawk and he immediately defended himself, leading to the current situation.


    Josh backflipped away gracefully and landed on his feet. His whole body facing Mihawk with a smirk plastered on his face.


    "He''s so fast..."


    "Y-yeah, no kidding."


    The rest of the straw hats watching the fight were awed already by the first move that was made in the battle that was destined to produce much more awe inspiring techniques and attacks.


    Raising his sword up, Mihawk decided to nab the next move as his sword loomed in front of Josh.


    At this point, Josh has already activated his Kenbunshoku Haki and his senses were screaming at him to dodge. Josh immediately rolled to the side and avoided the deadly swing.


    Mihawk was already assured of Josh''s strength just from what he had observed so far and the first move. He felt that he could unleash more of his strength and not fear accidentally killing because he used too much power. Mihawk pressed on with one deadly attacks after another.


    On the receiving end of the attacks was Josh. His movements were a bit unnatural and seemed too forced. This couldn''t be helped, after all, this was the very first actual combat against a human Josh ever had, even if his previous life was included.


    Josh sidestepped another swing from Mihawk a bit clumsily. His movements kind of reminded Luffy of himself when he fights but less sharp.


    Josh also launched his own set of attacks against Mihawk, but those were blocked by the oversized black sword in his hands.


    All that was keeping Josh from becoming two halves was his Observation Haki and the instincts he obtained from his three years of training. Josh narrowly avoided getting any injuries.


    With another Blitz, Josh managed to gain some distance between himself and his opponent, allowing him to catch his breath. Mihawk didn''t give chase as he allowed the youngster to calm his breathing down which was becoming a bit heavier.


    ''Damn...I really thought I''d do much better than that just now. Oh well, on to plan B.'' Josh berated himself slightly in his mind, but this was during battle so he had to keep going, else the world''s greatest swordsman gets impatient and finishes the match prematurely.


    With a new plan in mind, Josh stood tall and waved his right hand to the side, causing his cloak to flutter in the wind. With his movement, the holster that was carrying the seastone-bullets shooting gun was revealed.


    "If I can''t fight you in close combat, I''ll try using long ranged attacks." Josh spoke as he removed the golden colored gun from its holster. His confidence was still high as the fight was just getting started.


    Wordlessly, Mihawk swung Yoru sideways, causing his own clothes to flutter as he took slow but deliberate steps closer to Josh.


    The feeling that Nami and the others felt at this scene was indescribable. It was like watching the epic battle scene from an action movie. Excitement boiled in Luffy''s heart and the other two couldn''t help but also feel something churning inside themselves.


    *Bang*


    The first shot was fired. With a clink, the sound of metal hitting another metallic object sounded. This was obviously Mihawk using the Yoru as a shield to block the bullet.


    After the initial shot, continuous sounds of gunshot rang out for over a minute. It was all skillfully stopped in it''s tracks by Mihawk with differing methods. He would directly block some, while leading some bullets away from his body. Others, Mihawk didn''t need Yoru, all he had to do was tilt his head to the side or move an arm. For the rest of the bullets, Mihawk didn''t even need to move as it missed it''s target completely.


    ''Oh crap! I forgot...I never used a gun before in my life!'' Was all Josh could this when he first missed a shot badly.


    One could easily tell that he was an amateur. From his posture, positioning, to the way he held the gun. Not to mention his actual shooting skills. Those were all obvious indicators of a novice.


    "He sucks..." Usopp commented distainfully. He didn''t even bother to hide his true feelings as he said those words.


    "Really? But he''s much better at it than I am." Luffy also commented. This only got a round of sighs from the rest.


    With a flash, Mihawk suddenly disappeared from his original position and reappeared right in front of Josh, catching him slightly off guard as he was busy preparing to shoot another rain of bullets.


    Without even bothering to speak, Mihawk swung his Yoru just as Josh used Blitz to flash away to another location to save himself as he felt imminent danger.


    Luckily for Josh, he managed to get away scot free...however, he wasn''t happy. This was because just as he was blitzing away, Mihawk somehow still managed to cut his arm off.


    The arm that should''ve been a bleeding mess did not actually bleed, instead, it slowly reformed with the crackling of electricity.


    ''That bastard! He purposely didn''t use Haki to cut me! Now I feel insulted...'' Josh thought inwardly with a bit of anger and helplessness.


    "If that is the full extent of your abilities, you might as well surrender." Mihawk finally said for the first time. The words sounded like he was mocking Josh, however, he was just a bit disappointed. Before Josh could retort back, he continued.


    "From what I''ve seen so far, your skills in close quarter combat is okay, but a far cry from mastery. Your skills as a gunsman are nonexistent. You lack the battle experience of a veteran. The only things keeping you alive right now is your devil fruit and Haki." Mihawk calmly revealed the results of his analysis. There were more things he discerned but decided to keep to himself.


    Mihawk was honestly disappointed. Usually, someone who awakened all forms of haki and has a devil fruit, one of the strongest logias to boot, usually have rich combat experience. They had to go through countless life and death battles and experienced many things to obtain such powers. Yet, the brat in front of him was fighting as if it''s the first time in his life.


    "I''m done testing the waters. It''s time I got serious!" Josh roared indignantly. The words of insult he heard from Mihawk was enough for him to abandon his plans of testing all of his current combat related skills.


    Initially, Josh wanted to test out his abilities and powers one by one to see how effective they will be against a strong adversary like Dracule Mihawk. This way, he could improve himself and benefit greatly from the fight.


    But now, all thoughts of that were put to the back of his mind as Josh got ready to start fighting for real, without holding back any of his strengths.


    ''In memory of Ace...although he hasn''t passed away yet'' Josh said to himself in his mind.


    "RAI....KEN!!"

 30 Chapter 30: Show of Skills

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "RAI....KEN!!" Josh pushed his body forward into the air and drew his left arm backward, his hand firmly locked into a fist and punched into the air.


    At that moment, it was as if the heaven itself was trembling. The previously calm and undisturbed sky suddenly started changing.


    Dark clouds loomed above everyone as the mighty roar of the fist made of lightning charged towards Mihawk.


    The Raiken is a technique Josh thought of when he was still in training. Basically, Josh charged his fist full of concentrated electricity and send it hurling towards his enemies.


    In the shape of a fist, the Raiken is about the size of a small ship like the Going Merry. Within the fist are millions of densely packed voltages of electricity. Even someone like Mihawk wouldn''t get away without receiving damage if left unprotected.


    Josh got the idea for it when he thought of Ace and his moniker of ''Fire Fist'' which derives from his technique called ''Hiken''.


    Mihawk smirked. He found it odd that he was doing that so often ever since meeting the Strawhat pirates. His deliberate attempt at riling up the brat had worked perfectly. As a master swordsman, how could he not know the true intentions of his opponent?


    Crouching slightly and his feet firmly planted on the shell of the turtle, Mihawk arched his sword back and made preparations for his counterattack.


    Mihawk stared fearlessly at the raging fist that was directly headed his way. With inhuman speed, he swung the Yoru vertically, creating a flying slash that was colored green.


    The two opposing forces soon clashed right in the middle and battled for dominance for a few seconds before the outcome was clear.


    The winner was obvious. Although the Raiken was an immensely powerful move, it isn''t as highly concentrated as Mihawk''s attack.


    The flying slash released by Mihawk cut through Josh''s Raiken and continued moving all the way through to the clouds and made a big gash appear right in the sky.


    This entire scene made Luffy and the others speechless and left them gobsmacked.


    "W-What just happened?" Usopp asked with a shaky and slightly high pitched voice. His mouth wouldn''t close no matter how much he wanted it to.


    Looking to the side at his companions, Usopp saw that they were in an even bigger shock, especially for Luffy as his mouth was hung open the widest....or itcould just be because of his devil fruit.


    "I got it. Josh threw a lightning punch and that hawky ossan cut it...and the sky." Luffy said after calming down. His expression was filled with clarity as if he just solved the mystery of the century.


    "Like he said, what just happened....?"


    Gently, Josh fell back down to the shell due to the laws of gravity. His expression didn''t show any disbelieve as he expected it to happen.


    "I knew it wasn''t gonna be that easy.." he said out loud.


    "Hmph. It''ll take more than that to injure me." Mihawk replied cooly. His face stoic as always. It was as if the emotions he showed previously were nothing but an illusion.


    ''Alright, I already knew that he could cut through my long ranged attacks...how about I try these?'' Josh said mentally as he prepared himself to try out another tactic.


    The reason Mihawk was able to cut the Raiken before it even reached him is due to several reasons. Not only was the technique itself a giant target, it was also slow enough for Mihawk to leisurely launch a counterattack.


    What would happen if Josh''s attacks were smaller, faster, and more in number?


    With that thought in mind, Josh put away the gun in hisright hand back to it''s rightful place and prepared his other "guns".


    Bringing out both of his hands in front of him, Josh pointed one finger out from each hand and his thumbs facing the sky.


    It looked just like a kid''s imitation of holding a gun, which left the spectators confused.


    Josh already learned his lesson from the first time he tried to shoot at Mihawk with the seastone gun. His problem was the accuracy. The only way Josh knew how to make up for it is by shortening the distance between himself and the target and shooting more bullets, hoping they would hit the bullseye.


    Fortunately or unfortunately for Josh, the distance between himself and Hawkeye was short enough to make up for his lack of accuracy. However, this also means that Josh is in danger of attacks from Mihawk.


    "Raigan" Josh commanded. Just as he said this, electricity started coiling itself all over both of his arms as if it was a serpent wrapping itself around its prey. The tips of his index fingers were brightly glowing in yellow and the sound of electric currents could be heard.


    With a distinct yet indescribable sound, bullets made of yellow lightning continuously shot out from the tips of his fingers in pairs.


    Each bullet was highly concentrated, small, and faster than the Raiken. Although the destructive capabilities of the Raiken was much higher than a hundred of Raigans combined, it was much more effective against a single, powerful opponent. One can think of the Raiken as an AOE attack from a video game.


    Mihawk prepared to defend himself. He was someone who enjoyed a challenge very much. This was part of the reason he let Zoro live after he challenged him to a life and death duel. Mihawk saw potential in Zoro so he would let that potential grow until Zoro was strong enough to face him.


    Each bullet was still clumsily shot, but they were more accurate than the ones Josh fired with the gun. This is mainly because it was all shot from his fingers, so the control was much easier.


    Mihawk dodge a bullet with a simple shift of his body while blocking another with Yoru. Unlike normal bullets, he couldn''t deflect or redirect them. After all, these were bullets made of electricity.


    Mihawk continued to dodge and block the rain of yellow balls. After awhile, he realized that something was wrong. The feeling was very subtle yet it kept on increasing with each bullet he came in contact with. Mihawk''s sight fell on Josh and he noticed the victorious smirk Josh had on his face.


    On the other side, Josh continued raining bullet after bullet. Never giving Mihawk the chance to come closer to him...or at least he hopes to. He wasn''t skilled enough to keep someone like Mihawk restrained for long and he knew that.


    His purpose for using the Raigan was one that he thought out before executing. Josh initially wanted to stun Mihawk once the swordsman blocked one of his bullets with Yoru. Giving him the chance to continue hitting him with more bullets and stacking the damages.


    Imagine his surprise when he saw Mihawk acting as if he didn''t even notice the thousands of electric currents running through his body. It was then that he realized, the electricity wasn''t very effective. This baffled him to no end at first.


    ''Was your ancestor a rock!?'' He screamed mentally. But then, he noticed something. It was very minuscule, but with the help of observation Haki, Josh was able to tell that Mihawk''s movements were slowing down a bit.


    Josh had an epiphany at that moment. ''This monster must''ve trained his body to the point of being able to resist electricity...or he''s using Haki to protect himself.'' he thought.


    However, the effects slowly took shape, and the nerves all over Hawkeye''s body started to become more and more sluggish, causing his reaction time and movement to be slowed down.


    Mihawk wasn''t worried one bit. This situation would be deadly for a lot of powerful people in the Grandline, but he was different. As soon as Hawkeye saw a gap within the bullets, he took that to his advantage and launched another flying slash. This time it was horizontal.


    Josh accidentally made a mistake due to his negligence and carelessness. He felt elated that his move was working against his opponent and his guard slipped for a moment.


    The master swordsman noticed that immediately and made his own attack, dispersing all of the incoming bullets with a single slash that kept going forward.


    Mihawk could''ve easily gotten out of the trap if he used a bit more of his strength, but decided not to since there was an easier way.


    Josh immediately bent his upper body backward and narrowly avoided his nose being cut off. Just as he was about to sigh in relief, Mihawk suddenly appeared in front of him and kicked him right in the stomach.


    Josh went flying all the way to the edge of the turtle shell, coughing intermittently.


    "Shit..I should stop getting distracted...ugh." Josh said as he struggled to get up. The kick was infused with haki so it was able to make physical contact with him.


    "You are doing much better than before. Let''s continue." Mihawk said as he once again dashed towards the blonde.

 31 Chapter 31: Sudden Interference

    Third Person''s PoV:


    The weather worsened and dark clouds kept rolling around in the heavens. The previously serene sky had turned black in color and blocked out the entire sun, making the entire situation more pronounced.


    "Cough cough...let''s go for round three, Puss in Boots." Josh said as he coughed up some blood. A single streak of red flowed gently down the side of his mouth as he got back up.


    Josh wanted to test out more of his long ranged attacks against Mihawk, but that was proving to be difficult. Not only was Mihawk incredibly nimble, he was extremely fast. The worse part was that Josh wasn''t sure if that was Hawkeye''s full speed.


    Mihawk furiously rushed towards Josh who just managed to get up as he held Yoru with his left hand, causing it to dangle behind him. Air resistance ferociously tugged against Mihawk, making his clothes dance in the wind, it was a miracle his hat hadn''t flown off already.


    Noticing the incoming Mihawk, Josh prepared himself for another melee combat. Since he was afraid of Mihawk cutting him up, he would''ve preferred it if the man stayed far away...not that he was out of Hawkeye''s range.


    As Hawkeye finally reached Josh''s location near the edge, he swung his giant sword down. Josh didn''t dodge or evade this time. Instead, he took the full blunt of the attack head on with his arm.


    "Look out...!!" Nami worriedly shouted when she saw that the blonde wasn''t moving at all.


    Soon, both forces clashed and a massive shockwave that blew everything around them went off. The natural wind could not compare at all as it was being pushed aside by the strong blast from the colliding strikes.


    Usopp and the others noticed that Josh was actually blocking a sword with his bare arm. Not only was his arm not cut off immediately, he was even holding his own position.


    This confused all of them once again as the level of the fight was beyond their understanding.


    Right now, Josh''s right arm was pitch black and he had it crossed over his chest to protect himself. Josh used Busoshoku haki for the first time since the match started.


    *Zzzt Zzzt Zzzt*


    The sound of electric currents running wild came again as the two fighters were frozen in a deadlock.


    Arcs of electricity coiled around Josh''s body and from the point of contact, the electricity started flowing on to Yoru and transferred into Mihawk''s body.


    Hawkeye felt the hair on his entire body stand andimmediately separated himself from the living electric eel as he could feel his hands starting to numb. This was quite the troublesome opponent as he had the advantage over long distance and even melee combat.


    If one came into contact with Josh''s body at all, they were all susceptible to the shock of their lives.


    "Lightning Defense!" Josh said as his expression brightened significantly. The Lightning Defense was a technique Josh made especially for enemies who came too close.


    The move was able to give off much higher voltages of electricity when compared to any of his other attacks. This was because the lightning generated would stay close to his body and Josh was able to continuously supply it with his reserves of energy.


    The black in his arm did not fade away just yet, on the contrary, his other hand also hardened from the effects of the haki.


    From a dozen meters away, Mihawk wordlessly aimed his sword at the blonde again and release a magnificent arc of green energy.


    The air howled as the slash seemed to cut through even the tiniest atoms in the atmosphere.


    "Rankyaku!" Josh steadied his foothold and swung his right leg vertically, also producing his own wind blade.


    The two slashes approached ever closer and once they met, another shockwave resounded out. The differing slashes seemed to stagnate slightly as they continued to push against each other.


    Just then, Mihawk released another deadly slash that conjoined his first one, forming into the shape of a cross.


    The rankyaku was unable to hold on any longer as it was shattered miserably. The cross shaped projectile proceeded towards Josh who also crossed both his blackened arms in front of his chest.


    Another loud bang reverberated for everything in a one mile radius to hear.


    Josh persisted as he was being pushed closer and closer towards the edge of Manni''s Shell. Ultimately, he decided to jump away from the literal X mark.


    Just as another round of intense and blood boiling Battle was about to start again....an immensely bright light suddenly shone through out the area.


    This bright light was very blinding as even Mihawk couldn''t help but squint his eyes in discomfort. With the light, came a very loud and nonsensical ringing that threatened to destroy Josh''s eardrums. This loud scribbly noise was only heard by Josh for some reason.


    "Aaaahhh..." Unable to take the loud sound any further, Josh tried his best to cover his ears that were still ringing nonetheless. His whole body fell on the hard shell and Josh rolled around like a dog in pain.


    There was no helping it, the indistinct noise that sometimes sounded like whispers was just too painful for his ears. If there were any glasses nearby, they would surely break in an instant. Josh did not have time to be concerned about his own image at that moment.


    Mihawk felt that something was wrong. As he sent out his observation Haki, a presence he had never before felt was currently all over, filling the entire area. There was no doubt in Hawkeye''s mind that this was not Josh''s doing as he can hear the pained wail of the other party.


    After another minute, the intense light simply disappeared along with the painful sound. Josh wasn''t even able to sigh in relief as he was still in pain and his vision distorted, making him see doubles. He was not able to get up properly let alone fight because his whole brain was in a mess.


    Soon, his vision cleared up but the after effect of the hideous noise was still there as his ears kept ringing.


    "What the fuk was that!?" Josh said out loud with an angry expression. He was in the middle of battle with Mihawk until someone or something interrupted them, and even caused him great pain.


