3 Chapter 3 – Journey To Goat Island

Mihawk stirred from his slumber, his eyes flickering open to the dimly lit room.

"So, I survived, huh?" Mihawk woke up from his comfy sleep, observing Ron carefully storing the remaining 30 dishes with great care, dumbfounded by his instincts tingling when selecting them.

"Yeah, you did. Congrats, you've recruited a God-level Vice-Captain for your crew," Ron replied with an intriguing smile, contemplating what to do with the remaining dishes.

'Never waste food or God will punish you.' He doubted this saying on Earth, not in One Piece. Anything goes here.

"So, what's up? Still waiting for guests? Where's my promised wine?" Mihawk picked up his luggage and sword, waiting to follow Ron's lead as he sensed rats approaching.

"Catch," Ron tossed a bottle of wine to Mihawk, who caught it effortlessly.

"Nah, as the saying goes, a rabbit always has three exits. I, too, have five exits. Also, can't have guests leave starving, can I? These extra dishes and a few wines are just for them. I'm pretty sure they'll enjoy my treat." Ron gestured towards a bookcase, revealing a hidden staircase leading to the basement.

After entering, Ron destroyed the entry to the staircase. Soon in the basement, Ron led Mihawk through a secret tunnel, which they exited, leading to Ron's ship docked few kilometers away from the inn.

Welcome aboard the Lantern Ship," Ron announced proudly as he stepped onto the deck.

"Let's go. I named this ship Lantern Ship because it resembles one," Ron boarded the ship as if it were perfectly normal.

"Ah," Mihawk came to his senses after hearing Ron's voice.

"You sure this is your ship?" Mihawk awkwardly said.

"What do you mean? Anything wrong with its appearance?" Ron started to get a little ticked off, seeing Mihawk's awkward face.

"No, just, I think this is probably the smallest functional ship I have ever seen," Mihawk muttered in an extremely low voice, but Ron heard him.

"What do you want, then? Go with a raft? Let me tell you one thing, even if I am your crew vice-captain, I am not rowing a raft before I die," Ron angrily said while boarding the ship, not paying any attention to Mihawk, who was embarrassed.

"So where are we going?" Mihawk looked at Ron, who was busy sorting out navigation maps in the captain's room, or to say, one of the four rooms on the ship: Mihawk's, Ron's, an extra room, and the control room.

"Well, hmm, let's go to Goat Island. I heard a rumor that there's treasure there. If this treasure is what I think it is, then it will be extremely useful for us, and don't you dare open that Wine bottle before finding that treasure," Ron warned before navigating the ship towards Goat Island.

"Oh come on!!" Mihawk was little down and frustrated holding Ron treasured Wine Bottle.

"So what are you gonna do about Navy ships? They are checking every ship departing Polestar Island. Shall we bust in?" Mihawk proposed a straightforward idea, since he still didn't have any qualms about slaughtering Navy personnel considering they eyed his only treasured sword.

"You crazy idiot? If we tell the Navy about your real strength, next time we'll surely get ambushed by 5-6 Vice-Admirals. Not sure about you, but I am definitely going to see Heaven after that," Ron started yelling at Mihawk.

"Why do you think I asked you to wait a week for? I already coated this ship. Let's dive underwater, baby," Ron exclaimed, sensing ships a few kilometers ahead.

"Oh, you are really prepared, I guess," Mihawk sounded a little disappointed, but Ron just hmphed.

Ron carefully started the mechanism, which he had spent hours with as the ship started shrinking in the water. Soon, a bubble coating formed around the ship, strong enough to withstand a great load of force impacting it.

Ron then carefully navigated the ship underwater. Both Ron and Mihawk were fascinated by the underwater world. Ron even thought that it would be good if he were a merfolk, but he dismissed the thought instantly.

'Nah, Humans are better, being a human is a blessing' Ron's inner thoughts sounded a little racist, but that's okay, it's his life, his decisions to make.

As time passed, weeks turned into months. "I think we are good enough now." They were already a few islands away from Loguetown.

"Yeah, I am also getting a little seasick. Let's recruit a good Shipwright who can build a better submarine," Mihawk's voice sounded a little weak, probably due to being bored and feeling congested inside the bubble coating. After all, they needed to be extra careful during this time. Mihawk had already shooed away 3 small curious Sea Kings with his conqueror Haki.

"So, what's your goal, Mihawk? I heard Supreme Haki users have great ambitions," Ron questioned Mihawk, though he already had a guess.

"Me, nothing too great. I just want to slice the world in two halves," Mihawk's revelation dumbfounded Ron.

"Ohhhhhh, so, then if you succeed, how will you survive?" Ron voiced his question with genuine curiosity.

"Never thought about it, but now you said it, I probably have to look for a way to survive a sliced world, don't I?" Mihawk sounded a little confused and then questioned Ron, "Well, never mind me, what about you? Have you decided what you want to do?"

"No, haven't decided yet. My life is still above anything else for now. If I do, I will tell you firstly," Ron was a little lost looking at the starry sky. He knew his goal was absurd and unheard of, so he told Mihawk a bland lie.

Ron and Mihawk were busy navigating through East Blue to search for Goat Island, not mapped on the World Government's East Blue Map. So, months passed by. During this time, they encountered several Pirate ships.

During this time, the Navy also released bounty posters for Ron and Mihawk.

(Flashback begins)

"Hey Ron, looks like you finally have a bounty on your head," Mihawk shouted, interrupting Ron who was busy looking for clues for Goat Island.

[ Hawk Pirates ]

[ Dracule Mihawk - 67,000,000 B – A Great Swordsman ]

[ Ron the Poisonous Cook - 13,000,000 B – His dishes left a Vice Admiral in a Coma ]

"Seriously, I got Vice-Admiral, I am really lucky, aren't I? If we stayed, our escape would be 100x more difficult," Ron exclaimed in disbelief, seeing a Vice Admiral get caught in his trap. After all, most monsters in the One Piece world have a high appetite and will not think much of consuming a high-quality dish, even if their instincts tingle a little.

"You're surely good at maintaining secrecy," Mihawk said, seeing his photo on the bounty poster, but none on Ron's bounty poster, evidence that the Navy Intelligence didn't have any information on Ron.

(Flashback Ends)

Ron increased his Observation Haki proficiency and sniping skills during this period, and Mihawk only made a move when Ron couldn't handle it anymore, though both decided to tie up loose ends. They didn't want any funny situations like that with Famous Navy Admiral Zefa, who was already a laughingstock among Pirates.

They also restocked their supplies on the islands they landed on and met a few interesting individuals, but none interesting enough to consider joining Hawk Pirates. Ron, as usual, left them with a phone bug to expand his intelligence source, and Mihawk was busy challenging any and every Swordsman he could find on the island.

Ron had greatly increased his strength.

[ Source Ratio : Spirit- 10 | Body- 00 ]

[ Source Amount : Spirit- 7.89 | Body- 1.65 ]

[ Source Ability : — ]

After the mid-third month of their departure, they finally found a clue for Goat Island.