Marineford
Meeting Office
"What? The Marines of Branch 80 failed to recruit Dracule Mihawk, so they tried to use his brother as a hostage, but they still failed?" A marine vice admiral said.
"We can't cover up this issue; a lot of Ohara residents have seen the Marines apprehending Dracule Raeven without a warrant," another vice admiral said.
"Whose idea is it to use the elder brother as a hostage? We're the Marines, damn it," another vice admiral said.
"What's the status of Branch 80?" Admiral Kong asked.
"It was destroyed, sliced into two; 200 marines are injured, and 200 are lightly injured. Fortunately, no one died. On the other hand, the 700 marines who went to hostage Dracule Raeven have zero casualties too. It's just that when the Ohara residents helped them, they reported that all of them were knocked out. One of our marines said that Raeven used Conqueror's Haki to knock everyone out," a marine rear admiral read the report.
The whole room became silent after they heard the report; even Kong's face turned black like it was covered with Armament Haki.
"A 9-year-old elite swordsman and a 9-year-old who awakened a conqueror's Haki. Sigh, it's too late to recruit them now, or the prestige of the Marines will be tarnished. Immediately issue bounties on them."
"Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk 100 Million Belli"
"Dracule "Shinigami" Raeven 120 Million Beli"
"We're going to use the epithet "Shinigami" on Raeven, as he was long suspected as the one who hunts down pirates on the West and North Blue without turning their bounty in."
"As for the Marine Commander of Branch 80, capture him alive and send him to Enies Lobby," Kong said. Then after that, he dismissed the meeting. Alone in his office, he sighed; the decision to issue a bounty on the twins made his head throb.
"This is making my head throb, but what's done is done; if we don't issue those two with bounties, then the prestige of the Marines will get hit," he said as he lighted a cigar.
The next day, 2 new wanted posters are issued by the Marines; the front page of the newspaper is a picture of Raeven and Mihawk.
"Dracule 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk, 100 Million Belli, Attacking Marine Officers and Destroying Marine Branch 80, an elite swordsman proficient in both Armament and Observation Haki, Dead or Alive"
"Dracule 'Shinigami' Raeven, 120 Million Belli, attacking marines patrolling in the nearby waters of Ohara, also suspected as the killer of the missing pirates and merchant ships around West Blue in the past years, suspected to have a combat power of an Elite Headquarters Vice Admiral, dead or alive."
"Your picture on the wanted poster really looks cool, but mine is cooler," Raeven said as he saw Mihawk looking at his wanted poster.
The picture of Mihawk is taken during his battle at the Marine Branch 80, a full-face picture with his prominent yellow piercing eyes, while Raeven's picture is taken when he was questioning the Marine Captain, Black Hair, with a handsome face; his eyes are red, and he looks very approachable with a smile in the picture.
"This angle is good; whoever took this photo deserves a reward. I look very handsome and kind here, while Mihawk's wanted poster is very scary," Raeven said.
"Looked at the second page and then said that again. No one will believe you that you are kind while smiling and choking someone to death," Mihawk said with a sneer.
Raeven flipped the page, and he saw what Mihawk was talking about; it's the picture of him choking the Marine captain while he answered the den den mushi.
"I didn't know that I was choking him that time. He survived, right? What a lucky man." Raeven just smiled.
"They even got the information about the pirates that we hunted before; they even made it so that we are the ones who raided those merchant ships," Mihawk said.
"That's how they roll. It's about time anyway to shed that mask. Now we can hunt them in the open. As for those marines who want to arrest us, then they better be ready. I might not kill them, but they won't go home in one piece either," Raeven said, then he looked at his map and log pose. They are about to reach their destination.
The next day, the two of them finally reached Soja Island, a small island near Gingaball Kingdom and Kano Country. Before the two of them landed, Raeven used his Observation Haki to scan the island. Right now his Observation Haki detection range is about 2 km in diameter. They landed at a cliff face, a suitable camping site.