    Noticing that his ears were no longer ringing like a church bell, Josh placed his hand on the ear. Suddenly, he felt even more infuriated because he felt blood trickling down from his ear drums. His other ear was the same, as well as his nose and eyes. Josh was bleeding from all over his face.


    "What was that just now?" Mihawk asked. The doubts in his heart was growing by the second. In all his years as a world renown character, never had he seen something similar to that just now. His first thoughts was a devil fruit but it was too weird for even a devil fruit to be responsible.


    Josh stood back up on his feet and after wiping off all of the blood and responded, "I don''t know...but let''s just finish this fight."


    ''I feel like I''ll get a huge headache in the future...'' he silently added in his thoughts.


    If the two experts on the world of One Piece were stumped by the incident just now, how could the three clueless people possibly have any ideas?


    "Let''s finish this then.." Mihawk also agreed. Whatever that was just now wasn''t any of his concern.


    The two fighters charged at one another once more like unstoppable hurricanes.

 32 Chapter 32: Iudicium Dei

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "Huff...huff..." The labored breathing of a man can be heard.


    At this moment, the man was currently standing tall as his shoulders and chest continuously heaved up and down due to his sporadic breathing. Sweat rolled down from his forehead and the back of his exotic clothes were drenched.


    A few meters from him, another man who looks much older in comparison to the first man was also standing tall.


    Although his breathing wasn''t as labored as the younger man, exhaustion was slowly creeping into his body and he could feel it. A bead of sweat rolled down from the side of his face.


    After the rude interruption from the unidentified entity, Josh and Mihawk kept dueling for another ten minutes and the both of them were feeling the after effects of the latest round.


    Ever since Josh started to fight in earnest, he had been using a lot of energy, especially from using his devil fruit. Even the monstrous stamina and vitality he obtained after his three years of hard work had been steadily chipped away after fighting for half an hour against one of the strongest men in the world of One Piece.


    For the last 10 minutes, Josh used a special technique he came up with specifically for strong individual who he had to get his hands dirty for. Simply shooting lightning bolts at Mihawk from a distance and hoping he''d stay down was not an option for Josh. He had to fight him up close.


    The start of the fight showed Josh that he was no where near skilled or experienced enough to take on the world''s greatest swordsman. He could only make up the difference with other methods.


    Simply using Busoshoku Haki was also not an option, even if it prevented Josh from becoming two little Joshies. It did not make up for the lack of experience and Josh knew that Mihawk would pummel him to the ground ruthlessly, leaving him no room to retaliate.


    The method to temporarily make up the difference between the gap in experience was actually quite simple...yet hard to do. If Josh did not possess the necessary skills and experience, he''ll just have to make up for it with overwhelming strength and speed.


    Josh''s normal physical strength was actually higher by a substantial margin when compared to the strengths of pirates from the new world. This is just physical strength we are talking about, like for example; the amount of weights he can lift or how fast he can run.


    However, in the face of overly superior battle experience or special abilities, it can be considered as nothing.


    Picture this if it helps, a giant who can lift up to tens of tons of weight and has immense physical strength challenges Edward Newgate. He might possess more physical strength than Whitebeard, but does that make him the strongest man in the world? No!


    Humans have a limit when it comes to exactly how much physical strength they can obtain. Of course, this differs from world to world. A bodybuilder who has reached the peak of human strength and can lift the most weight in Josh''s previous world would be considered an ant in the world of One Piece.


    The only way that Josh knew how to get around his short comings is by forcefully strengthening himself. This doesn''t mean taking drugs though.


    There is a technique Josh developed that allows several of his body''s natural attributes to increase exponentially.


    The technique was arrogantly named ''Thunder God Mode'' by Josh. Essentially, Josh sends manageable amounts of electricity into his body. By doing so, it stimulates all the nerves and cells in Josh''s body. Allowing him to move at higher speeds, react faster to incoming attacks, and improves his senses so that he is much more aware of his surrounding. When paired with haki, Josh can become a force to be reckoned with.


    *Zzzt Zzzt*


    The electric currents surrounding Josh and making his entire body shine a little as if he was a lightbulb slowly receded back into oblivion.


    This signaled the end of Josh''s use of the Thunder God Mode. The technique was very taxing on his energy, so ten minutes was the most Josh could manage to keep it up.


    One can compare the technique to Luffy''s second gear as there are some similarities. For one, it is a hard technique to maintain, and two, both of them are life draining so it is advised to be used sparingly.


    The Thunder God Mode super charges the cells in Josh''s body and that results in the cells dying at a much faster rate than normal. This was why Josh didn''t dare to use it until he managed to redirect the electricity away from his brain, lest he be turned into a vegetable for the rest of his life.


    "I''m ending..this fight...with one of my ultimate moves!" Josh managed to say in between breaths. He was almost at the end of his endurance.


    Josh glanced up at the sky to see nothing but dark cloud menacingly stare back at him. It was as if the clouds would burst with rain and thunder immediately. This didn''t dishearten Josh, instead, it made him happier.


    From the start of the battle, Josh had been secretly sending off small burst of electricity into the atmosphere, affecting the weather and therefore effectively managed to do the so called "praying for rain".


    All he had to do was stall for time because he needed time to summon the thunder storm. The time required should not have been as long as this, but fighting Mihawk at the same time was making it hard for him to properly do it. There was also the thing about Josh''s intentions for fighting Mihawk and so he decided to not use it until the very end.


    Thunder started to strike their surroundings intermittently and at random. The sky became more and more ominous. Soon, rain slowly trickled down upon everyone and it turned into a full blown storm.


    The ocean waves rolled about in frantic disarray followed by gales of wind that threatened to form Tsunamis. With thunder striking down, the scene was one that most ocean travelers feared the most.


    With another clap of lightning as the signal, Josh pointed a finger at Mihawk and released a half-assed bolt of lightning that was purposefully brighter than normal.


    As soon as the lightning bolt left his hand, Josh dashed towards Mihawk in the top speed that he could currently muster.


    Mihawk was prepared for the attack that was thrown at him without any real substance. He simply sidestepped it but was blinded for a second by the unexpected brightness.


    To cover up for his lack of sight for that split second, Mihawk activated his Kenbunshoku and what he saw slightly confused him.


    Opening his eyes again to confirm, Hawkeye only managed to catch the shadow of a figure sliding under him and another shadow that came straight for his face.


    He immediately reacted by trying to cut the shadow apart, but the distance between was too short for him to release another flying slash. The shadow tightly latched itself on to Dracule Mihawk''s face.


    Josh''s lips curled up into a victorious smirk as he stood up behind Mihawk. The double distraction he planned actually worked!


    The first step was to take away Mihawk''s eyesight momentarily and then keep him occupied with something else.


    If one took a closer look at the current Josh, one would see that he was covered in small scratches and cuts. There was even a long gash that ran across his torso area horizontally although it wasn''t too deep. The most eye catching thing was that Josh was currently missing a certain item.


    Said item happens to be the Cloak of Levitation. It was currently occupied with distracting Mihawk while Josh execute his finisher.


    ''This damn thing...!! Get off!'' Mihawk was struggling to peel off the Cloak from his face. Even someone as calm as him lost his cool in front of something as infuriating as this.


    Raising his right hand as high as he could in the air, a thin stream of yellow electricity was shot out from the tips of Josh''s fingers. Once it reached the boiling clouds, they reacted. All of the violent thunder seemed to gather at that exact point of contact.


    "Iudicium....Dei!!!" Without standing on ceremony, Josh called out the name of one of the most destructive move he had in his current arsenal.


    The heavens reacted to the call as it amassed all of the gathered natural lightning from the atmosphere and concentrated it at one single point before slamming it straight down towards Mihawk.


    At this point, Mihawk finally managed to rid himself of the annoying yet mysterious flying cape. Just as he glanced behind him, he heard the loud shout of Josh''s voice.


    Even before the thunder came down, all the hair on Mihawk''s body already stood straight as a rod. He felt immense danger coming down directly from the sky, maybe even life threatening.


    The last thing Josh saw was another bright light before he completely lost his consciousness and passed out into the sweet embrace of his dream.


    [Ding! Host has completed a hidden mission....]

 33 Chapter 33: Changes

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Two hours later,


    On a small caravel ship that had a sheep for it''s figurehead, the atmosphere was kind of weird.


    [Wake up, Host.]


    A slightly less mechanical voice rang out inside the head of a certain sleeping man. Slowly, the man''s eyelids twitched and soon, he abruptly sat up straight on the bed.


    "Oww...my head...doesn''t hurt?" Josh muttered to himself as his memory was slightly foggy.


    Scratching the back of his head, Josh looked at his surrounding to find that he was in his room and on his bed.


    ''When did I...?''


    "What happened?" He finally settled on the most important question.


    [After the Host passed out from exhaustion, the rest of the crew carried Host back to the Merry Go where the Host slept for two hours.]


    "Oh...so that''s what happened. Say..what happe��wait! Who''s there!?" Just as Josh was about to ask another question, he snapped out of his sleepy state and fiercely questioned.


    He remembered that there was nobody around him when he checked his surrounding. So where did that voice come from?


    [The Host''s words truly hurt my feelings. Not only once, but the Host did not recognize the System twice!]


    The feminine voice rang out again.


    After calming himself down from the slight shock he received, Josh finally understood that it was just the System.


    "Aw, sorry about that. I didn''t recognize you because you stopped doing that annoying ''Ding!'' thing. Besides, when have you ever spoke up on your own?" Josh said, his expression morphed into a sheepish one. The embarrassed smile turned into an indignant one as he thought, ''isn''t that why I forgot you existed?''


    [Thank you for noticing. The System was previously not allowed to speak up unless spoken to. Now, the System has finally leveled up!]


    The System said excitedly. The fact that he could feel the emotions that came from the previously monotone voice of the System kind of freaked Josh out. If the System was previously just a robotic assistant, now it''s comparable to a human with feelings.


    "Wait..level up? Wouldn''t that kind of thing usually be for the Host? Well whatever, what are the changes anyway? Aside from the obvious ones I mean." Josh asked with a straight face. Although his face didn''t show any emotions, his heart felt slight elation from the news. Improvements in the System meant he can become even stronger.


    [Previously, the System was restricted severely by this world, thus the system was only able to do a few things.


    The changes implemented are as follows....the Status module has been upgraded, the restrictions of being unable to purchase the specialties of other worlds has been lifted slightly, and most importantly, the new module, Immunity, has been added.]


    "Hmm? What''s this immunity?" Josh asked in confusion and excitement. He obviously knew what the word means, but if it was really the way Josh imagines it to be, it''d be ridiculous even for an all powerful system. Josh just had to find out.


    [If the Host will remember, the System''s creator granted the Host with the ability to "adapt" to anything. This is the materialization of that ability.


    Currently, the Host has gained two new immunities.


    Immunity:


    Poison: 0.00%


    Disease: 0.00%


    As the system levels up further in the future, more types of immunities will be implemented at random by the System.]


    The slight feeling of hope that arose in Josh''s heart exploded! Being able to be immune to poisons and diseases are tremendously insane abilities. He could even be immune to more things in the future!?


    ''Calm down...calm down...'' Josh told himself repeatedly in his mind. His breathing became a bit erratic. After finally calming himself down once again, he inquired about the rest of the changes to which the system answered.


    [Previously, the Host was restricted to purchasing things only from the world of One Piece and any other worlds he had been to. The only things the host could purchase are items that are deemed "normal" in that world.


    The restriction has been lifted by 1 level. With a total of 10 levels, should the Host ever reach that stage, the Host would be able to purchase anything from any world without any restrictions with system points.


    With the lifting of the restrictions at level 1, the Host is able to purchase Low level technology from any world. The standards for the purchase is set to be the Host''s origin world.]


    "I see...so that''s how it is. I get all of that but what I don''t understand is how the system leveled up." Josh said. This was the only thing that he couldn''t figure out. Of course, that was due to the system notification coming after Josh passed out.


    [Checking Host''s completed missions. Processing...processing...processing...found!


    Ding! The Host has completed a Hidden Mission.


    Hidden Mission: Find out the Host''s current limits in terms of power.


    Rewards: System level up, 10,000,000 system points.]


    "Oh! So that''s what happened. Thank you, System. Can you show me the final change?" Josh''s expression brighten and a genuine smile of happiness was pasted on his face.


    [Sure. Showing the Host''s current Status.


    Status:


    System Level: 1


    Name: Josh ****


    Age: 21


    Vitality: 2,234


    Strength: 1,786


    Speed: 1,966


    Dexterity: 1,256


    Intelligence: 94


    Luck: 8


    Spirit: 5,440


    Devil Fruit: Goro Goro no Mi


    Skills:


    Haki: Advanced


    Cooking: Advanced


    Melee Combat: Normal


    Gunsmanship: Low


    Immunity:


    Water: 50.00% (A/N: Just means water won''t affect him anymore as a devil fruit user. Not something like breathing underwater. If he reaches 100% he can breathe underwater.)


    Poison: 0.00%


    Disease: 0.00%


    Equipment: Cloak of Levitation


    System Points: 10,000,000


    The system''s ranking are as follows: Low, Normal, Intermediate, Advanced, Mastery, Godly, Divine.]


    "You weren''t kidding when you said there was a change...you even wiped the points I previously had..." Josh said helplessly. He didn''t dwell on it too much as he still had a lot of points left.


    With all of these new information now known to him, the journey for Josh just began.

 34 Chapter 34: Don’t sYo” Me!

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Josh examined himself closer. He noticed that there were bandages all over his body, especially his abdomen area. His face, hands, and even legs all had some sort of wrapping over them.


    Josh got up from his small bed and made his way into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, a heavily bandaged up man with a disheveled mess of hair stared back at him. Small patches of dried blood can even be seen here and there.


    Josh''s face scrunched up into an ugly expression. He wouldn''t want anyone to see him in his current state, let alone his friends.


    "I need a shower ASAP." He said.


    Josh entered the shower immediately after ripping off all of the bandages. There was slight pain, but he didn''t mind. Strangely, most of the wounds had already begun to close up even though it had only been a few hours. Even with all of his injuries, Josh felt more energized than an injured person should.


    [That is because the Host''s regenerative capabilities have increased greatly due to Host''s immense vitality. If Host''s vitality attribute reached over 3,000, the passive skill ''Regeneration'' can be unlocked.]


    Josh wasn''t startled anymore by the random voices that seem to pop up whenever they wanted inside his mind. He simply nodded and took the system''s words in face value.


    Inside the shower, Josh washed away the remaining smell of blood and sweat on him and his mind relax a bit more.


    Thinking back on the fight he had with Mihawk, the benefits he gained were incomparable. However, the fight also showed him how green he still was.


    ''I need strength...if I want freedom, I need the strength to keep it...'' that thought circulated in his mind over and over.


    In the shower, an odd scene occurred. A naked man, drenched in water, had a resolute expression on his face as if he just decided on the fate of the world.


    After getting out of the shower, Josh put on a plain black T-shirt that had "I ?? New York" written on it. He also wore black shorts that extended a little past his knees. Evidently, Josh was feeling very relaxed.


    While the clothes he had on previously made him look cool, they weren''t exactly something one would wear to relax or sleep in.


    Glancing back towards the Cloak of Levitation that had been placed beside his bed, Josh finally left the room and made his way up towards the deck.


    On the deck,


    Some of the crew members were worried for Josh and Zoro''s conditions, while others were feeling slightly uncomfortable.


    The reason for their discomfort? Well...that is because the man who single handedly defeated and gravely injuredtwo of their nakamas was sitting nonchalantly right outside of their ship.


    Out on the sea, a small boat shaped as a Coffin was stationed right besides the Going Merry.


    On the boat sat a man in his 40s. Right now, the man was feeling slightly hurried. He had been waiting patiently for over two hours now and the wait was starting to bore him. Surely, there must be things the world''s greatest swordsman needed to attend to as well.


    Dracule Mihawk stayed near the Merry after the fight was over. His only goal was to get the promised reward by the blonde youngster and then immediately make his way back to the Grandline.


    Mihawk''s mind wandered back to the fight in his idle and a toothy grin couldn''t help but appear on his face. Such promising youngsters were about to brave the entire world. There was no doubt in Mihawk''s mind that the little crew of interesting brats would cause massive waves. A little bit of excitement washed over him as he thought this.


    Flash back,


    Right after Josh passed out, the over-sized bolt of dense yellow lightning continued it''s descent down towards Mihawk.


    With a grave expression on his face, he readied himself to taste the full might of a lightning logia.


    Swinging the Yoru with most of the strength he had, a massive arc of red...yes...red, slash went flying towards the opposing force.


    As the two forces clashed, the biggest wave of torrential shock ran amok all over for dozens of miles. The wind howled incessantly, causing the spectators to cover their ears in pain.


    Just as the attacks seem to implode on themselves from the excessive force, something that made Mihawk''s expression even graver happened.


    With a loud boom, there was a bright yellow and red light that encompassed everything in Mihawk''s view. As the light cleared up, a shocking scene occurred.


    The originally single bolt of lightning that looked like a massive pillar falling down from the sky actually split into five parts. Although they weren''t as strong as before, each of them still contained monumental amounts of energy.


    The red flying slash was magnificently negated and the Iudicium Dei split into five different strokes of lightning that still charged towards Dracule Mihawk.


    With continuous waves of both his hands that are holding the Yoru, green arcs of razor sharp sword slashes also charged towards the bolts of lightning.


    There was another bright light, although not as intense as the previous one. Unfortunately for Mihawk, one of the lightning strikes actually managed to escape from the net made out of flying slashes and struck squarely on Hawkeye''s chest.


    End flashback,


    Back on the Merry, in the kitchen.


    "What do we do now? Just wait for them to wake up?" Nami asked with trepidation. She wanted to hurry over to her home island as soon as possible, but it didn''t look like it was possible with the two boy''s injuries.


