"I knew it wasn't that simple," Finn laughed.
After a brief pause, Finn continued, "So where should we meet?"
"Where are you now?" Sakazuki asked.
"The East Blue," Finn said.
"The East Blue?" Sakazuki was silent for a moment. After a brief moment of consideration, he continued, "Then let's meet at Mary Geoise. It's close."
As the Holy Land, Mary Geoise was connected to all seas, and naturally that included the East Blue.
Finn didn't object and nodded. "Alright. Is there a rush?"
"Hard to say. Who knows what that guy is doing on a Sky Island," Sakazuki said.
"Then I'll finish up the things at hand and head to Mary Geoise," Finn said after thinking for a moment.
"Alright. I'll wait for you there," Sakazuki said straightforwardly.
After that, without wasting any more time, both of them hung up their Den Den Mushi.
After putting away his Den Den Mushi, Finn looked toward Gion and Mihawk again. The two seemed to be communicating and hadn't resumed their fight.
"Hey, Gion!" Finn shouted from the warship.
Gion turned around after hearing this, her expression slightly confused.
"Let's go. Don't worry about that guy. Something came up," Finn waved his hand.
Gion nodded, then turned and said a few more words to Mihawk before flying directly toward the warship.
By contrast, Mihawk was floating in the sea at that moment, watching Gion leave in a daze.
I've mentally prepared myself to be arrested, and now you're just leaving?
Where's the promised sting operation?
What the hell is the Marine doing?
Are you people just bored and looking for an excuse to beat me up?
Truth be told, although Mihawk had lost to Gion, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries. After all, the battle had ended too quickly.
Therefore, even though he was drifting in the sea, his life probably wasn't in any danger.
As Mihawk stared in bewilderment, the warship slowly passed by him, showing no intention of paying him any attention.
"What the hell..." Mihawk muttered, his expression utterly confused.
Just like that, Mihawk watched the massive warship slowly disappear from his sight. He couldn't figure out what was going on.
At that moment, suddenly a voice called out from the sea not far behind him.
"Hey, are you out swimming too?"
Mihawk froze, turned his head, and saw a young man wearing a straw hat with some red hair showing, paddling toward him from not far away.
What the hell is this? Swimming?
What kind of insane swimming is this?
The nearest island was two days away by boat. If you were just swimming, it would probably take five or six days or even longer!
Who the hell has nothing better to do than swim like this?
And who the hell are you? Why are you in the sea?
However, Mihawk was a man who cared about his reputation, so he feigned composure and nodded. "That's right."
"Really? Then we can be partners! If we run into any danger, we can help each other. Hahahaha," Shanks laughed.
That's right. This guy had to be Shanks.
Originally, when his little boat had been sunk by Finn, it hadn't been far from here. If Finn hadn't intervened, the two lone sailors would have met at sea.
As a result, Finn had blown up Shanks's ship, and Gion had beaten up Mihawk. Now the two of them had actually collided with each other in the vast ocean.
Fate truly was a mysterious thing.
Mihawk didn't refuse. He found the man in front of him rather interesting, so he nodded calmly. "Alright."
"You look familiar. Are you that guy?" Shanks paddled closer, thinking for a moment before saying, "The one who challenges swordsmen everywhere, Hawk Eyes... Dracule Mihawk, right?"
Mihawk was quite famous, far more famous than the 'unknown' Shanks. He wasn't surprised to be recognized and nodded. "That's me."
"Hahaha, it really is you! Come to think of it, I was about to look for you too," Shanks said, swimming up beside Mihawk.
Mihawk gave Shanks a strange look and asked, "What do you want from me?"
"Are you interested in joining my pirate crew? Hahahaha..." Shanks asked with a laugh.
After a brief pause, Mihawk asked, "Your pirate crew? You're a pirate? And a captain?"
"That's right! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Shanks, and I'm a pirate!" Shanks said with a smile.
You know what? His smile was quite infectious.
Mihawk looked at the boundless sea, then at Shanks. He felt that their meeting here was perhaps fate, so he asked with mild interest, "Where's your ship? Can you ask your crew to pick us up? I don't want to keep swimming..."
If things worked out, wouldn't it be nice to join up with them?
If it didn't feel right later, he could always leave.
Mihawk thought about this with a trace of anticipation.
But Shanks laughed and said, "Hahahaha, it's a bit embarrassing to say, but my ship just sank. As for crew members and partners, well... I don't have any yet. I'm looking for them. You can be my first mates!"
What the hell are you talking about?
I actually thought you were somewhat tolerable just now, but damn it!
You've gotten yourself into such a mess. Who could you possibly recruit as a partner?
Give me back that tiny bit of hope I had for you just now, you bastard!
