When the people sprawled across the harbor finally woke up, the Silver Pirates' ship was long gone from sight. They had already found the person they wanted; there was no reason to linger.
Everyone else stood around in utter confusion. They had no idea what had happened. How did they just black out out of nowhere? It only deepened their dread of the Silver Pirates.
At that moment, Baichuan and his crew were sailing under a brilliant sun. With weather this clear, a navigator barely had a chance to show off his skills.
More, desperate to prove himself, could only endure Riddle's merciless drills. Having barely scraped by as a child, More found this kind of training agonizing.
But no one on the ship pitied him. They had all trudged through that same stage themselves. Without braving the storm, how could anyone see the rainbow?
Riddle had his own sense of moderation and knew when to call it quits. Every time More neared his limit, the drills would stop.
"Finally, I can rest."
Soaked in sweat, More sprawled on the deck and stared at the deep blue sky, the pure white clouds, and the occasional gull gliding overhead. A cool sea breeze washed over him, and for the first time in his life, he felt that lying still was the most blissful thing imaginable.
Sarral, meanwhile, was using his Speed-Speed Fruit to experiment with cooking, trying to see if his ability could accelerate how fast ingredients matured.
Yuristing tirelessly wiped down his gun over and over, occasionally asking Jora about the principles of Armament Haki. Apparently, he wasn't the hands-on type but more of a meditative learner.
As for Jora, ever since Baichuan's last scolding, he had changed noticeably. He trained with real dedication now, pushing himself to the point of complete exhaustion every time before he'd even consider stopping.
Watching his crew get along so harmoniously, Baichuan De felt deeply gratified. Everyone had found something to do. Everyone except himself.
Bored, Baichuan leaned over the ship's rail. Every vessel that spotted them kept its distance, whether it was a pirate ship, a merchant vessel, or even a Marine warship.
He had planned to kill time by fishing, but maybe his technique was just too poor. The rod had been sitting there for ages without so much as a twitch. He wasn't sure if he was doing it wrong or if his luck was that rotten.
Just then, a tiny black dot appeared in Baichuan's line of sight, growing larger and heading straight for them.
Baichuan narrowed his eyes. As the gap between the two ships closed, he finally recognized the visitor. It was completely unexpected. He never imagined he would run into this person here.
"Jora, come here. We've got a familiar guest," Baichuan called out to Jora, who was still training.
"What? A familiar face?" Jora paused, bewildered. Out on the open sea, he had no acquaintances to speak of.
Still, he walked over to Baichuan and followed his gaze. He spotted a somewhat familiar silhouette, but it was still too far away to make out the person's features clearly.
"Senior brother!" Jora suddenly shouted in astonishment.
That's right. The visitor was the future World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawk-Eye, Dracule Mihawk.
Hearing Jora's cry, everyone else on the ship gathered around, curious to see what Jora's senior brother looked like.
After all, the odds of meeting an acquaintance on the vast sea were incredibly slim. You could say Jora was pretty lucky.
"Looks like your senior brother came looking for you," Baichuan said to Jora, since Mihawk's ship was heading directly toward their pirate vessel.
When the two ships were nearly touching, Mihawk leaped into the air and landed on their deck.
"Senior brother! What brings you here?" As soon as he saw Mihawk, Jora's face lit up with undisguised joy.
"So that's Jora's senior brother? He looks seriously terrifying," Yuristing muttered quietly from beside Sarral.
Sarral's usual cheerful smile had completely vanished, replaced by a stern, grave expression.
"His eyes are frightening. The kind of gaze only a true powerhouse would have." The moment Sarral met Mihawk's eyes, an involuntary shiver ran through him.
"Just his stare is a deterrent to ordinary people, even to strong fighters."
This was also Baichuan's first time seeing Mihawk, and the first time staring into those hawk-like eyes. They were indeed unnerving.
"Long time no see, Jora." After boarding, Mihawk greeted Jora first, then shifted his gaze to Baichuan.
Right now, he was not yet the World's Greatest Swordsman, and there was no supreme black blade strapped to his back. He was just a fledgling swordsman setting out to challenge the renowned sword masters of the world.
Baichuan read the fighting intent blazing in his eyes.
"Right now, you're no match for me," Baichuan said bluntly. He wasn't trying to discourage Mihawk, but he was stating a fact.
"You won't know unless you try."
Hawk-Eye drew the blade from his back. Though it wasn't a black blade yet, it was longer than an ordinary sword, making it perfect to wear behind him. If he wore it at his hip, drawing it would be awkward.
"You sure you want to fight me?"
Baichuan smiled. Beating up the future World's Greatest Swordsman could be pretty entertaining.
Jora knew his senior brother was no match for the captain, but he didn't try to stop the fight. Even if he spoke up, it would be useless. His senior brother wouldn't listen.
He knew exactly what kind of person his senior brother was. Even with an insurmountable mountain standing right in front of him, he would still charge forward and ram into it.
That was how it had been during their training under their master. Every single day, he would spar with the master. Whether he could win or not didn't matter. As soon as their master had a free moment, he would issue a challenge without the slightest hesitation.
"Mm." Mihawk grunted in response to Baichuan's words. If he didn't fight, then coming here was pointless. Surely nobody thought he had come all this way just to visit his junior brother.
If that were truly the case, he would rather not have come at all. Right now, what Mihawk valued most was power, and the chance to clash with the strong.
"Jora, look at your senior brother. If you had even half his conviction, your strength wouldn't be so half-baked."
"No problem, Captain. I'll learn from my senior brother. From now on, I'll train with you every single day. We'll improve together."
"Alright." That word wasn't meant for Jora. It was meant for Mihawk. Baichuan wanted to see exactly how strong this man really was.
/-\
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