    "I-I don''t know! That monster is sitting right outside of my precious Merry! What the hell was Luffy thinking at a time like this.." Usopp responded with a fearful tone. The bounty hunter duo nodded twice in sync.


    All of them let out defeated sighs. This scene had been repeating for a while now.


    About an hour earlier, Luffy ran off on his own back inside the Baratie. He wanted to recruit Sanji no matter what. After fighting together with Sanji and the others, Luffy''s gut feelings were telling him to get the guy to join no matter what.


    Just then, a blonde man in a casual black T-shirt and black shorts came into the room. He had a towel draped over his shoulder as well so it made him look like he just came out of the pool. His hair was slightly moist and it was still as wild looking as ever.


    "Yo. What''re you guys doin?" Josh said nonchalantly. His expression was peaceful and calm. It was as if the fight of his life didn''t occur not long ago.


    "DON''T YOU "YO" ME!" Nami and Usopp immediately retorted back with giant fangs in their mouth. Their pent up frustration, fear, and anxiety was released all at once in that instant. The unlucky recipient just happened to be poor Josh.


    Usopp walked up to Josh with a threatening demeanor. Pointed a finger at Josh and poked nonstop on his chest as he let out his frustrations. "What the hell is wrong with you!? That monster is still here, hurry and go shoo him away!! Or I won''t be able to sleep at night."


    "Why did you even challenge him in the first place!? Do you know how worried we were!?!? We thought you died!" Nami also came up to him and pinched his nose and pulled on it.


    The indignation Josh felt at that moment was incomparable to any other time in his life. However, a warm smile was on his face, even though he was being scolded by two worried hens.


    Josh felt warmth inside. ''So this is what having friends who worry about you feels like...no wonder Luffy wants to protect them no matter what. I, too, will do the same..'' he thought. Although Usopp''s demands sounded a bit more selfish, Josh understood that it was just his nature and couldn''t fault him for it.


    "I''m alright. Sorry for worrying you guys." Josh said amiably with an eye smile. He raised both of his hands up to show his admittance of defeat. "So Hawkeye is still waiting for me, huh? I''m slightly surprised."


    From what Josh can recall about Dracule Mihawk, he seemed to be a man who did whatever he wanted and without any restrictions. However, Josh also remembered how business-like he was...always straight to the point. He guessed that Hawkeye probably doesn''t like to waste time.


    And yet, he was waiting patiently for over two hours just to get five bottles of High-tiered wine? How much of a connoisseur was he? Just imagining what would happen if he decided to fork out the Godly Wine sent shivers down Josh''s spine.


    Just then, two people suddenly barged into the dining room with a loud bang resulting from the door slamming against the wall. One of them was a lanky teen with raven hair, while the other was a bit older and also had blonde hair. A cigarette was placed in his mouth and his curly eyebrows twitched occasionally.

 35 Chapter 35: Music Function

    Third Person''s PoV:


    The two relatively young men came in as boisterous as one can be. With everyone''s attention turned to them, Luffy''s eyes brightened even more.


    "Josh, You''re awake!" Luffy said enthusiastically. The smile on his face couldn''t be any wider.


    "Yea. Sorry for the worry��" Josh tried to say, however, he was immediately cut off by an annoying voice which made a tick pop up on his forehead.


    "NAMI-SWANNN..." Sanji swooned with his patented noodle dance. With his arms raised up and waving back and forth as if they were boneless, there were literal hearts coming out of him.


    Sanji rushed over to Nami and took her right hand with his own. As if his earlier state was a lie, a manly voice came out of his mouth, "Your knight, Sanji, is here to protect you, even if it is from the devil himself."


    Nami just looked unimpressed, while everyone else deadpanned, except for Luffy who thought it was amusing.


    "Shishishi...Sanji has officially joined our pirate crew." Luffy said.


    "Well...I''m alive, Zoro isn''t dead, ''I hope.'', and we''ve got a new crew mate... do you guys know what this calls for!?" Josh said in a loud voice. His attempt at changing the subject was quickly ridden on by everyone.


    *Growl*


    A certain captain''s stomach growled as if it had sentience of its own.


    "A BANQUET!!"


    Josh smiled excitedly. A pirate''s banquet was something famous and glorious, however, very common. This was different though, this is the banquet of the Strawhat pirates...no way it''d be anything peaceful or calming. It is going to be rowdy, loud, and very tiring, but most importantly, fun!


    "Do we have enough food?" Usopp asked. Most of the crew quickly realized Luffy''s unending appetite, and Luffy didn''t care for other people when on the dinner table so they had to make sure everyone had enough to eat for it to be an actual banquet.


    "It''ll be fine. If we run out, the restaurant is right outside so we can get more ingredients." Sanji answered. He was also excited about the thought of cooking for his new crew mates, especially Nami.


    "Alright then, lover-boy. Let''s test your qualifications as the chef of this crew. You''ll be cooking everything by yourself." Josh added tacitly. He took the first chance he had to slack off from having to cook.


    While his cooking skills were now supposedly ''Advanced'', he didn''t want to be stuck in the kitchen cooking, while everyone else enjoyed themselves.


    "That was the plan anyway." Sanji grumbled and walked into the kitchen.


    "Oh right, Mihawk is still here. I''ll be back in a sec.." Excusing himself, Josh left the dining room and went out on to the deck.


    Once he got on the deck, the sea breeze immediately embraced him, making him sniff the air in comfort. Josh wasn''t much of a sea voyager back in his old world, so he didn''t know just how inviting mother ocean can be, even though she is extremely dangerous.


    "Yo. How you doing?" Leaning over the railing of the Merry, Josh spoke up to a man quietly sitting on a boat.


    The man didn''t even lift his head up but responded anyway, "You brat, you''ve kept me waiting long enough." Mihawk''s entire face was covered by his shapely hat.


    "Don''t be like that, ossan. Come up on the Merry Go. We''re having a banquet, and you''re invited." Josh proposed teasingly. As long as Mihawk called him a "brat", he wasn''t going to let him get away without being called an "ossan".


    Mihawk was about to refuse and demand his rewards, but he hesitated after hearing Josh''s next words.


    "I''m feeling generous today, so the High-Tiered wine will be served.." Josh spoke aloofly. He spoke as if the wine was nothing but common juice.


    Mihawk begrudgingly agreed. It wasn''t so bad as he would get to taste that fine wine again. Also, this was far from the first time Mihawk was forcefully dragged into a party after a fight. The Akagami Pirates did that often so the begrudging feeling he showed was only on the outside.


    Soon, the both of them entered the dining area and the already seated crew stared back at them with bewilderment written all over their faces.


    Nami, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku were tongue tied at this scene. The man who was their enemy previously was coming onto their ship leisurely as if nothing ever happened between them.


    While the feeling of bewilderment was strong, even stronger feelings of fear and worry quickly arose within them.


    Luffy, on the other hand, couldn''t be bothered with them. His face instantly had a smile as he saw Hawkeye walk in.


    "You''re here too, Hawkeye no ossan. That''s great!" He laughed cheerily. This man was someone who knew Shanks personally and he didn''t seem like an evil person so Luffy quickly welcomed him.


    All of them took a seat, with Luffy, Josh, and Mihawk on one side and the rest on the other side. The atmosphere was strained as nobody spoke up to make conversation.


    Luffy was clanking his spoon and fork excitedly while shouting "meshi" over and over again. While Josh tried to make conversation, Mihawk was being rather taciturn. Only replying with a word or two, sometimes not replying at all. This made Josh feel helpless.


    The other side of the table was completely soundless. Nobody even dared to move an inch as they all just stared at the table as if something interesting was on it.


    ''You wouldn''t know a way to salvage this situation would you?'' Josh asked mentally. The person he was talking to was clearly the system.


    [The solution is simple. Remove Dracule Mihawk from the area and the situation will go back to normal.]


    Josh wanted to beat up the System after that comment. He specifically invited the guy, so he can''t just go back on his words and tell him to leave...where would he put his face if he did that.


    ''Are you crazy!? No! Anything else?'' Josh asked a bit helplessly. He was just talking to the System to temporarily escape from the awkward situation so he didn''t really expect it to give a good solution.


    [History has shown that Music can bring people closer together. Maybe some songs will liven the place and spark something?]


    The reply this time was not something Josh was expecting. It actually sounded logical and it would definitely make everyone focus on something other than the awkward silence.


    ''Too bad I can''t play any instrument. Can''t exactly just up and sing a song with my tone-deaf voice...'' Josh replied a bit dejectedly.


    [There is no need for the Host to sing. The System is equipped with it''s own Music Function.]


    ".....what?" Josh accidentally spoke out loud, but he was just ignored. Some turned their heads his way but that was it.


    [The System is fitted with it''s own Music Function.]


    ''....''


    ''You didn''t think to tell me that...because?'' Josh said calmly. His inner voice might be calm, but Josh was feeling anything but calm.


    ''If you say...I didn''t ask��''


    [The Host didn''t ask.]


    Josh lost it for a moment and abruptly stood up. Garnering odd looks from everyone. He shamefully sat back down with his head crestfallen.


    ''If you pull another function like that out of your ass again without telling me, I''m really gonna rage.''


    [Gasp! Language, Host! You are talking to a three year old! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?]


    Josh lost it for a second time. After calming his bulging eyes and quivering mouth, he calmly stood up and left the room. After a dull thud, he came back in with the same expressionlessness on his face, confusing everyone.


    ''I''m sorry. Now, what were you saying about music?''

 36 Chapter 36: Play ‘That’ Song

    Third Person''s PoV:


    [As the System was saying, the System is equipped with a Music Function. The songs are all recorded from the Host''s memory, so any song the Host wishes can be played.]


    The system explained with a positive attitude, it was as if the system did not notice the host''s pain at all.


    ''Okay. So how does it work anyway?'' Josh asked.


    [Unless the Host specify, the music will originate from the Host. In a closed room like this, the system recommends the Host to specify the sound to originate inside the room.]


    ''Yeah, I know. Otherwise, they''ll all look at me as if I''m a living soundbox.'' Josh chuckled mentally. His earlier feelings were long gone. He couldn''t help but let go of his anger when he hears the innocent sounding voice of the system.


    [The Host can even have his own BGM, this is how cool the system is. The Host must be thankful and worship the system from now on.]


    Just when Josh''s impression on the System was getting a bit better, it just had to go and ruin it as if the system knew that it''s Host no longer hated it.


    ''Who the hell needs a shitty background music!?'' Josh roared indignantly. If the system had a corporeal body, it would surely get a hundred slaps for it''s comments.


    [Haven''t the Host ever read that one novel? The protagonist had a system that gave him BGM. Doesn''t the Host want to be like him?]


    The system asked innocently. Although it''s voice sounded mature, it was as if the system truly had the brain of a child.


    ''You mean that one Chinese novel...what was it called. ''Grabbed By The System''?'' Josh also momentarily forgot about his feelings as he responded.


    [I believe it is called ''Seized By The System''.]


    ''Well..whatever. I don''t need BGM. Just play ''that'' song.'' Josh irritatedly commanded.


    [The Host does realize that the System doesn''t know what the Host means by ''that'' song, right?]


    The system responded in a confused tone.


    ''Just play it!'' Josh was getting a headache from all of this back and forth comedy skit with the system.


    [If the Host says so...]


    With that, a music started playing. It came from all over the room, making one unable to tell it''s exact point of origin.


    When sounds suddenly started coming from all over the dining room of the Merry, many were startled.


    Raising his head, Usopp asked a question, "what''s going on!?"


    The man was startled by the sudden upbeat music that was ringing from all over the Merry. If one listened intently, it would sound like it came from a direction. Yet, the moment one thinks it''s from a certain direction, it would change. This, however, didn''t change the overall volume of the music at all.


    "Don''t mind it. The atmosphere was getting awkward so I decided to put on some music." Josh said with a confident smile. He just took all of the credits for the system''s work.


    As if sensing that it''s Host was being unfair, the lyrics started playing...


    "Jingle bells,jingle bells..~ Jingle all the way~...."


    "What the fuk are you doing!?" Josh shouted. He just claimed that the music was his doing and now it turned into a Christmas song. He felt incredibly embarrassed.


    [The System does not know what the Host means by ''that'' song...]


    ''I wish you were still the idiot that couldn''t talk back...sigh..I meant ''Sunflower'' by Post Malone. Now stop, we''re not caroling!''


    Just as Josh was done commanding the system and the song was starting to roll around, Sanji finally came out of the kitchen.


    With a bemused smile on his face, he had dishes upon dishes stacked on his hands and even on top of his head. Gently, Sanji put the massive array of food on to the table. Sanji went back into the kitchen and brought out even more food, the number of dishes this time was not at all inferior to before.


    With the table fully stuffed with food to the point of Josh not being able to even place his hands on the table without accidentally touching them, Sanji finally stopped.


    Josh was actually amazed that Luffy didn''t grab any of Sanji''s dishes while he was carrying them over, but instead he waited impatiently. Waited being the most important thing here.


    As soon as Sanji sat down right beside Nami, Luffy couldn''t help himself anymore.


    "Itadakimasu!!"


    With drool all over his lower jaw, Luffy clapped his hands together and called out. After that, the banquet became a battlefield!


    Luffy stuffed food in his mouth and swallowed within less than one second! Everyone else tried their best to get a portion for themselves.


    Mihawk on the other hand was calmly enjoying a richly roasted steak. Whenever Luffy''s literal outstretched hand came near his food, a massive amount of killing intent would pour out from him and Luffy had no choice but to retreat meekly.


    "You guys are making too much noise.." a deep but lazy voice slowly said from near the door.


    "Zoro!! *bite* You''re *glug glug* awake too. *gulp* This is great! *munch munch* We''re having a *rip* banquet. *crack*" Luffy said while eating fervently. A piece of meat never strayed far from his mouth the entire time.


    ''Oh right, the stupid wine.'' Josh suddenly remembered his promise to Mihawk. He got up from his seat and went out on the deck after greeting Zoro.


    After an instantaneous flash of light that went unnoticed by everyone, Josh came back into the room. The only difference was the thing he was holding. In Josh''s hand is a crate. Opening it up, Josh carefully removed 5 unassuming bottles from the crate and handed it to Mihawk.


    Hawkeye silently took them and put them somewhere inside his clothes. There wasn''t even a change in his outlook after he put them there.


    Josh distributed the remaining bottles equally among everyone.


    This was the day that the Strawhats enjoyed a banquet with bountiful and delicious food, overwhelmingly good wine, whilst listening to ''Sunflower'' on repeat.

 37 Chapter 37: I Want To Tell You A Story

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "What language is this song from? I''ve never heard of it." Nami calmly said as she was enjoying her own delicacy.


    "Now that you mention it, I''ve never heard of this kind of music before either..." Johnny also added his own opinion. His hands, however, were too busy fighting off the cruel rubbery arm.


    "You guys can''t understand the language...? But you can understa�� never mind..." Josh just sighed dejectedly. He was very confused about how this was possible.


    With his face scrunched up into an ''I''m thinking'' pose, Josh fired his brain cells into thinking for the solution. ''I understand them...they understand me....I can only speak English...they don''t understand English..??''


    ''If that''s true, then how come I understand them?'' Josh questioned himself. Subconsciously, his hands never stopped to grab another of the so-called "manga meat". They were simply too good to pass up.


    [The Host was imprinted with the main language of the world of One Piece upon arrival. After the imprinting, the Host became able to speak and understand Japanese as if it is English. This is probably the reason why the Host didn''t feel any difference.]


    The system answered Josh''s questions. Josh nodded. This definitely made sense...but he had a problem with that.


    ''Can you stop messing with my mind, body, and soul without permission!? I appreciate some of the things you''ve done, but we need to draw a line somewhere.'' Josh said in his mind. He didn''t like the fact that the system just messed around with him whenever it wanted to.


    While some of the things the system did without asking were actually beneficial for Josh, it didn''t mean the System wasn''t invading Josh''s privacy.


    [If that''s what the Host wishes....]


    The system replied back with a bit of regret in its voice. Josh just shook his head. If he didn''t put a collar around a dog, that dog just might burn down his house.


    ''You can stop the music..they don''t even understand. You know what? Play Bink''s Sake.'' Josh commanded the system. Josh grabbed another bottle of wine and downed a fifth of it. Just then, the song started changing.


    "Yohohoho...yohohoho! Yohohoho...yohohoho!!"


    Luffy''s ears immediately perked up. This song was a memorable one for every pirate.


    While the other song was something new and fresh, a classic like Bink''s Sake would be accepted by any pirate in the world.


    For the next half hour, the banquet became even more livelier. There was not only eating, drinking, and fighting over food, there was also terrible singing that everyone can only laugh along at.


    "Is he still not full yet?" Sanji poked his head out of the kitchen and asked. He had been back to the kitchen multiple times and cooked table fulls again and again. Even Sanji was sweating through his clothes.


    "Hahaha...keep''em coming, lover-boy!" Josh shouted back at him. Not caring at all that he could lift offsome of Sanji''s burdens.


    "We''re also out of ingredients....again." Sanji complained miserably.


    "Then go get more!" Luffy ordered.


    On the other side of the dining table, Zoro was sitting there quietly. He didn''t know how to feel when the man he was aiming to defeat as if Mihawk is his sworn enemy was sitting right in front of him.


    Zoro wasn''t complaining much though, because the food was good and the wine was even better.


    After another boisterous half hour of eating, Luffy finally started to show signs of slowing down. Most of the people were already done eating much sooner and were just making conversation.


    "I''ll take my leave now. Thank you for the food." Mihawk said expressionlessly as he got up from his seat.


    He took one last look at the crew before his eyes lingered on Zoro and moved on to Josh. ''These brats...are going to be powerful. Especially that last attack. He made me use 70% of my full power.'' He thought.


    If Josh knew what Mihawk was thinking, he''d definitely be certain that Dracule Mihawk was related to a talking purple alien cat.


    "Tell Akagami that we''ll be in Paradise within a week or so.." Josh sent him off with a smile. He was thankful for Mihawk, even though he got his ass handed to him.


