It has been a week since we set left the Ballywood kingdom, and I was currently leaning on the black pearl's railing while singing in a loud voice.

"There once was a ship that put to sea. The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea," I sang as I looked at the horizon and saw nothing but blue while standing at the bow of my ship.

"The winds blew up, and her bow dipped down O blow, my bully boys, blow," I Chanted and paused as I brought my whisky bottle to my mouth to take a swig.

I was about to continue signing, but I paused again as I heard Laffite, Wilson, and Elly chanting the chorus together while doing their tasks,

"Soon may the Wellerman come to bring us sugar and tea and rum," they sang in one voice, causing me to smile as I joined them in chanting the next verse.

"One day, when the tonguin' is done, We'll take our leave and go," we sang together, and even Bob was smiling as he relaxed at his usual spot in the middle of the deck.

"She had not been two weeks from shore When down on her a right whale bore..." I kept singing while thinking about our voyage for the past week.

To say it was a breeze was an understatement. We, of course, came across the occasional storm and wondering sea monster, but thanks to Laffite's excellent handling of the ship, how great the black pearl herself was, and our strong crew, we managed to cut through all obstacles like a hot knife through butter.

During this time, we all had our roles. Wilson was on sails duty as he would tie or unfurl the sails based on Laffite's requests. Laffite himself was steering the ship's wheel. Even though he was a navigator and not a helmsman, he was still better at handling the black pearl than the rest of us.

Elly was our lookout, and she was positioned at the crow's nest most of the time, and It was thanks to Bob's cooking that we can maintain the high morale and good mood that the rest of the crew and myself were in as we performed our duties.

I, of course, used my privilege as a captain to laze around or train and only step in to fill someone's role when they were tired or had something to do.

We still needed a doctor, a shipwright, and a proper helmsman, and I knew where to get a doctor and a helmsman, but I had no idea where to find a decent shipwright, and the helmsman I want is currently in the grand line. It would take some time to gather a complete crew, but I was in no hurry.

"Land ahoy," came Elly's voice from the crow's nest, and I had to stop my thought process as I launched myself into the air with Geppo to see the said land with my own eyes.

I climbed to Elly's height, but I saw nothing, so I raised myself several more meters, activated my zoom feature, and only then did I see an island.

'Elly's senses are as terrifying as ever,' I thought to myself as I glanced at the redhead from the corner of my eye. Even at this height and despite zooming my vision, all I could see was a vague silhouette of an island and nothing else.

"good job, Elly. Your eyesight is as impressive as ever," I said with a smile as I made my way down to the ship's helm and received a nod and a smile back from Elly.

"Tehahaha, I can't believe this is your first voyage, Laffite," I said as I playfully smacked my navigator on his back. "The journey was supposed to take ten days, but we made it here in just seven," I concluded with a smile.

"I spent my whole studying navigation since I come from a long line of navigators and sailors, so this much is only natural," Laffite stated with a confident voice as he nodded at me and smiled in satisfaction at my acknowledgment of his skills.

"Tehahah, how reliable," I said with a laugh as I smacked his shoulder again. "Anyway, keep up the excellent work," I concluded as I turned around and made my way back to the brow of the ship.

It took us thirty minutes to reach Toroa island's dock, and we docked our ship uneventfully. We then disembarked from the black pearl while leaving Bob to guard the ship as he volunteered for the role himself, saying that he had already visited this place and wasn't interested in seeing it again.

Toroa island was a small, tropical island with lots of trees and forestry surrounding a single town, which was the only livable place inside of it.

The island could surprisingly thrive without being affiliated with the world government, because all the people living here had pirate blood coursing through their veins, and they were strong enough to defend themselves.

The world government also didn't bother with it because of the island's lack of any vital resource, and the pirates avoided it because the island's inhabitants were no easy prey.

It was also known as the homeland of musicians because the only town on the island was the birthplace of many famous master musicians.

Or so we were told by the man who approached us when we were about to leave the docks. He also warned us that the island inhabitants might tolerate the presence of bounty hunters, but they will not allow any action against pirates who are staying on the island.

He also seemed to know who we are, as he specifically mentioned actions against the Nitti family. We, of course, assured him we were not here on business as we're only here for sightseeing, and only then did he seem to be assured of our intention and left us to our devices, and so we began exploring the island.

Third-person point of view:

In a dimly lit, large, and luxuriously decorated room, the silhouette of a freakishly tall man can be seen sitting behind an elegant wooden desk while quietly reading some papers that he carried in his large hands in silence.

That silence, however, was interrupted by several knocks on the door of the eerily dark room.

The man sitting behind the desk lowered the papers he was reading, raise his head. "Come in," He then said in a clear voice that was not too loud or too soft.

The door opened once the words left the mouth of the tall man sitting behind the desk, revealing a haunched and even more freakishly large man who made his way to the desk. "Ne ne, some bounty hunter in west blue seems to have taken out one of our five business partners. Should I send someone to take care of him?" Asked the haunched man with an obnoxious voice that would cause one's ears to bleed if they listened to it for too long.

"Someone else will take the place of the partner he took out soon enough. There's no need to cause a racket over this unimportant matter," replied the large man who while shrugging seemingly uninterested. "but then again, this will delay some of our businesses, So don't send anyone after him, but spread his information to our family and allies, and tell them to take him out if they get the chance," the tall man concluded and then waved the haunched man to leave.

"Behehehe, that poor bounty hunter won't even know what hit him. Ne, Doffy?" the haunched man stated, with his voice seemingly becoming more and more obnoxious with every word he spoke.

-0-

Johnny's point of view:

After the man said all he wanted to say and left to explore the island at our leisure, our group of four split apart.

