"I knew it wouldn't be that simple," Diarmuid said with a laugh. After a short pause, he continued, "Where should we meet?"
"Where are you right now?" Sakazuki asked.
"In the East Blue," Diarmuid replied.
"The East Blue, huh?" Sakazuki was silent for a while, thinking, then continued, "Let's meet in Mariejois. It's close for both of us."
Mariejois, as the holy land, was connected to all the seas, including the East Blue. Diarmuid didn't refuse and nodded. "Alright. Is this a secret?"
"Hard to say. Who knows what that guy's doing on a Sky Island," Sakazuki replied.
"Then I'll go to Mariejois after I finish up what I'm doing here," Diarmuid said.
"Good. I'll wait for you there," Sakazuki said matter-of-factly. With nothing more to add, they both hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Putting the Den Den Mushi away, Diarmuid looked back at Gion and Mihawk. The two seemed to be talking and hadn't resumed fighting.
"Hey, Gion!" Diarmuid yelled from the warship.
Gion turned her head, looking a little confused.
"Let's go. Don't worry about that guy. Something came up," Diarmuid waved her over.
Gion nodded, said a few more words to Mihawk, and then flew toward the warship.
Mihawk, meanwhile, was floating in the sea, utterly bewildered as he watched Gion leave. That's it? It's over? I was mentally prepared to be captured, and you're just leaving? What about the bait-and-switch? What the hell are you Marines doing? You're so bored, you just decided to mess with me?
Although Mihawk had lost to Gion, he wasn't seriously injured, as the battle had ended too quickly. So even if he was floating in the sea, his life wasn't in any danger. As Mihawk watched in a daze, the warship slowly sailed past him, completely ignoring him.
"What the hell is going on…?" Mihawk muttered to himself, his expression one of utter confusion. He watched the huge warship slowly disappear from his sight, still unable to make sense of what had just happened.
Just then, a voice came from the sea not far behind him.
"Yo, are you out for a swim too?"
Mihawk was startled. He turned to see a young man with a straw hat on his head and a patch of red hair paddling towards him.
Mihawk: What the hell is this? Swimming? What do you mean, "swimming"? The nearest island is a two-day voyage away by ship. By swimming, it would take five or six days, or even longer! Who would do that for fun? And who are you, anyway? How are you out here?
But Mihawk was still a man of pride and coolness, so he calmly nodded. "That's right."
"Oh? Then we can be swimming buddies! If we run into any danger, we can help each other out, hahaha!" Shanks laughed loudly.
That's right, the guy was undoubtedly Shanks! When his small boat was sunk by Diarmuid, he was not far from here. If Diarmuid hadn't been there, these two "boat-less" men would have met at sea. But now, Diarmuid sank Shanks's boat, Gion beat up Mihawk, and the two somehow still managed to run into each other in the middle of the vast ocean.
Destiny is a beautiful thing, indeed.
Mihawk didn't refuse. He felt that this man was quite interesting, so he nodded calmly. "Okay."
"You look familiar. You're that guy, right?" Shanks paddled over to Mihawk, thinking. "That guy who challenges swordsmen everywhere, 'Hawk-Eyes' Dracule Mihawk, right?"
Mihawk was already quite famous, far more so than the "nameless" Shanks. It wasn't a surprise to be recognized. He nodded. "That's me."
"Hahaha, it really is you! I was planning to look for you, actually," Shanks said, swimming over to Mihawk.
Mihawk looked at him strangely. "Why are you looking for me?"
"Would you be interested in joining my pirate crew? Hahahaha…" Shanks asked, laughing.
Mihawk: ???
After a moment of surprise, Mihawk asked, "Your pirate crew? You're a pirate? And a captain?"
"That's right! Let me introduce myself. I'm Shanks, a pirate!" Shanks said with a smile. His smile was surprisingly infectious.
Mihawk looked out at the endless sea, then back at Shanks. He felt that their chance meeting here was a fated one, so he became a little interested and asked, "Where is your ship? Can you have your crew come get us? I'm tired of swimming..."
If they got picked up, it would be a good chance to get to know them. If it didn't work out, he could always leave later. Mihawk was a little excited at the thought.
But Shanks just laughed loudly. "Hahahaha, I'm a little embarrassed to say, but my ship just sank. As for my crew, cough cough, I don't have one yet. I'm looking for one right now. You could be my third crewmate!"