    Without another word, Hawkeye left the little room and made his way onto his boat and silently drifted off into the abyss of the sea. A faint smile was on his face as he went back to the Grandline in a good mood.


    Once everyone settled down from the excitement, Josh looked towards Nami. His expression softened a bit as he sympathized with the girl''s plight.


    "Nami, do you hate the fish-men pirates?" Josh asked out of the blue.


    Without any hesitation, Nami replied with a self assured tone, "Of course I do!"


    "Then do you hate pirates?" Josh asked again without pause. Nami had no idea where Josh was going with these questions but she answered anyway with a firm nod.


    "Last question, do you hate fishmen?"


    This question stunned the girl. Emotions boiled up inside her as she considered these words. The rest of the crew observed curiously at the two conversing people.


    "Every fishmen I met were horrible. So yeah, I hate them.." Nami finally answered after some deliberation. She was very honest with her answers.


    Her whole life, she had hated those fishmen who oppressed her and her fellow islanders. Deep down, she wished for all of them to suffer a horrible death.


    Josh finally got the answers he was not hoping for. This was the real world, there was bound to be some lingering feelings of resentment and prejudice against Fishmen in Nami''s heart.


    The navigator hadn''t experienced the Grandline yet. Nor had she met Camie and Pappagu. She hadn''t been to Fishmen Island yet. It was only logical that there would be some sort of ill feelings towards fishmen in Nami''s heart. Thus is the way a human works.


    "What''s going on? I''m not following." Zoro commented from the side. He was truly lost. This was the same for everyone who had no idea about Nami''s current situation.


    "I appreciate your honesty. I want to tell all of you a story....the story of a hero." Josh relented. This was his true aim all along. He wanted to inform the crew about the story of a particular fishman.


    "This is the tale of the ''Adventurer'' Fisher Tiger."

 38 Chapter 38: Story of a Hero Part 1

    Nami''s PoV:


    As the topic of Fishmen was brought up, an uneasy feeling welled up within me.


    Do I hate fishmen?


    My face slowly morphed into a pained expression without my control and tears threatened to leak from my eyes...holding it together, I gathered my thoughts one more time.


    Every fishmen I know have done some horrible thing or another. While I am sure not all fish people are like that, I could feel a sense of repulsion welling up.


    Did I subconsciously gain prejudice towards fishmen?


    Unknowingly, my silence made the room that was previously abundant with sound quiet down. Shuffling my feet uneasily, I glanced back up at the blonde that asked this question.


    "I..I think I hate them��" I finally responded. Being unsure of yourself is not a good feeling. Before I could let out another word, Josh immediately moved onto another topic all of a sudden.


    "Well then, let me tell you a story. This is the tale of the ''Adventurer'' Fisher Tiger." He said. Josh still had that sympathetic look on his face that was urging me to throw a punch.


    I''m not some weak little girl anymore. I already know the cruelty of the world, maybe even more so than the man himself. I don''t need him to sympathize with me.


    "You should let me finish when I speak!" I sneered. Feeling a bit pissed off for no apparent reason. "While I hate fishmen, I don''t think all of them are like Arlong and his crew."


    After saying that, Josh had that annoying smile on his face that just screams ''I know''. Hasn''t anyone ever told him? Nobody likes a know-it-all!


    "How are Ane-san and the Arlong pirates related?" Unexpectedly, it was Johnny that spoke up. They were bounty hunters, so it is natural that they knew of Arlong.


    Once again, I had to retell my entire life story. By now, I was more used to speaking about myself. Hopefully, it''ll be for the last time. Once I was done talking, the atmosphere in the room shifted.


    Sanji had an absolutely livid expression on his face. Veins popped out of his forehead and he seemed to be too angry to speak. While the rest of the crew''s expressions were more tamed compared to Sanji and Luffy''s first reactions, they, nonetheless, had unpleasant looks on their faces.


    "T-that fishman! Wait until I, Captain Usopp, g-get my hands on him!" Usopp was the first to express his feelings. Although his hands were trembling from what I can only assume to be fear, it still felt warm that they worried about me.


    "That''s the current situation with Nami." Josh simply stated. Staring straight at me, he continued, "There is actually a reason for Arlong''s hatred towards humans."


    This instantly made me angry. I clenched my fist together in preparations to punch Josh, logia or not! Was he trying to excuse Arlong and his crew for what they did to the islanders!? What they did to Bellemere!? To me!?


    Raising his hands up in defense, Josh hurriedly tried to explain himself. With sweat pouring down the side of his face, he said, "I''m not trying to defend him! I''m just saying that there is a reason behind his unrelenting hatred towards humans."


    "It was a long, long time ago..." he started to say with a faraway look on his face.


    "You have 3 seconds to explain yourself! Any longer and I''ll cut your manhood off..." I abruptly cut him off. Hmph! That is more than he deserves for his earlier comment.


    "Wait..what!? No..the story is kind of long��" Josh stammered while holding his genitals tightly. Everyone else was doing the same with their faces turning purple.


    "Fine! Explain." I cut him off again before he could list a myriad of excuses.


    "To understand Arlong''s hatred, we must go back all the way to Fisher Tiger, who is known as the ''Liberator''. Care to guess why people called him that?" Josh said.


    "Did he free a bunch of meat that were taken hostage!?" Luffy excitedly interjected with a worried frown on him. Who the hell would be so free as to keep meat hostage!?


    "Why does it always have to be meat with you?" I sighed in resignation once again. That''s been happening way too often lately. By now, most of my anger had dissipated, but they don''t know that, do they?


    "I''m just gonna ignore that talking monkey...Anyway, Arlong grew up together with Jinbei and Fisher Tiger on Fishman District of the Ryuuguu Kingdom on Fish-Man Island. Basically, it''s the slums." Josh started his story. Everyone listened attentively.


    "Those names..! I thought they sounded familiar..they are notorious pirates!" Yosaku exclaimed loudly all of a sudden. His expression showed traces of fear in them.


    "What do you mean? I''ve never heard of them." Zoro simply stated with a sleepy countenance. Someone should really give him a good slap.


    "A-aniki...you''ve really never heard of them before?" Johnny also piped up. The disbelieve on his face grew even larger when he saw the confused looks on everyone else as well.


    "Jinbei is one of the seven Shichibukai! Warlords of the sea. I heard that Jinbei sent Arlong to the East Blue. And the name Fisher Tiger also sounded familiar.." Yosaku explained even further. The confused gazes didn''t disappear after that, in fact, it just made everyone more confused. Was a Shichibukai or whatever really that important?


    "I''ll tell you guys about them another time. All you guys need to know is that Mihawk is also one of the seven Shichibukai." Josh said, he looked like he was intending to forcibly continue with his storytelling.


    Gasps of surprise and amazement filled the room. This Jinbei character was on par with the greatest swordsman in the world!?


    "And no, Jinbei did not send Arlong to the East Blue! They had a falling out. If he knew what Arlong was doing, he''d be the first to rush over to stop him. Just let me finish talking." Josh said impatiently.


    With a nod of agreement from everyone, he carried on, "As I was saying, they grew up in the slums. Back then, humans, mostly pirates, would come to Fish-Man Island to kidnap fishmen so they can sell them off to slavers."


    "What!? That''s not possible. For as long as the World Government has been established, slavery of all kind was banned from practice. Who would buy them?" I shouted in protest. This was the basic law that everybody abided by.


    "Who would buy them? Hahaha...that''s a funny question. Those fat pigs at Mary Geoise had too much free time on their hands. Some of their favorite past time is buying Fishmen slaves. It is probably happening right now as we speak!" Josh laughed a mirthless laugh. There was no humor present at all in his voice.

 39 Chapter 39: Story of a Hero Part 2

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Nami gasped silently with one hand covering her mouth. Her eyebrows were raised up in disbelief and her irises revealed themselves to their full glory. The others were also in disbelief as well.


    Luffy didn''t know the exact implications of slavery being common among the world nobles, but he knew one thing...taking people''s freedom away from them was a very bad thing, therefore, he did not have a good feeling towards it.


    "The three were close like brothers. Along with other fishmen of the Fishman District, they formed a pirate group. They called themselves the Sun Pirates and Fisher Tiger was the first captain. Jinbei is the current captain." Josh continued on while ignoring the other''s fearful gasps.


    "Arlong already had plenty of reasons to hate humans. Since he was young, he witnessed many of his friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and neighbors, who he grew up together with, being captured and sold like rare animals by humans." He said. Traces of disgust could be found on his face.


    "How much do you think they were sold for?" He suddenly asked. The others shook their heads as an answer. With a frown, Josh pointed his finger down on the table repeatedly as he said, "A single mermaid would sell for at least 100 million Beli!"


    "1-100!? 100 million!?"


    The price was ridiculous! No wonder people captured and sold them off. Although that is not an excuse, the greedy nature of humans can get the best of them sometimes and make them do horrible things...and these are pirates who didn''t care about raiding a town full of innocent civilians.


    After Nami heard the amount, a flash of Beli signs entered her mind briefly, but an even stronger feeling of nausea and disgust quickly suppressed her desires and her face changed into that of a person suffering from motion sickness.


    "Anyway, Fisher Tiger rescued his fellow fishmen from the hands of the world nobles. Along with many other human slaves owned by the world nobles, he took them all away from the "holy" city of Mary Geoise. Burning down the place in the process." Josh said. Although it sounded like that was the climax of the story, it was far from it. The real twist was just about to start.


    "Some of the slaves did not have a means of transportation to get back home, so the Sun Pirates personally travelled all over the seas to bring them back home safely to their families." Josh said with a faint smile. A good feeling radiated off of him as he said so. The others couldn''t help but smile as well.


    "He''s a hero!" Usopp said. "Not only did he free them, he also personally brought them back home safely."


    "Yeah. I''d love to meet a person like him." Luffy also said. He always loved stories and tales of great heroes who did heroic acts like this.


    "The world nobles imprinted tattoos on the bodies of every slave they owned. No matter if they were old, young, or adults. The slave marks are burned into their skin so that it would be impossible to get rid of..." Josh also added. "To mask this, the Sun Pirates burn off the world noble''s insignia with their own��a sun. This way, nobody would be able to tell if they used to be a slave or not. This is also the reason why they are called the Sun Pirates, and their Jolly Roger is that of a sun."


    "I see..that makes sense. It''d be bad if the world nobles found them again and took them back." Zoro unexpectedly deduced. He was dead accurate with his assumption, which greatly surprised Josh. He could only numbly nod.


    Taking another swig of the last bottle remaining in his hand, Josh passed it over to Zoro, who downed it in one go. By now, Josh was feelingmore than a bit tipsy. The alcohol content was high and although Josh wasn''t a teetotaler, his experience with alcohol was minimal.


    With a faint trace of redness appearing on his face, Josh stubbornly continued with what he wanted to convey. "On the last trip of their self assigned mission to deliver the slaves home, an incident that truly changed Arlong occurred. Although there already existed some feelings of prejudice and hatred towards humans in Arlong''s heart, this was the event that truly made him act upon it."


    "The last person to be dropped off was a little girl. Once they got there, guess who was waiting for them on the island?" Josh asked with disdain in his tone. His expressions were becoming more and more like that of a drunkard.


    "Who was it?"


    "Was it the world nobles?"


    "Those bastards deserve to die!"


    Swaying slightly to the side, Josh got up from his seat and wobbly made his way towards the other side of the table. He sat next to Nami who was in disbelief that he was actually this drunk from the wine. She didn''t even feel a thing.


    Putting his arms around Nami''s shoulders, he leaned in closer to her face. Everyone was pretty absorbed in the story so when they witnessed the sudden actions of Josh, they were all dumbfounded. Sanji looked like a volcano that was about to erupt.


    "Let..lemme tell you...the marine admiral Kizaru was waiting there to greet them! The girl''s parents actually called the marines to let them know that the Pirates were delivering their precious daughter home!" He said.


    ''System..System...I think the alcohol is getting to me. Can you clear my head?'' Seeing that he was acting abnormally, he quickly asked the system for help.


    [But I thought the Host didn''t want the system to mess with the host''s mind, body, and soul?]


    Instead of immediately proposing a solution, the system questioned Josh in return.


    ''It''s fine this time. I give you permission.'' Josh replied back in a bit of irritation.


    [Clearing the Host''s system''s of alcohol...the system has used 100 points to flush out most of the alcohol in the Host''s body.


    Poison Immunity has gone up by 0.002%]


    ''Thanks''


    The feeling of dizziness slowly retreated and Josh''s mind became clear again. He didn''t immediately take his arm off of Nami though. She wasn''t unwilling, why should he, as a man, back down? Taking small advantages like this shouldn''t be a problem right?


    "What happened next? Did the sun pirates fight the admiral!?" Luffy asked impatiently. The story Josh was telling them was very interesting to him and he couldn''t wait to find out what happens next.


    "Tiger, Jinbei, and Arlong got off to personally make sure that the girl got home safe and sound...once the marines spotted them, there was a huge fight. Unfortunately, Fisher Tiger was badly injured and he was dying..." Josh said in a solemn tone.


    "Tiger was a very respected man among the fishmen, although he was a pirate. Almost every fishmen and women loved and respected him. In order to not worsen the relationship between humans and fishmen, Fisher Tiger made Jinbei and Arlong swear to not tell the truth about what happened and then passed away...He was a true hero...." Josh finally concluded. By now, he was in a solemn mood. Not just him, everyone was feeling the same way.


    "Uhh...he..he was a great man...ugh...and a hero!" Luffy suddenly bawled out. Tears were streaming down his face. Usopp mirrored his actions while muttering, "What a hero...I''ll be like him someday."


    "The lie Jinbei and Arlong came up with was that Fisher Tiger was injured and lost too much blood...none of the humans were willing to donate any blood to him, that was why he passed away." Josh also added. Thinking back, he couldn''t understand why someone like Jinbei couldn''t come up with a better lie. That lie actually had some impacts in terms of the relationship between Fishmen and humans.


    "This is why, to this day, there is a law in the Ryuugu Kingdom that donating blood to a human was forbidden." Josh said.


    "There is such a law?" Sanji asked in disbelief. It seemed ridiculous to him, but he could also understand where they were coming from.


    "Josh-aniki, you know a lot about this. Could it be that you''ve been to Fishman Island before?" Johnny suddenly raised a question. The curious cats in everyone''s hearts were stirred after hearing this, especially Sanji. It was one of his dreams to one day visit Fishman Island and meet a lot of beautiful mermaids.


    "Well...I''ve seen the place a few times.." Josh answered while looking down slightly towards the table. It wasn''t a blatant lie as Josh did indeed see Fishman Island through the many episodes of the arc.


    "The place is probably one of the most beautiful in the entire world. And I''m not just talking about the mermaids...although they are beauties incomparable to humans." Josh quietly added, but this was heard by everyone. Excitement grew in their hearts as they anticipated the day all of them would visit the island.


    "After Fisher Tiger''s death, Arlong wanted to get revenge on the humans, but Jinbei didn''t feel the same. They had a falling out and after losing to Jinbei, Arlong took some of the fishmen on the Sun Pirate who sympathized with him and came to the East Blue. This is how the whole thing started...." Josh said.


    "Before all this, you said Jinbei would stop Arlong. Why doesn''t he do it?" Sanji asked after everyone''s emotions settled down a bit more.


    "He doesn''t know. Arlong is probably paying off a corrupt marine so that his actions in the East Blue doesn''t get on the newspaper. Jinbei is one of the most honorable and dutiful Fishman I''ve ever heard of...his moniker of ''Knight of the Sea'' isn''t just for show.." Josh replied back. The answer seemed to satisfy everyone as there were no more questions for the time being.


    The time was only around mid afternoon after Josh was done telling his story, so the crew headed towards Nami''s home island to settle the whole ordeal with Arlong.


    Armed with the knowledge of Arlong''s past, Nami''s determination to save her family and friends grew even more.


    While she now understood the reason behind Arlong''s hatred for humans, she had no intentions of forgiving him for what he did to her. However, the slight prejudice she unknowingly held towards all Fishmen was quelled after hearing Josh''s story. As the saying goes, words could connect people better than fists.

 40 Chapter 40: Angel of The Lord

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Sitting on a seat to enjoy the sun, Josh had his eyes closed and a tranquil feeling overcame him. He was currently on the upper platform of the deck with everyone else doing their own things.


    Josh could feel his injuries aching but most importantly, it was itching as a result of the fast recovery. ''My immunity went up right? Can you explain exactly how I can increase it further?''


    [As the immunity module is exclusive to the Host, the system is unable to discern exactly how to increase immunity further. However, according to the system''s analysis, it should increase with more exposure to the object of immunity.]


    The system replied uncertainly. It was a mystery even to the System. What Josh was afraid of was that too much exposure could kill him. Did that mean that he would have to be poisoned or get sick often just to increase the percentage? Would it increase if he was exposed to the same thing over and over again?


    His calm and tranquil rest was only on the outside. When in fact, his mind was in a turmoil. Stroking his slightly bulging stomach due to overeating, Josh continued on with his questioning. ''Can I buy a smartphone or something? I miss playing games...''


    [Request denied. The system''s level isn''t high enough for the Host to access that level of technology.]


    Josh sighed...it seemed to him that the system had quite a lot of restrictions. Unwilling to give up so easily, he pushed on, ''Then what level do you need to be for me to buy it? Wait...what do I need to do for you to level up anyway?''


    [The System needs to be at least level 2. The Host can use 100 million system points for a level up.


    Warning: The number of points required will double for each advancement.]


    "I guess I''ve got a long way to go before I can enjoy everything in luxury..." Josh said out loud. Not at all afraid that he might be overheard by the others.


    Right now, the Merry was about an hour of sea travel away from reaching their destination. Josh wasn''t concerned a bit about Arlong. He personally saw Luffy beat him before and he himself was more than enough for that fish bastard.


    This wasn''t the case for everyone else though, especially for the more fearful people in the crew. Sanji and Luffy were the ones who were most eager for a fight. Zoro being placed right below them. More fights meant that he could improve himself even further.


    Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku were the ones who were most unwilling, however, thinking back to Nami''s tragic backstory, they steeled themselves for an unavoidable confrontation anyway.


    Somewhere in the South Blue.


    On the island of Baterilla in the south Blue, was the town that was once suspected of having the child of the devil. Countless marines searched day and night for the unborn baby, going as far as to slaughter some of the newborns to ensure that the rumors were kept dead. It resembled the birth of Jesus Christ from a certain transmigrator''s original world.


    In the present day, the island went back to being just one of the numerous islands in the world and was forgotten by many.


    A couple were strolling down the road. They had a reservation with one of the most reputable restaurant on the island. This was because today was a significant day for them, the day of their anniversary.


    As the couple were running slightly behind their intended schedule, they decided to take a shortcut through the alleyway.


    As it was currently nighttime, most people would avoid places like the alley, however, the happy couple decided to do so anyway. After all, Baterilla was not like those islands in the Grandline and crime wasn''t rampant everywhere.


    "Honey, I have a surprise waiting for you at the end of our date." The man said as he quickened his steps. The woman beside him perked up after hearing him and stuck her body even closer. As they had their arms already linked, the man could feel his wife''s ample assets sticking on to his body.


    "I''m looking forward to it, Koku dear..." the woman playfully winked.


    Just as the two married couple were enjoying the mood, a sudden sound startled them. From in front, two burly and unkempt men appeared out of nowhere. They had malicious smiles on their faces as they threateningly took steps forward.


    The two startled people hurriedly tried to turn back and make a run for it, however, once they turned around, they noticed two more people already stationed behind them.


    "Hehehe...you''re not going anywhere." A man stepped up and told them. He had a short and stubble beard, but that was all the hair that was present on his entire head.


    The man, whose name is Koku, stood straight and went in front of his wife to shield her. They slowly backed into the wall of the alley so as to not get sandwiched. As they were ordinary people, when up against four muscular men, the couple felt fearful.


    "This is all of the money we have...please, just let us pass." After some mental deliberation, Koku decided to obediently hand over their valuables so that they don''t get hurt.


    "Kahahah...brothers, it seems like this guy doesn''t get it!" The smallest man among them spoke up, as he said this, all of the men started laughing as well.


    "We don''t just want your money, we want everything you have! Even that beautiful woman over there..." a man sneered. His eyes were filled with lust as he glanced over Koku''s wife.


    Koku wasn''t able to take that comment lying, he had his pride as a man as well. These thugs were vying after his wife! How could he possibly just let them do as they pleased just to save his own skin?


    With anger as his fuel, Koku took a step forward and engaged the four muggers. However, reality hit him in the form of punches and kicks. He was just an ordinary man, how could he possibly match up to four muscular men?


    Blood trickled down his face and his vision went hazy. He got distracted for a moment and in that moment, a sharp sensation suddenly came from his abdomen. The woman shouted worriedly.


    Looking down, there was a short dagger planted firmly in his stomach. Koku fell down face first into the ground. He was in so much pain that he was having trouble hearing the desperate pleas of his wife who was struggling with all of her might.


    Koku felt so much pain and that was the same for his emotions. Anger, hatred, resentment, helplessness, self pity/hatred, regret..Koku could only feel those emotions as his life waned slowly.


    Just then, a bright white light filled the entire area. The light was so pure that one would feel that they could actually touch it. It looked exactly like the time with Josh.


    However, the difference was that the painful high pitched sound was not there. Indistinct sounds that resembled whispers were heard occasionally.


    "Yes... if you can save my wife, then YES!" A shout suddenly resounded and the white light entered into Koku''s body.


    "Koku" got up from his original place in the ground. His injuries were nowhere to be seen, even the one in his stomach.


    The man slowly made his way over to the four men who were still restraining the lone woman who had tears running down her face. She looked like she had already given up all hope. Strangely, it was as if none of them noticed the intense light that briefly shone throughout the entire area as they carried on their business of stripping Koku''s wife.


    A hand suddenly grabbed one of the men''s head and without any warning, bright lights shone from his eyes, nose, and mouth. After a terrified scream, the man stopped struggling.


    If one took a closer look, one would notice that his eyes were burnt out and it seemed as though his entire head was fried.


    The same quickly occurred to the remaining trio who were intent on escaping after witnessing the scene before them.


    "K-koku....? Is that you?" The woman slowly got up and nervously asked. She was sure that her husband was lying on the ground dying a moment ago. Relief washed over her as the man standing before her was indeed her husband.


    That relief was quickly smashed when she noticed the expressionless look on Koku''s face. Without responding, Koku turned around and intended to walk away.


    "Koku? Koku!! Where are you going?" The woman hurriedly shouted to stop him. It worked, as Koku slowly turned around, however, the words that came out of his mouth made her heart despair.


    "I am not Koku." An emotionless voice rang out. It was a voice that was so devoid of emotions that it sounded almost robotic.


    "Then...who are you!?"


    When the woman asked this, the dark night became even darker, black clouds gathered in the atmosphere and thunder rained down intermittently.


    Koku''s eyes suddenly shone brightly and behind him, the shadows of two giant wings could be seen.


    "My name is Arial. I am an Angel of the Lord!"


    Thus, an Angel came into the world of One Piece on the very same island that once resembled Bethlehem.

 41 Chapter 41: Unforeseen Ripples

    Third Person''s PoV:


    On an island of the archipelago on the Conomi islands, there was a certain village that was the home of a certain cat burglar.


    The place is called Cocoyasi village. With a nearby village named Gosa and the infamous and greatly feared Arlong Park also being on the same island.


    A few hours ago, news of the Gosa village being unable to pay the required amount of money and being destroyed by the Fishmen pirates circulated through out the entire island.


    Before, there used to be a few peacefully settling villages on the island, but as the years passed, the number dwindled due to the pirate''s interference.


    With such a news spreading, everyone under Arlong''s rule became more and more agitated and the previously suppressed rage and anger were about to come boiling to the surface.


    However, when the people of Cocoyasi thought about the suffering lone girl who worked so hard for all of their safety, their nerves calmed down a bit and their mental endurances had to be forcefully increased again. They had to grit their teeth and swallowed their rage back down.


    However, two concurrent incidents occurred that made that calming tonic become impossible to be utilize.


    Soon after the Gosa village was literally turned upside down, a marine captain came to the Cocoyasi village in search of a certain cat burglar. Upon discovering that Nami wasn''t home at the moment, the rat faced bastard did not halt in his endeavors, instead, he became more motivated to complete his task.


    Marine captain Nezumi had an agreement with Arlong. Arlong was becoming more and more suspicious of Nami''s long absence, thus, he took preemptive measures. If he took away all of Nami''s money, she wouldn''t be able to tell it was his doing since she wasn''t on the island at the moment.


    As this thought ran through his mind, Arlong ordered Nezumi to go search for the nearly 100 million Beli that was definitely stashed away in the orchard.


    On their way, the marines were stopped and questioned by the suspicious Genzo. As the village peacekeeper, he naturally felt responsible for what goes on in the village. As such, he had to step up when the marines were suspiciously sniffing around in their village instead of fighting Arlong.


    Genzo was unable to stop them from reaching the garden of tangerines. Upon reaching the orchard, a beautiful woman with blue hair stepped out from the ordinary house. She looked a bit more mature than Nami and was in fact, the navigators sister.


    Upon seeing the gathered Marines, Nojiko and Genzo felt an unplesant feeling well up within themselves. It was as if they could already feel something bad was about to happen.


    Nezumi ordered his marine grunts to start searching for the hidden money while he himself just stood there. The look on his face was nothing but mockery.


    As Nami''s sister, Nojiko obviously knew about the deal Nami had with Arlong as well as the place the 100 million was stashed. In fact, she was the one who informed Genzo and the rest of the villagers.


    As Nami was currently out, presumably searching for more treasure to reach her goal, Nojiko and Genzo could not allow these marines to trample all over that girl''s sole hope.


    As a result, they had to interfere with the marine''s search. They were only two people, while their enemies number around a dozen. Only equipped with a single shotgun while Genzo had his barehands for defense, the two decided to risk it anyway.


    After a few moments, some of the marines had fallen, nevertheless, the two were already at the end of their ropes.


    *Bang*


    An unforgivable and unforgettable sound rang out in the middle of the orchard. With it, the sound of a body hitting the hard ground followed.


    Nojiko immediately rushed over to Genzo''s side, while the man was clutching at his bleeding stomach.


    "Gen-san! Gen-san!!!" The girl desperately pleaded with him. Seeing that there was no longer any resistance, the marines carried on with their business as if nothing happened.


    While clutching at her own bleeding arm, Nojiko roughly shook Genzo who was bleeding out and becoming colder by the second.


    Both of their eyes had tears welling up within and streams of water slowly poured down their cheeks. All of their pent up emotions rushed forth and extreme sorrow overtook both Genzo and Nojiko.


    "N-Nojiko...tell..tell Na-chan to f-forget about us...that that girl h-has a bright fu..future ahead of her." With blood, tears, and snot coming out of his face, Genzo feebly grabbed Nojiko''s hands as he pleaded with her. "I-I only wi..wish I could''ve seen h-her....(smile one last time.)"


    Nojiko gritted her teeth so hard that, unknowingly, blood started trickling down the side of her lips. Without even being able to finish his last words, the village peacekeeper''s head tilted and there was no more movement. He had passed away....


    "Aaaahhhhh!!!"


    Under the disdainful gazes of the marines who were leaving as they found the money, Nojiko cried her eyes out and roared towards the heavens in sadness.


    After a few minutes, someone from the village who had overheard the sad howls of a woman who sounded like she went mad came rushing over. Seeing the sight before him, he was in disbelief and rage overcame him instantly.


    That man went back to gather the rest of the villagers and in no time, Nami''s orchard was filled with a bunch of men and women who are all holding some kind of weapon.


    Expressions of rage and anger were all on their faces as they grieved over the loss of Genzo. Thinking back on what the marines were there for, the conclusion of this being Arlong''s doing was quickly made. Who else but that despicable pirate would think of doing something like this.


    "We...have been suffering under Arlong''s rein of terror for long enough!!" A man suddenly stepped up and shouted. He was one of the biggest in terms of muscles in the village so he immediately assumed the position of leader. Nobody even thought about objecting.


    "THAT''S RIGHT!!!" The people present shouted back with much more vigor.


    "We, have endured it to this day because of Na-chan!!!" He continued, "BUT NO MORE!! We''ve had enough with this. Not only did they steal Nami''s hard earned money, they even killed Genzo!!"


    "YEAHH...!!" War cries rang out all through out the island as men and women alike rallied up for the confrontation of their lives.


    From the start, they knew that none of them were a match for the fishmen pirates, however, so what? They didn''t care. If they died, so be it! All of them were prepared for it. All they wanted right now was to kill some fishmen along with their inevitable deaths. If they could kill one or two fishmen before being done in, each and every one of them would be satisfied.


    ...


    On the Merry,


    The Strawhat pirates were completely unaware of the changes that have been happening since the few hours of their travel. This is especially true for a certain blonde.


    As the ship neared the island closer and closer, Nami''s emotions were becoming more and more wild. Suddenly, she stared straight ahead into the direction of their destination.


    A bad feeling washed over her, and for some unexplainable reason, she felt incomparable sadness emerging within her.


    Just as the crew were minutes away from reaching the island, something that was comparable to the Merry Go was lurking under the ship.


    With the island now in sight, the emotions everyone previously had were more heightened. For those who felt excited, they became even more restless. For those who felt fearful, their shiverings were unceasing.


    Suddenly, the figure of a giant sea cow suddenly emerged from underneath the Merry. When compared, the seaking was slightly bigger, which just made it''s entire image more menacing.


    "Rooaarrr..." the seaking growled threateningly as if showing off its might towards these weak humans.


    "Waaaahhhhhh....it''s a seaking!!!!"


    Catching the sight of the seaking that was making itself more menacing, nobody except for Johnny and Yosaku panicked. This was true even for Usopp which surprised them.


    Everyone else just stared at the seacow as if it was an idiot with deadpanned expressions. The reason was that they were already exposed to the truly gigantic Manni. As Sanji was a capable fighter, he didn''t even flinch at the sight of the cow.


    The cow tilted its head in confusion when it only got the desired reaction from two of the people onboard. Striking its pose once again, it renewed its threatening aura and roared once more. This was a huge mistake as it''s roars attracted the attention of something that was hidden way deeper in the ocean.


    Then, without any warning, the seacow, which was incomparably arrogant a few seconds ago, suddenly got dragged into the deeper parts of the sea. All that was left in its place were huge bubbles that popped up continuously and slowly, the blue ocean was died red for a few moments before being washed away again. The seaking, Mohmoo, would never emerge from the sea ever again.

 42 Chapter 42: Realization

    Third Person''s PoV:


    As interesting as watching the ocean waves constantly ripple about in the wind is, something much more exciting, in the opinion of a certain transmigrator, was about to take place.


    During the entire East Blue arc in the original story, the Arlong Park saga was most likely the biggest highlight. Not just for character development, but for plot advancement as well.


    Josh was calmly staring at the island that was already in view. Not a note of panic could be seen on his face. Not to mention himself, Luffy would be enough to beat Arlong without help from anyone.


    Although this was the case, something was bothering him ever since they got near the island. The thought of the consequences for his actions of changing the plot did not occur to him at the moment, yet a feeling of dread couldn''t help but surface. Maybe he didn''t want to see Nami stabbing herself repeatedly on the arm.


    "Hey, I just saw a shadow moving by the edge of the island." Usopp suddenly shouted. He was on lookout. As a person who could potentially have anxiety problems, he wanted to make sure that everything was going the way it should, thus he kept a close eye on the shorelines of the island.


    "That could be a scout. There are fishmen stationed around the perimeter to keep a look out on the sea for any vessels approaching the island." Walking up to the sharpshooter, Nami added her own conjecture. Josh also agreed with her thoughts.


    Squinting her eyes and covering them from the sun with one hand, Nami focused her sight on to the mentioned place. This was for naught as the silhouette was long gone.


    "Should we take ''em out?" Zoro asked. He also walked up to the front most part of the Going Merry with a hand on his only remaining Wado Ichimonji.


    "No, it''s too late. He''s already gone. Probably ran off to inform the rest of the Pirates." Nami informed the rest of them. Josh merely shrugged as he thought it wasn''t a big deal.


    "So where do we anchor down? I don''t see a port." Usopp pointed out, a bit worried. Although it didn''t matter where they parked the ship, Usopp was worried that someone would attack the Merry while they were gone. As the Merry was given by Kaya, Usopp treasured her as if she was Kaya herself.


    "You guys need to stop worrying...all we need to do is kick their asses." Luffy came up to them and proclaimed with a confident grin. He put both his fists together in a show of strength.


    ''At least we''re not getting on the island like Luffy did with Sanji''s boat in canon...'' Josh thought. Secretly relieved that, so far, the Merry had been relatively untouched.


    As there was no port city on the small island, the crew could only make do with what they had and just anchored the Merry to the nearest coast.


    One by one, they got off the Merry in high spirits, even Johnny and Yosaku were rearing to go after contemplating Nami''s past. Josh was slightly disappointed that nobody, namely the fishmen pirates, came to "greet" them. If only he knew...


    As the first order of business, the crew decided to check on the situation with Cocoyasi Village before they took any action. By Nami''s insistence, everyone walked leisurely towards the small village.


    Soon, they finally neared the village and the bad feeling Nami had before��multiplied. Shouts and war cries rang out all over the village and they could faintly hear it from their location.


    Quickening her steps as her heart rate increases, Nami rushed over to the end of the tree lines and the sight that greeted her caused her to almost tumble down in relief.


    She thought that the fishmen pirates came to find trouble with the villagers and the people were no longer able to endure it, as a result, decided to revolt. However, with no scaly bastards in sight, a sense of relief washed over her. That relief was quickly replaced by confusion and worry as she wondered what they were all doing.


    Soon enough, the rest of the crew also emerged from the forest and the sight that greeted them made them halt in shock. From their eyes, everyone was able to see a bunch of angry normal civilians who were armed with pitchforks, knives, metal bars, or wooden bats.


    ''Were these people planning to burn a witch at the stake?'' Were the first thoughts of a certain blonde.


    Calming his wild imaginations, Josh scanned his surroundings and confusion was written on his face. ''Was this supposed to happen? This scene...are the villagers planning to fight against the fishmen pirates already?''


    It made no sense to Josh. From his memory, this should only happen after they got to the island...not before. So what changed? Josh''s active imagination even pointed towards this world being different from the original One Piece.


    ''But then...everything that was supposed to happen, happened. This can''t be an AU (Alternate Universe)'' with no conclusive reasoning in sight, he could only put those thoughts at the back of his mind as he, once again, focused on what was happening before him.


    Nami hurriedly went over to the raging villagers to inquire about exactly what was going on.


    "Everyone..what''s wrong? Why are you all armed?" She spoke up even before she reached them.


    Hearing that familiar voice, the people turned their heads behind them to spot an orange head who was slightly panicking.


    Looks of shame and guilt came over them as they thought back on the incident that occurred not long ago. Some of them even had their heads down as tears welled up in their eyes once again.


    "I-it''s Na-chan..."


    "Na-chan''s back?"


    "What happened while I was gone?" Seeing the looks of shame on the villager''s faces, Nami''s visage became even uglier as she questioned. The frown on her deepened.


    "It''s that bastard Arlong. He..he took all of y-your money and...and...Genzo-san��" the self assigned leader stepped forward and started to explain. His voice quivered as anger slowly overtook his words.


    "What happened to Gen-san and my money!!?" Without even letting the man finish his explanation, Nami quickly interrupted him upon hearing a few keywords.