Elly and Laffite went to find us suitable accommodations to stay at during our time on Toroa island. Wilson did his own thing like usual without bothering to inform us of his destination, only saying that he'll contact us via den-den mushi when he wants to call it a day.

I decided to explore the town and even the surrounding forest if I had the time, so I began strolling through the streets of Sarton town while taking the sights it had to offer.

Sarton town truly lived up to its name as the hometown of musicians, as it had too many concert halls compared to its size, and even the streets were crawling with musicians trying to make a name for themselves by playing to the public.

I walked through the streets while listening to street performers play and sing many types of music, sea shanties, classic, rock, and even rap music. Most people I came across in the streets were either smiling or laughing and looked like they were having fun, and the few who weren't smiling didn't seem like they were sad or burdened either.

All in all, Sarton town looked like a decent place to live. It was free from the influence of the world government, and the town's people were hardy people able to repel both the great families of the west and hostile pirates who tried to gain a foothold in their home.

What's more, they didn't even have a royal family or an absolute ruler, either. The people of the island themselves keep the peace when necessary. They only elect a leader from amongst their strongest warriors during emergencies if the situation calls for it, of course.

I kept strolling through the town's streets with a smile on my face while enjoying its festive atmosphere until my eyes met the eyes of a blonde man with a scar on his face that goes down from the forehead to his eyebrow.

He stared at my face with shock for some reason, so I merely smiled at him and kept walking since I wanted to keep exploring the town, but I took a mental note of him just in case I come across him later.

'I wonder who that was? He seemed somewhat familiar. Whatever, I'll leave it to my future self if I meet him again,' I thought with some curiosity, but I shook my head and decided to let the matter go as I was enjoying my stroll too much to do anything productive right now.

The sky became dark before I knew it, and so I took out my den-den mushi to contact Laffite so I can learn where we will be staying from him.

"Gotcha," the snail in my hand sounded as it started morphing to Laffite's likeness and my navigator's voice came through its mouth soon after. "Hello, what can I do for you, captain?" he asked with his usual polite voice.

"Hello Laffite, I just wanted to know if you and Elly already found us an inn or somewhere to stay," I said and paused, waiting for him to answer.

"We found an inn located on the west side of the town called the symphony. It has a large sign so you won't miss it," Laffite stated. "All alright, I'll be making my way there shortly," I replied calmly and kept speaking after a brief pause.

"By the way, send Elly to get bob since this place has tight security, and there should be no problem if we left the ship unguarded for now," I concluded.

"Roger, do you need anything else, captain?" Laffite asked. "Not at the moment. I'll see you at the inn," I replied as I hung up and started making my way towards the Sarton town's west side.

It didn't take me long to find the inn as it had a large sign hanging above its entrance like Laffite said, and the words written on the sign were glowing with multi-colored, bright lights, so it was impossible to miss.

The inn was a large two-story building made of wood, with the only notable thing about it being the bright, colorful sign and the loud music coming from inside of it.

I took a second to take in the inn's sight, then made my way inside. Once inside, I only took a couple of seconds to locate where the crew was sitting, thanks to Laffite and Wilson's figures that towered over the rest of the inn's guests and employees.

I took a seat at the only empty chair and greeted my crew with a simple "Yo," as I made myself comfortable on the chair.

"so, what do you think about the island so far?" I asked my crew with a smile as I took out my whisky bottle.

"It seems like a nice place to call home, but that all there is to it," replied Lafitte, and it looks like he was talking for the rest of the crew as well since they all nodded at his words.

"I see, so I guess you found nothing interesting while gathering information?" I asked with a nod of my head as well.

"There wasn't much information for us to gather in the first place. The only potentially useful intel we got was about the hiding places of the pirates on the island," Laffite said and paused to take a sip from his drink. "But they're all small fries and not worth the time or the effort," he concluded as he shook his head in disdain.

"well, it doesn't really matter since this is merely a brief stop for us on our way to that place," I said with a smile as I took a big gulp of whisky from my bottle. "We'll stay here for a couple of days to explore the forest surrounding the town and leave if we found nothing interesting there too," I concluded with a shrug, and the rest of the crew nodded in acknowledgment.

"What about you, big guy? Seen or smelled anything interesting?" I turned to Wilson and asked him playfully with a smile.

"The only thing interesting in this town is the alcohol and the music. I didn't see anyone worth fighting when I was exploring the town," Wilson stated with an irritated expression on his face as he snorted in derision. I merely shrugged my shoulders, making no further comments on the subject.

"That reminds me," I said, as I suddenly had an idea. "I came across a blonde man with a scar on his forehead, who seemed quite shocked to see me for some reason," I said with a smile as I turned to Laffite.

"Could you look into him and find out who he is when you have the time, Laffite?" I asked after getting his attention.

Yup, I'm going to leave this matter to Laffite and shamelessly use the time I would have wasted trying to figure out the man's identity to explore the forest.

"Sure thing, captain. I merely need to know his general description, and I'll find out everything there is to know about him by tomorrow night," Laffite stated with a confident smile.

"Tehaha, how dependable," I praised him with a laugh and proceeded to describe the man the Laffite in greater detail.

Nothing interesting happened after this. We spent the rest of the night drinking and chatting until it was very late, and we decided to call it a day since tomorrow will probably be quite the busy day for us.

-0-

I wake up after eight hours of sleep and make my way to the inn's dining area while feeling refreshed. Once there, however, I see none of my crew members within sight.

'Probably decided to oversleep,' I thought with a smile as I ordered a large breakfast, which I devoured quickly and then left the inn, making my way towards the forest outside the town.