Cursing Shanks as an idiot countless times in his heart, Mihawk remained calm on the surface. He shook his head. "Forget it. I'm not interested. Let's just part ways here. Goodbye."
After saying that, Mihawk turned around and began swimming toward the distant sea.
I will never come to the East Blue again. The Marine I met was insane. They beat me up and left without a word. The pirate I met is also insane. I, Mihawk, have been traveling around the world for so many years, but I've never seen such an outrageous recruitment pitch.
But Shanks didn't give up so quickly. He felt that meeting Mihawk here was fate.
So he swam after him while shouting, "Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave! Let's get to know each other! Don't judge me by appearances. I'm a member of the Pirate King Roger's crew. My story is very exciting. Do you have any wine with you? I've been swimming for a long time and I'm getting thirsty. Give me a couple of sips and I'll tell you my story!"
At this point, Mihawk had completely written off Shanks as a lunatic. He didn't even want to look at him. Without turning his head, he said, "Oh, you're a member of Roger's crew? Well, I'm not afraid to tell you, I'm the number one swordsman of the Rocks Pirates."
"Huh? I didn't realize you were that old. I thought you were about the same age as me..." Shanks said in surprise.
Mihawk's face darkened. "Don't you understand sarcasm?"
Not wanting to waste another word on the idiot Shanks, Mihawk adjusted the black blade on his back, swung his arms, and began to accelerate.
Shanks actually sped up as well, chasing after Mihawk while continuing to talk. "Your swimming form isn't very efficient. It's wasting energy. Want me to teach you? My vice-captain, Senior Rayleigh, is really good at this. I learned from him. He even freestyled across the Calm Belt several times..."
"Speaking of which, if you dare to call yourself the best in swordsmanship, you must be pretty amazing, right?"
"If the two of us go out to sea together, we could call ourselves the Twin Blade Crew. I'm a swordsman too!"
"My sword is Gryphon. You should have heard of it, right? Although it can't compare to your black blade Yoru, it's still a famous blade."
"Would you like me to show it to you? Of course, in exchange, you can also let me hold your black blade..."
Shanks was naturally talkative, and he'd been sailing alone in a tiny boat in the East Blue for a long time. He had a lot of pent-up things to say.
Finn hadn't communicated with him much before, but now that he'd met Mihawk, he'd opened up and couldn't stop talking.
Mihawk in front was getting angrier and angrier as he swam. He was already deeply irritated by being suddenly beaten up by the Marines, and now Shanks was like a persistent fly, chattering endlessly behind him.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Mihawk suddenly stopped swimming, pulled the black blade from his back, and roared, "I'm going to fight you! I'll chop you to death, you bastard!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Mihawk raised his hand and slashed at Shanks in the water.
Shanks was also startled. He quickly pulled his sword Gryphon from underwater and blocked Mihawk's attack. "What are you doing?! Are you crazy? Why are you attacking me so suddenly?"
Crazy? How dare you call me crazy?
Are you out of your damn mind?
Mihawk ignored Shanks's protests and raised his hand to slash down again.
Just like that, Shanks and Mihawk, both soaking in seawater, began their first duel.
It was intense. It was also ridiculous.
Finn had no idea that in the sea area he'd just left, Shanks and Mihawk had begun another fierce battle in the water.
At that moment on the warship, Finn had just finished explaining the situation to Gion.
"Well, Sakazuki rarely asks for help, and I'd feel bad refusing him..." Finn said, his tone somewhat apologetic.
Gion didn't seem to care at all. She looked like she was in a great mood after beating up Mihawk. She waved her hand dismissively. "No big deal. Let's go then. I'll come too. As for the Sky Island, we can just treat it like a trip. Come to think of it, I haven't been there in a while. And we can beat up Kaido while we're at it."
Originally, this trip had been meant as a vacation for Gion, but problems kept cropping up along the way. Finn felt a bit guilty.
But seeing Gion say these things so generously, he was genuinely moved.
As for Gion's request to come along, Finn didn't object. After all, Gion was extremely strong.
"Alright. Then let's skip Shimotsuki Village. Let's head back to Windmill Village first and bring that guy Garp with us," Finn said.
Help people all the way. Sakazuki had finally asked him for something. As his good friend and brother, shouldn't Finn support him wholeheartedly?
At that time, Finn, Gion, and Garp would appear together at Mary Geoise and go help Sakazuki.
Sakazuki would probably be so moved he'd shed tears, right?
What was this? This was the unbreakable bond of brotherhood. This was the Marine family!
All for one, and one for all!
Helping others is the foundation of happiness!
As for Kaido...
If Kaido knew about this, Finn didn't know if he'd be moved, but he'd definitely shed sincere tears, right?