    "Arlong had the marines come over and confiscate all of your money. Genzo-san couldn''t just let them take it like that...so he��he confronted them. I''m sorry, Nami-chan. Genzo-san passed away. Your sister, Nojiko, was also sho��" the man continued with his explanation. Everyone gathered there felt ashamed that they allowed Arlong to do something like that.


    Without hearing the man out until the end, Nami dashed away at top speed towards her house. The upper parts of her face was shadowed so nobody was able to see her frantic and desperate eyes.


    There was another person who was shocked still by the news that was just delivered. Josh denied what was said just now furiously in his mind. Without thinking about anything further, he left Luffy and the others behind as he chased after the running girl.


    A few minutes later, Josh came upon the orchard that grew the famous tangerines. As he was slightly behind Nami, the girl had already reached the house before him.


    Right in front of the house, there was a man lying there, motionless. On top of him was a weeping woman with blue hair. Josh saw Nami almost stumble and fall over as she hurriedly went over to the lying man''s side.


    Seeing this sight, Josh couldn''t do anything but stand there on the side. Watching silently as the two women wept over their loss. Genzo was like a father to both Nami and Nojiko, especially after Bellemere passed away.


    Realization donned on him as the blonde''s face slowly contorted. His mouth was hung slightly open with his lower lip quivering occasionally. His brows were furrowed and eyes narrowed. A disgusting feeling slowly bubbled up inside him. The feeling of guilt was filling Josh''s entire being at this moment.


    ''Did I...cause this?''

 43 Chapter 43: Some Things Are Meant To Be

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Among the entirety of One Piece, a character such as Genzo was not at all important. Not to the story, not to the plot, not to anything except for being the peacekeeper of a small village on an even smaller island among the weakest sea in the world.


    All of this was true...however, none of that mattered at this moment. So what if he was just a small figure when compared to everyone else that showed up in the anime? So what if he was nothing but a humble village leader?


    It didn''t change the fact that Josh caused his death. It didn''t change the fact that guilt was slowly overwhelming him.


    Badump!


    ''I was too naive...''


    Badump!


    A man stood there silently, watching a pair of grieving women. His scalp was slowly becoming numb. Worse of all, it started to rain slowly, which just made the entire atmosphere more depressing.


    Badump!


    ''I need to abandon my current mindset...''


    Badump!


    Looking up at the weeping heavens, the gray clouds embraced the lively sky, robbing it of it''s brightness. His entire body was becoming drenched in rain water, but he didn''t care at this moment.


    Badump!


    Badump!


    Badump!


    "This isn''t just a fictional world for entertainment! This is a real world. They aren''t simply characters...they are living, breathing human beings. There are consequences for my actions!" Josh muttered softly. However, his words didn''t enter anyone''s ears due to the sound of the rain and thunder.


    Josh felt like he just had an epiphany. He wondered if this was how cultivators from wuxia novels feel when they reached sudden enlightenment.


    Although it sounded very simple, which it was, it didn''t change the magnitude of the situation.


    Truth be told, Josh''s statement just now was nothing complicated. If anyone from the world of One Piece heard him, they would write him off as someone equivalent to a chuunibyo who finally came back to reality.


    The reason Josh failed to realize this was because he had read way too many fan fictions and considered that he was currently living as one. Maybe there was even someone pulling the strings behind his entire situation. Thus, he had acted brazenly however he liked, not giving any thoughts about consequences.


    On this day, Josh realized that this world wasn''t just the awesome pirate anime he saw from behind a screen.


    With a grim expression on his already darkening face, a dull hum quietly came about. Yellow arcs of lightning slowly charged up outside his body and the figure of a man suddenly disappeared from the place. All that was left behind were two footprints.


    A bit further ahead, two women were lamenting over the loss of their loved one. They were also feeling incomparable guilt. Even if they knew that the reason for Genzo''s death was fundamentally someone else''s fault, it didn''t change the fact that he was already gone.


    After the brief moment of sadness and sorrow passed, feelings of hatred welled up within them. Not just Nami, Nojiko was also feeling deep hatred for the ones responsible.


    As tears after tears fell from the usually bright girl, Nami could hear the shadows of the laugh that always tormented her. The laugh that would induce nightmares when she was younger.


    ''Shaaahahahaha....''


    The figure of a purple Fishman with a jagged nose,gleefully laughing at her misfortune slowly crept into her mind. This caused the girl to go into a momentary state of frenzy.


    In the village,


    Right after Nami and Josh ran off somewhere, the rest of the crew were left there without knowing what to do.


    The villagers couldn''t care less about their state of mind, so all of them took off with a final battlecry. Slowly, they made their way to Arlong Park.


    "This is bad. What do we do!?" Usopp asked in panic. From his point of view, these people were going to get themselves killed!


    "Where did that shitty bastard and Nami-san run off to?" Sanji questioned. He had a leg lifted up as if he was about to kick someone. Needless to say, he wasn''t happy about the situation either.


    "You two. Go stop them. They''ll only die for no reason. And I doubt that witch will like that." Zoro said while pointing at Johnny and Yosaku. He was also feeling a little bitter about the situation, but didn''t show it on his face. Instead, the usual sternness was present as always.


    "Fine...come on." Johnny relented after a bit of hesitation. Hinting with his head towards the marching group, he and Yosaku swiftly left to stop them. If they couldn''t, then stall them. Besides, it wasn''t like they would have to face off against the entirety of the Arlong pirates.


    The bounty hunter duo wanted to do something to help Nami out as well after hearing the situation, so they quickly made their way as they were ordered.


    "Let''s go." After the two left, the voice of Luffy sounded. It wasn''t angry, nor was it lively. It was simply normal. Usopp and the others were unable to see his face as he started walking the opposite directions as Johnny and Yosaku, so they missed the fiery light that glinted in his eyes.


    Following the direction Nami ran off to, the Strawhat pirates arrived at the girl''s house not long after.


    Walking up towards the orchard, they witnessed a sight that daunted all of them. Frowns quickly sprouted and most of their faces were ominously shadowed, however, this did nothing to hide the emotions they were all harboring.


    All of the boys stood there, some gaining dangerous veins on not just their foreheads. This was especially true for Sanji and Luffy. All of their previous thoughts were wiped away and only one thing entered their minds collectively.


    Clenching his fists tightly to the point of making cracking sounds constantly, Luffy walked up to Nami who was currently scratching the tattoo on her arm as if it was a bomb about to go off at any moment.


    Blood was already gushing in her frantic struggle, even though the scratches only left shallow marks. Some flesh could even be seen between her fingernails.


    "Arlong! Arlong! ARLONG!!" Screaming out the name of her most hated person repeatedly, nobody was able to figure out exactly how many times she injured herself.


    On the side, Nojiko looked horrified. She had both of her hands covering her mouth and the tears she thought she had used up came rushing back. Even then, she didn''t do anything to stop her.


    This was because Nojiko knew that even if she stopped her by force and bandaged up Nami''s wounds, she wouldn''t be able to stop the girl''s bleeding heart.


    During the middle of Nami''s mindless chant and self mutilation, a hand suddenly grabbed the one she was using to harm herself.


    Once she was interrupted, Nami came out of her momentary state of insanity. Looking up, she saw the tall figure of someone she came to know during the last few weeks.


    "You! Leave this island immediately! You''re unwanted here, you pirate! You''re nothing but a weakling! I don''t need your help. Leave!" The girl unexpectedly snapped. Even Nami was inwardly shocked by the words that just came out of her mouth.


    Without a doubt, the other party was also surprised as well. Nonetheless, those simple yet hurtful words did not deter the man from continuing. Luffy only stared at Nami without a hint of expression besides the deep frown on his face.


    After a few more hysteric curses and shouts, Nami gradually calmed down. Her already dried up and tear stained face once again experienced another flood. Even in the rain, nobody missed the fact that she was crying.


    "Luffy...please help me."


    Silently, the captain took off his treasured straw hat, along with his captain''s coat and placed them on Nami''s head and draped it over her shoulders respectively.


    Nami watched with her eyes wide open as her captain walked a few steps away from her, still not uttering a word. Flashbacks of how Luffy once confessed to them about how important the hat was to him appeared in her mind.


    "OF COURSE WE WILL!"


    Suddenly, a loud and resolute voice that startled many of the birds in the nearby forest can be heard. With his fists clenched once again and both his arms stretched in front of him in a victory pose, Luffy shouted at the top of his voice.


    "It''s time."


    With that, four men with indomitable resolutions walked off from the simple tangerine orchard, leaving behind two softly sobbing women.


    Somewhere on the same island, a man suddenly had a shadow of a smile once he heard the loud exclamation, however, his previous grim expression quickly returned and the man quickened his steps.


    "Some things are just meant to be..." he muttered to nobody but himself.

 44 Chapter 44: I Found You

    Third Person''s PoV:


    On one of the many islands of Conomi, there was a particular island that was about to turn into the center of attention. While ordinary people would never know the truth about what is to happen, the higher brasses of the world would get knowledge of this, however, to them, such a matter was trivial.


    At this moment, zaps of electricity could be seen appearing and disappearing at seemingly random edges of the island. Of course, normal humans would never be able to even catch sight of the person responsible for it.


    Finally, with a conclusive burst of energy, the figure of a man slowly became clearer through the lightning. Walking even closer towards the edge of the small cliff he found himself on, Josh stared at a single direction with rage burning even hotter.


    "I can feel where you are, you whiskered-faced bastard! Keep twiddling your thumbs while you sit on your ass. It''s probably the last time you''ll be able to do so..." Josh said ominously. The matter with Genzo had affected him more than he thought it would.


    While Josh wasn''t a stranger to people dying, the most he''d seen was from the news and movies. This made him particularly susceptible to human death as it is the first one Josh had ever seen in person.


    While fighting and killing beasts and animals did not feel pleasurable, Josh would not lose sleep over it. However, it might be different for the case of a human death, especially one that he caused.


    As a normal human from modern Earth, one did not come into contact with death so often in their life. Unless one had a specific profession such as a doctor, soldier, policeman and the like, normal civilians would encounter death only a few times in their lives, including their own. Obviously, if there was some sort of misfortune or accident, then it might be a different story.


    Using Blitz, the lightning man zoomed towards the south of the island, leaving it completely.


    Since his case of "enlightenment", Josh had been looking for a person with vengeful fury. Scanning the entire island with his Kenbunshoku Haki, he figured out that Nezumi was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the sly rat left the island.


    According to Joshua''s memory of the events of One Piece, Nezumi would come swooping in to claim the credits for defeating Arlong right after the battle was won, thus, Josh inferred that he was still nearby.


    His conjecture was proven correct when he looked past the island and started scanning the surrounding ocean.


    While Josh had great control over his Kenbunshoku, his range was still somewhat smaller when compared to Enel who could see and hear everything that took place in Skypiea.


    It wasn''t like Enel had full understanding of everything that goes on in there at all times, it''s just that his attention needed to be casted at a certain place for him to understand everything clearly.


    Josh theorized that Enel''s great range was due to the aid of his devil fruit ability. As he has the same one, Josh should be able to do so as well. Therefore, Josh included that in his Kenbunshoku training.


    Sending out his senses towards the seemingly boundless ocean, the only things he was able to feel were fishes, birds, the ocean waves and such, making him doubt whether Nezumi was really still around.


    However, once he focused his senses on a single direction, effectively narrowing his range, he was able to increase the distance he was able to sense through his Kenbunshoku in that specific direction.


    This was the reason Josh zapped all over the island like a madman in search of Nezumi.


    The ship of a certain corrupt marine captain,


    The marine ship was nothing extraordinary. In fact, a ship like the one Nezumi was currently riding on was the standard marine ship. There were a total of twelve cannons, six on each sides.


    The coloring scheme was also the very recognizable marine standard. The body of the ship was mostly light green, while the sail were pure white. Donning the indomitable symbol of the world government, the marine ship was rooted about a few miles away from the island.


    Inside the most luxurious room only reserved for the highest ranking officer, a scrawny man with darker complexion sat there gleefully.


    According to his deal with Arlong, Nezumi was able to keep half of the total sum, which amounted to about 50 million beli. This brought him endless joy as the captain busied himself with counting his gains.


    Over the years, Nezumi had amassed quite the wealth for himself through dirty means, which shall not be spoken of. However, this time''s rewards were by far the biggest catch. The sum of 50 million was, in fact, very large in terms of value.


    Bang!


    Just as Nezumi was diluting himself with countless fantasies, a sudden and loud thud caused him to pause momentarily.


    Just then, the door to his room opened up and a marine officer walked in and immediately saluted.


    Nezumi eyed the soldier a bit spitefully, he was feeling slightly displeased to be interrupted. Didn''t these men know not to interfere when he was in his alone time?


    "Speak. What is happening?" With the same displeased look on his face, Nezumi questioned the officer sternly.


    "Sir! Reporting, there seems to have been an intruder who landed on our ship!" Straightening his posture to look a bit more presentable, the officer spoke up with a clear voice so as to not incur the captain''s wrath.


    "What are you waiting for then? Get rid of the intruder!" With an angered tone, Nezumi harshly ordered the officer to deal with the situation, not at all afraid that they could be overpowered. After all, this was the East Blue. Who had the power and guts to go against the great captain Nezumi?


    "Yessir!" With another salute the marine officer was about to walk out of the room when he suddenly heard it!


    Agonized screams and pained wails rang from the distance. Soon, they all died down and there was nothing but calming silence.


    "Chichichi...it seems like the matter is already taken care of." Nezumi said casually. He wholeheartedly believed that the fool who invaded his ship was either full of bullet holes or drowning at the bottom of the sea. "You may leave." Waving his hands in a dismissive attitude, Nezumi shooed off the annoyance.


    "Yessir!"


    And with that, the officer was about to go back to his post of guarding over the door of the captain''s room. However, he was abruptly stopped by another question that came from behind him.


    "Wait, was there a ship in sight?" Nezumi asked. He couldn''t care less about this matter at first, but his usually perceptive self kicked in. This was how he was able to elude being caught doing dirty work as a marine captain for all those years.


    "As I was posted here, I wasn''t informed of any enemy ship approaching, sir!" The marine officer answered the question with the utmost respect he could muster. If one wanted to survive under the leadership of Captain Nezumi, one had to quickly learn to bow their heads before him.


    "You''re dismissed." With a final wave of his hand, Nezumi allowed the soldier to return back to what he was doing.


    After the door was closed with a soft creek, the earlier situation couldn''t help but resurface in Nezumi''s mind again. ''If there was an enemy ship, I should hear cannon fires. Yet there are none...so then, how did the intruder get on the ship?''


    This question lingered in his heart. However, Nezumi soon decided to just forget about it since the person was already dead anyway. Just as he was about to go back to his world of fantasy, Nezumi heard the sound of the door being gently knocked on.


    His previously jovial mood vanished once again as he felt annoyed by the constant interruptions.


    ''I need a new guard.'' That thought circulated in his mind leisurely as he gave the officer permission to enter.


    Creeaak....


    The door opened much slower than normal and the sound of creaking resonated for a few moments. After that, there was silence once again. The officer that should''ve been there was not present, in fact, nobody was standing behind the door. So then, who knocked?


    With a puzzled expression, Nezumi got up from his seat for the first time in a while and walked towards the door that was looking more and more ominous by the second.


    About five steps in, a hand from behind suddenly reached out to Nezumi''s mouth, tightly shutting it. All he could do was protest in the form of muffled grunts.


    Nezumi struggled with all of his might as a captain of the marines to free himself to no avail. He wasn''t even strong enough to turn himself around to look at the face of the perpetrator.


    Then, a voice that was so chilly it sounded like it came from nothing short of the devil himself, Nezumi heard someone say right beside his left ear,


    "I found you...."

 45 Chapter 45: Which One of You Is Arlong!?

    Third Person''s PoV:


    "What a lovely day, isn''t it? You know....for some physical, mental, and maybe...just maybe, some electrical therapy."


    The same chilly voice spoke up again. The most daunting part was that there was not an ounce of emotion present in the voice. Most people''s mental conditions could be recognized by their emotions, thus, one might be able to deduce someone''s motives.


    Nezumi judged that the person wanted to, at the very least, hurt him. While his motives were currently unknown, it made him even more susceptible to fear as a result.


    Sweat rolled down all over Nezumi''s face. Just as he thought he''d die of suffocation, the hand that was tightly grasped over half his face relented.


    "Sadly, I can''t do that just yet..we''ll have to follow the route of a mental breakdown first..."


    After he was released from the unknown enemy''s grip, Nezumi immediately put some distance between himself and the clear lunatic.


    "Who the hell are you!? Don''t you know who I am? I am the marine captain Nezumi! You won''t get away with this, GUARDS! Get rid of this intruder!!"


    The fear that gripped Nezumi just a moment ago was put to the back of his mind when he was released. Since he was no longer in imminent danger, his ego kicked in and Nezumi threatened the other party.


    "I''m afraid they''re not comin. After all, most of them are currently....indisposed." Josh said calmly with his face remaining expressionless.


    "What do you��argh!!"


    Unwilling to waste anymore time with Nezumi''s useless threats, a jolt of lightning shot out from his pointed finger, knocking the marine captain to slumber.


    Nezumi didn''t even see the attack and was unable to react. Instantly, he was on the floor, convulsing violently, after that, there was no more movement.


    From marine ship stationed a few miles south of one of the Conomi islands, a dark cloud flew out of there in high speed, heading straight for a group of men walking towards Arlong Park with steeled expressions. On the dark cloud are two people, one standing, while the other had no clue what the hell was happening to him.


    On the simple road that wasn''t even paved yet, the Strawhat pirates were grimly making their way towards the bastard responsible for one of their crewmate''s grievances.


    "Where the hell is Josh? We''d have a much easier time with him around." Usopp spoke up.


    "No clue what''s going on with him. He hasn''t shown up for awhile now." Zoro replied back. He was also feeling indignant because of the blonde''s recent absence.


    "He''ll be here. I trust him." Luffy frowned. He was leading the group in the form of walking in the very front. This was natural as he was the captain of the crew.