I didn't forget to greet a couple of familiar faces that I came across during my march. Most of them were shop and stall owners that I bought some stuff from yesterday, but I digress.

I was already at the town's gates before I knew it, and just as I was about to make my way out, one of the townspeople who were assigned to protect that area stopped me with a quick "halt."

"The area outside the town is dangerous, and we will not be held accountable if you come to harm outside the town's walls," the guard said as he stomped the ground with the butt of his spear.

"I'm fully aware of the danger. I might not look like it, but I'm strong, you know," I said with a smile as I flexed my biceps.

"Do what you want. It's your funeral," the guard said with a shrug. "I already fulfilled my duty by informing you of the danger," He concluded with a shake of his head as he took a step to the side to allow me free passage.

I made no comments on his statement and merely passed by him with a smile, not taking any offense at all.

Once I was outside the town, I shot myself into the air with a geppo step and then disappeared from sight with a quick application of soru.

I didn't look back to see the guard's expression, but I imagine he must've been very shocked as I heard some loud exclamations of surprise just before vanishing from the area.

I landed on the forest's ground, having decided to march through the woods instead of flying above it during my exploration.

While I could have explored the entire island by using soru and geppo in a short time, I decided not to, as that would not be a fun or intriguing experience.

I looked around me and couldn't see anything but trees, so I looked down to check for any tracks on the ground. I found many footprints of different sizes, hoofprints, paw prints, avian claws, and even ones that were a weird mix of three.

I didn't find any prints that looked like they belonged to a dangerous or a giant creature, so I decided against following any of them and just walking in a straight line until I reached the other side of the island.

I began my march while humming a song I suddenly remembered for no reason.

"Oh whiskey, you villain, you've been my downfall," I sang in a loud voice as I took out my whisky bottle. (Author's note: thank you, RexHarris, for the excellent song recommendation.)

'I've built quite the tolerance, and I don't think anything on this island can pose any real danger to me, so might as well,' I thought inside my head as I took a sip from the bottle.

"You've kicked me, you've cuffed me, and caused me to brawl," I sang again, and my hands moved fast enough to leave an afterimage as it caught a small snake as it threw itself at me.

"They say I drink whiskey. My money's my own," I kept singing as I brought the snake close to my face and smiled. "And them, that don't like me, can leave me alone," I ended the verse as I put strength into my arm that's holding the snake and threw it away.

"I'll eat when I'm hungry. I'll drink when I'm dry," I kept singing and walking as I took another sip from my whisky bottle.

"It's Beefsteak when I'm hungry and whiskey when I'm dry. Greenbacks when I'm hard up and hell when I die," I chanted without a care as I raised my leg and sent a flying rankyaku slash at a large bush that was in my way.

"Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey, I cry if I don't get rye whiskey, I surely will die," I sang and couldn't help chuckling.

"Oh baby, oh baby, I've told you before, do make me a pallet. I'll lie on the floor," I stopped singing and halted my footsteps and then jumped back as several objects came flying at me and landed at the spot I've been occupying with a fiery explosion.

"Just in time. I was starting to get bored," I stated as I jumped back again as the assailants made themselves apparent and began flinging more fireballs from their mouths at me again.

Said assailants were three green, giant lizards. Their bodies were three meters long and one meter high, and they had sharp white claws on their limbs that looked sharp enough to tear a tree apart.

"Are you guys Kaido's cousins or something?" I asked, not really expecting an answer as I kept dodging their ranged attacks.

While I could tank their attacks and not suffer any damage, my clothes were a different story, and I didn't want to get used to standing still while enemies kept hammering me with attacks as that would only make me complacent and cost me my life one day, but I digress.

I kept dodging the lizards' attacks without counterattacking because I grew curious and wanted to see their limit.

The lizards soon grew tired or possibly bored after five minutes of constant flinging their fireballs, so they decided to make this battle a melee one.

The first one charged at me by lowering its posture and then lunged at me like a speeding bullet.

'It looks like these stumpy legs of theirs have more power than I thought," I thought as I stepped to the side and swung my sword at its wide-open back as it passed by me.

'No damage at all. It looks like I still can't cut steel without using a named attack since I've been neglecting my sword training,' I thought as I saw the lizard I've just dodged hit a tree and split it in half and then turn around to prepare for another lunge after a mere shake of its head.

'But this is a good chance for me to improve my swordsmanship to the next level since I feel I'm already close.

'To cut steel, one needs to hear its breath, or so Zoro said while fighting Daz Bones,' my head was processing everything I could remember about Zoro's fights and his training, but my body was acting on autopilot, dodging and counterattacking.

'I can definitely hear something, both from the lizards' scales and Satori in my hand, but it was less of a breath and more of a jumbled mess of incomprehensible voices,' I thought as I kept dodging and slashing the lizards with my sword at every chance I got. I could feel the voices becoming clearer every time I swung my sword.

The cycle of dodging and attacking continued for fifteen minutes, and even the lizards seemed to have grown tired at this point, but I was getting closer and closer with every engagement.

I suddenly felt something snap inside my head, and I felt connected to satori in ways that were only possible when I was using named attacks or performing my sword chant.

I looked at the lizard preparing itself to lunge at me again, and I raised my sword above my head in preparation. The lizard didn't keep me waiting and threw itself at me with reckless abandon, and I felt the time slow down as the jumbled mess of voices that came from my sword and the lizards finally came together and formed what was irrefutably the sound of breathing.

The time began flowing again, and the lizard was finally at a striking distance, causing me to take a deep breath and take a step to the side to dodge.