Mihawk: What the hell is wrong with you? I actually thought you were decent a moment ago, but forget it! You're this much of a mess, who would you even recruit? Give me back that shred of hope you gave me, you bastard!
While cursing the idiotic Shanks a thousand times in his heart, Mihawk's face remained calm. He shook his head. "I'm not interested. Let's part ways here. Goodbye…" With that, Mihawk turned and swam away.
I'm never coming back to the East Blue again. The Marines I met were crazy—they beat me up and then left without a word. And the pirate I met is a psycho too. I've sailed all the seas for so many years and I've never seen such a ridiculous recruitment offer.
But Shanks wasn't about to give up so quickly. He felt that meeting Mihawk here was destiny. He swam after Mihawk, yelling, "Hey, don't leave so fast! We can get to know each other. Don't let my appearance fool you, I was a crewmate of the Pirate King, Roger! My story is amazing. Do you have any booze with you? I've been swimming for a while and I'm a little thirsty. Give me a drink, and I'll tell you my story!"
At this point, Mihawk was convinced Shanks was insane. He didn't even turn his head. "You were a crewmate of Roger? I'll have you know, I was the first swordsman of the Rocks Pirates…"
"Huh? I didn't know you were so old. I thought you were around my age…" Shanks said, surprised.
Mihawk's face darkened. Do you not understand that I'm being sarcastic? Refusing to speak another word to this idiot, Mihawk slung Black Blade, Yoru, behind him and began to paddle faster.
But Shanks also sped up, following Mihawk and chattering endlessly. "Your swimming form isn't up to standard. You're wasting a lot of energy. Do you want me to teach you? My Vice Captain, Rayleigh-senpai, is amazing at this. I learned from him. He swam across the Calm Belt a few times! And you call yourself the number one swordsman? Are you really that good? If we sailed together, we could be the Twin Blades. I'm a swordsman too! My sword is Gryphon. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's a famous sword, but it's not as good as your Black Blade, Yoru. Do you wanna see it? In exchange, you can play with my Gryphon..."
Shanks was an eccentric guy, and he had been sailing alone on his small boat for a long time, so he was bursting with things to say. Diarmuid hadn't given him a chance to talk, but now that he had met Mihawk, his mouth opened, and the words just kept coming.
The angrier Mihawk got, the faster he swam. He was already annoyed after being randomly beaten up by the Marines, and now Shanks was buzzing behind him like a fly. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Mihawk suddenly stopped, drew his black blade from his back, and yelled, "I'll fight you! I'll slaughter you, you bastard!"
With that, Mihawk swung his sword at Shanks from the water. Shanks was shocked, but he pulled out his famous sword, Gryphon, from under the water to block Mihawk's attack. "What the hell?! What's wrong with you?! Why are you attacking me all of a sudden?"
You have the nerve to ask me if something's wrong with me?! You're the one who's insane!
Mihawk ignored Shanks and swung his sword again. And just like that, Shanks and Mihawk, soaking in the sea, began their first-ever duel. It was both intense and ridiculous.
Diarmuid had no idea that Shanks and Mihawk were having an epic battle in the same area he had just left. On the warship, Diarmuid had just finished explaining the situation to Gion.
"Well, Sakazuki rarely asks for favors, so I felt bad saying no…" Diarmuid said with a guilty tone.
Gion didn't mind at all. Beating up Mihawk seemed to have put her in a great mood. She waved her hand. "It's fine. So we're going? I'll come too. We can think of going to a Sky Island as a vacation. It's been a while since I've been to one, and I can beat up Kaido while we're there."
He had originally promised Gion a vacation, but things kept coming up, so Diarmuid felt a little bad. Seeing how generous she was, he was touched. He didn't reject her request to join them. After all, Gion was very strong, too.
"Alright, then we won't go to Shimotsuki Village. We'll go back to Foosha Village first and take Garp with us," Diarmuid said.
Might as well do a complete favor. Sakazuki only asked once, and as his good friend, I have to support him. If I, Gion, and Garp all show up at Mariejois to help Sakazuki, he's probably going to cry tears of joy. What is this? This is the deep bond of comradeship! This is the Marine family! One for all, and all for one! Helping others is the source of all happiness!
As for Kaido… he probably wouldn't be as moved, but he'd definitely shed some sincere tears, right?
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