"Arrange our things; I'll scout the island first," Raeven said as he took his scythe, and then he headed to scout the island. Sadly, even though this island is small, his Observation Haki can't cover it yet. After an hour of scanning, he detected no one that can harm them here. He even detected 3 auras of swordsmen, but by what he detected, Mihawk will easily defeat them.
"This island is safe for now, and I detected 3 swordsmen on this island; hopefully they can give you some experience," Raeven said when he returned to the campsite.
"3 swordsmen? Looks like this island used to have a master swordsman before," Mihawk said.
"You can ask them tomorrow; for now let's prepare dinner. I'm already hungry," Raeven said as he took out ingredients from their makeshift refrigerator that needs ice to preserve meat.
After the two of them were finished eating, Raeven cleaned the table and placed the complete map of West Blue on the table. This map is the latest copy from Ohara. When the two of them stayed there, Raeven bought it from the scholars there. Not just West Blue, he got the complete map of the other seas too, the Grand Line, and even the map of the New World. The only thing he didn't have is the updated map of the Calm Belt.
"Near Soja Island is Kano Country and Gingaball Kingdom. Both are affiliated with the world government in terms of military might; the Kami Country is the strongest in the West Blue," Raeven said as he pointed out the map.
"I heard of them before, the Chinjao Family of the Happo Navy, and their unique martial arts that emit vibration," Mihawk said.
"Yes, people here at West Blue say that it's like the Tremor fruit; they are not wrong, just 100 times weaker," Raeven said.
"The current leader of the Happo Navy is Don Chinjao, a legendary pirate with a bounty of 414 million belly," he added.
"As expected from the strongest country of West Blue," Mihawk said.
"After this island, we're heading to Gingaball Kingdom, and then we'll go to Kamo Country," Raeven said. After that, the two of them called it a night.
The next morning after the two of them ate breakfast, they split up. Raeven used a black cloak to cover himself, and he began to explore the town. As for Mihawk, there was no need to use a cloak. During a formal challenge, you'll state your name and your sword, so there's no need to use a cloak at all.
"After a day of looking around the town, Raeven noted on his notebook that there is no special kind of fruit or plant here at all, so he came back to the campsite. He was surprised when he saw that Mihawk was already back; he was grilling a big boar on a fire.
"It's surprising to see you arrive here first," Raeven said.
"The two swordsmen in the town are too weak; they just entered the realm of swordsmanship. Even with pure swordsmanship, I beat them both," Mihawk said as he used Yoru to cleave some firewood.
"Then go and train some more; I'll watch the meat," Raeven said as he prepared the plates. Mihawk stood up and then began his training.
"Unfortunately, Issho is not here yet, or Mihawk might find someone worthy to duel," Raeven said in his mind.
It just took 3 days for the brothers to do everything they needed to do on the island. Mihawk is done with his dojo challenge, while Raeven is done with his island profiling.
After having a feast, they both traveled to Gingaball Kingdom. Sadly, there was no one strong enough for Mihawk to challenge there, so they left right away. Then they saw two pirate crews currently at battle.
"Stinger Igo bounty 45 million and firearms Dudong 48 million Beli. Let's go; it's been a while since I saw a pirate ship," Raeven said as he took his scythe and jumped on the pirate ships. Mihawk readied his sword too as he followed his brother. 3 minutes later and the battle was finished; only dead bodies could be seen on both ships. After looting both pirate ships, the brothers got 59 million Beli and a devil fruit.
"It's the Castle Castle Fruit, a paramecia devil fruit," Mihawk said. Both of them have memorized the different kinds of devil fruits and the appearance of the fruit; if somehow they can't remember it, they still have a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Of course, it's from Ohara; where else could it be from?
"That's a good devil fruit; if we can recruit someone to eat this, then our storage problem will be done. Even I'm tempted to eat it, but the consequences of not being able to swim are a problem," Raeven said as he looked at the devil fruit.
After that, the two of them stored the money and treasures and placed the devil fruit in a separate treasure box.
After 5 days, the two of them finally saw an island, and the building on the island is very familiar-looking to Raeven.
"They definitely looked like the ancient buildings of Chinks from back home," he said with a little nostalgia.