Once the lizard's unguarded back was in front of me, I swung my sword downwards and watched in amazement as it cut through the lizard, dissecting it cleanly in half.

That, however, wasn't the end as I felt something else snap within my head as strange energy coursed through my body and manifested itself outside of it as a silver shock wave that caused all birds and other small animals within its range to fall on the ground unconscious.

The shock wave, however, didn't stop there and kept expanding until it reached the rest of the lizards, causing them to flee in visible terror as they made strange noises that were a mixture of roaring, whining, and yelping.

"huh, neat," I muttered with a dumbfounded expression as I stared at the small unconscious creatures and fleeing lizards.

-0-

'Conquerors Haki, huh?' I thought as I looked at the fleeing and passed-out animals all around me.

'I can't use it in public unless I want to draw a large target on my back, and even if I want to, I can't use it since I don't know how,' I rubbed my chin thoughtfully as I tried to imprint the feeling of the energy coursing through my body into my mind.

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'having it and awakening it this early is still a win even if I can't use it, for now. I merely have to practice it and get used to it as we sail the seas,' I concluded with a nod and then turned my attention to Satori.

I can now clearly hear its breath, and I can feel it radiating an aura of peace and harmony, which was quite weird for a sword, but I guess it isn't called sudden enlightenment for no reason.

'I might have to get a better sword in the future,' I think to myself as I put Satori back into its sheath.

Don't get me wrong, Satori is a good sword, but that's it. It isn't great. It's just good, which is honestly not good enough for me, but that was a matter for the future, and as such, I'll leave it to my good old reliable future self.

'Might as well keep exploring the forest then since it's still too early, and I'm only feeling a little headache from my conquerors Haki outburst just now,' I thought with a shrug of my shoulders as I kept going deeper into the forest.

I came across different types of animals as I explored the forest, both large and small. Most of them were hostile and would attack on sight, but some of them were docile and even friendly, as they had no problems coming close to me and asking for food as they sniffed at my backpack.

The hostile animals were the carnivorous species like hyenas, weird colorful ions, and even a flytrap plant that seemed to infest some clearings in the forest.

The docile animals were mainly the herbivorous species, like giant squirrels, giant white elephants, and small koala-like creatures that lived in packs.

I also came across different kinds of plants and fruits. Some were poisonous. Some were medicinal. Some were delicious, and some were foul-tasting, but none of them were very useful or particularly tasty, so I didn't take any with me.

I kept walking around the forest while muttering some random songs and shanties from my past life until the sky darkened, and I decided to go back to the inn in favor of continuing my exploration tomorrow.

I found myself standing in front of the town's gates before I knew it and on my way inside after greeting the same guard that warned me about leaving the town, who looked somewhat nervous as he greeted me back and made way for me to enter.

I just shrugged my shoulders without bothering myself with him any longer and headed in straight into the inn where the crew and I were staying.

I entered the inn with no fanfare and took a second to see if my companions were in the inn or not. I then took a seat alone after not finding any familiar face.

I ordered some food and drinks after I made myself comfortable and enjoyed my meal while listening to the music played by a band in the inn after a server brought my order.

Two girls who seemed to recognize me for my actions in Ballywood offered to keep me company after noticing that I was alone. They were probably just gold diggers, but who was I to judge them for that? So I accepted their offer and ordered them some expensive drinks and enjoyed their company as they sat on sides with my hands around their wastes.

The girls kept me company, and an hour passed before I even knew it as Laffite entered the bar and made his way to the table I was sharing with the two girls.

"Run along now, girls. I have to talk about some business with my friend over there," I whispered to the two girls as I pointed my chin at Laffite's approaching figure since my hands weren't free.

The girls looked at each other, then at me, and stood up to leave. The girls, however, didn't forget to kiss me on both of my cheeks before leaving while giggling flirtatiously.

"It looks like you're having fun, captain," Laffite said with a raised eyebrow as he sat in front of me.

"Tehahaha, it's just a little bit of harmless fun," I said with a smile as I drained the alcohol cup in front of me, and Laffite smiled while shrugging his shoulder to show he didn't mean anything by his remark.

"so, did anything interesting happen while I was away?" I asked as I poured him a glass of wine, which was his favorite drink.

"Not really. I just spent the day looking into that guy you told me about yesterday," he stated as he took a sip from his wine glass.

"Oh, and what did you learn about him?' I asked again in a leisure tone while opening another wine bottle.

"His name is Byron. He comes from a long line of musicians. He makes excellent wine, and is said to be good with using axes," Laffite said with an uninterested expression on his face as he took another sip from his wine.

'Byron, a musician who is good at making wine?' I thought as I tilted my head to the side, trying to remember someone like that in the original work.

"That's it?" I asked while rubbing my chin in thought.

'Now I remember. Byron should be one of the slaves who were sold at the Human Auctioning House in the Sabaody archipelago after getting caught by slavers. If I remember correctly, he was a pirate musician.'

"That was all the townspeople were willing to share about him, before some hypnotism, that is," Laffite stated, and I merely muttered, "oh?" without saying anything else, encouraging him to keep going.

"He's the only living descendant of a pirate crew that left Toroa island several decades ago to enter the grand line and never came back," Laffite concluded with a shrug.

"You're as reliable as ever, Laffite," I said and paused as I noticed Wilson approaching us from the corner of my eye. "Unlike that lazy gorilla who's only is only useful for carrying luggage," I concluded with an exaggerated sigh as I tilted my head to the side to dodge Wilson's fist.

"Sais the captain, who's only useful as a jukebox," Wilson replied with a snort of disdain after his failed attack and took out a bottle of wine he keeping under his jacket.