    Just as the crew were discussing their dissatisfactions about Josh, Usopp noticed something heading straight for them in the distance. What made him speechless was that....the unknown object was flying in the sky.


    "Is it the Arlong pirates!?"


    Alerting the rest of the crew, Usopp asked the probable question. Since they were heading towards Arlong Park with the intent to do damage, it wouldn''t be strange if the other party took action as well. Just that, he didn''t expect them to attack from the sky.


    Taking out his slingshot in preparation for a counterattack, Usopp aimed his pachinko ball at the only figure visible. However, as the silhouette became clearer, Usopp noticed something and his face changed.


    "No wait...it''s Josh! And he''s riding a....cloud?" Usopp said in bafflement as he slowly put his weapon down. How come Josh was suddenly riding on a cloud!? How is that even possible?


    Within the span of a few breaths, the ferociously moving cloud stopped right in front of the crew that all had their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.


    "Am I late for the party?"


    Standing a few meters above the ground and a dozen inches away from the crew, Josh asked with an irritating smirk on his visage.


    "The hell you are! Where have you been!?" Putting the fact that the other blonde was standing on a floating cloud aside, Sanji walked up to him and pointed an accusatory finger.


    "I had a rat to catch.." Josh answered with a relenting tone while nudging his head behind him to show them what he was talking about. He was feeling helpless at the moment. His action of leaving was inexcusable, especially since Nami was in pain right before him. However, Josh felt that guilt would crush his entire being if he stayed there and watched as the women sobbed. He felt the need to rectify the situation, thus, Josh went to capture the other person responsible.


    In his heart, the biggest culprit was himself, there was no changing that fact, however, it was that same fact that set him in motion. He would slowly make Nezumi pay for what he did.


    "Get on." Josh ushered everyone to get on the flying cloud. He felt a bit prideful as he showed off the cloud to the speechless crowd.


    After they all got on the cloud, it slowly turned towards the direction of Arlong Park and made it''s way towards their destination.


    The cloud was still a few meters away from the ground and it moved much slower than previously. To reflect their current feelings, Josh conjured up his devil fruit abilities and the heavens started to move.


    The sky slowly darkened and soon, thunder could be sparsely seen coiling in the clouds like dragons.


    "Hit it!" To make the mood even more pronounced, the original music from this exact scene started playing. Josh worked it out with the system while he was heading towards Luffy and the others.


    As this was not the anime, background music did not play as it did. If it had, that would''ve truly been a sight.


    At this moment, the Strawhat pirates were riding a cloud with an awe inspiring music playing behind them while they made their way towards their enemies. With lightning striking around them at random, yet never coming close enough to actually hit them, they looked incomparably menacing and untouchable.


    "I''m not even gonna ask how you''re doing everything else but...how are you making that music!?" Usopp asked with an incredulous expression. Throughout their short time together, he witnessed the blonde do many incredible things that left him speechless.


    "Well, if you must know..my devil fruit has the ability to control the electromagnetic sound waves in the air. By utilizing the subatomic particles which litter the atmosphere, sound waves, in the form of music, which have been recorded in my memory, can be reproduced through recalibrating the radio wavelengths to match the pitch and tone of sound to produce musical notes, and even replicate voices." Josh replied in a lecturing manner. He sounded like everything that just came out of his mouth was nothing but the truth, not a speck of lie hiding within.


    "N-never mind. Forget I asked..." Usopp almost fell over from everything he just heard. He was already lost after "electromagnetic sound waves", thus, everything that followed was nothing but nonsense to him.


    Of course, everything Josh said was just bullshit. He couldn''t exactly tell them that it was the system that was the one doing the job. Josh just conjured up a scientific sounding explanation by using words even he had no clue about. Even he didn''t know what everything he just said meant, or if it even made sense.


    ...


    In front of the gate of Arlong Park, many citizens with uncommon weapons in their hands were lining up to oppose the tyrant. They had resigned themselves to their fates and made efforts to struggle for the last time. However, two men were currently blocking their way at them moment.


    After Johnny and Yosaku caught up with the villagers, they tried talking them out of being too hasty. As they were ordered by Zoro to not let the civilians continue with their self-sacrificing decisions, the bounty hunter duo made haste to obstruct them.


    Nothing they said lead the villagers away from approaching their suicidal counterattack, so they resorted to blocking the front gate.


    "Get out of the way!!"


    "We have business with Arlong."


    "Who the hell are you guys!? Are you one of Arlong''s subordinates!!?"


    The already angry villagers almost exploded with rage when the two men blocked their way.


    "No..we''re trying to stop you from killing yourselves!"


    "Nami-anesan wouldn''t want all of you to throw your lives away like this!"


    The duo hurriedly tried to explain themselves, however, the enraged villagers were having none of it. Just as they were about to forcefully charge through even the two men, they suddenly heard music coming from behind them.


    The music became louder and louder as it neared their location. At first, some people didn''t notice the music, but after a while, everybody turned their heads in bewilderment.


    Looking back, they saw that the sky was progressively darkening towards them. In their location, the sky was crystal clear, not a speck of dark cloud could be seen. However, as the music neared, as if by some bad omen, the sky darkened along with it.


    Soon, the figures of five men, proudly standing atop a dark cloud, could be seen. The villagers stared in bafflement as the men came closer.


    The men had their arms crossed in front of their chest collectively, and most of their faces were shadowed. Sometimes, their visages would be completely revealed for a brief moment due to the flashes of lightning behind them. However, all the people saw were faces of rage, the same as them.


    Who were these people? First, there were these two men who blocked their way. Now, these imposing men were coming towards them threateningly. None of them could fathom what was going on.


    "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ARLONG!?"

 46 Chapter 46: No More...Daddy

    Third Person''s PoV:


    Earlier,


    Most of the Fishmen pirates were gathered in the pool area which was connected to the ocean. Although they had no problems being on land, most of the fishmen''s natural habitat was water, so they felt better being in water than on land.


    "Arlong-san, was it really alright to push ahead with the plan this early? Nami hasn''t even returned to the island yet. Now, the villagers of Cocoyasi are at our front gates." A Fishman with three fin-like protrusions on his head asked. His entire body was pale green, but he wasn''t sick, it was just his natural color scheme.


    As one of the Arlong Pirate, he, along with everyone else, knew that Arlong was planning to dupe Nami. How could the boss possibly let such a talent go free? However, he felt that they rushed the plans a bit and unexpected things might come of it.


    This thought was only on the level of losing Nami, nothing bigger. As one of the reigning pirate crew in the East Blue, they feared nobody. Not the marines, not bounty hunters, and certainly not other pirate crews.


    "Hmph! That woman deserved what we''ve done to her. She should be glad that we value her and keep her alive, even though she''s just a lowly human!" Before Arlong could reply, a cold sneer sounded from behind the Fishman who posed the question.


    From behind, a shadow was casted over the Fishman and the figure of another Fishman was revealed. This Fishman''s name was Kuroobi. As one of the top brass of the Fishman pirate, he had a high standing among his fellow mates.


    Kuroobi is a Fishman who is primarily gray in color. He has the appearance of a martial artist with a dark blue gi, a black belt, and his hair is tied into a straight ponytail. His Sun Pirate tattoo is on the right side of his chest.


    "Should I personally go out to kill them all?" Kuroobi asked in a somewhat gleeful tone. He hated humans just as much as Arlong.


    "Now, now, Kuroobi. You should know about the advantages of having that woman draw maps for us. As for those villagers, if they dare to set foot in here, we''ll slaughter them without mercy." The leisurely voice of Arlong sounded. As he had his entire back leaned on the chair, Arlong exuded nothing but relaxation.


    "Boss, earlier, our scouts on the East coast reported an unidentified ship headed for the island." A Fishman hurriedly came forward and informed everyone.


    "Speak of the she-devil. Looks like Nami''s back. I wonder which pirate crew she conned this time...chu~" a Fishman with an elongated mouth spoke up from beside Arlong.


    "It doesn''t matter what happens, she''ll have no choice but to work for us, Fishmen pirates, for the rest of her life...shahahahaa!"


    With that laugh as the impetus, everybody forgot about their previous conversations and started laughing along side Arlong.


    "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ARLONG!?"


    Just as the fishmen were immersing themselves in their laughter, a loud shout from behind the gates suddenly sounded.


    Looking towards that location, the fishmen noticed that the weather had gotten worse and it looked like it could rain at any moment.


    Much of the people gathered there were baffled that someone actually dared to say such words while standing before the gates of Arlong Park. With that realization, came anger towards the person.


    "Those inferior species sure are daring.." with a displeased tone, Kuroobi spoke up. He was already at his limits by not going out there and killing everything that breathed. Now, someone actually dared to outright challenge them!? Kuroobi was about to go mad with rage.


    Bang!


    Without waiting for someone to shout back, a giant fist print was firmly planted on the left side of the steel gate. This was followed by two more thuds and the gate was unable to take anymore and collapsed right into the Fishmen.


    Once the debris cleared up, the figure of a lanky teen could be seen. His messy raven hair danced about in the wind and his face showed that he wasn''t taking any bullshit.


    "Which one of you is Arlong?" Luffy asked again after scanning everyone in the pool. This time, his tone was much milder, however, the threat behind his words remained the same.


    Behind him, a crowd of civilians were left speechless by his actions. Not only did the teen come rolling in through a cloud, he suddenly jumped off and completely destroyed the menacing gate which towered above all of them.


    Exactly who were these people and what did they want!?


    Ignoring everybody''s confused gazes, Luffy took a few steps forward. Thudding sounds were made with each step he took.


    "Stop right there, buddy. Who the hell are you?"


    A Fishman walked up to Luffy with two more following behind him. He lightly smacked Luffy''s face a few times with the back of his hand in a condescending manner, completely ignoring the other party''s darkening expression.


    One by one, the Strawhats jumped off of the flying cloud and landed on the solid ground once again. They had weird expressions on their faces as this was the first time they ever rode a cloud. Contrary to expectations, the cloud was actually pretty solid and stable.


    All of them got off except for two people. Those two people were naturally Josh, and the still unconscious marine captain Nezumi.


    Josh went over to Nezumi''s side to wake him up.


    "Hey! Wake up!"


    "Wake up!"


    "Wake up..."


    Shaking the shoulders of the unconscious man violently, Josh continued to urge him to awake. However, none of his attempts were taking effect..since that was the case, there was no need for Josh to be so kind by using words.


    Pah!


    One slap.


    Nezumi''s eyelids quivered. His consciousness was slowly returning to him. However, Josh didn''t stop there.


    Pah!


    Pah!


    PAAH!!


    Three more slaps landed consecutively on the man''s face. By now, Nezumi''s face swelled up a bit, and dark patches appeared on parts of his face.


    "No more...daddy..." a muffled mutter was heard by everyone. Although the voice was faint, nobody missed it as they all had their attention split between watching Luffy and Josh.


    The crowd''s expressions turned slightly disgusted. Even Zoro and the others who just got off the cloud took another step away in good measure.


    "Who the hell is your daddy!?"


    Josh was about to give another slap when he suddenly heard the muttering of the man in front of him. He nearly fell over in rage and killing intent surged through his eyes for a moment.


    "Fine! You won''t get up from my words. You won''t get up from my slaps. I''ll simply electrocute you till you wake up!" Josh bellowed furiously. This bastard dared to implicate him in such a manner. He was the one being held captive.


    Josh almost felt like crying when he noticed the looks of disgust directed at none other than himself. Before, the crowd was looking at him like he was some saint who came from the heavens, but now, they looked at him like he was a predator who preyed upon unconscious men!


    Electricity surged within Josh''s palms and just as he was about to really shock the bastard, Nezumi suddenly got up.


    "Wait...wait! I''m up. I''m up! Don''t hurt me anymore..." he pleaded with the lightning man so as to not get hurt.


    Before, he was up right after the one slap. However, he pretended to be still unconscious so that he might be spared of whatever the man had in mind.


    Nezumi muttered such words in hopes of dissuading the man from giving him another slap to the face. It worked, however, instead of slapping him, the man was planning to fry him instead, so he hurriedly spoke up.


    Nezumi truly looked pitiful at the moment. Some of his clothes were ruffled and with his hat missing, his hair was a mess. On top of that, some parts of his body was blackened due to the first electric shock he received. Added with the palm prints on both sides of his cheeks that were swelling, he looked worse than a beggar.


    "You''re going to watch everything that''s about to happen. You won''t speak a word. You won''t move an inch. You violate any of those orders and I''ll personally electrocute you. What happens after this is up to fate."


    Unwilling to be dragged into the mess any longer, Josh gave some commands before tying him up to a tree.


    Josh just left Nezumi dangling from a tree with a single string of rope keeping him in place. While he would love to personally torture him, Josh wasn''t the one who had business with the corrupt marine.


    Josh decided to leave his fate up to Nami and Nojiko to decide. Surely, those two women would be able to come up with much better ways to make the man suffer.


    Even if they decided to just set him free after this, Josh wasn''t going to be that lenient with him. At the very least, this marine captain was going to lose his life today, and nobody is going to be able to save him!


    "I didn''t know he swung that way. Usopp, remind me to never sleep in the same room as him in the future..." Sanji quietly muttered with one hand covering his mouth as he whispered to Usopp.


    Josh was still able to hear it thanks to his devil fruit abilities. This did not make him happy, instead, he nearly choked on his own saliva in rage. Josh glared at Nezumi, who had a miserable look on his face, one last time before going over to his crewmates.

 47 Chapter 47: Chain Lightning

    Riding on top of the dark cloud, Josh hovered on top of everybody. His gaze landed on the three people that were sniggering at him.


    On the side, Usopp and Sanji were trying to suppress their laughters. Even Zoro had an amused smile on his face.


    This darkened his face even more...


    ''Fine...you want to laugh? We''ll see whether you can still laugh after this...'' With his lips sneered up, Josh commanded the cloud to fly a bit higher onto the air and pushed himself forward so that his entire visage became clear for the Fishmen to see.


    Currently, Luffy was at the limits of his patience. After being slapped condescendingly by some no-name Fishman, his rage was about to burst.


    Zzzt..zzzt...zzzt...zzzt


    Just then, the sound resembling birds chirping and energy surging rang out in the area. With blinding light following it, the figure of the person responsible was lost within the luminescence.


    "Chain Lightning!"


    Even though Josh''s figure was engulfed by light, his voice still rang true for all to hear. With that voice, came the nightmare for all fishmen.


    From underneath the cloud, the light was transferred into it and thunder overflowed. As though it was raining, thunderbolts which were connected to each other fell through the cloud.


    Zzzt...booom!


    The lightning swept past everything and everyone as if a predator, looking for prey. Striking everything in the nearby vicinity into burnt ashes, the lightning was unforgiving.


    Because of the sudden attack, nobody was able to react in time. Many of the Fishmen were still leisurely swimming in the pool, mocking Luffy together.


    After the torrential attack, Arlong Park became silent.


    "You bastard! I''ll kick your face in!!" Just then, a man suddenly stood up from his spot on the ground and shouted. His hair was in a gravity defying mess and his skin, along with his black suit, was burnt brown.


    "Ehh..? Was that too...shocking?" With an obliviously innocent smile on his face, Josh turned back to look at the raging Sanji.


    The already bulging veins on Sanji''s head almost bursted apart when he heard Josh. Everyone nearly fell over. As they were within earshot, they understood what was happening between the two blondes and tacitly decided to keep quiet.


    Beside him, Usopp was in no better condition. He remained there, continuously twitching on the ground. Zoro also got up right after Sanji. None of them felt like mocking the lightning man anymore.


    ''Laugh at me and I''ll laugh at you. Mock me and I''ll mock right back. But question my sexuality? I''ll electrocute you to kingdom come...''


    Josh gloated in his mind at their misfortune. These comrades of his were actually questioning his sexual preference and were making fun of him. How could he possibly let that slide? With this, they would probably be careful not to do so again in the future.


    The villagers of Cocoyasi all stood there dumbfounded. Glancing over at the inner structure of Arlong Park, they noticed many of the pirates passed out with rolled eyes and foaming mouths.


    As many of the Fishmen were still in the water when the lightning struck, there was a bunch of people floating motionlessly on the surface of the water like dead fish.


    Parts of the wall, as well as the ground was broken when the lightning lashed out, reducing Arlong Park into a scene of the aftermath of a fight between titans.


    Thankfully for them, Josh made sure to avoid hitting the area surrounding them so none of them were harmed.


    "God...he must be a god..." a spirited woman who was fervently religious muttered.


    "He must be the thunder god...how else could he ride on a cloud and command lightning?" She continued on with her knees going softer by the second.


    Finally, she was unable to take it anymore and her knees hit the ground. She was actually kneeling!


    "The god of thunder has come to free us from the Fishmen! Sobs....my husband...my son...they can finally Rest In Peace." The woman cried tears of relief and her face showed that she was in solemn peace.


    About a year ago, her family was unable to pay the required amount of money. As the man of the house, her husband had taken the fall for it and was executed as an example for everyone.


    This left her in despair for a long time. Even worse, her young son was unable to accept the fact that his father was taken from him. He witnessed more families being separated and their desperate struggles.


    Unable to endure it any further, the son picked up a sword and made his way to Arlong Park to liberate the entire island. A few hours later, news of his death was spread all over the island.


    From that day, the woman truly lost all hope and only deep despair filled her. Only when faith was introduced to her by a friend, who was unable to keep watching her suffer, did the woman looked like she was alive again.


    Hearing this and seeing the woman who was comparable to his mother''s age actually kneeling to him with that worshipping look, Josh was left speechless.


    He wasn''t some god who came from heaven. Nor was he a great figure who was magnanimously saving the island.


    Josh wanted to correct that woman''s line of thought immediately, but he was interrupted by someone.


    "Why did you do that!? What if Arlong was one of them? I wouldn''t be able to kick his ass anymore.." an indignant voice complained, which drew the attention of everybody.


    "Don''t worry. I made sure to not use too much force. If they couldn''t even withstand that, they aren''t worthy to be our opponent." Josh argued back. In this attack, he didn''t even use more than half of the power he could muster with that move.