"You know, I'm beginning to regret teaching you to talk,' I said with a dumbfounded expression on my face as I put my hands on my chest in a mock show of hurt, causing both Wilson and Laffite to chuckle.

We kept chatting and taking jabs at each other for the rest of the night, with Elly and Bob arriving a while later and joining in on the fun. I, however, decided to call it a day early, shortly after they arrived, so I can wake up early and finish exploring the island before we set sail again.

-0-

I woke up just as early as yesterday and repeated the same process as well, and half an hour later, I was already outside the town's gates, except no one tried to stop me this time.

I geppoed my way into the place where I fought the fireball flinging lizards and walked from there in a straight line.

It seems that The deeper I went into the forest, the stronger and the larger the animal became, but fortunately or unfortunately (I can't seem to decide), I didn't meet anything with Wilson's level of strength even before he learned the six powers.

The strongest creature I have found so far is a large, colorful, parrot-like bird that had wings sharp enough to cut a tree and half and was strong enough to send fairly large animals flying by simply flapping its wings hard enough.

"pururururu." It was during my fight with the said bird that I heard my den den mushi start ringing.

"Hello," I greeted after picking up the call as I jumped up to dodge the bird's sharp wing.

"Hello, captain. It's me, Elly," came Elly's voice as the snail in my hands morphed to resemble her likeness.

"Oh hey, Elly. What can I do for you?" I asked while constantly dodging the bird's talons and wings. "I'm kind of busy right now," I concluded as I dodged and delivered a punch to the bird's side.

"Sorry to interrupt, captain, but something happened," Elly said and paused as I heard the sound of explosions coming from the snail. "A pirate fleet consisting of three ships just arrived at the island," she concluded with a sigh.

"And is there a reason you and the rest of the crew can't take care of them yourselves?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Winson alone should be able to take on a fleet of small fries blue sea pirates. I wonder why they felt the need to inform me about it?' I thought as I sighed, shaking my head.

"That's the thing, captain. This pirate crew is actually from the grand line, and their captain ate one of those special devil fruits you told us about," she said, paused for a second. "The ones you told us we need Haki to defeat," she concluded after taking a second to choose her words.

"It can't be helped. I'll be there shortly," I stated as I hung up the call and put the snail back into my pocket.

"Sorry, buddy. I wanted to play a little longer, but it looks like I have to go," I stated with a smile and then vanished from the area as I made my back to the town while using both Soru and Geppo.

It didn't take me too long to reach the town's gates, but I didn't linger there and headed straight into the direction of the docks.

To say that the docks were a mess would be an understatement. Two ships kept a certain distance from the island and kept barraging the town with cannon shells while the third ship was anchored on the docks, and pirates kept jumping out of it to fight the town's people all around the area.

I ignored it all and made my way to the area that seemed to have the most intense fight taking place inside of it, as I figured that's where my crew will be.

And it seems I wasn't wrong as the first thing I saw once I was there, Laffite, Elly, and bob massacring small fry pirates while Wilson was fighting a man with a particularly large face who was dressed as your stereotypical pirate except all his clothes were pink.

Wilson did not seem to be losing while fighting this ridiculously dressed man, but he didn't seem to be winning either, as what I assumed to be this fleet's pirate captain would turn into pink jelly every time Wilson's fist reached him.

"Why are you bounty hunters getting in my way?" asked the pink pirate captain after Wilson smashed his head into smithereens as it formed back into its original shape.

"I'm only here to take my revenge on the people of this island, and I have no interest in you people," he kept talking as he landed a punch on Wilson, which did absolutely no damage at all.

"As long as you take your leave now and leave me to go about my business, I can forget this whole matter, and I won't come after you for revenge later," He concluded, but Wilson, being Wilson, just ignored him and kept attacking.

"You're barking up the wrong tree, buddy," I said as I made my entrance and landed next to Wilson. "Once this guy starts fighting, he would stop listening," I concluded as I put a hand on Wilson's shoulder.

"And you are?" The pink pirate captain asked with narrowed eyes as he looked at me.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask who someone is without introducing yourself first?" I asked with a smirk and then turned to Wilson. "Let me take care of this big guy," I stated while cracking my knuckles.

"Fighting this guy is more annoying than interesting, so suit yourself," Wilson replied with a shrug and then jumped in to help the rest of the crew fight the small fries.

"Small-time bounty hunters you don't deserve and an introduction," the pink pirate captain said with a snort of disdain. "You might be a little strong, for a bunch of west blue bounty hunters, but I'm someone who ate the jello-jello devil fruit and became a jello human," he stated as he raised his hands and spread them apart dramatically.

"There is absolutely nothing you can do to harm me, neahohoho," he concluded with a loud laugh.

"Is that so?" I asked with a smile. "I'll just have to beat out of you then!" I stated, then immediately vanished and appeared before him.

I didn't want to waste any time on this guy, so I quickly used my sea stone-coated left arm and smacked him on the head, causing his head to be buried into the ground.

It seems that wasn't enough to put him out of commission as a dozen or so tendrils of jello shot out from beneath me, trying to trap me inside of them. I, of course, saw them coming thanks to my enhanced sense and jumped backward to avoid them.

"Is that sea stone? How the hell can a bunch of blue sea bounty hunters like you get their hands on such a thing?" He asked with a disbelieving tone as he got up from the crater while cradling his bleeding head.

"Oh, it looks like you have more than your devil fruit going for you," I said with an excited smile. "this might be more fun than I thought," I concluded as I launched myself at him again.

-0-

The rest of the fight was not fun at all. It was disappointingly monotonous and boring instead as the ridiculously dressed pirate captain had nothing more than stupid amounts of endurance and pain tolerance along with his jello-jello devil fruit abilities going for him.

We kept fighting for almost an hour as the rest of my crew took care of both the pirates raiding the docks and the two ships bombarding the town.

The fight mostly consisted of me dodging his attacks and constantly hammering him with my sea-stone-coated left hand as he kept shrugging of all injuries even as blood covered most of his body.

The fight finally came to an end when he couldn't endure the beating any longer and declared his surrender. I accepted his surrender and proceeded to interrogate him about his identity and why he came all the way from the grand line to this small island to destroy it because I was curious.

It turned out that he was a pirate originally from west blue called Jelly bean jack, who tried to attack the island several years ago before he ate the jello-jello devil fruit. But the island's people defeated him, causing him to flee the island while leaving behind more than half of his crew killed or imprisoned.

He then reformed his crew and entered the grand line, making a name for himself thereafter finding and eating the paramecia type: jello-jello devil fruit. He even gained a bounty of forty million belies, but it seems the shame of his defeat here kept plaguing his mind until he couldn't take it anymore and came back to exact his revenge.

Once my curiosity was satiated, I unceremoniously drew my sword with my right hand and slit his throat while holding his head with my left arm that was coated with sea stone because normal cuffs won't be able to restrain him, and it would require me to keep holding him with my prosthetic hand to keep him from escaping which would have been a pain in the ass, so I took the easy way out.

"Put this in some ice and get ready to set sail," I said as I threw the pirate's head to Laffite. "We need to hurry up and bring his head into a marine base before it rots beyond recognition," I concluded as I turned around and made my way to the crowd of people that had gathered during my fight with jelly bean Jack.

"We won't ask for a reward for taking care of your pirate problem," I stated loudly while looking at the crowd that had gathered after my crew took care of the pink pirate captain's subordinates, causing them to cheer loudly.

"However, You'll have to pay for the ships if you want to take them over," I said, causing all cheers to come to a halt as the gathered town's people began exchanging glances. "Ten million bellies for each ship and the price is not negotiable," I concluded, and the town's people began murmuring amongst each other.

"But that's not fair. The pirates did a lot of damage to the town, and their belongings should go to us as compensation," said one of the braver townsmen as he took a step forward.

"While it's true that the pirates' belongings should go to you as compensation," I said with a shrug and waited for the crowd to calm down.

"That, however, doesn't apply to the ships as they belong to us now by the law of the sea since we defeated their crews," I concluded with a smirk, and even though some of the crowd were still dissatisfied, they were pirate descendants and knew that my words were not wrong.

"You have until we are ready to set sail to gather the money for the ships," I said after a second to make my words had sunk in.

"You should also know that I'll personally sink the ships before we leave if they aren't sold by then," I concluded as I turned around to leave, not paying attention to the grumbling and murmuring of the crowd.

I made my way to my room at the inn and started packing my belongings as soon as I arrived. It didn't take too long for me to finish packing, and I made my way downstairs once I was done.

"Mr. Johnny, that was so cool, the way you took care of that big bad pirate," said one of the two girls I drank with yesterday while giggling as both of them came to me and embraced my arms.

"Tehahaha, it was, wasn't it?" I said with a shit-eating grin all over my face as I raised my head backward and began laughing.

"Well, why don't you girls join me for a couple of drinks while I wait for someone to buy the ships here?" I asked with a smile as I freed my hands and held their wastes while guiding them to a table.

Someone finally came after thirty minutes or so, with an offer to buy two of the ships for twenty million bellies, saying that was all the town could scrounge up, and I gladly took their money with a smile on my face.

Some of the town's people were dissatisfied with this arrangement, but they didn't show it in front of me since the pirate captain had already defeated their best warriors before Wilson even found him and started fighting him.

I then bid farewell to the two girls whose names I still didn't know and made my way to the ship to wait for the rest of the crew to finish packing and restocking our supplies so we can set sail as soon as the rest of the crew were gathered and ready to depart.

My companions arrived an hour later on the ship with their luggage and the supplies they had bought from the town, and we were finally ready to depart, but we had to stop as a voice came from outside the ship.

"Please wait," exclaimed the battered and bleeding byron as he leaned on his knees while panting.

"If you're going to the grand line, then please take me with you!" He said as he caught his breath and bowed in front of us.

"What the hell do you think is in the grand line?" I asked as I stared him down with a raised eyebrow while leaning down on the black pearl's railing.

"Even the guy who almost destroyed your town just now is nothing but a small-time pirate compared to the real monsters roaming the grand line," I stated while pointing at Jelly bean jack's body which was left to rot on the docks.

"I'm fully aware of the risks involved, but even so, please take me with you!" He repeated without raising his head.

"Why do you want to go to the grand line, anyway? This place is a good place to live in, and you won't lack anything if you stay here," I asked as I jumped down from the ship and stood in front of him.

"I... I want to see the world. I could basically hear the sea calling for me since I was a child, and I can't bear to stay on land for even one more day," He answered as he raised his head and looked me in the eye, and I could see resolve burning in his eyes.

"I see, and is there any other reason why you want to go to the grand line?" I asked with narrowed eyes as I looked at him with obvious suspicion while rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

"I also want to find out what happened to my grandfather who entered the grand line several decades ago and never came back," He said with a clear tone with no hesitation whatsoever.

That was the correct answer, as I already knew about his pirate predecessor and would have left him here without a second thought if he lied to me.

"I can see that you don't lack resolve, at least," I said with an expressionless face. "But, I don't accept weaklings on my ship, so if you want to come with us, you'll have to pass a test!" I said and paused, waiting for his answer.