    Just as he was finished saying that, a loud bellow jolted everyone.


    "You insolent humans!!"


    From the rubble made by broken wood and concrete, the inner parts of the Park was filled with dust, thus, nobody was able to see exactly what became of Arlong.


    Standing at an unreachable height, Arlong is a large, muscular, light blue saw-shark Fishman whose most distinctive trait is his saw-shaped nose. He has long, black hair with a widow''s peak reaching down to his shoulders.


    He has a fin on his nape, surrounded by his hair, and the gills are located on both the sides of his neck.


    His Sun Pirate tattoo is on the left side of his chest, while his own Jolly Roger is on his lower left arm. Other notable features include thin, fierce light-blue eyes and a long, angular jaw.


    Arlong''s attire is composed of fashionable, light clothes, reflecting his rich status as well as his background as a thug. He wears a short-sleeved, unbuttoned yellow shirt decorated by many black lightning-like spots.


    Bermuda shorts which are brown, as well as a purple sash around the waist and simple sandals. He also sports a lot of jewels, including, a golden chain bracelet around his left wrist and two golden bracelets around each ankle, with straw-like decorations hanging from them.


    On his hands are what appears to be rings, decorated by colorful gems. Just from a single glance, one was able to deduce that Arlong was very materialistic and his desire for money did nothing to assure anyone of his character.


    Looking around, Arlong found himself among many of his brethren whose current conditions were unknown. Most of them had rolled eyes and blackened skin, indicating that they probably wouldn''t be getting up any time soon.


    Deep rage swelled in his chest as he heaved up and down, barely maintaining his sanity.


    Ignoring his current injuries, Arlong''s sight landed on Josh. What he saw made him want to rip every human apart even more.


    Currently, Josh was just standing on top of the cloud. He had an annoying smirk on his face that would make anyone who looked at him, instantly go mad with anger. It was as if the man was taunting Arlong to do something....if he dared.


    Soon, there was some movement behind Arlong, which made him secretly sigh in relief in his mind.


    Removing the rubble of a broken chair from his body, Kuroobi got up with a grunt. Chu also did the same. Their faces twisted into pained looks as they struggled to keep their balance.


    "Fellas, I may not be a doctor, but I don''t think it''s healthy to be so angry..." Josh made a mocking comment which left everyone speechless.

 48 Chapter 48: Progression

    As the Strawhat pirates were officially confronting the Fishmen pirates, one of the Fishman was actually missing at the moment.


    Hatchan, better known as Hachi, being an octopus Fishman, has eight appendages and an octopus-like face. He has pink skin and grey hair styled with five spikes.


    Hachi has a muscular build and has suction cups on his six arms, which he can use to cling on to walls. With the same Sun Pirate mark printed on his forehead as many of his fellow fishmen, one can easily identify his previous alignment.


    With a ridiculous gourd strapped on his back for the purpose of transporting others, Hachi was looking for their pet seaking.


    Previously, he had tried to lure it out with his unique call, along with a wholly roasted animal. Alas, it was for naught as the sea cow never showed up.


    Deciding to take the initiative, Hachi set off to search for the seaking of his own accord.


    Almost an hour has passed since then, but no cow.


    "MOOOHH...MOOO~"


    A loud cry reverberated through out the surrounding area. With both his hands cupped to the sides of his mouth, Hachi gave it a final try.


    Shaking his head in disappointment, Hachan had no choice but to give up on that stupid cow.


    From the start, Hachi had only wandered the perimeter of the island near Arlong Park, thus, he was only a few minutes walk away from it.


    Dejectedly, an octopus Fishman made his way back to Arlong Park with his shoulders drooping a little, not knowing the things that awaited him there.


    Booom!


    Just as the pagoda-like tower was within reach, a sound reminiscent of an explosion rang out that startled him. There was a brief flash of yellow light but it disappeared as quickly as it came.


    "What''s going on~nyu!?"


    Putting the restricting pot on his back down, Hachi dashed at full speed towards the pool.


    As he got closer, he heard the angry shout of a familiar voice which only added on to his momentum.


    Soon, Hachi got past the clearing and the pool area came into sight.


    At first, he was confused as to exactly what was going on. Observing everything before his eyes, he could see the awed faces of many villagers whom looked familiar, two blondes who were comically arguing, and worst...many, if not all, of his fellow Fishmen, laid waste on the ground.


    Scratching his head furiously in confusion on how this could possibly happen, Hachi stepped over a fragment of concrete which used to be part of the tower.


    Most parts of the structure looked as if it took a massive hurricane head on, sparsely leaving behind undamaged areas. Even then, the Arlong Tower stood tall, and did not crumble into pieces.


    "Who''s the bastard that did this~nyu!!?"


    His body convulsed violently as if he was trying to shake off a poisonous snake which accidentally crawled on him, Hachi felt anger rising from the pits of his stomach. As a simple man, he didn''t bother hiding how he was currently feeling at the moment.


    Making a B-line straight for the nearest human, Hachi already drew out all six of his swords, making him look particularly dangerous.


    By now, some people had already noticed the reappearance of another one of the Fishmen who they remembered as one of the strongest.


    "I''ll kill you!"


    With rage already consuming him just like Arlong, Hachi swung three of his swords at the first human he came into contact with.


    Usually, he wasn''t like Arlong and the rest. While he, too, harbored some hatred for humans considering all of the things he experienced in his life, it wasn''t to the point of wanting to kill all of them for it. He did not share the other''s view of humans being an inferior species compared to Fishmen, even then, Hachi still tagged along with Arlong and the others because they were his friends...people he grew up with.


    However, witnessing the sorrowful conditions of so many of his fellow Fishmen, it made him go into a momentary state of frenzy.


    Clink!


    Just as Hachan thought his swords were going to slice through the human like a hot knife through butter, it didn''t happen. The sound of metallic clash resounded instead.


    With the red in his eyes slowly fading back within, Hachi glanced in front of him to take a better look at what happened just now.


    In front of him, a man who looked like he was in his early adulthood stood there. With a single katana laid out in front of him in an almost lazy manner, green hair fluttered about in the wind.


    For reasons unknown to Hachi, the young man''s skin tone looked a little unnaturally dark, as if he just came out of a burning building.


    "Who the hell are you~nyu?"


    Bewildered as to how someone was actually able to stop his rampage, Hachi asked the young man in front of him.


    "Me? I''m Roronoa Zoro. Who the hell are you?"


    A scary glint flashed briefly in his eyes as Zoro introduced himself, which unnerved the Fishman a little.


    "Nyu~ You''re the famous ''bounty hunter''? Ah..my name is Hachan, but my friends call me Hachi."


    Hachan''s voice turned a bit subservient as he introduced himself as well, however, when he remembered what these humans have done, the same anger surged through him again.


    "Roronoa Zoro, What you''ve done here is unforgivable! I''ll take revenge for my brethren~nyu..."


    "It wasn''t even me who did this...but oh well. I''ve been itching for a fight as well. So bring it, octopus-face!"


    With an almost animalistic grin on his face, Zoro charged towards the six swords wielding Hachan as well.


    ...


    Meanwhile, at Nami and Nojiko''s house.


    A moment ago, the two sisters brought Genzo''s limp body inside the house so that they could leave it there temporarily.


    Luffy and the others, as well as the villagers, had already headed for Arlong Park, so they had to go as well.


    The place was eerily silent, it was as if not even the wind dared to interrupt the solemn atmosphere.


    With the uncomfortable silence hanging in the air, Nami wiped away the last of her tears and headed out together with Nojiko.


    "Hang on a minute." Nojiko suddenly said. She walked past Nami and headed inside her own room.


    The room was average. With a single bed in the left corner and several other things such as a table, few chairs, and a book shelf. The interior of the room was mostly wooden, so it lacked even the basic carpet.


    A bit higher on the same side as the bed, there hung a picture. The picture was framed plainly, however, it meant a lot to both Nami and Nojiko.


    This was because in the picture, the figure of a busty woman in her late 20s stood there with a smile. On both sides of her body, two young girls were also there, beaming up at her as if vying for her attention. Naturally, this was the picture of Bellemere and the young Nojiko and Nami.


    Upon entering the room, the first thing Nojiko noticed was naturally the picture which she spent many nights gazing at, however, she shook off the sorrowful nostalgia which couldn''t help but assault her.


    As she wasn''t there to reminisce the past, Nojiko had to straighten her state of mind which was being tempered continuously throughout the entire day.


    Rummaging through her room, books, pillows, and bedsheets, among other things, flew about in the air.


    "There you are.."


    With a contented sigh, Nojiko lifted up a large rectangular box which was covered in dust. Embroidered in nothing but the color black, the box appeared to be very simple at a glance.


    However, those who are fooled by its outer appearance would surely suffer a painful death for underestimating the content within.


    With the unassuming case strapped firmly across from her left shoulder to the opposite side of her hips, Nojiko walked out of the house with a resolute expression.


    Standing in front of the porch, Nami quietly waited for her sister to emerge. After a few minutes, Nojiko finally came out. The woman looked like she was finally rid of something that had been poisoning her for years because her facial features became much better. No longer filled with grief or loss.


    ''I need to toughen up as well..'' Nami thought.


    "Let''s go." Nojiko motioned for the both of them to finally make their way to Arlong Park.


    During the journey, Nami kept glancing at the thing strapped onto her sister in bewilderment and slight curiosity. After all, she did not remember Nojiko possessing something like that, even though it looked a bit familiar.


    "What is that on your back?" Unable to hold it in any longer, Nami finally asked the question.


    However, all she got in return was a shake of Nojiko''s head and an annoying smirk she was getting used to.


    "You''ll find out later."

 49 Chapter 49: Usopp’s Struggles

    Amongst the many titan-like existences which litter the One Piece World, someone with the strength level of Usopp, even after the two years of training, can be considered as very insignificant.


    Even then, everyone had their own charms, so to say. Their own ways of dealing with things....such as an over 8 feet tall Fishman that was chasing them with every intent to rip them apart.


    Behind Usopp, not even a dozen meters away, is a Fishman named Chew.


    Chew is a muscular, blue skinned, and thick lipped Fishman with hair that reaches down his shoulders.


    His Arlong Pirates tattoo is on the right side of his shoulder.


    Wearing a necklace, a striped blue vest, dark-brown leather pants, and sandals, Chew was chasing after Usopp''s dust.


    With all of his meager leg muscles that have been trained like a donkey for the past two weeks, Usopp ran for his life.


    How did this come about, one might ask. Well... it''s not a complicated story.


    Right after Arlong went on a rampage and was intercepted by Luffy, the top brasses of the Arlong Pirates, namely Chew, Kuroobi, and Hachi, who arrived later, picked an opponent of their own.


    Josh picked up a pebble about the size of a baby''s fist and hurled it straight at Chew''s face. After that, he acted oblivious and praised Usopp for the incredible headshot, thus, leading to the current situation where they are locked in a deadly game of tag.


    Looking back behind him, Usopp''s gaze met with the absolutely furious eyes of Chew. At this moment, tears fell down Usopp''s face as he desperately ran away from the clutches of his opponent.


    "I''m gonna kill that bastard if I live through this!!" Shouting his indignations which only sounded like further provocations to Chew, Usopp continued on with the deadly tag.


    However, he knew that his stamina wouldn''t last, and he couldn''t escape from his opponent forever. It didn''t seem like someone was going to come to his rescue either, and so Usopp gritted his teeth as he pondered for a way for him to win in a confrontation.


    Turning around, Usopp pointed his slingshot at his opponent and fired!


    Bang!


    The bullet which was filled with gunpowder exploded in Chew''s face, however, once the smoke cleared up, the Fishman simply continued chasing after Usopp.


    "T-that monster...!"


    In the original story, Usopp was supposed to have his first real combat against the aggressors who wanted to do harm upon his home, however, due to Josh''s intervention, he never got the chance to experience it.


    Still, he was trained physically for a short two weeks. This allowed Usopp to be stronger than he should''ve been. If only slightly.


    Although that indeed was the case, this was a problem of mindset.


    Usopp didn''tknow how it feels to be under the pressure of someone who wants nothing but his death. He didn''t know the feeling of utter desperation when up against someone who was vastly stronger than himself.


    Thus, he ran. He ran and ran and ran. Even if his breathing became so quick that he felt like his chest was about to burst, he ran. Even if his legs felt like they would break immediately, Usopp still ran.


    Only turning around occasionally to shoot a few pellets in hopes that it might keep Chew down, only to enrage him further.


    Usopp was scared out of his mind. Scared that he would lose his life in a place like this. Scared that he might never meet Kaya again, and that he might never get the chance to brag to his father about how great a warrior he was once he met him.


    "That''s it! Huff..I left Gecko Island so that I can become a real brave warrior...huff...of the seas...not just pretending to be one..."


    The sharpshooter muttered in between stifling breaths.


    ''If I don''t fight now, I''d shame everyone I know. I love being on that ship...if I don''t fight now, I wouldn''t be worthy of calling myself a pirate!''


    After a long time spent being chased all over the island, Usopp suddenly came to a realization. This realization momentarily filled him with confidence.


    Not even Usopp knew how that could be possible. However, he did know one thing, if he did not defeat that Fishman chasing after him like a raging bull, Usopp would die. Worse, he would never be able to achieve his long cherished dream of becoming a brave warrior of the sea!


    And so, Usopp decided that he was done. He was done running, it was time that he fought.


    "You weakling, what are you muttering about?" Chew asked casually. Even though he also expended some stamina, as a Fishman, his physique was naturally much more durable than the current Usopp.


    Some time had already passed since he started chasing after the long nosed, and so his anger quelled a bit. Still, he was quite annoyed about having to spend his valuable time chasing after someone so weak.


    "I''m done. I''ve already decided." Usopp shot back.


    He suddenly stopped his movement and dashed backward, straight for Chew.


    Not expecting the weakling to actually face him upfront, Chew was caught off guard by the sudden shift in his movement. It was obvious that he also didn''t see the black hammer aimed straight for his face as well until it was too late.


    "Usopp Hammer!"


    The sound of flesh being pounded boomed for a moment.


    "You son of a...I''m gonna tear you apart!!" Chew roared with fury. Just as he opened his eyes to search for the one responsible, he was met with another sight.


    "Rubber Band of Doom!"


    Stretching a single rubber band to the maximum length, Usopp aimed it right for Chew''s eyes, causing the other party to close them in panic.


    "Usopp Hammer!"


    Not willing to give up on the chance for another attack, Usopp immediately followed up with another hammer strike.


    This caused another bump to appear on Chew''s head as he staggered on his feet.


    "Ughh..you filthy piece of��"


    "Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer!"


    Panicking, Usopp quickly struck three more times for Chew to finally fall down with a loud thud.


    "I-I did it! Yes! I am the great captain Usopp!"


    Usopp spun around in joy and relief, he even got in a victory pose as he celebrated his assumed victory. However, that was a grave mistake because soon after he went off ranting about how great he was, Chew got back on his feet.


    In his lapse of judgment brought on by the immense relief he felt from finally taking down his opponent, Usopp didn''t notice a hand slowly creeping behind him, only inches away from grabbing his throat from behind.


    "I, Captain Usopp, have defeated a fishm��gak! Ackk!!"


    Indeed, it was a grave mistake. Not even letting Usopp finish bragging, Chew grabbed him by the throat, causing Usopp''s airways to close up. Naturally, it also affected his speech.


    "What were you saying!? Care to repeat that?" Chew said. There were multiple bumps the size of a melon literally glowing on his head even as he spoke.


    "Guk..kik!!" Usopp was unable to utter a comprehensible word as he was being gripped tightly by the bulging hands of the Fishman. When he tried to forcefully speak up, the grip would only tighten even further.


    Usopp felt as though the world was spinning around him, going round and round. His vision was beginning to blur, yet a strange sensation which reflected through his eyes overcame him.


    "Hmph! That''s what I thought." Sneering audibly, Chew pursed his already elongated lips in an upward arc.


    The man within his grasp had annoyed him time and time again with his little tricks, an he even went as far as pulling a hammer out and slamming him with it repeatedly. How could Chew not get mad?


    The Fishman had no intentions, whatsoever, of releasing Usopp from his grip.


    Usopp struggled to the best of his abilities. Kicking his legs and pinching the man''s arm. He even went as far as trying to bite Chew''s hand, but to no avail. He wasn''t getting out of this chokehold no matter what.


    Just as Usopp was about to give up all hopes of escaping, an idea suddenly struck him like his hammer struck Chew''s head.


    Reaching down to his man purse, Usopp grabbed whatever he could get his hands on. Inside his bag were several different kinds of bullets, such as exploding one, smoke bombs, and bullets that could set one on fire.


    In desperation, Usopp just grabbed a handful of whatever he could find since he didn''t have the time to select them properly.


    However, the round balls simply fell through the cracks of his fingers. The carbon dioxide in his body had eroded most of his physical functions, and his strength was leaving him.


    ''It looks like this is really the end for me....how regrettable.'' Usopp thought in sadness. His journey was just beginning, and now it was coming to an end so quickly. How else could one describe this, if not sad.


    Gradually, Usopp''s vision blurred even more before flickering and then...there was nothing but darkness.


    Just as Usopp was losing his consciousness, someone came behind Chew and struck him on the back of his head.


    As Chew was occupied with strangling Usopp to death, he did not pay attention to his surroundings. Beside, he wasn''t expecting anyone to actually interfere with the fight.


    As the force behind his head came unexpectedly, Chew accidentally let go of Usopp''s throat.


    "Cough..cough! Cough!!"


    As soon as he was released, Usopp cough violently. Not even caring about anything else other than to take in as much oxygen as his lungs could hold. Clutching at his own throat which felt like snapping in two, because it was the only way he could think of to relieve himself of the pain.


    "Are you sure these guys are reliable?"


    Amidst his unending coughing, Usopp heard the feminine voice of someone asking doubtfully.