"If that's what it will take for me to join your crew, then please go ahead and test me however you like. I will definitely pass," Byron replied with a confident tone as he lowered his head again.

"I see. In that case, the test is quite simple. You merely have to..."

-0-

(Author's note: quick heads up; I made a mistake last chapter by saying that Bryon's father went to the grand line 50 years ago; I edited it to grandfather because Bryon is currently 23 years old and he would be at least 50 years old if his father left the sea 50 years ago. Also, Johnny's laugh will be Rehahaha now instead of Tehahaha because I feel this one sounds better, and Belly will be Berry from now on as well)

"I see. In that case, the test is, in fact, quite simple. You merely have to -" I said and then took a quick step forward and buried my fist in Byron's stomach. "- take my punch and not fall for 30 seconds," I concluded with a smile as I took a step back to observe his reaction.

Byron's face was scrunched up in pain, and his teeth were clenched so hard they looked like they will break any second even his knees were shaking, but Byron didn't shy away from the challenge as he removed his hands from his knees and raised to his waist as he straightened his back.

He took a second to calm himself and steady his legs and was finally able to stand still without shaking after three seconds, but that didn't last long as his knees resumed shaking after merely five seconds.

"Already ten seconds now. You only have to endure for twenty more," I said with a nod, as I looked at him with a smirk.

"You can do it!" came Wilson's voice from behind me, causing some of the people who gathered to spectate to start cheering for Byron as well.

Five more seconds had passed, and Byron's breathing became even more ragged as the exhaustion and pain finally forced him to lean back on his knees or risk falling flat on his stomach.

But Byron still didn't want to give up, and he strained his body beyond what was usually possible for him as he straightened his body again and kept looking me in the eye with burning resolve and determination. He even had the cheek to smirk at me as his wounds started spurting blood from the strain.

By the time twenty-five seconds had passed, Byron's body was entirely covered in blood and was on the verge of losing consciousness several times. But Wilson and the crowd's constant cheering had been of use as the loud voices of the crowd had woken him up several times after losing consciousness for fractions of seconds.

"5...4...3...2...1," I concluded the count down for the last five seconds. "Welcome to the crew," I said with a smile as I put my hand on his shoulder, but he didn't respond, causing me to check his vitals in a hurry to make sure he didn't die of blood loss.

"Rehahaha, what a guy," I remarked with a loud laugh after giving him a quick check-up. "He actually lost consciousness while still standing," I concluded as I raised my head back and laughed even more loudly.

"Hey, someone go and get his luggage while I patch up his wounds before he really dies of blood loss," I stated as I put Bryon's unconscious body on my shoulder and jumped back into the ship.

"I'm on it, captain," Said Laffite as he jumped off the ship and started picking up the bags that some town's people were carrying for Byron.

"An interesting guy ended up joining us," Said Wilson with a smile while drinking a big mouthful from a bottle of rum.

"Oh, he'll definitely be a good companion in the future," Said Elly as she while wiping her rifle with a white cloth while sitting on a barrel on the ship's deck.

"He's not half bad, for a young punk, that is," said Bob with a shrug of his shoulders as he played with his mustache.

Two hours later:

We've already set sail, and Toroa island has disappeared into the horizon behind us. And we are currently making our way to the marine's 80th branch, which was located on a small island west of the Irishia kingdom, to deliver Jelly bean Jack's head and claim his bounty.

It had taken me a full hour to patch up Byron's wounds and to say that he was severely injured would be an understatement. It was, in fact, a miracle that he was able to reach the ship and talk normally even before I punched him in the gut, considering the injuries he received while fighting the pink pirate captain before Wilson arrived there.

I was currently leaning on the black pearl's railing while humming some songs quietly by myself to pass the time, but I had to stop as I heard footsteps from behind, causing me to turn around and smile as I spotted Elly's approaching figure.

"Is it really okay, captain?" Elly asked with a confused tone as she leaned at the railing next to me.

"What is?" I asked back while tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"I'm talking about Byron. You know he passed out before Thirty seconds passed," she said and kept going before I could speak a word. "It's not like I have a problem with him joining, but I'm concerned that it will give you a bad reputation since you didn't keep your word. You didn't even sink the third ship that no one bought," she concluded with a worried tone as she looked me in the eye.

"Well, you see, Elly. Words are just words and they have no real value to them," I said with a smile. "In the end, what really matters is actions, not words," I concluded, but Elly still seemed to still have some concerns.

"Other than that, do you know what's the best thing about being a pirate?" I said as I put my hand on her head to ruffle her hair and she shook her head to both answer my question and shake my hand.

"We can lie as much as we want and change our minds whenever we feel like it because no one expects to keep our word in the first place since we're pirates," I concluded with a smile. "Even though we're not officially pirates yet, Rehahaha," I remarked with a loud laugh, and Elly laughed as well, the last of her concerns vanishing with her laughter. (author's note: a little brook joke yohohohoho)

-0-

It's been a day since we set sail, and I was currently sitting on a barrel on the deck of the ship, relaxing and sipping whisky.

"If you're just going to keep lazing around, then the least you can do is sing us a song or play some music, you shitty captain," Wilson said from his usual spot up on the black pearls mast to control the sails.

"You see it as lazing around, and I see it as clearing my mind to make better plans for the future, you shitty gorilla, so no, since I don't feel like it," I answered with a shit-eating smile as I looked raised my head to look at Wilson while taking a big mouthful of whisky from my bottle.

"It is a little boring. Won't you play something, please, captain?" Came Elly's voice from the crew's nest as she blinked her eyes cutely at me.

"Well, if Elly is bored, then it can't be helped," I said as I straightened my posture and picked up my guitar, causing Elly to smile and Wilson to jump down and push his face in front of me.

"Why you, pussy whipped bastard! Didn't I ask you the same thing just now?!" He exclaimed loudly in outrage, and I had to begin dodging matrix style to avoid my face getting covered in flying spittle.

"Too close, you four-armed banana humper," I shouted back as I pushed his face away from mine. "Have you looked in the mirror lately? Try asking something from me again when you have a face like that!" I said while pointing at Elly, who was laughing at our antics, causing tick marks to appear on Wilson's uncovered forehead.

"Stop it, you punks, or you'll destroy the ship if you fight now," said Bob as he came out of the lower decks. "Besides, our new companion seems to have woken up from his injury-induced unconsciousness, so you might want to have a word with him, pun- I mean captain," He concluded as he picked up a newspaper and sat down in his usual spot.

"It looks like that song is gonna have to wait," I said with a smile while looking at Elly and then shot a dirty look at Wilson while flipping him the bird before making my way to the room where we left Byron to recover from his wounds after patching him up.

It took me a minute to make my way to the room, and I made my way inside, spotting Byron, who had ninety percent of his body covered in bandages while lying on a bed instantly.

"How are you feeling?" I said as I began to check up on his injuries.

"I feel like shit," Byron replied with a deadpan expression.

"Well, you look like shit too, Rehahaha," I replied with a laugh, and Byron chuckled as well.

"Anyway, we brought your luggage, so don't worry about that, just rest, and you be good to go a week and a couple of days," I concluded after I finished checking up on his injuries, and he merely nodded.

"So, do you have a family back on Toroa island?" I asked as I began changing his bandages.

"only my old man, but he didn't want me going out to the sea. That's why he didn't show up at the port," He said while grunting in pain as I began applying disinfectant.

"Is that so? You're already in the middle of the sea, so there's no point in talking about that, I guess," I said with a shrug. "Which reminds me, we're currently bounty hunters, but we'll turn to piracy, sooner or later," I stated as I paused my actions to look him in the eye.

"It's not too late for you to turn back now if you don't want to be a pirate," I said in a calm, reassuring tone. "I can give you a boat and enough rations to last you until you get back to Toroa island if you want," I concluded and said nothing more, waiting for him to answer.

"That's even better," Byron replied with a smirk. "I wouldn't mind being a bounty hunter, but a lot of my ancestors were pirates, so might as well," He concluded with a shrug and tried to smile again, but he suddenly started coughing.

"Well, that's fine then, let me just finish up changing your bandage, and I'll leave you to rest," I stated as I resumed my work and was done after 15 minutes, so I bid him farewell and left while telling him to rest properly.

The rest of the day passed peacefully except for one incident when a giant fish creature tried attacking our ship. It was surprisingly stealthy for its size, and only Elly felt that something was coming just a second before it rammed into the black pearl's underside from below the water.

Needless to say that it did absolutely no damage thanks to the durability of the Bally wood from which the ship was made, as it was only second to Adam wood in its durability.

The poor, big fish, however, was able to shake the ship with its sneak attack. The shaking it had caused proved to be its undoing, as it had ruined a dish Bob had been preparing for an hour.

The enraged cook then jumped into the sea while cursing the fish's entire line of ancestry and proceeded to beat the living crap out of it, and even then, he wasn't satisfied as he dived after it when the poor fish tried to escape and brought back to the surface, only to beat to death and cook it afterward.

Wilson, being Wilson, of course, didn't miss this chance to gloat at Bob, which caused the latter to take a rather expensive bottle of wine that Wilson had been saving earlier and throw it into the sea in response.

Wilson was outraged at the waste of good wine and proceeded to call Bob all kinds of different names, which Bob ignored until Wilson called his mustache a dick tickler, which turned the cook's eyes red in anger.

The two then began insulting each other until they were basically ready to tear each other new ones if not for Elly's timely intervention, but even that wasn't enough to stop the two as they kept hurling verbal insults at each other, and Laffite had to interfere as well to calm the two of them.

Where was I during all of this, you ask? I, of course, was enjoying the show while laughing and riling the two against each other as I indulged in my whisky bottle because I was bored, and that was the most entertaining shit I've seen in a while.

Fortunately, that was the last incident during our journey towards the 80th marine branch. Even Wilson and Bob were drinking together as they listened to me sing while playing my guitar a couple of hours after their little lovers' quarrel.

We could finally spot the marine branch on the horizon after another day had passed, and not long after, two marine battleships set off from the marine base's docks and approached us.

"You are approaching the marine's 80th branch. Identify your selves and state your business in coming here," shouted a man who looked like he was a marine ensign from the deck of his ship that was a safe distance away.

"We're bounty hunters, here to claim a bounty on a pirate we took out on Toroa island," I shouted back in a loud, clear voice to make sure the ensign can hear me.

"Are you the silver hand bounty hunters?" Asked the marine ensign with shock in his voice after a second of silence.

"That's right. We're here to deliver the head of one Jelly bean Jack and claim his bounty," I answered with a raised eyebrow, feeling weirded by the marine officer's weird attitude.

"I see. Then please prepare to be boarded so I can verify the legitimacy of your claims before we allow you entry into the base," stated the marine ensign in a slightly more polite tone.

"Come over whenever you're ready," I replied, feeling more and more weirded by the situation with every passing second.

The marine officer then turned around and barked some orders at his subordinates.

The marines only took a couple of minutes to anchor their ship right next to the black pearl. They then extended a bridge between our two vessels, which the ensign used to board the black pearl.